Samuel Y. Young

This blog post is another in a series connecting the dots in my tree to the souls buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

Samuel Y. Young was born in South Carolina on September 6, 1824. I am unable to verify who his parents are but another researcher records them as being John Robert Young and Elizabeth Price. The same researcher also records two siblings that I am unable to confirm—David Wesley Young and Martha Caroline Young. I include them here as a hint should I continue to research Samuel, who was the father-in-law of my 1st cousin 4x removed. Samuel’s daughter Martha Elizabeth Young married John Wesley Lankford and daughter Nancy Ella Young married William Mell Lankford. Both John and William were sons of Robert Chester Lankford, brother of my 3rd great-grandfather, James Meriweather Lankford. We have no common relative.

Samuel married Mariet Masena Morgan in Gwinnett County, Georgia on August 10, 1848. Other researchers record Masena’s parents as George Brown Morgan and Rebecca Bonham, but this is another pair that I am unable to confirm. Samuel and Masena had six children together—Amandeline “Amanda” O. Young (born 1849), John Melvin Young (born 1850), George Young (born 1854), Joseph Jerrigan Young (born 1855), James Walton Young (born 1857), and Nancy Ella Young (born 1859).

Samuel and Masena's marriage certificate

On October 31, 1850, Samuel, Masena, and Amanda (age 1) lived in the Goodwins District of Gwinnett County where he worked as a farmer. The head of the household was a 50-year-old widow woman with six children named Sarah Collins. Samuel was unable to read or write. The Thomas D. Young family lived next door. Thomas was 24 years old and born in South Carolina so it is possible he connects to Samuel but I have not found a link yet. If Samuel’s parents and siblings noted above are in fact correct, then his 15-year-old sister, Martha Caroline Young, died on May 10, 1852 and his father, age 62, on August 12, 1852. Both died in Georgia and Find A Grave shows they were buried at the Young Family Cemetery in Four Points, Macon County, Georgia.

Samuel’s wife Masena died in Greene County, Georgia at the age of 32 on January 27, 1860. Her death followed an eight-month illness of scrofula, a form of tuberculosis. Masena was buried at the Young Family Cemetery, but this one on Road 140 in Greene County, just .4 miles from the Oglethorpe County line. There are approximately 50 unmarked graves in this cemetery according to E. H. Armor’s book The Cemeteries of Greene County Georgia. Her tombstone reads: At rest, each of us hopes to join you at last on that beautiful heavenly shore.

Samuel did not wait long before he took a second wife. He married Matilda H. Guill, daughter of Augustus Guill and Martha Milner, in Greene County on March 11, 1860. I guess he needed help with his six children who ages ranged from 11 to 1.

Samuel and Matilda's marriage license

Samuel and Matilda added to the family with four more children—William Henry Young (born 1860), Lula Jane Young (born 1863), Wesley Bluford Young (born 1865), and Martha Elizabeth Young (born 1867). On June 2, 1860, the Young family lived in Woodville, Greene County, Georgia. Matilda’s parents lived next door. Samuel worked as a farmer and had a personal estate valued at $1000. Amanda (enumerated as Mandy), George, and Joseph (enumerated as Jerrigan) were attending school. They shared their home with a 17-year-old female named Jane Morgan and an 18-year-old male named Charles Bagby. Charles worked as an apprentice farmer. 

In April 1862, Samuel enrolled as a private in Company E of the Third Regiment, Georgia State Guards, Carswell’s Brigade, in Lexington, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. He appeared on the muster roll as absent, sick at home, for the period September 15, 1863 to January 31, 1864.

On June 10, 1870, the Young family lived in Maxeys, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Samuel worked as a farmer and had a personal estate of $300. Matilda was keeping house and Amanda “at home.” John and George both worked as farm laborers. James, Ella (Nancy), and William were attending school. A 24-year-old female named Nancy Young was living in the home. I have not determined how or if she connects to the Young family at this point in my research. 

On June 2, 1880, Samuel and his family lived in District 137 of Greene County. Samuel continued to work as a farmer while Matilda stayed home keeping house. Seven of their children were still living at home, four of them adults in their 20s. Daughters Amanda, Nancy, and Lula were enumerated as “at home.” Sons Joseph, James, and Wesley were working as farm laborers. Martha was attending school. Lula, Wesley, and Martha could write but not read. A 23-year-old male named Charles Lankford, with the relationship to Samual enumerated as “employee” and working as a farm laborer, lived in the home. He was most likely the son of Robert Chester Lankford, born April 1857. Samuel was listed on the Woodville, Greene County property tax digests for the years 1880–1883. His household goods were valued at $25, livestock at $100, cotton and corn crops at $10, and the value of property of defaulters not doubled was $10 for a total of $145. He paid $100 in taxes for that period. Samuel was listed on the Bowling Green district, Stephens, Oglethorpe County real estate rolls during the years 1883–1887. His household furniture was valued at $25 and his livestock at $120 for a total of $145 personal estate. There was no real estate listed on the rolls for Samuel at that time so he mostly likely rented his farm.

