Young, John N. (1844-1924)

YOUNG

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 8/24/2008 at 18:15:46

John Newton Young
Feb 5, 1844 - Dec 28, 1924

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.125, James Twp.)
J. N. Young, farmer, P. O. Oakland, was born in Fleming County, Ky., February 5, 1844, son of James John and Mary J. (Adams) Young, both now living, in Washington County, this State. His father is a farmer, born in 1811, and his mother was born in Illinois in 1818. They had nine children - for sons and five daughters - of whom the sons and two of the daughters are now living. Our subject went to school in Washington County, this State. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the Nineteenth Iowa Infantry, Company C, Capt T. H. Stanton, who was succeeded by Capt. John S. Gray. He was engaged in the siege of Vicksburg, Spanish Fort, Fort Smith and Sterling Farm. He was taken prisoner of war, and held as such for nine months and twenty-three days. He was married, March 29, 1866, in Washington County, this State, to Sarah M. Farley, born in that county February 9, 1848, daughter of Sylvester and Candace (Barnett) Farley, he born in Ohio in 1811, and she in Indiana in 1816. Mr. and Mrs. Young have three children - Jeanette, born October 6, 1868; Minnie Alice, born November 15, 1878; and the baby, born August 5, 1882. Our subject went to Missouri, where he remained seven and a half years, returning to Washington county, this State, where he lived for two years, when he came to James Township, and, in 1878, purchased eighty acres of prairie land at $15 per acre. He set out a good grove, seventy-five fruit trees, built a good house and has made many substantial improvements. He engages in general farming.

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.697)
JOHN N. YOUNG, one of the old soldier citizens of Pottawattamie County, was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, February 5, 1844, the son of John YOUNG, formerly a farmer of that county, who moved to Iowa in 1846 when our subject was but two years old, and engaged in the mercantile business in Washington. After one year, he bought a farm in that county, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was married in Kentucky, to Mary ADAMS, and they had eight children: James A., Robert S., John N., Nancy, Sarah A., Mary, Charles and Addie. Mr. YOUNG was a Scotch-Irish man of German descent, and lived to the age of seventy-two years. He was an industrious man and was respected by all who knew him.
John N. YOUNG, the subject of this sketch, received a good education, attending a college at Washington, Iowa, a Presbyterian institution. At the age of eighteen, in 1862, when Lincoln made his first call for 300,000 men, young John bravely enlisted as a Private in Company C, 19th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served three years. He was in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, was on the Arkansas and Missouri frontier ten months, and was then at the siege and capture of Vicksburg. He was at the surrender of Port Hudson, battle of Sterling Farm, September 29, 1863, where he was taken prisoner, and confined at Tyler, Texas, and Shreveport, Louisiana, for nine months and thirteen days. He was then exchanged July 22, 1864, and went to New Orleans, thence to Barancas, Florida, where he was at the siege of Spanish Fort and capture of Mobile; and here the War closed. He was honorably discharged July 10, 1865, and mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, August 1, 1865. He had two brothers in the War, James A. and Robert S., the former in the 7th Iowa Infantry, and was present at the battle of Belmont, where he was taken prisoner and confined eleven months and ten days in Memphis, Tennesse; Corinth Mississippi; Mason, Georgia; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Belle Island.
After the War, Mr. YOUNG returned to Washington County, Iowa, and, like many of the men who had risked life and health for their country, followed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. In the fall of 1867, he went to Cass County, Missouri, where he bought land and lived seven and a half years. He then returned to Washington County, remaining two years, and in 1878 settled on his present farm of 80 acres in Pottawattamie County, which he has since converted into a well-tilled farm. He has held the office of Assessor two years, Township Trustee three years, and a member of the School Board two years. He is a member of the G.A.R., William Layton Post, No. 358, and in his political views is a stanch Republican. In the days when his country needed his services, he bravely went to the front and did gallant service in the cause of his country, believing that a country worth living for was worth fighting for, and to such men we owe the preservation of the Union and our free institutions. As a citizen Mr. YOUNG has been above reproach, and his name and record should be handed down to the most remote generations.
March 29, 1866, he was married to Sarah A. FARLEY, daughter of Sylvester and Candace (BARNETT) FARLEY. The father was a pioneer settler in Washington County, Iowa, having come from Ohio in 1839 and is of Scotch-Irish descent. He was born in Ohio in 1811, and is still living, at the age of seventy-nine years. He was the father of thirteen children, seven of whom are now living, namely: Nancy, John, Harvey, Noah, Sarah M., William and Andrew. Mr. And Mrs. YOUNG are the parents of four children: Jeanette, Minnie A., Edward B., and Orrin R.