A BRIEF HISTORY OF THOMAS YOUNG AND HIS DESCENDANTS BY LAURA YOUNG PINNEY SAN FRANCISCO, PRESS OF R. R. PATT.ERSO!'i, 429 MO~TGO:MERY ST. FORE-WORD. T fIE author in presenting to the family of· \ .. oung this Yery incomplete history makes grateful ackno,vleclgment of assistance rendereci in collecting data from James \·oung (no,v de­ ceasedj, James H. \. oung, John ....\.lexandt:_r Young, John Bruce Young, Eliza J. \ .. oung (Gardner), Robert Sn1ith \·oung, Jesse J. Kerr, Elizabeth \·oung De :tt1e, :,Inry E. Smith, Basil Tipton, Helen \Vih,Dn, a:. B. Pinney and Grace Pinney Johnson, and to tho;;e \\·ho haYe a~sisted in its publication : .-\lexauder Hueston \ .. oung, John ....-\.lexancler \. oung, J a1nes H. \ .. oung, Letitia \. oung Palmer, Elizabeth Ste\Yart, Dr. -Tohn X. Smith and Dr. H. il. Pinnev.- The co\·er ,vas designed and presented by Edw·ard Eyestone Young. The facts contained in the little volu~e, though meager, haYe been culled from _many sources and ha\·e occupied much time and research, but it bas been a '' labor of lo\·e, '' and the only regret on the part of the author is that it \\·as not undertaken before so many of those \Yho ,vere familiar \Vith the \ .. oung history, had passed to the great Beyond-to that land ,vhere they are indeed Tdltjours Jeune. LAURA .A.~~ YOCNG PINNEY. SAN FRANCISCO. I. THE name Young, according to the majority of genealogists is of German origin and was first spelled "Jong." In the English form it is variously spelled \'"' ong, \ .. onge, Younge and Young. The earliest record we have of the family in England is that of \Villi le , ... onge of the 14th century. The family names of which this is a history are Thomas Kent, James, John and Alexander. These except Alexander appear in h.1. 0 jsh genealogy as early as the 16th century and in those mentioned in Scotland and Ireland as early as the I 5th century. In Burke's L3.nded Gentry we read of one John Younge, of Landsend, in the parish of Colebrook, ,v hose two sons N atbaniel and James quarreled because of a difference of opinion regarding the execution of Charles I, and for this cause Nathaniel changed the spelling of his name to Young. This is the first record ,ve find of th~ µame spelled in this ,vay, and t!ien~ fa 6 reason for us to believe that upon this incident our name \:. oung is found ed. It is said that thirty coats of arms have been granted to the different branc bes of the Young family in England, this fact is evidence of the high social position of the family in the mother country. Of the early emigrants to America there are several distinct faruilies of Youngs not related to each other in any \Yay. The first in -· point of ti me \Yas Richard Young, \Vho for fifty pounds of English 1none:y purchased two hun­ dred acres of land in the territory of Plymouth, l\Iass, thereby becoming a sharehotier in the company, in the first settlement ot that colony. Tradition gives Captain Thomas Young as the first ancestor of our family in ....\merica, and after careful study and comparison with many authorities, ·we are con \·inced that tradition in this case, is truth. Captain Thomas \"' oung \Vas the son of Gregory and Susannah Voting, of \:... orkshire, Itngland. Gr~gory \"'oung was born at Bedale, \:"orkshire, and died in 1610. His ,vife Susannah died in J015~.... ~nd bot~ a~~ buried a~ St. f~t~rs, <;orµ.., 7 hill, London. \"\~ e have only found the names of three children ; Thomas, our supposed ancestor, Susannah, who married Robert Evelyn and Catharine who married John ::.Iorris. Thomas Young was born August 10, 1579, in London. He obtained a captain's commission from the King, September r633, authorizing him to fit out ships and make explorations in America. Two sons of his sister Susannah, George and Robert Evelyn accompanied him on his expedition. In Vol. III Narrative and Criticai History of America, a letter ,vritten by Captain Young gives an account of this voyage in the quaint language of that period. From this letter we give a few extracts as follo,vs : '' July 3, to,vard sun sett ·we arrived bet,veen the capes which are cailed Cape Charles and Henry. About one of the clock, we came to anchor, the tide being spent, ,vithin three miles of Point Comfort, which is some several leagues from the capes and it lieth upon the mouth of James River, whereon standeth a newly erected fort which commands the river. 