Born Young Newsletter
Volume 16 Number 3 Autumn 2000
The Ohio Army of Squirrel Hunters
Submitted by Mrs. Margie Thomas of Cincinnati, Ohio, whose grandfather, Alexander Duncan Burlew, was awarded a Squirrel Hunter’s Discharge by Ohio Governor David Tod in 1862.
But the pleasantest and most picturesque sight of those remarkable days was the almost endless stream of sturdy men who rushed to the rescue from the rural districts of Ohio and Indiana. These were known as the Squirrel Hunters. They came in files, numbering thousands upon thousands, in all kinds of costumes, and armed with all kinds of firearms, but chiefly the deadly rifle, which they knew so well how to use. Old men, middle-aged men, and often mere boys, like the ‘minute men’ of the old Revolution, they dropped all their peculiar avocations, and with their leather pouches full of bullets, and their ox-horns full of powder, by every railroad and by-way, in such numbers that it seemed as if the whole State of Ohio were peopled only with hunters, and that the spirit of Daniel Boone stood upon the hills opposite the town beckoning them into Kentucky…” [from Historical Collections of Ohio, Volume I]
During the Civil War, the people of Ohio considered the Ohio River to be the border between the North and South, although Kentucky was never part of the Confederacy. Kentuckians had voted to stay in the Union but out of the fight. Kentucky was a slave state, though, and Confederate forces met cheers as they marched north.
On 1 September 1862, Confederate General Kirby Smith stood on the courthouse steps at Lexington, KY and announced that, “The Army of the Confederate has entered your territory under my command. We come not as invaders, but as liberators. We call upon you to take up arms and join with us in hurling back the northern hordes who would deprive us of our liberty.”
The next day, Ohio Governor David Tod called for every man in Ohio who owned a gun to come to Cincinnati to “beat back the enemy at all points he may attempt to invade our state.” Only rural farmers kept guns, mostly ancient muzzle loaders used to keep corn fields free of hungry squirrels. Dressed in buckskin and homespun, the squirrel hunters got their name from their boast that they “never have to shoot the same squirrel twice.”
Thousands of men and boys came from the rural districts, armed with every kind of backwoods weapon. Ferry service was halted on the river. Coal barges were tied together to form a pontoon bridge across the Ohio in a single day. Soldiers and laborers marched across the bridge in an endless stream, heading for the fortifications in the Kentucky hills.
Continued on page 2
| Inside This Issue | |||
| PAGE | SUBJECT | ||
| 1 | Ohio Army of Squirrel Hunters, 1862 | ||
| 3-4 | Young Family Artifacts For Sale | ||
| 4-6 | Youngs of Dade County, Missouri | ||
| 6-7 | Henry C. Young of Greene Co, MO | ||
| 8-10 | Brian’s Files: Rev. Daniel Young | ||
| 10-11 | Letters from Readers | ||
| 11-12 | William B. Young of Chautauqua County, New York | ||
Born Young Newsletter
since 1985 ISSN 0885-1247
Vicki Young Albu, Editor
Born Young Newsletter was published four times per year (spring, summer, fall and winter), and was dedicated to promoting and helping with genealogical research of the Young surname (including variant spellings such as Jung, Yung, Yonge, etc.)
SQUIRREL HUNTERS
Continued from page 1:
Cincinnati’s defending army of rough and ready frontiersmen was enlarged with police, firemen, and any able-bodied man who could shoulder a rifle. Anyone not carrying a gun was sent to the hills south of Covington and Newport to dig defensive positions. Union forces were rushed to the city, which was placed under martial law.
Smith’s army came as far north as Walton, KY, but received no orders to attack Cincinnati. The fortifications lasted twelve days, before Smith was ordered to join other Confederate forces in southern Kentucky.
