THE W.B. YOUNG FAMILY HISTORY

The following history of the life of William Boyce Young was researched and compiled by Delores Young Longworth prior to her untimely death on November 21, 1986.

Delores presented the family history at the second family reunion held in Clermont, Florida, June 27-29, 1981. She told the assembled family members about the difficulty she’d encountered in finding any conclusive information about the life of William Boyce Young. The results of her research begins:

Despite these facts, there is much still unknown about the ancestors of W. B. Young and indeed about W. B.’s own life.  If, as our research has revealed, Retta Lewis was born in 1847 and W. B. Young was born in 1860, both could have been slaves.  Since emancipation occurred in 1865, they could have been free blacks, though.  If these birth dates are accurate, then Retta was 13 years old when W. B. was born. However, some of W.B.’s descendants remember W. B. as the youngest of three brohers, which would seem to indicate that Retta had borne three children by age 13.

What of Retta’s partner in the conception of W.B.?  Who was Ned (or Noah) Young?  Evidence suggests that he was Native American, but of “what nation?”  The consensus seems to be that he was Cherokee, but there is some indication that he may have been Choctaw and Chickasaw.  The Cherokees are found primarily in North Carolina and South Carolina.  If Ned (or Noah) Young was his English name, what was his tribal name?  Native American tribal records cannot be researched without this information.

Another mystery concerns W.B.’s early years.  It is thought that the family spent some time in Sumter County, South Carolina.  Did they?  What years were spent there?  The 1900 census lists a William Young, born in 1878, living with wife Flo and son William Jr., born 1900.  Was this our mysterious ancestor, W. B. Young? And when did they move to Marion County, Florida?  The 1900 census lists a black female, Retta Lewis born 1856 in Florida.  She was 43 years old and living with one Israel Lewis in Fort McCoy, Marion County, Florida.  Three young children, all boys, names Ulysses, Blanda, and Israel were also living in the home.  Born in 1893, Israel, the youngest of the three boys, was seven years old.  A descendant of W.B. remembers Israel, who changed his name to John, as half-brother of W.B.  Can this Retta Lewis be the mother of W.B. Young?  If so, had he already left home?  Then where was he? No W.B. Young appears in the 1900 census for Marion County, Florida, Sumter County, South Carolina or Halifax County, North Carolina.

The mystery of W.B.’s trouble with the law remains unsolved.  It is suspected that at some time during his life, W.B. ran afoul of the law and served a sentence.  No documentation has been located for this. What was the offense?  How long was the sentence?  Where was it served?  The 1880 census lists a white man, Will Young, among the occupants of a convict camp in Sumter County, South Carolina.  Was this our beloved ancestor W.B.?  It does appear that his voting rights were restored and Since then he served on a federal jury. Where are these papers?

Records indicate W.B. was born in 1850 and fathered the first of the Young tribe in 1909 at the age of 49.  Until his death at age 96 years, his whereabouts and activities are verifiable.  But what of the first 48 years of his life?  And what of his ancestors, both Native American and African?

The answers to these questions are undoubtedly contained in various records and documents of the U.S.A., but until the descendants of the mysterious and beloved W.B. Young can locate them, the Schaumburg Collection will have to wait for this very important family history.  Time, however, is on the side of W.B.’s descendants, who will continue in search of their family’s mysteries.