Hon. John B. Young
The paternal great-grandfather of our subject, Daniel Young, emigrated from the north of Ireland to the state of New Jersey prior to the Revolution, in which he was a soldier in a New Jersey regiment. He was a pensioner, and died in Adams County, Ohio, and is buried in the Foster cemetery, in Greene Township. His son, Thomas W. Young, was born in New Jersey, September 4, 1783, and died January 10, 1867. He was the grandfather of our subject, and his wife was Mary Finney, who was born in Ireland February 11, 1788, and died in 1870. She is also buried in the Foster cemetery. Daniel Young, father of our subject, was born October 27, 1813, in Pennsylvania; and died in Adams County April 18, 1850. He married Clarinda Brooks, who was born in Chemung County, New York, March 9, 1811, and died September 14, 1860.
John B. Young was born February 19, 1839, in Jefferson Township, Adams County, Ohio, where he has ever since resided. When he was eleven years old, his father died, and John B. was put under the charge of a great uncle, George Young, with whom he made his home until his sixteenth year. After working for a few months for Daniel Spurgeon, he returned to his mother's home, where he remained until she married John Scott. In April, 1859, he entered school in West Union under the tutorship of the late Judge J. L. Coryell, and prepared himself to teach in the country schools of Adams County, receiving his first certificate to teach in the year 1859. While under the instruction of Judge Coryell, the latter became a candidate on the Democratic ticket for the nomination for county auditor. He was anxious about the delegates from Jefferson Township, and sent our subject there to try to secure the pledges of ten delegates which were needed to insure the nomination for the judge. After much politica! wire-pulling, eleven pledges were secured, and the judge was assured the coveted nomination. This was the first political work of our subject beyond township affairs, and he had not then attained his majority.
In September, 1859, he began teaching in Jefferson Township at twenty-five dollars per month, paying five dollars per month for boarding. He continued teaching as a profession until he enlisted in the Civil War, August II, 1862, at Buena Vista, Scioto County, Ohio, under Captain Henry, Company H, 81st Regiment, O. V. I., Colonel Morton in command. He served until mustered out at Louisville, July 13, 1865. During his term of service, he was engaged in the following battles: Tuscumbia, Town Creek, Lay's Ferry, Rome X Roads, Dallas, Siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Station, Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman's March to the Sea, the march through the Carolinas, and Bentonville.
Five days after his enlistment in the service, he was married to Deidamia Thompson, who has borne him ten children—Isaac D., Edmund Lee, Clement L., John H., Inda, Thomas M.. Thomas E., Sarah, Mary and Anna.
In 1883, he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for representative from Adams County in the Ohio Legislature; and after one of the most stubbornly contested political battles, he was elected, his opponent being Robert H. Ellison, of Manchester, a wealthy banker of that place. His record in the legislature was eminently satisfactory to his party, and he was nominated for a second term, but defeated by a few votes in a year in which the entire Democratic ticket was overwhelmed in Adams County. He has held many positions of trust and honor, and has long been a leader of the Democratic party in his native county. He is a member of the Christian Union Church, and has served for years as an elder in that organization.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time-by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers-West Union, Ohio-Published by E. B. Stivers-1900