The Ohio Legislature passed a resolution honoring the “Squirrel Hunters” who had come to the aid of their State. “But for the gallant serves of yourself and the other members of the corps of patriotic ‘Squirrel Hunters,’ rendered in September last, our dear State would have been invaded by a band of pirates determined to overthrow the best government on earth, our wives and children would have been violated and murdered, and our homes plundered and sacked. Your children, and your children’s children, will be proud to know that you were one of the glorious band. Preserve the Certificate of Service and discharge herewith enclosed to you as evidence of this gallantry,” read a letter presented to one of the Squirrel Hunters, Alexander Duncan Burlew (1839-1914). “The rebellion is not yet crushed out and therefore, the discharge may not be final. Keep the old gun then in order; see that the powder horn and bullet pouch are supplied and caution your patriotic mothers or wives to be at all times prepared to furnish you a few days cooked rations so that if your services are called for (which may God in his infinite goodness forbid), you may again prove yourselves ‘Minute Men’ and again protect our loved homes. Invoking God’s choicest blessings upon yourself and all who are dear to you, I am, very truly yours, David Tod, Governor.”
On 9 May 1908, the Ohio Legislature authorized payment of thirteen dollars to each surviving member of the citizen soldiers known as Squirrel Hunters. Among those who claimed the payments were Wiley W. Young and Joseph Young, both of Pleasant Township, Brown County, Ohio; R. A. Young and William Young of Brown County.
COULD THESE ARTIFACTS BELONG TO YOUR YOUNG FAMILY?
Eric Nagle and Larry Ford are historians and genealogists who rescue old documents, Bibles, and photos from places such as flea markets and estate sales, and try to reunite them with family members. Ford & Nagle decided to post their findings on a web site, http://users.com/31363/fordand.htm.
“We receive between 5 and 20 e-mails a day about family items,” it says on their web site. “People who find material on our site appear to be just thrilled to see an ancestor they may never have seen before. We are equally as thrilled to hear the excitement of others! We just want to say ‘Thank You’ to all the kind folks out there who have written to thank us for all our hard work. Those wonderfully kind words mean the world to us and they are the purest fuel for our furnace! Bless you all!”
The following items are listed on their site under the YOUNG or YOUNGS surnames:
Photos
YOUNG, Emma Adams, pictured with Elizabeth Adams Rife and Amanda Adams Stapleton; studio unknown, found at Logan, OH 24 Oct 1998.
YOUNG, George C., of Aquebogue, NY; taken by D. Owens, Riverhead, NY; found in IN in Nov 1999.
YOUNG, Lydia Ann and her sister, taken by Slater Studio, Ontario, CA; found Portland, IN 24 Oct 1999.
YOUNG, sister of Lydia Ann, taken by Charles Ansley, Belle Center, OH; found Portland, IN 24 Oct 1999.
YOUNG, M. C. (female), a tintype, found at Arcanum, OH 13 Apr 1996.
YOUNG, Reuben and Sarah, of Shenandoah, IA; taken by I. B. Hamilton, Shenandoah, IA; album found Omaha, NE 12 Jul 1996.
Funeral Card
YOUNG, William, died 21 Jan 1894; found Columbus, OH, 24 Oct 1998.
YOUNGS, William, died 15 Jan 1894, aged 62 years; found Asheville, NC 26 Feb 1999.
Family Register
YOUNG Family, 14 x 18 wall-size family record with floral prints, concerning William A. YOUNG, born 26 Feb 1830 and his wife Sarah J. Young born 9 Jan 1842; children include Margaret, Catharine, Leafy, Elmira, Anna, William W., Jennie, and Walter B. Young. Family resided in town of Duanesburgh, Schenectady Co, NY in 1880 NY Census. William A. Young served as a Private in Company A, 162nd NY Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. Item was found in Cincinnati, OH 19 Nov 1995. Price for document, including shipping, will be about $60.
For more details, go to the web site at the address above, or contact Ford and Nagle by e-mail at fordnag@erinet.com. Their postal address for those who do not have access to e-mail or Internet is Ford & Nagle, 5525 Neville Street, Dayton, OH 45424-6072.
SOME DADE CO, MISSOURI YOUNGS:
Rev. David G. YOUNG
of New York, Illinois & Missouri: Baptist Preacher & Civil War Veteran of Illinois
From History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton Counties, Missouri, The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Chicago: 1889.
