Documenting the life of my great-great grandfather, William E. Young, has been a challenging project. William had two sons by Charlotte Bromley of Steuben County, New York. The first son was William E. Young born in 1860, and the other was my great-grandfather, Charles Henry Young, born in 1862. The story passed down through the family was that Willis joined the army and died in the Civil War. Thanks to the diligent efforts of Burl Young, (my cousin once removed), Guy and Juanita McConnell (my second cousin and her husband) there is now a mountain of evidence that reveals a much different story.

Willis E. Young was born in Steuben County, New York, on 29 Dec 1829¹ to James Benham Young and Sarah L. (Curtis) Young.² Willis apparently moved to Trumbull County, Ohio, about 1857. Charlotte Bromley also appears to have left New York at this time, likely with Willis. No marriage is recorded in Trumbull County and the Steuben County marriage records are missing for this period. Willis went by the name William E. Young after he went to Ohio. He is almost certainly the William Young who filed for a pension in 1878 while living in Missouri.

An affidavit by James C. Berry on behalf of William E. Young's Civil War veteran pension application says the following:

We learn from William's pension application that William was a lumberman when he enlisted on 5 Oct 1861.⁴ If Berry had known William for four years, then it is possible that William had been in Trumbull County as early as 1857.

Charlotte was born 8 Nov 1839 and was the daughter of Jonathan and Polly C. (Ray) Bromley.⁵ Frank Bromley, Charlotte’s brother, made the following statement in an affidavit concerning the settlement of Jonathan’s estate.

William and Charlotte Young were living in Trumbull County, Ohio, in the 1860 Census taken in June of 1860. William is listed as age 28 and Charlotte as age 20. There is an infant in the household, age 5/12 of a year and female. No name is given for the child. William Edward Young, Jr., was born 14 Jan 1860. The child is surely William, Jr., even though the census taker misreported the sex of the child.⁷

According to the James C. Berry affidavit, William was working for Ephriam A. Brown of Bloomfield, Trumbull County, Ohio. Ephriam’s father was also named Ephriam Brown and was one of the earliest settlers of Turmbull County. Ephriam, Sr., had a lumber mill built during the early part of the century and appears to have passed it on to his son Ephriam.⁸ It is possible that this Brown family was related to Charlotte.

Charlotte’s paternal grandparents were Christopher and Esther (Herrick) Bromley of Preston, and later Norwich, New London County, Connecticut. Christopher died seven months before Jonathan was born. Esther remarried a man named Brown whose first name I have not yet determined.⁹ Ephriam Alexander Brown, William's employer, was born about 1808 in New Hampshire and his mother appears to have been Mary B. Brown, born about 1788 in Connecticut.¹⁰ I strongly suspect that the Ephriam Brown family was somehow related to Esther (Herrick) (Bromley) Brown. Esther Herrick also had a brother, Asa Herrick, who migrated to Ashtabula County, Ohio. Ashtabula is Trumbull’s neighboring county to the north.¹¹ Asa's will was probated in 1822 in Trumbull County, Ohio.¹²

As already noted, William joined the Union Army in late 1861. At the Second Battle of Bull Run, on the second night (probably 28 or 29 Aug 1862), William was on his horse when it was hit in the head with a cannon ball. The horse fell on him and wounded his arm. He was taken to the hospital the next day. The arm did not heal just right and while recuperating William came down with jaundice. He was discharged from the service on 13 Nov 1862.¹³

According to William’s affidavit:

During this period, Charlotte returned briefly to Steuben County, New York, after 1862 and then returned again in 1868, according to Frank Bromley’s earlier statement. It was during this time that she gave up her two sons for adoption to a Catholic charity in Chicago. The boys were taken in by Dr. D. L. Benson of Perry County, IL. Frank Bromley says that Charlotte stayed in Steuben County for six more years until about 1874. She went to live with her boys in Wright County, Missouri, in the early 1880s. Dr. Benson had moved his family there a few years before.¹⁵ Charlotte’s whereabouts are not known between 1874 and her move to Missouri. She died at Wright County, MO, on 20 Oct 1884.¹⁶

Meanwhile, William had another family with at least two children of his own. He was listed in the 1880 US Census in Saline County, Missouri. His wife was Henrietta, age 30. He had three sons listed. The oldest son was 12 years old and was born in Missouri. Unfortunately, the name is hard to read. The soundex record calls him Stephen. Next there is a son William L., age 11, followed by Benjamin F., age 2.¹⁷ From William's probate records we know that a fourth son named Joseph was born about 1880.¹⁸ I suspect that Stephen and William Leslie were not William's natural children for reasons given below.

Henrietta died 18 Aug 1885 and William died 13 Jan 1886.¹⁹ Ormand Hupp made application to take custody of the minor children on 18 Jan 1886. Three children were named: Leslie, about age 14, Benjamin, age 9, and Joseph, age 7. It was noted that Leslie was living with his grandfather in New York. Stephen must have moved on by this time. If the 1880 Census is correct, then Stephen was likely 17 or18 years old. However, if Leslie was William L. (William Leslie?) then he should have been about 16 or 17 years old not 14. Since Leslie was not present for the census and may have been away for a few years, it is possible that Leslie's true age was not known.²⁰

From an examination of James B. Young's will of 18 Aug 1891, we know that James had a son William E. Young (deceased) and two grandchildren, surnamed Young, whose whereabouts were not known and parentage was not identified. These were two males named B. F. Young and Joseph Young. Surely, this was the William E. Young of Saline County, MO, and his two sons Benjamin F. Young and Joseph Young.²¹

The children of Charlotte Bromley listed in the settlement of Jonathan Bromley's estate were given as Willis E. Young and Charles Young.²² Furthermore, Freeda (Young) Bowman (daughter to Charles Henry Young and granddaughter William E. Young) named Willis E. Young as the father of Charles Henry Young in his 1956 death certificate.²³ Were William and Willis the same person?

