Forever Young

James Abram Young

Pioneer, Patriot, Soldier, Father, Farmer

James Young was born  August 15, 1750, in Ireland. He married Mary Thompson ( born Feb 15, 1753 ) on September 7, 1773, in County Down Ireland.

County Down was the first Ulster county to be colonized by the Normans. The knight John de Courcey took the area around Downpatrick after the Norman invasion. The county was formed about 1300 and later came into the possession of the DeLacys. Most of this county came to be known as the Earldom of Ulster during this period. One of the new Norman families who settled in the county is Savage. The major Gaelic families were O'Neill, McGuinness, McQuillan, McCartan, and Macgilmore.

In 1569, Sir Thomas Smith unsuccessfully attempted to bring English settlers into the Ards Pennisula and County Down. Hugh O'Neill, the major Ulster chieftain, began a general rebellion in Ulster in 1594. A well-planned plantation of Ulster began in 1609, involving the introduction to the province of thousands of settlers. These were brought in by adventurers who, in return for title to the land, brought in a specified number of settlers to their estates.

One Scottish adventurer, James Hamilton, brought over ten thousand Scots to northwest Down, Scottish names such as Boyd, Fraser, Johnston, Lindsay, Morrison, Patterson and Maxwell are consequently common in Down. English adventurers in Down who brought over English families included Annesleu, Hill and Montgomery. These settlers brought the names Wilson, Johnson, Young, Taylor, Walker, Jackson, Watson, Bradshaw, and Bradford to Ulster

I do not have any information about James Young when in Ireland. Any input will be greatly appreciated. Any photographs would also be welcome.

They came to the colonies in 1774 along with a group of Scottish-Irish Presbyterians ( including the Carmichaels, and Thompsons ) and settled in what is now Prosperity in Newberry County, South Carolina. They built their home and farmed the land.

On March 16, 1776, James enlisted in the 6th South Carolina Regiment and served as a Lieutenant in the regular army during the Revolutionary War until June of 1777. A rifle ball shot to the body wounded him. From then till the close of the war he was a farmer-soldier like so many of that era, serving when called to serve. It was largely because of the tenacity and grit of these farmer-soldiers, that we are free today.

James and Mary raised a family of twelve children. An excellent genealogical flow chart of this family is available.  Data from the James Young Bible is available. Abram ( copy of his last will and testament is available ), the oldest son, was born August 9, 1780. He married Mary Ann Carmichael. They moved to Coweta County, GA  and lived on what is now SR 54 in Moreland, GA. This union produced Joseph Young who was born on July 6, 1819. Joseph married Elizabeth Speer of Fayette County, GA, on June 27, 1850. Their son, James William, married Beulah Lee. From this marriage came Cora ( July 19, 1888 - July 1967 ) who married William Fredrick Creagh Linch of Turin, GA, ( September 16, 1888 - August 17, 1950 ). They had one daughter my mother, Martha Jeanette Linch ( born July 28, 1913 in Coweta County at Moreland, GA, at her grandfather J.W. Young's home ). She married Alfred Alton Franklin of Thomaston, GA, ( April 29. 1916 - September 23, 1987 ) on December 20, 1941. They had one son, Alfred Alton Franklin, Jr. ( born December 15, 1947 in Atlanta, GA ), A family tree of his predecessors and ancestors is available. He married to Melodee Ann Gaffney ( of Tampa, FL ) on January 2, 1971 and they had one son Alfred Alton Franklin, III ( born January 20, 1972 in Tampa, FL).

There was a Young Family Reunion held in 1909.

The pension records, R-11977, of James Young's Revolutionary War service exist in the National Archives.

James Young was granted land in Stoney Hills, Newberry County, South Carolina in 1768. He lived on the Bush River in 1790. In 1796 his wife Mary, conveyed 304 acres on the Bush River to Patrick Carmichael, the father of their son Abram's wife. Mary Ann Carmichael. James Young had 898 acres of land between the Broad and Saluda Rivers.

The Annals of Newberry County ( SC ) page 637 and 638 provide information about the early Young's in SC.

He was one of the first elders of the Prosperity A.R.P. Church. James Young donated the land for the church ( deeded on May 3, 1802 ).

James Young had a sister, Mary Young, who also came to South Carolina. She married Nathan Hunter in Ireland before the voyage.

James Young's grandson, Abram Hayne Young ( som of Thompson Young ) wrote letters to his family from his many battles in the Civil War. He died in the War.

James Young died in South Carolina on September 6,1802, and was the first person buried in Prosperity, SC ( photographs of the cemetery ( he gave the land for this cemetery ) and his grave are available as well as some history of the cemetery  and a listing of the Young family interred there ). A special marker in front of his tomb says, "Jas. was in the 6th Reg. of Rev. War". His wife Mary, is also buried there ( she died Nov 3, 1834 ). There is a memorial stone for James Young at the Whiteoak ARP Church cemetery.

James Young has been used by many, including myself and my mother, for entry in the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).