Rev. David G. Young, ex-circuit clerk and ex-officio recorder of Dade County, MO, now residing one and one-half miles north of Greenfield, was born in Niagara Co, NY in 1829, and is the son of Uriah and Phoebe (Gregory) Young. David G. Young was left an orphan when a small boy, and he was then taken by his uncle, William B. Young, who had married a sister of Phoebe (Gregory) Young.
About 1836 David Young went to Genesee Co, MI and it was here he grew to manhood. In 1855 he married Miss Margaret Pratt, who was born in Shiawassee Co, MI, in 1831, and to this union was born one child, Margaret, who is now the wife of Milton Holly, of Millbrook, MI. After one year of married life Mr. Young was left a widower, and in 1857 he engaged in the teacher’s profession, which he continued for some time in Williamson Co, IL.
In 1861 he married Miss Amanda E. Roberts, who was born in Williamson Co, IL.. Nine children were the fruits of this union, seven now living: Emily, John C., William E., Susie, James, Clarence, and Ida.
On 12 August 1862, Mr. Young enlisted in Company D, 81st Regiment Illinois Infantry, and was in the fight at Port Gibson, Raymond, Vicksburg; was in the Red River expedition, and was in the fight at Guntown. At the last-mentioned action he was captured, was in the prison at Macon, GA for six weeks, Savannah six weeks, was at Charleston, SC one month; and while at the last-mentioned place, had the yellow fever. During the winter of 1864-1865 he was at Columbia, and in March of the last-mentioned year, he was exchanged, sent to Annapolis, MD, and was granted leave of absence. He then went to St. Louis, where he was discharged.
In the battle of Raymond he was wounded in the left leg by a minie ball, and was disabled for some time. He at first entered the service as a private, but was promoted through all the different ranks to that of captain, being commissioned such 22 May 1863.
In 1865 he was elected county superintendent of schools of Williamson Co., and served four years. In 1870 he removed to Dade Co, MO, settling in Cedar Township, and in 1874 was elected circuit clerk and ex-officio recorded. In 1878 he was re-elected, and served in all eight years.
At the age of eighteen he was converted, and in 1859 he was licensed to preach the missionary doctrine. He had charge of four churches in Williamson Co, erected the Baptist Church in Marion, IL, and was pastor of that church when he came to Dade County. He has had charge of five churches in Dade Co, and organized the Baptist Church at Greenfield.
Rev. David G. Young is one of Dade County’s most highly esteemed citizens. He is the owner of 200 acres of land, and is a well-to-do farmer. In politics, he is a Greenback-Prohibitionist. His official and private life has been one of purity and above reproach.
Family of William Marshall Young, born in Dade County, Missouri in 1845
William Marshall Young, one of Center Township’s successful and enterprising farmers, was born in Dade Co, MO in 1845, and is the son of Isom A. and Mary (McLemore) Young, and grandson of Matthew M. and Elizabeth (Neal) Young.
Matthew Young was born in SC, and when young went to TN, where he remained until 1860, when he moved to Hamilton Co, IL, and there died four years later. His wife, Elizabeth Neal, was a native of Ireland.
Isom A. Young was born in Monroe Co, TN, in 1822 and moved to Dade Co, MO in 1842, where, the following year, he married Miss Mary M., daughter of Archibald and Sarah (Plumley) McLemore, who were natives of NC and Knox Co, TN, respectively. Her father died in 1825, and the mother the year previous. Mrs. Young was born in Monroe Co, TN in 1823, and is the mother of eight children: William Marshall; Mary (deceased), wife of Albert Wells; Harriett (deceased), wife of Jerome McClure; Martha (deceased); Virginia, wife of Harry H. Finley; Monroe, in Washington Twp.; Madora, wife of John O. Mitchell; and Matthew L., furniture dealer in Greenfield.
Immediately after his marriage, Isom A. Young located on Sac River, four miles northeast of the county seat, and there passed the remainder of his life. He came to Dade County when it was in a wild state, with but few white settlements, and when wild game was plentiful. He came without money, but with a large reserve of latent energy, when, put into play, soon placed him beyond the reach of want.
At the time of his death, which occurred 10 April 1885, [Isom] was the owner of 880 acres of land, and was one of the best citizens of Dade County. As a memento, he left behind him a good name and a highly respected family.
