The Young Families of Early Giles County, Tennessee. Including Many Early Young Families of Surrounding Counties. John E. Young, Second Edition. Two Volumes
(C. Avis Catalog entry #1349)
Extract from the book (unknown pages) found posted on WikiTree.com. Some formatting done for readability.
Nathaniel Young
Nathaniel Young [y1a], son of William Young, Senr and an unknown mother, was born about 1750. His birth date is just an estimate since he was likely age 21 or older when he married, and had a son born in 1774. Therefore, Nathaniel's birth year was in the early 1750s, or before. He spent most of his adult life in 96 District of South Carolina Colony in what would become Spartanburg Co. in 1785, and probably in Union Co. since it was just a short ride to the east.
Nathaniel married Patty Crawford about 1773 and they lived along the James Creek branch of the Tyger River.
Nathaniel was on the British side during the Revolution. There were only two men named Nathaniel or Nathan Young living in South Carolina Colony in these years. Nathan was granted land in the colony in future Abbeville Co. south of Spartanburg Co. from 1767, and in 1784 for service performed in the Militia; a British sympathizer would not have been granted government land after the war. There was a Lieutenant Nathaniel Young of the Spartanburg area named as a member of Major Zachariah Gibbs' Loyalist Regiment (English) for the last six months of 1780. Some of the other members of this roster were Captain William Young (a Major in 1782), Captain Benjamin Wofford (he moved north after the War), Private Nicholas Holley (no doubt the ancestor of the Holley families of Giles Co., TN), George Crawford (who owned land along James Creek, the north west corner of which belonged to John A. Young [Y1], son of Nathaniel, in 1808; see below), and others known to have homes in the Tyger River-James Creek community.
A 22 May 1783 list by Continental Commander Colonel Benjamin Roebuck of the men who sided with the British and who were members of the Spartanburg Regiment shows that William Young, Benjamin Wofford, and Nicholas Holley were alive then, while Nathaniel was dead, having died in the line of duty. In March 1787 his widow, as administrator of Nathaniel's estate, was sued in the Spartanburg Co. courts by John Langston for Nathaniel's debts. In 1790 Patty was living two doors from Nathaniel's brother Richard, with her children. In 1800 she was not found, so could have remarried or been living in the household of a relative.
Sixty-six acres of James Creek-Tyger River land was sold by William Young Senr's grandson John Archibald Young [Y1] son of Nathaniel, on 23 December 1808 in which the land was described as being "at the north west corner of a tract of two hundred acres originally granted to George Crawford beginning at said corner on a hickory tree near James Creek." This 200 acres was part of Crawford's land obtained in the 1760's after 1764. Since at most only one generation had gone by before Nathaniel took title and passed it to John, Nathaniel must have obtained the 200 acres from George Crawford himself. It would be very likely that Nathaniel was George Crawford's son-in-law. The given name of "George" in the Young families of James Creek is only found in the name of Nathaniel's grandson, son of Nathaniel Young Jr [Y2]. It should be noted, though, that the new U.S. government systematically "escheated" land from those who fought on the British side during the Revolution. Since George Crawford would have fallen into this category, his property may have been bought in government auctions by his Continental sympathizing neighbors after the war ended. Nathaniel's relatives (Richard Young? William Young Senr?) may have bought George Crawford's escheated land in a government auction and passed it to Nathaniel's children. Or it may have been Nathaniel's and George's land which were both escheated, and bought and then passed back to Nathaniel's heirs. There are no records to show this, but these kind of events were common. Since William Young Senr's will does not mention Nathaniel, Patty, or Nathaniel's children, William may have already provided land for Nathaniel before the will was written, and then there was no need to mention Nathaniel by name in the will. It was common in wills of the pre-20th Century to not provide for the eldest children in the parents' will because the older children had already received their inheritance upon reaching adulthood and/or upon getting married.
The 1790 census indicates that there were only six children in Patty's household, but could easily have a seventh who was old enough to have moved from his parents' home by 1790. There are many deed records of the early 19th Century in which a William Young was a witness. It would be expected that Nathaniel would name a son after his father, so it is here assumed that the unexplained William was Nathaniel's eldest child. The seven children of Nathaniel and Patty were:
1. William Young, b abt 1772
2. John Archibald Young [Y1], b 1774
3. Nathaniel Young [Y2], b 1777
4. Joseph Young [Y3], b 1780-1781
5. Thomas Young [Y4], b 29 Jul 1781
6. dau Young
7. dau Young
See the Loyalist List following the Major Thomas Young Memoir for a list of those British Loyalists in this part of SC who were killed by the Colonists during the War.
