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Parents, French Line, and Immigration Story
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Nicholas Young's Parents, French line, & Immigration Story
EXPLANATION A good portion of this web site is aimed at sharing the documentation of Nicholas Young's siblings and parents. Information found in family letters has made that documentation possible. After researching five of Nicholas Young's siblings (Thomas, Peter, Susanna, Nicholas Augustus, and John Nicholas Young) using U.S. records, my sister and I had a comprehensive understanding of when each sibling had been born, when most of them had immigrated, their parents' names, and where the family had originated in France. We also knew that the family name Jung had changed to Young after they immigrated to the U.S. With this knowledge, we were then ready to search French records, which could be done at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Before we even had a chance to begin our search for French records, we discovered that French researchers had already researched this Jung family and had already organized Nicholas' ENTIRE French line, in some cases dating back to the late 1500s. I discovered this one day while searching on www.geneanet.org, where I found a user-submitted family tree contributed by Henri-Charles Dahlem (see Mr. Dahlem's trees). I quickly learned that Mr. Dahlem had put the information on the internet, but he had not done the research. The research was done by Joel Beck, whom I understand is a volunteer associated with a genealogical society near Bitche in Moselle, France (Cercle Genealogique de Pays de Bitche). He used Catholic parish records, civil records, and departmental records to compile his research. His work appears to be solid. Joel Beck is a published author, and he has published two books which contain the genealogy of Nicholas Young's French line.
I have not been able to find these books in U.S. markets. I had to order them directly from the author, and they were shipped to me from France. It is my understanding that as of this writing in Sept 2006 that copies are still available. If you would like to order these books, contact Joel Beck (email joel.beck@free.fr or see Joel Beck's web site).
See Joel Beck compilation of French records showing Nicholas Young's family prior to their immigration to the U.S. When U.S. records are compared with French records, all but one thing matches up beautifully. The one thing that does not fit is Nicholas Young's New Orleans birthplace. He is commonly documented as having been born Mar. 06, 1846 in New Orleans. Based on what we now know, I contend that he was born Jean Nicolas Jung in Rohrbach-les-bitche, Moselle, Alsace-Lorraine, France on Mar. 01, 1846, son of Jean Jung and Jeanne Eb/Epp, and that he came to New Orleans as a small child. He must have considered himself as being "from" New Orleans. See a comparison of French records and U.S. records Although most of Nicholas Young's U.S. records list his birth as being Mar. 06, 1846 in New Orleans, there are two U.S. records which suggest otherwise. In the 1920 federal census, Lucretia Young McGinnis, Nicholas Young's daughter, indicates that her father was born in France. In Nicholas Young's 1863 civil war enlistment document, he indicates that he was born in France.
Ancestor chart of Jean Jung (Nicholas Young's father) Ancestor chart of Jeanne Eb/Epp (Nicholas Young's mother) Family group sheet of family of Jean Jung and Jeanne Eb/Epp If you are interested in the complete tree, contact me. This story has three men named Nicholas in it (my ggggrandfather, his brother, and his grandfather). To keep them straight, I will refer to my ggggrandfather, Nicholas Young, as Nicholas (MO) because he lived in Missouri. I will refer to Nicholas' (MO) older brother as Nicholas (OR) because he lived in Oregon. I will refer to Nicholas' (MO) grandfather as Nicolas (FR) because he lived in France. Clear as mud? Okay, now to the story. Nicholas' (MO) father Jean Jung and his mother Jeanne Eb were both born in Rohrbach-les-bitche, Moselle, Alsace-Lorraine, France. Jean, the son of Nicolas Jung (FR) and Gertrude Metz, married Jeanne, daughter of Pierre Eb and Suzanne Gurtner on May 19, 1822. Nicholas' (MO) father, Jean, and grandfather, Nicolas (FR), were bakers. Nicholas' (MO) parents had 14 children, four of whom died in infancy or childhood in Rohrbach. There is a 24-year span between the oldest child and the youngest. Jean and Jeanne's oldest son Nicholas (OR) immigrated to the U.S. in 1841 or 1842. Our family story says that after the older Nicholas (OR) had left, the parents had another male child and named him Nicholas (MO). This is supported by Nicholas' (MO) 1846 birth date. There is some indication that a few of the older children may have also come to America prior to their mother's immigration. Nicholas' (MO) mother, Jeanne, was pregnant at age 53 with her last child. While pregnant, her husband died in 1847. Joel Beck's book Les Jung Des origines a nos jours describes the situation Nicholas' (MO) parent's faced, which forced his mother's immigration after his father died (passage in French). My sister-in-law provided the following translation of that passage:
Rohrbach-les-bitche is currently located in the department of Moselle, within the region of Lorraine, in France. It is just miles from the present-day French-German border. The term Alsace (or Alsace-Lorraine) generally refers to the areas around the French-German border. Throughout history, the political borders had changed many times, resulting in parts of the Alsace falling under French control and other parts falling under German control. Borders were redrawn again and again. Consequently, it was not unusual for immigrants from this area to consider themselves either German, French, or both regardless of which country was currently controlling the land on which they lived. For example, a German speaking man living in France may have considered himself German in one U.S. census but French in another census. Also, immigrants from this area may very well have been bilingual, as was the case with Nicholas Augustus Young.
AFTER IMMIGRATION We know from U.S. records that Nicholas' (MO) brother Peter immigrated in 1851 or 1852, and his sister Susanna immigrated about 1850. Whether they came with their mother or separately is not presently known, but the timeframe fits well. We have not found any U.S. record documenting Jeanne Jung having made it to the U.S., but we know that she must have because Nicholas (MO), a young child at the time, made it to New Orleans. By the time Jeanne arrived in the United States in the 1850s, her oldest son Nicholas (OR) had already left New Orleans for San Francisco. There is a very real possibility that he never met his brother, Nicholas (MO). After immigrating, the siblings began splitting up. Thomas, Peter, and Susanna raised their families in New Orleans. Nicholas Augustus Young went to San Francisco and then up to Eagle Point, Jackson County, Oregon where he raised his family. John Nicholas also resided in Eagle Point. Anna raised her family in Live Oak, Sutter County, California and later died in Jackson County, Oregon. My ggggrandfather, Nicholas made his way to Osage County, Missouri. We don't know where the other siblings went. Apparently Nicholas didn't have contact with his family for a period of time. His daughter Estella Young Carwile wrote in her 1964 letter to my grandfather, "He left New Orleans when he was 17 yr old and join the army. He fought for the North & his brothers for the South. He never heard from any of them until I was about grown and I am the youngest child" (see Estella's letter, page 1, page 2, page 3). The siblings and their children reconnected through letter-writing and visits. Family letters document this.
It is interesting to see the repetition of family names in each of the immigrant sibling's families. Anna, Annie, Johanna, John, Augustus/August, Nicholas, John Nicholas, Peter, Thomas, Mary/Mae, and Susanna/Susie were used frequently. |
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Updated September 15, 2006 |