In 1870 William Marshall Young married Miss Dialtha McClure, a native of Dade Co, MO, born in 1847, and the daughter of Frank McClure. To Mr. and Mrs. Young were born seven children: Martha L.; Viola M.; Frank J.; Ruby F.; Marshall A.; Mathew Boyd; and Lucy V. In December 1888, for the purpose of educating his children, Mr. Young moved on the farm where he now lives, which consists of sixty-five acres. He also owns 391 acres on Sac River. He is one of the country’s best farmers and most successful men, dealing quite extensively in raising stock. He is a Democrat in politics. Mrs. Young is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Henry C. Young (Yong) of Welsh Descent, of
Greene County, Missouri
From Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri, by Jonathan Fairbanks and Clyde Edwin Tuck, A. W. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis: 1915.
Henry C. Young, descended from a family of pioneers, was born near Louisville, KY in 1835, being brought to southwestern MO as an infant in the early settlement of this country.
His father, Gabriel Richardson Young, born a generation before in the same place, inherited a change of name from his father whose family, in Wales, had borne the name of Yong.
The emigrant ancestor, cherishing the memory of wrongs resulting from the iniquity of the entail system, sought forgetfulness in the borderland, taking part with the followers of Daniel Boone in the conquest of “The Dark and Bloody Ground,” since known as Kentucky. He married a Miss Stillwell. Their children went in different directions on leaving the KY home.
Gabriel Richardson Young, who had married Nancy McKenzie, of Charleston, SC, followed the immigration of his kinsman, Alexander McKenzie, to this country. McKenzie sojourned two years on a place three and a half miles south of where the town of Springfield was afterward laid out, being one of the first settlers in this vicinity, removing, when neighbors became numerous, to the Spring river country, west of the present site of Mount Vernon.
Mrs. Nancy McKenzie-Young, who was the only daughter of her family, had ten brothers who came to southwest Missouri with the early settlers, all of them eventually moving on, with the continuous emigration of pioneers seeking larger freedom, to locations in Texas, where the McKenzies are well known.
Gabriel Richardson Young was well along in years when he arrived in the Spring river country and began preparations for the establishment of his new home and he did not long survive the event, leaving his family to meet the difficulties which beset pioneers, in somewhat strained circumstances.
Henry C. was the oldest of three boys, his brothers being J. Mansil Bonaparte and Richardson. The sisters were Gabrella, afterward Mrs. Bennett Wellman; Amanda, Mrs. Stone-Hardin; and Mary Ellen, Mrs. T. A. Sherwood. Two other sisters, Sarah and Pauline, died in their youth.
Henry worked and studied by turns, as a farmer boy, and this he continued by turns while engaged in different occupations in which he contributed to the support of the family. He was about half grown when Mr. Wellman, who had opened a store at Cape Fair, in Stone county, took the boy in as a clerk, which was his initiation in commercial pursuits, which he followed successfully while completing his education.
He attended the Arkansas College at Fayetteville, making great progress in a short time… While in St. Louis on his first trip into the city he was introduced in the house of Hargadine & Company and was by them intrusted with some important collections. He attended to this business with such promptness and diligence that he became their permanent representative in this section.
He married, at Mount Vernon, in 1858, Isabella Robinson, daughter of William and Nancy (Kelsy) Robinson, related to the Robinson family of Troupe Co, GA, and the Kelseys of Napa, CA. After living in Mount Vernon a short time the couple moved to St. Louis and made their home in Cote Brilliante, a suburb of that city. Four sons were born to them: Charles Graham and Henry C., Jr. in Mount Vernon; Robert E. Lee and Gabriel Richardson, in Cote Brilliante.
In the meantime, Henry C. Young read law, and after being admitted to the bar, formed a partnership with T. A. Sherwood. Beginning practice at Mount Vernon, the firm of Sherwood & Young soon became widely known, afterward moving their office to Springfield.
Mr. Young took a prominent part in what has been called “The Missouri Movement,” one of the initial steps in the beginning of the reaction against the ascendancy of radicalism in the North which followed the close of the Civil War. B. Gratz Brown was elected governor, a new constitution was written for Missouri, the Democrats came into power in this state and soon afterward throughout the entire South. Judge Sherwood was elected as one of the justices of the Supreme Court. Mr. Young as named as one of the first board of railroad commissioners by Governor Charles H. Hardin, whose cause of reform he had championed early, but declined in favor of General Marmaduke, for whom he had solicited the position.
