James G. Young, 1819-1893

Veneta Aldridge McKinney, over at Lamar County Alabama Genealogy Trails, is doing a wonderful service in transcribing and publishing old newspapers of Lamar County.   After transcribing, Veneta also e-mails a summary of the deaths and marriages found in the old newspapers to the Lamar County Rootsweb message board.  As anyone who has ever transcribed old records from microfilm knows, it is a tedious process.  Amazingly, Veneta has done this for the old Marion County  and Fayette County newspapers as well.   If you have any ancestors in any of these counties, it would be worth your while to check out the work that Veneta has done at these linked websites.   Veneta is also the volunteer webmaster for the Genealogy Trails websites for Winston and Walker Counties.

Recently, one of Veneta's e-mails to the Lamar County Rootsweb message board included deaths and marriages abstracted from the 1893 Vernon Courier newspaper.  These accounts are not only informative (great information for the genealogist) but entertaining as well.  Apparently there were quite a number of marriages where the bride had to slip around her parents to get married, including one young woman who "ran away" on the train to get married in Mississippi.

The Vernon Courier reported the death of James G. Young in its February 9, 1893 issue.

VERNON COURIER
Feb. 9, 1893

Mr. JAMES G. YOUNG, a well-known citizen of Pine Springs beat departed this life last week.  Mr. YOUNG had long been a citizen of the county and his death will be keenly felt by a host of friends. 

James was the uncle of my great-great grandmother Rachel Young Loyd (brother to William A. Young).  His tombstone is pictured above, photographed just this past spring when Karol Squier, another Young descendant, and I visited Wesley Chapel Cemetery in northwestern Lamar County.  James was born February 22, 1819 and died January 30, 1893.  He was the son of James A. and Mary "Polly" Green.  Some researchers indicate that his full name was James Green Young, but I've also seen Gilbert as his middle name. 

This Young family was originally from Abbeville District, South Carolina but in 1810 are found in Warren County, Kentucky where Rachel's father, William A. Young, was born.    The family made their way southward - by 1830 they are found in Marion County, Alabama (later part of Lamar County) although later records show some of them (including my line) moved just over the line into Monroe County, Mississippi.    In fact, Wesley Chapel Cemetery is close to the Mississippi line and contains the graves of many Young relatives.

Thanks, Veneta, for all that you do!