Samuel submitted a Confederate Pension Application in Oglethorpe County on October 11, 1890. At the time, his doctor swore on oath that when he met Samuel (about 1886), “he was afflicted with asthma and permanently, essentially, substantially, and absolutely unable to do any work whatsoever.” Several members of his regiment signed a certified oath in October 1890 stating that Samuel had no disease when he went into the service. Samuel received an annual pension of $50 until his death in Oglethorpe County on July 31, 1893. His illness began with shortness of breath, first noticed while engaged in the siege of Atlanta. This complaint was caused by exposure from constant confinement in the ditches which could not be covered in the summer of 1864. Samuel was diagnosed with severe asthma and bronchitis. The asthma produced dropsy and heart disease some years prior to his death, rendering him helpless for a long time before he died. Samuel was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Samuel and his wife Matilda were apparently well thought of in the Bairdstown community. When their daughter Martha died in 1922, a burial notice published in the Oglethorpe Echo on June 2 stated, “Her father was S. Y. Young and her mother was Matilda Guill whom most of the older citizens remember with great pleasure.”

Matilda submitted a widow’s pension application in Greene County after Samuel’s death and received a pension of $60 every January, most likely until her death in 1911.

References

• Armor, E. H., The Cemeteries of Greene County Georgia, p. 85, Agee Publishers, Inc., 1987.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52991536/samuel-yancy-young: accessed 15 September 2023), memorial page for Samuel Yancy Young (6 Sep 1824–31 Jul 1893), Find a Grave Memorial ID 52991536, citing Bairdstown Cemetery, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, USA; maintained by Samuel Taylor Geer (contributor 46925792).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54397860/john-robert-young: accessed 15 September 2023), memorial page for John Robert Young Sr. (1790–12 Aug 1852), Find a Grave Memorial ID 54397860, citing Young Family Cemetery, Four Points, Macon County, Georgia, USA; maintained by C. T. Lewis (contributor 46817020).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54397842/elizabeth-young: accessed 15 September 2023), memorial page for Elizabeth Price Young (1 May 1793–3 Jun 1875), Find a Grave Memorial ID 54397842, citing Young Family Cemetery, Four Points, Macon County, Georgia, USA; maintained by C. T. Lewis (contributor 46817020).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54397790/martha-caroline-young: accessed 15 September 2023), memorial page for Martha Caroline Young (28 Sep 1836–10 May 1852), Find a Grave Memorial ID 54397790, citing Young Family Cemetery, Four Points, Macon County, Georgia, USA; maintained by C. T. Lewis (contributor 46817020).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39937348/david-wesley-young: accessed 15 September 2023), memorial page for David Wesley Young (15 Nov 1831–15 Jul 1918), Find a Grave Memorial ID 39937348, citing Winters Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery, Doraville, DeKalb County, Georgia, USA; maintained by Chrysé Wayman (contributor 47104160
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53848096/mariet-masina-young: accessed 16 September 2023), memorial page for Mariet Masina Morgan Young (4 Nov 1826–27 Jan 1860), Find a Grave Memorial ID 53848096, citing Young Family Cemetery, Bairdstown, Greene County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Samuel Taylor Geer (contributor 46925792).).
• Massinah Young, U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850–1885.
• Matilda Young, Georgia, Confederate Pension Rolls, 1879–1920.
• Matilda Young, Georgia, U.S., Confederate Pension Applications, 1879–1960
• Mrs. J. W. Young, Oglethorpe Echo, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, June 2, 1922.
• Samuel Y. Young and Masena Morgan, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Samuel Y. Young and Matilda Guill, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Samuel Y. Young, Georgia, U.S., Confederate Pension Applications, 1879–1960.
• Samuel Y. Young, Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793–1892.
• Samuel Y. Young, U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850–1880.
• Samuel Y. Young, Woodville, Greene County, Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793–1892.
• Scrofula, Cleveland Clinic; https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/25156-scrofula. 
• U.S. Federal Census, District 137, Greene County, Georgia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Goodwins, Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1850.
• U.S. Federal Census, Maxeys, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1870.
• U.S. Federal Census, Woodville, Greene County, Georgia, 1860.
• William Henry Young, Certificate of Death 30-3911, Georgia State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• Wm. Henry Young, Fulton and Campbell Counties, Georgia, Cemetery Records, 1857–1933.