President Peirce of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, then building into the Southwest under difficulties, had heard of the indefatigable Henry Young and he was employed at the munificent salary of three thousand dollars to do as much work as is now ordinarily allotted to several railroad attorneys. Among the concessions which he secured at that time was a grant of ten thousand acres for every mile of a branch line to be built from Red river through eastern Texas to Sabine Pass, a distance of four hundred miles, and another grant to a subsidiary company of the Atlantic & Pacific for a branch from Central Texas to laredo on the Rio Grande.
In the selection of these routes the building of important lines which have since materialized was anticipated, but the promoters of the pioneer projects were robbed of all benefits by the hard fate which precipitated the panic of Black Friday in 1873, just as their projects were getting underway, Mr. Young then being in New York on his way to London to negotiate the sale of the bonds.
He was interested in a number of important enterprises in Springfield and the Southwest in those days. Later he formed a partnership with Col. C. W. Thrasher and the firm of Thrasher & Young held a leading place in the practice here for a number of years. Notable among the matters which they had in hand in the course of an extensive practice was the litigation in connection with the issuance of bonds in aid of the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad in which they won for taxpayers contesting the legality of the bonds in a series of suits extending through about twenty years until a decision was finally rendered in a Federal court in favor of the bondholders as innocent purchasers.
Mr. Young was a member of the Christian church and a Master Mason. He died at his home here in 1886. Among those who hold him in kindly remembrance is Professor Jonathan Fairbanks, who says, “He was a gentleman in every sense of that word, urbane and full of cheerfulness, courteous to everyone, dignified and well poised, big hearted and generous, even to his enemies, of whom he had but few. He was a man of large calibre, capable of grasping any situation, making the most of every opportunity. As his opponents learned to know him they became his friends…”
BRIAN’S FILES
Until his death several years ago, Brian Llewellyn Young of Washington State was a frequent submitter of information and articles to the “Born Young Newsletter.” Brian and his wife Bettina had been avid genealogists for many years. As so often happens with genealogists, this passion resulted in a fascinating collection of hundreds of letters and documents related to the Young families, primarily of Virginia and Kentucky. After Brian passed away, Bettina was kind enough to donate Brian’s collection to me, so that I could share the information with others through this newsletter.
Most of the letters and documents are dated in the 1950s and 1960s. Some are humorous—One researcher offered to repay Brian for his help with a purebred chihuahua, and enclosed a photograph of three miniature pups in a teacup! Others contain a great deal of information, but unfortunately the sources are not always well documented by the submitters. (Let this be a reminder to us!)
In the case of the following family history, the author neglected to include his or her name and address, a date, or any identifying information. Despite the lack of documentation, I decided to share this story with you anyway, because of its entertaining detail which may not have been recorded anyplace else. The yelowed paper is typewritten and appears to be about 40 to 50 years old. Perhaps someone reading this newsletter will be able to connect with a name, location, or other detail included in the article. If you do, I hope that you will let me and our readers know any additional details you have about this family.
Mary Kauffman, wife of William Young, my great-great grandfather [the author is not identified] whose tragic death in a beer vat in the distillery of John Green in which he was employed, was of a Swiss pioneer family of Virginia, of Mennonite faith. Mary’s paternal grandfather was Rev. Martin Kaufman, a Quaker preacher, who was a son of Michael “The Pioneer” Kaufman, who migrated to this country in search of freedom of worship in 1717. According to tradition, Michael was from Grunstadt, Hesse, Germany, on the upper Rhine River. He died soon after his arrival here, about 1718. Mary’s uncle was Rev. Martin “Whitehouse” Kaufman, Baptist preacher, who was the father of Rev. Martin Coffman, Jr., also a Baptist preacher.
