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Rufus/Buckner/Amaziah/Abiathar Young |
Since the 1980s, there have been two lines of thought of who the father of Amaziah Young was: Buckner Young of Giles Co Tennessee, or Rufus K Young, born in Rhode Island, and who moved to Giles Co between 1813 and 1820. The argument for both cases is presented here. Both Amaziah Young and Abiathar Young had rare biblical names, and when they were referred to as "A Young" in records, no one could be sure if it was Amaziah, or Abiathar. "Abiathar Young" was alive in the 1900 census, in Shelby Co TN, in the Collierville area; and was age 62, born in 1837. That census record shows that his father was born in RI, and his mother born in SC. Rufus Young was born in RI, in an area where there were older men named Amaziah Young; Rufus Young's wife was Rebecca Young, born in Spartanburg Co SC. Masonic Lodge insurance records show that Mr "A Young" died on 19 August 1879, and was affiliated with the Collierville Lodge; the Collierville Lodge also stated that N M Young and A Young affiliated with the Lodge on the same day, 1 April 1870, indicating that they both transferred to that lodge at the same time, from some other lodge. And H C Young was made a Master Mason on 5 August 1870. The actual Masonic records came from Nashville, since the Collierville lodge burned down in the early 1870s, and it has no written records until about 1890. The 1880 census of Shelby Co shows that there were unrelated Young families living there in Districts 1, 3, 5,10 (Collierville), 14, and in Memphis City, but none of them lived close to A R Young, nor was there any indication that the other Young families were connected to A R Young or to Amaziah Young. Also in that 1880 census was "A R Young" in District 10 (Collierville area) and his wife "S A Young." A R was age 42, born about 1837 in TN, with a father born in SC and a mother born in RI. Birth places for the parents were obviously switched in error by the census taker. Next door was Mr "H C Young," age 38 and born about 1842 in TN, with his wife Ruth; H C gave his father's birth place as SC, and his mother's as RI. There was no "N M Young" (named in the Masonic records) to be found in Shelby Co in 1880. There was a Yellow Fever epidemic in the Memphis Area in the winter of 1879-1880. Flora E East, in the late 1960s, said that her great- grandfather Amaziah Young carried food from the Collierville farms to Memphis in a buckboard wagon during the epidemic, and that perhaps he died of Yellow Fever. Flora also said that Amaziah was a member of the Masonic Order. In Shelby Co in 1870, in district 10 (Collierville area), was "A R Young," age 32, and his wife "S A Young," age 25; both were born in TN. Next door was Monroe Young, age 41 from TN and his wife Tirnpa (?), age 38 from KY. Perhaps Monroe was the N M Young mentioned in the Masonic records. A few doors away was John Jarman and his wife Martha, who had a son Leonidas, who married Angeline E Young, Amaziah Young's daughter, at a later date. In Hardeman Co TN (the county midway between Hardin Co and Shelby Co) in 1860 was R K Young, age 65 of NY, and his wife Rebecca, age 65 of NY, and their children. The eldest child shown was named Bethen, age 22. This son was obviously Abiathar, who was born in 1837. So we can be confident that Abiathar was a son of Rufus and Rebecca. Another son of Rufus and Rebecca was Henry, born about 1842. At this time, in Maury Co, was "A Young" age 37, and his wife M E, age 37, with eight or nine children. It would appear that this couple was married around 1842. They lived near Williamsport. ... But at this point, there is no serious evidence that Amaziah was a son of Rufus. Let's look at Buckner Young, brother of Rebecca who married Rufus. In 1860, the last census where Buckner is found, he is in Giles Co, in the Bradshaw Creek area. He is age 60, born in SC about 1800, and he has no wife. Living with him are three young adults, and four young children who could be Buckner's grandchildren. The eldest of the young adults is Nancy E Farmer, age 24, and is perhaps a widowed daughter. The eldest son is age 22. In 1850, Buckner was in Giles Co, age 50 and born in SC, with his wife Frances, age 45 and born in NC. The children range in age from 21 down to 7. One of the daughters is Nancy E, age 17 (probably a correct age). And in 1850 in Maury Co is Amaziah Young, age 27 and is a teacher; his wife is Mary, age 26. Other professions Amaziah has had over the years was a farmer and a stone fence maker. (Rufus Young went to a teacher's college and taught afterwards.) Buckner's occupation was always a farmer, and a bad businessman. And also in 1850, "R K Young, age 57, was a teacher, born in RI; his wife was Rebecca, age 50, and born in SC." They had, at that time, four children with them: Ann, age 20, Angeline, age 15, "Abrathan," age 12, and Henry, age 8. All children of Buckner, Amaziah, and Rufus & Rebecca were born in TN. Now the 1840 census-"R K Young," age 40s, and his wife, age 30s, were in Giles Co. Living with them were a daughter & son, ages 15-19, another daughter & son ages 10-14, a daughter age 5-9, and a son under age 5. Amaziah could have been the eldest boy, and the youngest boy fits the age to be Abiathar. Son H C from later records in Shelby Co wasn't yet born. Also in Giles Co in 1840 was the Buckner Young family; he was age 40s, with no wife, and a male also age 40s (could this be his wife?). The children