Wesley Bluford Young Jr.

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.

Wesley Bluford Young Jr., son of Wesley “Mike” Bluford Young Sr. and Pearl Durham, was born in Sparta, Hancock County, Georgia, on July 16, 1911. Wesley was the youngest of five children: Ernest W. Young, Thomas Y. Young, Gladys E. Young, Florene M. Young, and himself.

Wesley’s relationship to me is that he is the nephew of the wife of my first cousin four times removed. His aunt, Martha Elizabeth Young, was married to John Wesley Lankford, son of Robert Chester Lankford, who was the brother of my third great-grandfather, James Meriweather Lankford. We have no direct common relative.

On January 2, 1920, Wesley and his family lived on a rented farm located on Stephens Road in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Wesley’s father was a farmer on the home farm, assisted by Wesley’s brother, Thomas. Everyone in the household was literate. However, at age nine, Wesley was not attending school, nor were his sisters, Gladys and Florene. Wesley’s brother, Ernest, aged 21, was attending college at that time.

It appeared that the Young family lived two houses away from the John Wesley Lankford family (enumerated as Langford). However, a closer look reveals that the Lankford family actually lived on Briscoe Road, not two houses away. I checked Google Maps to see how close the two roads are to each other, but unfortunately, Briscoe Road does not show up. John Wesley Lankford’s wife, Martha Elizabeth (Young) Lankford, was the sister of Wesley Sr. 

I have been unable to locate Wesley in the 1930 census, but records indicate he was residing in Bairdstown in 1935. By February 1936, Wesley had relocated to Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia, approximately 77 miles from Bairdstown. On February 17, 1936, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. The Macon Evening News reported his acceptance into the Navy on February 20.

CITY ITEMS. Accepted for service in the U.S. navy yesterday were: James E. Elder, Carl F. Hutcheson, Jr., Atlanta; Cater M. Rountree, Augusta; George M Turner, Jr., Miles F. White, Atlanta; Marvin Stillwell, James A. Wood, Columbus; Wesley B. Young, Jr., Augusta. To conclude the February enlistments Macon men will be accepted today.

On June 12, 1936, Wesley was assigned to the U.S.S. Salinas. Two years into his military service, he was stationed in Norfolk, Norfolk County, Virginia, a major hub for the U.S. Navy. On June 19, 1938, his engagement to Martha Lynn Payne, daughter of Howard David Payne and Bessie Mae Jackson, was announced in The Atlanta Journal:

PAYNE-YOUNG. Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Payne, of Blue Ridge, announce the engagement of their daughter, Martha Lynn, to Wesley B. Young, Jr., of Bairdstown and Norfolk, Va., the marriage to be solemnized in the fall.

As noted in the announcement, they were married that fall. By 1939, they lived on Hamilton Avenue in Norfolk. Their union was blessed with two sons: Richard Ray Young and Wesley Bluford Young III.

On March 31, 1939, Wesley appeared on the muster roll of the U.S.S. Salinas, the ship he was first assigned to in June 1936. He remained on the ship until at least February 1940.

Wesley reenlisted for four years in March 1940 and appeared on the muster roll of the Naval Receiving Station in Norfolk. On April 10, 1940, the Young family lived in a rented home on Lens Avenue in Norfolk. Wesley served as an electrician’s mate in the Navy. He appeared on the muster rolls for the U.S.S. Hilary P. Jones in September and December 1940, and January 1941. On June 4, 1941, Wesley was received at New York, New York on the U.S.S. Catlinn. He transferred to the U.S.S. Tarazed on June 14, 1941, which was commissioned that day. He remained on the ship at least through the end of the year. During peacetime, the Tarazed was used to transport fruit and passengers.

U.S.S. Tarazed (ca. 1942, public domain)

In January, February, April, and June 1942, Wesley appeared on the muster rolls for the U.S.S. Talamanca. From at least March to December 1943, Wesley was on the muster roll for the U.S.S. Perkins, a Mahan-class destroyer that served in the Pacific during World War II.

On December 31, 1943, Wesley appeared on a muster roll for the Shoemaker, California receiving station. By February 1944, he held the rank of ensign, an entry-level commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, equivalent to a Second Lieutenant in other military branches and often referred to as junior officers. 

Wesley, an electrician, was a member of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons in 1944.

