Life History

Other facts

Notes

• Thomas B Young married Catherine Brandon.  He died before Catherine wrote her will in August 1813.
  
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  Mary Ann Young's parents were Thomas Young and Catherine Brandon.  Mary Ann and her sister Lettice both married Gregorys.  Mary Ann (sometimes written as Marian) married Robert Gregory (born about 1790), son of Isaac Gregory (born about 1729-1734).  Mary Ann Gregory and her sister Lettice (Letes) Gregory were both named among the children of Catherine Brandon Young in her will.
  
  Will of Catherine Young (Catherine Brandon Young Gregory)
  Union District (later Union County), South Carolina
  Named in the will as children (in this order):
  Elesebeth Young
  George Young
  Mary Ann Gregery [sic]
  Letes [Lettice] Gregrey [sic]
  Thomas Young
  Jane Steen
  Elenor Cunningham
  Christopher Young
  Rachel Young
  Ruth Young
  Christopher Young named executor of the will
  31 August 1813
  From Typescript of orignal
  Original will recorded 6 January 1815 in Union District, South Carolina, Will Book A, pages 305-307, Estate Packet: Box 7, Pkg 33
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  Thomas B Young
  Birth 1720
  Death 1791
  
  Thomas Young, Esquire, is sometimes mistaken for his son, Major Thomas Young, in some genealogies. Thomas Young senior played no role in the Revolutionary War, other than supplying provisions to the militia and Continental forces; he describes himself in his own will, dated 1778, as "...sick in body...". He does appear on the Anson County militia list, in 1759, serving, however, as a private, under Captain Edward Musgrove (Anson County is part of North Carolina, but at the time extended into what today is much of northwestern South Carolina).
  
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  Biography of Thomas Young, Esquire
  
  Thomas Young, Esquire, was born about 1720 in Pennsylvania. He was raised an Anglican, becoming an Episcopalian when that church was established about 1787 (his son Major Thomas Young identifies him as an Episcopalian in his memoirs). Some histories claim that his was descended from the Scottish Lamont clan, and that his family came to America via Scotland, but the error that story was based on was discovered, and the story disproved, decades ago.
  
  Thomas' Anglican religion (and the Tory sympathies of his brother William's family during the Revolution - see below) confirms that he was English, not Scotch-Irish (Presbyterian) as were many of his neighbors, nor Irish (Catholic). Based on a family history related by Thomas's son William Young, and written down by William's grandson the Rev Capt William Young, the family had to flee England "to avoid Cromwell's axe" (which also confirms that the family were originally Anglican, and Royalist). Because of their Royalist/Anglican sympathies, they certainly would have faced persecution under the Parliamentary government of Oliver Cromwell, including perhaps being dispossessed of hereditary lands, if not worse. During the period following the execution of King Charles I, from 1650 to about 1670, a large migration of dispossessed Anglicans to Virginia occurred, mostly from from strongly Royalist Southwestern England. Virginia was friendly to Royalists, in contrast to the colonies of New England which were strongly Puritan. Pennsylvania, which was later established as a haven for Puritans, didn't exist at the time (it was established in 1681).
  
  According to the history, three brothers, William, George and Thomas, joined this migration to Virginia. The brothers may have come over as children with their parents, but this isn't recorded in the history. The family must have come from a background of some standing, wealth, and education, evidenced later by Thomas Young appearing in the records as Thomas Young "Esq" or "Gent," and his brother William rising to the rank of Colonel with a Loyalist (Tory) regiment. George and Thomas remained in Virginia, while William would later emigrate from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Thomas Young, Esq, was either the son, or more likely a grandson, of this William Young. Thomas had known brothers William, Christopher, and Jesse all born in Pennsylvania; there were probably other siblings.
  
  Thomas's first known son, William, was born to him and his (first) unknown wife in 1744, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (William noted in his application for his soldier's pension that he was born in York County, Pennsylvania, but York was not formed from Lancaster County until 4 years after William was born). There are some clues that Thomas's first wife may have been a Gray or Kilgore. They also had at least one daughter, Jane, who is believed to have married a Kilgore. Nothing more is known of this Jane. Thomas and his 2nd wife, Catharine Brandon, would also have a daughter they would name Jane, born 1759, so possibly this first Jane had died by then.
  