were three boys ages 15-19, a boy age 10-14, two daughters age 5-9, and a boy & girl under age 5. Since Amaziah would have been age 17 then, he could have been one of the elder teenage boys. Amaziah didn't marry until about 1842. In 1830 in Giles Co (page 165) was "R K Young," age 30s, his wife age 20s, and a girl & two boys age 5-9, and a boy & girl age under 5. Amaziah could be one of the elder boys, and Monroe was of the age to be the youngest son, and Abiathar wasn't yet born. Buckner was also in Giles Co in 1830 census (page 145), age 30s, with one son age under 5; his wife was age 20s, and no daughters. And since Amaziah was born in 1823, and would be age 7 in the 1830 census, then it doesn't appear that Buckner was the father. Land deeds and mortgages often shed light on who family members are. On 11 July 1839, in order to equally divide the values of slaves between the seven heirs of Buckner's father John Young, who died 17 October 1838, Buckner's brother-in-law Rufus K Young sold his wife Rebecca Young's shares of slaves to Buckner for $135 in cash. Witnesses at this recorded sale were Amaziah Young and Joseph East. [This Joseph East was married to Mildred Payne, and was a member of Roberson Fork Church where Rufus Young's family were members.] Apparently Buckner and some of his siblings inherited their father's land, and in the process, Planter's Bank of Tennessee wasn't paid for the mortgage owed against the land since Buckner didn't have enough cash to settle his share of the debt. So he sold some of his slaves to his brother Spencer Young and other brothers in order to obtain enough cash to pay his share of the land mortgage he inherited from his father. In this land record, we learned the names of his brothers and brothers-in- law. This, and similar transactions with close relatives, happened between December 1839 and the summer of 1840. And in June 1841, Buckner still isn't able to settle many debts he owed, so he sells more slaves and farm equipment in order to satisfy his debts. The conclusions from the deeds of the 1839 to 1841 years was that all of Buckner's brothers and sisters were financially successful, but Buckner wasn't. The most successful brother appeared to be Spencer Young. Miscellaneous items: Buckner Young was on jury duty in August 1824. Buckner sued someone in May 1826 for unpaid debts, and won. Buckner was sued in August 1826 for not performing a service he was paid to do, and lost. Buckner Young was appointed to be a constable in February 1827, and in that same month he sold property. He was alive in October 1862 when he bought wheat at the estate sale of Archibald Smith Young, his late brother. But Buckner had died be 22 April 1865. There were no heirs mentioned by name in his estate records. Roberson Fork Church records: Rufus K Young, Amaziah Young were members between July 1836, but removed from membership by August 1841. And during these years, Harriet East (Harried K Young, daughter of Rufus & Rebecca) and her husband "Rewben East" had moved to Waynesboro. Perhaps Amaziah had been removed from the membership because he was by then living in Maury Co to the north, where he married in 1842. By the 1870s, Amaziah had moved to the Collierville area of Shelby Co, as did his brother Abiathar, Monroe, and H C Young. And about 1865 Abiathar's sister Harriet Young and her husband Reuben East and children had moved to Hardin Co, where Harriet's daughter and son-in-law became the Savannah Courier newspaper owners in September 1885, and from the newspaper gossip and other info above, we have put together much of the families in question. On 5 January 1888 the Courier reported that "Mrs. R. East is visiting her brothers, A.R. and H.C. Young, near Collierville, Tenn." On 2 February 1888 "Mrs. R. East who has been visiting relatives at Collierville, returned home last Tuesday." on 16 August 1888 the Courier reported that "Mrs. Mary Young, mother of J.C. Young of this place, left last week to make home with her daughter, Mrs. Porter, of Columbia." Mrs Young was Mary Elizabeth Cherry, Amaziah's widow. J.C. Young was Jeremiah Cherry Young, Amaziah's son. On 18 July 1889 the Courier ported that "Mrs. R. East left yesterday for Collierville to visit her brothers A.R. and H.C Young." On 15 August 1889, "Mrs R. East, who has been visiting friends and relatives in Collierville and Corinth, the past month, arrived home Monday." And on 30 January 1890, "Mrs. Angie East and Miss Nannie East have returned from their visit to Collierville." There were other articles during the 1890 to 1896 years mentioning "J.T. Young" and "J.C. Young" living in Savannah. These were the eldest two sons of Amaziah. On 3 September 1891 "Miss Nannie East is visiting relatives in Collierville." Nannie was a granddaughter of Harriet K Young and Rufus East, so her relatives in Collierville were her cousins and great aunts & uncles on her mother's side. Nannie had returned by the 24th that month, because on that day the Courier has reported that she was then in Wayne Co visiting relatives. The Courier reported on 12 November 1896 that "Mrs. Young, the mother of T.J. and Jerry Young, died last Saturday night." Therefore, from all the above evidence, I think we can definitely say that Amaziah Young was a son of Rufus K Young and Rebecca Young. If you want the biographies of Buckner and Rufus for other information, contact John E Young. Submitted by: John E Young |
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