See the biography of Captain Isaac Young for possible ties to Nathaniel.
Crawford family
The above George Crawford is also listed as a member of those Loyalists who went to Orangeburg, SC with Lieutenant Colonel John H Cruger after the evacuation of Fort Ninety Six, and received six months pay for the latter half of 1780. There were other Crawford men and women listed as Loyalists in SC. In 1768 George Washington, and Captain William Crawford of SC who had accompanied Washington on the expedition against Fort Duquesne in PA ten years earlier, set out to buy up large tracts of land in the Pennsylvania Colony. Any relationship between both of these Crawford men is unknown.
The Orange Co. VA Order Book 2, on 24 Jul 1740 (Page 211), states that Patrick Crawford made oath that he, Ann, James, George, Margaret, and Mary Crawford came from Ireland to Philadelphia, and then came to Virginia Colony. It is not known if there is any connection between the George Crawford just mentioned and the George Crawford of Orangeburg who had land along James Creek in Spartanburg Co. There are probate records dated 11 June 1785 in Abbeville Co. SC, in which a George Crawford's estate is involved. In these records are named Sarah Crawford (the widow?), Richard Nalley, and Abednego Green as administrators. Appraisers of the estate were Joseph Wofford, Thomas Young, and two others. A Joseph Wofford was a witness to a land purchase between Bezin Holland and wife Mary to Richard Young in Spartanburg Co. in December 1796; Benjamin Wofford lived close to Richard in 1790. Appraiser Thomas Young may have been the brother of Richard and Nathaniel Young.
In Feb 1833 the estate of a Joseph Crawford in Abbeville Co. paid W. A. Young $2.25. The records named Joseph Crawford's daughter Isabella, a minor in Dec 1831. W. A. Young could be the son of Richard Young who was Nathaniel Young's brother. (61,NY, MD, GE,JE, 1aeyz)
Joseph Young
Joseph Young [Y3], son of Nathaniel Young and Patty Crawford, was born in 1780 or 1781 in 96 District (which became Spartanburg Co. in 1785) in South Carolina. Since census records indicate that Joseph's birth date is very close to the 29 July 1781 birth date of his brother Thomas [Y4], they may have been twins.
Joseph moved to Maury Co., Tennessee with his brother Nathaniel in 1805, or soon after. He was named with Nathaniel to serve on jury duty in March 1809 in Maury Co. (see Nathaniel's biography). Joseph moved to Giles Co. by 1820, and bought 200 acres at Bradshaw in May 1821. He was summoned for jury duty in Giles Co. in August 1824 and was a farmer.
He married Sarah "Sally" _____ by 1808. Since he lived in Maury Co. about 1808, and there is no record of his marriage in that county, they must have married in Spartanburg Co. soon before coming to Tennessee. Sally was born 24 January 1786 in South Carolina and died in Giles Co. on 15 July 1857. She was buried in Center Point Cemetery at Bradshaw, about two miles from the home of Joseph's brother John Archibald Young [Y1].
Joseph was a devoted family man; he and his son posted bond as guardians of William A. Young [Y1b1], "orphan of John Young deceased" in November 1838. And on 12 September 1857, he gave land and slaves to his two children.
On 23 December 1858 Joseph was married (by L D Harwell) to Lucy McKnight. She was born in North Carolina in 1803. Joseph and his new wife Lucy were not found after 1860. Because of his advanced age, Joseph had probably died in the 1860's at Bradshaw where he lived for over forty years. Since his first wife and his brother Thomas are buried in Center Point Cemetery, Joseph was probably also, even though his grave has not been found. His known children were:
a. William C Young, b 1809
b. Nancy Young, b abt 1809 (VS,1z, 10y, 15iknqzmcy)
Spartanburg Co., SC Names
There were two or three groups of Young families in Spartanburg Co. in the pre-1820 years. It was just one group who moved to the Giles Co. area of TN. Those in the northern edge of Spartanburg Co. did not move to Giles Co.; those at the east center edge of the county did.