On October 3, 1944, Wesley appeared on a muster roll at the Summer Street receiving station in Boston, Massachusetts. Sometime afterwards, he moved his family to Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, where they lived in an apartment on 4th Street NE until at least 1947. Wesley’s father passed away on May 16, 1947, and was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown. On October 23, 1948, Wesley appeared on a muster roll for the Newport, Rhode Island Naval Training Station.

By April 3, 1950, Wesley and his family were residing in the community of Fairfield, near Richmond in Henrico County, Virginia. The census record from that year reflects his service in the armed forces. The 1950 Richmond City Directory showed Wesley working as the assistant officer in charge at the U.S. Navy Recruiting Station in Sandston, Henrico County, Virginia. His wife, Martha, was not employed, and their sons were 15 and 10 years old. 

On June 12, 1956, Wesley appeared on a “List of In-Bound Passengers” aboard the USNS Henry Gibbins (T-AP-183), departing Cristobal in the Panama Canal Zone, with an expected arrival at the port of New York, New York on June 18.

It appears Wesley was traveling home in preparation for his retirement. On June 30, 1956, he was discharged from the Navy after serving 21 years and holding the rank of Lieutenant at the time of his retirement. In the fall of 1957, Martha, a member of the Cradock Music Club, assisted in organizing a luncheon following the first meeting of the season for the club, held in Cradock, a historic district in Portsmouth, Virginia, near Norfolk.

Wesley’s son, Wesley III, married Carolyn Vaughn Frazier, daughter of Raymond Leslie Frazier and Celia Jones, at the First Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, on November 30, 1963. Wesley’s oldest son, Richard, who lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the time, served as his brother’s best man.

Wesley’s mother passed away on December 20, 1969. She was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown.

Wesley, aged 85, died in DeKalb County, Georgia, on November 16, 1996. He was buried at Bairdstown Cemetery following a funeral service held at Bill Head Funeral Home, Lilburn/Tucker Chapel. At the time of his death, Wesley lived in Norcross, Gwinnett County, Georgia, and was a member of the Lilburn First Baptist Church. He was survived by his wife, his two sons, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

References

• Bessie Jackson, Georgia, County Marriages, 1785–1950.
• Carolyn V. Frazier Married, The Daily Advance, Lynchburg, Virginia, December 9, 1963.
• City Items, Macon Evening News, Macon, Georgia, February 20, 1936.
• Martha Young obituary, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, April 5, 2007.
• Norfolk, Virginia, City Directory, 1939.
• Payne-Young, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, June 19, 1938.
• Personal visit to Bairdstown Cemetery, Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.
• Singer Opens ‘57 Season for Club of Music Lovers, Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Virginia, October 3, 1957.
• U.S. Federal Census, Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Fairfield, Henrico County, Virginia, 1950.
• U.S. Federal Census, Morganton, ED 41, Fannin County, Georgia, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Norfolk, Norfolk City, Virginia, 1940.
• USS Tarazed; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tarazed. 
• Wesley B. Young Jr., The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, November 18, 1996.
• Wesley B. Young Jr., The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, November 19, 1996.
• Wesley B. Young, Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1944, 1947.
• Wesley B. Young, Georgia, U.S., Death Index, 1919–1998.
• Wesley B. Young, Norfolk, Virginia, City Directory, 1939.
• Wesley B. Young, Receiving Station, New York, Ny. 30 Apr 1931 to 1 Nov 1946 Part 1, 1 Jan 1939 to 30 Jun 1941, U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949.
• Wesley B. Young, Richmond, Virginia, City Directory, 1950.
• Wesley B. Young, U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850–2010.
• Wesley B. Young, U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949.
• Wesley Bluford Young Jr., U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862–1985.
• Wesley Bluford Young Jr., U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007.
• Wesley Bluford Young Jr., U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949.
• Wesley Bluford Young, 3rd, Certificate of Marriage no. 35352, Commonwealth of Virginia, November 1963.
• Wesley Bluford Young, Jr., U.S., Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 1775–2019.
• Wesley Bluford Young, Massachusetts, U.S., Mason Membership Cards, 1733–1990.
• Wesley Young, Receiving Station, Ntdc Shoemaker, Ca. General Detail Part 4, 1 Dec 1943 to 31 Dec 1943, U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949.
• Young, Frazier Vows Said, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, December 17, 1963.