11 He also says: 8 '' All my o,vn men on my ship are, God be praysed, in \·ery good health, though my Vice Admiral hath been shrewdlv., visited ,vith a pestilential fe\·er ,vhereof about sixty have been sick and twelve dead thereof. but they are now most of them reco\·ered.' ' Entering Dela·ware Bay on the 24th of July, 1634, he sailed up the river which he named Charles in honor .of the King and by September 1st had reached the falls above Trenton. In a report from this river dated October 20, I 634, he writes : "I passed up this great river ·with purpose to have pursued' the discovery thereof till I had found the great lake from which the great river issues, and from thence I have par­ ticular reason to believe there doth issue some branches, one or more, by which I might have passed into that ::\Iediterranean Sea, which the Indian relateth to be four days journey beyond the mountains, but having passed fifty leagues up the river, I was stopped from further pro­ ceedings by a ledge of rocks which crosseth the river." He then expresses a determination the next suroroP.r to build a vessel above the falls 9 from whence he hoped to find '' a \Vay that leadeth into that !Ylediterranean Sea/! and from the lake. He continues : '' I judge that it cannot be less than one hundred and fifty or t,vo hundred leagues in length to our northern ocean. From thence I propose· to discover the mouths thereof, which discharge both iuto the North and South Sea. In the Historical ~iagazi ne, second series, V oL IV, page 75, the follo\ving sketch of Captain Thomas Young's explorations appear, ·written by --- who offers it as a tribute to the "honor of one of our country's early explorers, but little kno,vn in its annals : " '' Before Calvert and his colony sailed for Chesapeake, Captain Thomas Young of London, a gentleman of influence received a special com­ mission from the King, dated September 23, 1633, and published in Rymer's Faedera au­ thorizing him to fit out ships, appoint officers, and explore all territories in America, with the understanding that his movements ,vould not be impeded by any \vho had received patents for 10 other portions of the country. Among the officers appointed ,'t:ere Robert Evelyn, a nephew of Captain \toung as lieutenant, Alexander Baker of St. Holborn's parish, l\tiiddlesex, released from prison where he had been confined as a recusant, to become cosmographer of the expedition because skilled in mines and the try­ ing of metals; also a man named Scott com- missioned ~s a· surgeon. In July, 1634, \vith two ships, Captain Thomas Young reached J amesto\vn, Va. He remained there only long enough to cC>nstruct a shallop to b~ used in ex­ ploring rivers. \Vhen he sailed up the Dela\vare and establishe::i a post which he named Eri womek. The site of this po;t where Captain Young and his party spent some four years trading ~vith the Indian5 anj \Vorking unpro:itable gold mines, has, been identitied as " \Vhere the Pensauken Creek falls into the Dela·ware, it being one of the centers from \Vhich a colony was to radiate and fill the territory that no\v constitutes Pennsylvania an·a New Jersey, with an industrious and happy people.'' I l From the NarratiYe and Critical Historv of America, Vol. III, ,ve ha\·e still an >th.:!r acconnt of the sam.e expedition : '' Captain Thotnas • Young, of a Yorkshire family and his nephe\v, Lieutenant Robert E\·elyn of \Vooten Surrey, undertoo!: a voyage on special commission of the King, dated Septei:nber 23, r633, to discover parts of America not actually in the po-;-;ession of any Christian Prince. They sailed from Fal­ moutµ. on Friday, ~Iay r 6) t 6 3-t, arriving between Capes Charles and Henry. July 3rd of the same year. They saile:i from Va.. on July 20th, to explore the .Delaware for a pas-,a~e to the Mediterranean Sea, said by the [ndians to be four days journey beyond the mountains. Through this passage they expected to discover an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. On July 25th, they entered Dela\vare Bay and proceeded up the river which they named Charles in honor of the King, conversing and trading with the Indians. On the 29th of August they were stopped by the rocks and shallo\vs since known as Trenton Falls. 12 On September rst thev ,vere overtaken by a party of Hollanders of Hudson River \V horn Captain Young entertained a fe\V days then requested to return, sending with them Lieuten­ ant Evelyn as an escort. They continued their explorations to the mouth of the Schuylskill River where they built a fort and named it Erhvornek, ,vhich they held until about r 642.