  Sometime about 1754 Thomas emigrated from Pennsylvania to what then was the Royal Colony of South Carolina. He settled in 96 District, in the area that would later become Laurens County. He may already have been married to his 2nd wife Catharine Brandon; the Brandon family emigrated from Pennsylvania to the 96 district at about the same time. Thomas and Catherine's first son, George Young Sr., was born in South Carolina in 1755. In 1764 Thomas moved to the part of 96 which became Union County in 1798.
  
  There is also another story that appears in some histories that the Young family originally settled in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, leaving for South Carolina after a massacre of the settlers there by Indians. That story, however, is easily disproved - the famous Wyoming massacre occurred in 1778, when the Revolution was underway, and more than 20 years after the Youngs had emigrated to South Carolina from Pennsylvania.
  
  Thomas served as a private in the militia in South Carolina; he appears on the Anson County militia list, in 1759, serving as a private under Captain Edward Musgrove (Anson County is part of North Carolina, but at the time extended into what today is much of northwestern South Carolina). Also listed are Christopher, John, James and William Brandon along with Thomas Young. He did not serve during the Revolutionary War (he describes himself in his own will, dated 19 May 1777, as "...sick in body..."). He was, however, a regular supplier of provisions to both the militia and the Continental army during the war. Many records of such transactions exist, and it is in these records that we find references to him as "Thomas Young Esq" and "Thomas Young Gent", as well as the reference to his middle initial "B".
  
  His brother William was Colonel William Young of the Loyalist Tory South Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War. Several of Colonel William's sons also fought for the British; one, Nathaniel, was killed, and another, William Jr., with has company of Tories, faced off against his cousin Major Thomas Young (the son of Thomas Young, Esq.), in a confrontation across a creek - Young was with his company of patriot militia - that ended when one of Major Young's companions put a bullet into the nose of William's horse. Major Young described the incident in his memoirs.
  
  Thomas's wife, Catherine Brandon, was the daughter of George Brandon, and sister of Colonel Thomas Brandon who participated in many well documented battles in the Carolinas against the British in the early 1780's. Catherine died in Union County after 6 January 1815, when she put her "X" on the estate papers of her husband in Union County. Thomas also died in (then) Union District. His will, written 19 May 1777 and recorded 3 February 1791 in Union District, is the oldest will on file in the county; Thomas must have died early in 1791. Witnesses to the will were Thomas Brandon, John Brandon, and William Kennedy.
  
  Thomas and his brother-in-law Colonel Thomas Brandon were among the first settlers of the Union County area of South Carolina; Thomas and his family lived about four miles south of the Union courthouse. He was granted 550 acres on Buffalo Creek in January 1785, which he later sold to Colonel Brandon. Thomas also owned land along Fairforest Creek and at the forks of the Broad and Saluda Rivers.
  
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  A petition to Gov. Arthur Dobbs exists from the inhabitants "on ye frunteers of Anson County" asking for a scout to be appointed and a fort built between the Enoree River and the headwaters of Thickety Creek. It lists George, Christopher and James Brandon, as well as a Wm. Kenedy and Thos. Young. Among the men on the 1759 militia list of Capt. Edward Musgrove, we find a Christopher, John, James and William Brandon along with Thomas Young. Thomas "McClary" is listed as a deserter.
  
  "Union Co. Heritage - SC" Will in Union Co., SC Land grant Jan 1785, 550 acres on Buffalo Creek, later sold to brother-in-law, Thomas Brandon
  
  Spouse Catherine Brandon Young (1731 - 1814)
  Children:
  George Young (1755 - 1833)
  John Young (1760 - 1780)
  Thomas Young (1764 - 1848)
  Christopher C Young (1772 - 1849)
  
  Burial Old Union Cemetery, Union County, South Carolina, USA
  
  Maintained by Kenwg, Originally Created by Drifter & Hammer Jan 15, 2006
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #13029985, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13029985/thomas-young
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Sources

• 1. Find a Grave Memorial Registry