Mary’s sister, Nancy Kauffman, married Rev. Jacob Strickler, a Quaker preacher. This Jacob was also Mary’s mother’s uncle, a brother of her mother’s father, Joseph Strickler I. [Are you following?] Joseph I was the son of Abraham “The Pioneer” Strickler, who migrated to this country from Switzerland about 1700. He first settled in Pennsylvania, but soon after migrated to Page County, Virginia, and founded the plantation known as “Egypt,” which to this day is owned by a descendant. Abraham “The Pioneer” Strickler was married to the only sister of Peter “The Pioneer” Ruffner; the Ruffners were Lutherans from Hanover.
From the above, it is easily seen why Mary Kauffman’s son, the Reverend Daniel Young, should follow the cloth. After the death of Mary’s husband William Young in 1821 in the beer vat, Mary lived for a time in Licking Co, OH. In 1824 Mary left her family of six children, ages three to twelve, in the care of her sister Rachel (who had married William Young’s cousin, also named William Young.) Mary moved to western Indiana, where she married a Mr. Howard. She never returned to Ohio to claim her family.
Some years afterward, Mary’s oldest son Daniel Young made the trip to Indiana to visit his mother, whom he had not seen since he was just twelve years old. His mother did not know him when she was confronted by her son. This hurt young Daniel’s feelings to the quick, and he never again went to visit his mother. Always reluctant to discuss his progenitors thereafter, it was not until 1901 in his 89th year that his granddaughter finally obtained a bare story from the old gentleman. Even at the time when Daniel was reciting a little about his relatives, he chose to remain silent about some details.
Rev. Daniel Young did not reveal the full story of his mother’s family. He could not have helped but know who they were, since he grew to manhood with his mother’s sister’s family who had migrated to Licking Co, OH around the same time as his parents… Although his aunt Rachel and his father’s cousin William Young apparently had treated him well during his life within their household, his shame of the way his mother had deserted her children had left its mark upon him. Perhaps he had hoped to keep his descendants in the dark about his mother’s action, and therefore chose to profess ignorance of any of the Kauffman family, save his aunt Rachel.
Whatever was Reverend Daniel Young’s reason for refusing to divulge further his known ancestry, the story has revealed itself now, fifty-three years after the old gentleman’s death.
Great-grandfather Young was indeed a person of high moral standards. He preached hellfire and brimstone sermons wherever his horse took him on his circuit-riding. He was an ardent abolitionist and preached against slavery even in areas where slavery was practiced and pro-slavery sentiment was well-known.
Many was the fight he had to win in order to hold his congregation to hear his sermons. It was not uncommon for him to lay a rock, half as big as a man’s head, on the pulpit alongside his Bible, and lecture the congregation on what would happen if one voice was heard in protest of his sermons. The first person who raised a “rhubarb” in Great-grandfather’s church would be the recipient of a large rock bouncing off his “punkin head.”
Grandfather Joseph Young once told of the time he was attending one of his father’s church meetings, when a man sitting directly behind him rose up and proclaimed that all of Daniel’s words were “lies,” and that if the people present would come to his meeting later that night, he would refute all that had been said and prove Daniel a liar. Whereupon Joseph turned and hung a blow on the intruder that laid him low in the aisle. By the time that Joseph could look up, his father was there beside him, ready to give battle.
Another time, a man broke into the family home, intent upon killing the militant preacher. Reverend Daniel was on the second floor of his home at the time, and the intruder rushed up the stairs and broke down the door to Daniel’s room, without bothering to open it. The two were fighting at the top of the stairs, the intruder with the door in his hand, Daniel with a chair. They both fell to the bottom of the stairs, and when they hit the bottom, Daniel held the door and the intruder held the chair. Great-grandfather downed the man with a blow, picked him up by the hair, and dragged him to the woodpile outside where he picked up a piece of firewood and would have killed him on the spot, had his family not intervened.
Throwing a man or several men out of his congregation during the course of his preaching was certainly all in a day’s work for this old fire-eater.
There is a story within the family that Reverend Daniel was a member of the underground who helped to hide and smuggle runaway slaves to freedom in the North. Many were the mornings that my father’s father and his brother found the horse in a lather when they went to the barn to feed the stock. Once, the buggy fringe was missing some tassles, which the brothers speculated must have come lookse as the slaves either got in or out of the buggy during a hurried trip in the dead of night. Although the members of Daniel’s household were aware that their father was connected with the underground in one way or another and often joked amongst themselves about it, there was never one word mentioned in the presence of their father or anyone outside the family group.
