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Parents, French Line, and Immigration Story
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John Nicholas Young
BIOGRAPHY John Nicholas Young was born Jean Nicolas Jung on Sept. 1, 1830 in Rohrbach-les-bitche, Moselle, Alsace-Lorraine, France. John was living with his brother Nicholas Augustus Young in Jackson County, Oregon during the 1860 federal census. Nicholas was listed as a farmer; John as a teamster. Both Young families resided in the Eagle Point area of Jackson County. I have not found any direct connection between John Nicholas Young and Nicholas Young of Missouri. However, I have found evidence that John Nicholas Young was the brother of Nicholas Augustus Young, and Nicholas Augustus Young connects beautifully to Nicholas Young in Missouri. For a more complete explanation of the connection between Nicholas A. and John in Oregon, see Nicholas A. Young's biography. John Nicholas Young married Anna Byrne in St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Jacksonville, Jackson County, Oregon. They did not have any children of their own (see family group sheet). See John and Anna's marriage certificate front & back In the 1870 federal census, John and Anna lived next door to Nicholas Augustus Young's family. Also in 1870, Anna sister Catherine Byrne and her husband Timothy F. Dugan were living with their children in Grass Valley, Nevada County, California. Anna's sister, Catherine, died in Jackson County, Oregon a year later in July 1871, leaving several small children. During the 1880 federal census, John and Anna had two of Catherine Byrne Dugan's children (Margaret and Timothy Charles) living in their household. James Fryer, friend and neighbor of both Nicholas Augustus Young and John Young, made several entries in his personal journal which indicate that the Dugan children had been living with John and Anna in the mid 1870s. The Dugan children's father, Timothy F. Dugan, was still alive while his children were living in John and Anna's household. In fact, Timothy F. Dugan remarried two times following Catherine Byrne Dugan's death. The relationship that John and Anna Byrne Young had with the Dugan children was life-long. When John tragically died after falling from the roof of his barn in Sept. 1898, Timothy Charles Dugan was involved in the estate settlement (see John's obituaries 1, 2, 3). Those estate papers indicate that Timothy Charles Dugan would continue to farm the land. In the 1900 federal census, nephew Tim was living with his aunt Anna Byrne Young. She died at his home in 1906. Not only did John and Anna take in the Dugan children, they also took in a girl by the name of Loretta Bowles who was living with them during the 1880 federal census. The handwriting on that census page is quite sloppy, but it appears that John and Anna were Loretta's godparents. Jacksonville Catholic records as well as entries in James Freyer's journal address her as Loretta Young. We do not know if she was in fact apart of the Young family, or if she took on the name Young after residing in John Young's household. We know very little about Loretta. She was born about 1868 in Oregon. Her father was born in Missouri. We don't know where her mother was born. By the 1900 census, she is not longer with the Youngs. We don't know if she's related to John and Anna or if she was just a child who needed caretaking. One entry in James Fryer's journal hints at the possibility that she may have become a nun, but this has not been documented. If you know more about Loretta Bowles (a.k.a. Loretta Young), please contact me. John and Anna share a headstone in the Jacksonville Historic Cemetery, Jacksonville, Oregon (headstone side 1, side 2). They are buried in what appears to be a family plot, consisting of Dugans and Sidleys. John and Anna's nephew Timothy Charles Dugan married Mary Sidley. Many members of the Sidley family are buried alongside the Dugans and the Youngs.
The land that Timothy Charles Dugan owned is presently a vineyard on Agate Road in Eagle Point (vineyard photos 1, 2). A home, built in the early 1900s, still stands on the property as well as a very old barn. This land most likely transfered to Timothy Charles after Anna's death, but that has not been documented yet. This land is adjacent to what had been Nicholas Augustus Young's land. I would like to document whether Nicholas A. gave or sold some of his land to John (Nicholas A. acquired three land patents; John had none), and if that land then passed to the Dugans.
I found an interesting newspaper story about John Young and what he found while building a home. There happened to be two John Youngs in Jackson County, so I cannot be certain that this story relates to our John Young. However, our John Young's obituary mentions that he had built several houses in the area. The Hanley's farm is located fairly close to where John Young resided. “INDIANS FOUND.—Last week, while R. S. Dunlap and John Young were digging the cellar for M. Hanley’s new house, they dug up the remains of two Indians. The bones appeared to be those of large individuals, and were very brittle, having evidently been deposited there at an early day. Mr. Hanley’s farm is the site of an old Indian burying ground, and the remains of red men have on other occasions been exhumed. It is supposed by some that a chief was at one time buried in that region, and with him several of the fifty-dollar slugs rather abundant in the times of gold; but no one has yet been fortunate enough to find the location.” The newspaper article ran Fri. Aug. 13, 1875 in the Democratic Times, a Jacksonville, Oregon newspaper. Southern Oregon Historical Society acquired the farm. Special events and community activities are scheduled there throughout the year (see Hanley farmhouse photo and barn photo).
Family of John and Anna Byrne Young
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Updated September 15, 2006 |