Daniel Young’s feelings against slavery seem odd, considering that both his father’s and mother’s families owned slaves in Virginia before their migration to the north. Daniel’s son, Joseph, also became at least an admirer of abolitionism, for he named his oldest son after Owen Lovejoy, an ardent abolitionist of the time. Lovejoy was an editor and publisher of a paper in a southern Illinois town; he was thrown into the Mississippi River by a mob, along with his printing press. Owen Young’s mother told this fact to his younger brother, my father, during one of their solitary discussions while Martin was still living at home. It is quite probable that even my late uncle did not know how he came by the name Owen.
William B. Young of Chautauqua County, New York
From “Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York,” by Hon. Obed Edson, published by John M. Gresham & Co., Phiadelphia, 1891.
William B. Young has been a resident of Chautauqua County for nearly three-quarters of a century. He is a son of Charles P. and Rebecca (Higbee) Young, and was born in the town of Chautauqua, 29 Aug 1817.
Joseph Young, grandfather of the subject, was a native of Long Island. He was an accomplished cabinetmaker and joiner, which he followed after his removal to Herkimer Co, NY. He was twice married, first to Chlose Griswold, and later to Elizabeth Short, both of whom bore him a total of 14 children. He was a member of the Methodist church and died in 1837.
Sylvester Higbee, maternal grandfather, came from CT to the town of Ellery, where he died, was a deacon in the Baptist church and a whig. His wife was Esther Hines, by whom he reared 14 children.
Charles P. Young, father, was born in 1790 at Killingworth, CT, and after brief residences in Herkimer and St. Lawrence counties, he came to Chautauqua town in 1812 and settled near Mayville, but in 1836 he moved over into Westfield, and again in 1845 into Ripley, where he has since lived.
His son, William, bought a farm of 71 acres, upon which it is supposed an Indian fort had stood. From graves and mounds Mr. Young secured a collection of Indian relics of extraordinary value. He was a democrat and served the town of Chautauqua two terms as justice of the peace. He was a member of the Methodist church, and helped to organize the first M.E. Society at Mayville. He was also a soldier in the War of 1812.
He married first, Rebecca Higbee, and had eight children who grew to maturity, but all now are dead, except four: Julia, married Harmon C. Wade, a farmer at Madison, OH; Maria L., lives in Ripley, and is the wife of Philip A. Rice, who was formerly a wagonmaker but is now a farmer; Rebecca H., widow of Samuel P. Howard; and William B. For his second wife he united in marriage with Polly Hammond. He died on 8 January 1883.
William B. Young was reared on his father’ farm, and being the oldest son was accorded but poor educational advantages, his services being needed at home. He learned the carpenter’s trade, at which he worked until 1846. He rebuilt a saw mill, and operated it for twenty-five years, while timber was plentiful, and later engaged in farming and growing grapes which he has since pursued. The property is located on the shore of Lake Erie, and includes a vineyard of seven and one-half acres.
On 25 Dec 1846 he married Julia Beadle, a daughter of Hoel Beadle, born 20 March 1820, and died 10 May 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Young are the parents of three children, Julia A., born 12 July 1849, married Edwin M. Conley, a prosperous farmer in the town of Ripley—they have one son, Charles, and two daughters, Bessie and Julia; Mary S., born 27 Jan 1854; and William A., born 4 Jun 1859.
- B. Young has seen many changes in this great country. The first census taken after his advent into the county showed a population of twelve thousand, five hundred and sixty-eight souls; today it probably exceeds ten times that number; then the traveler found himself surrounded by almost boundless forests, bumping over rough and muddy roads with only the comforts of an old springless stagecoach; today he can glide through the broad acres of fine farms on rails as smooth as a glare of ice, enjoying the luxuries scarcely afforded by the finest palaces. Education has taken the place of ignorance, and many virtues have superseded old-time vices. Mr. Young is a democrat and served as excise commissioner for three years. He is a genial and entertaining old gentleman, and to visit him is a pleasure.
History Sifter 