First, I know of no other record that calls Charles Henry Young's Brother "Willis" except this record. Frank Bromley was the likely informant at the settlement. Judging from his affidavit at his father's death, it appears he never met Charlotte's children and did not have personal knowledge of who her spouse was. William E. Young departed New York and was in Trumbull County, Ohio, by about 1857 and Charlotte Bromley left about the same time. Willis E. Young left by 1858. Mary E. (Smith) Young (Willis' wife in Steuben County, NY) testifies in a divorce decree filed in January of 1869 that she had not seen her husband Willis for more than ten years.²⁴ It is possible that Frank confused William and Willis and knowing that Charlotte named her first son after her mate, called him Willis. It is also possible that Frank knew that Charlotte's husband was Willis and was not aware, or forgot, that Willis changed his name to William. Any way, we do know that Charles H. Young's brother was named William Edward Young.

Second, how did Freeda Young know the name of her grandfather since her father, Charles Henry Young, likely had not seen his father even as a small infant? Charlotte (Bromley) Young, Freeda's grandmother, had died in 1884, two decades before Freeda was born. It seems that Freeda's father must of have been the source. Her father's source almost certainly was his mother who died when he was about 22. She would obviously be a knowledgeable source. However, the death certificate information would be third hand information and it is possible the story was confused along the line. When we consider that both Frank Bromley (definitely) and Charles Young (apparently) thought that Willis was Charles' father, it might be that Charlotte was claiming Willis as her mate. A possibility is that Willis and William were twins since census records seem to indicate they were about the same age.

A crucial piece of evidence is the 1840 Census. The censuses taken before 1850 did not list individual members of the household. They listed the head of household and then the number of males and females in each age category. The age categories were in five year increments for people under twenty years old. The 1840 Census for the James B. Young household suggests six children.²⁵ There were two daughters. One daughter was 5-9 years old and the other daughter was 0-4 years old. This fits perfectly with Elizabeth who was born in 1833 (age 7) and Sarah who was born about 1839 (about age 1). Four sons were suggested. Two were 5-9 years old and two were 0-4 years old. This fits with Willis born in 1829 (age 10), Curtis born in 1831 (age 9), James born about 1836 (about age 4), and Charles born about 1840 (under 1). We know from censuses and other records that Willis was born about 1830 and that William was born in December of 1829. There is no room in the 1840 Census record for twins, yet the James B. Young will claims both Willis and William as sons and claims their children as his grandchildren. The most likely explanation is that William and Willis were actually the same person. The fact that Willis Young seemingly disappears after about 1855 and no record of William Young can be found before 1860 also points in this direction.

If they were the same person, then that that means that Willis/William had three other children by Mary E. (Smith) Young: Elliot Eugene, John E., and Catherine E.²⁶ Willis and Mary E. Young are listed in the 1855 New York State Census, two households away from Willis' father James B. Young. Some of Willis' younger siblings are living in his household. E. E. Young is listed as a daughter (should be a son).²⁷ Mary reappeared in the 1865 Census in the household of James B. Young as a "daughter-in-law." Her children were Eugene, John, and Catherine.²⁸ No husband is present. Then there is the 1891 will of James B. Young which lists grandchildren Eugene, John, and Catherine (Young) Barnum, as children of his son Willis E. Young. The same will lists William E. Young as a son. Next to William are listed grandsons B. F. Young and Joseph Young.²⁹ We have already established that James could not have had two sons born about 1830. Once again the evidence suggests that William and Willis were the same person.

A curious problem is the identities of Stephen and Leslie Young, born about 1867 and 1869, respectively. William's two sons Benjamin and Joseph were not born until about 1879 and 1880 respectively. Why the ten year gap between sets of sons? The census says that the sons were all born in Missouri yet William gave testimony that would not place him in Missouri until about 1873. Furthermore, why was Leslie living in New York while his brothers were in Missouri? Is it possible that Stephen and Leslie were from yet a fourth marriage by William? If so, why are they not mentioned in their grandfather's will. Did Henrietta have two children by an earlier marriage and the two sons were given their step-father's name? These issues remain unsolved. I suspect that Henrrieta's maiden name was Hupp and that she was a sister to Ormand Hupp who became guardian of Benjamin and Joseph at William's death.³⁰ Ormand is in the Saline County, MO, 1870 Census and has a sister named "Harriet" age 19.³¹ I know little else about this family other than that Benjamin died 22 Jul 1895.³²

The will of James B. Young lists a Lester Young as a son of Willis E. Young.³³ The divorce decree of Mary E. (Smith) Young lists only three children named Eugene, John, and Catherine.³⁴ Mary reports that she had given birth to only three children in the 1865 New York State Census.³⁵ Did Willis have another family? If so, who and where was his wife? What became of Leslie? Are Lester and William Leslie the same person?

Finally, where was Charlotte (Bromley) Young in the years between giving up her boys and moving to Missouri in the early 1880s? Did she and William ever marry? Where and when?

These and many other questions need answers.

1. WILLIAM EDWARD³ YOUNG (JAMES BENHAM², PETER¹) was born December 29, 1829 in Addison, Steuben Co, NY, and died January 13, 1886 in Saline Co, MO. He met (1) MARY E SMITH October 26, 1849 in Huron Co, OH. He met (2) CHARLOTTE VIOLA BROMLEY Bef. 1860 in Trumball Co, OH, daughter of JONATHAN BROMLEY and POLLY RAY. He married (3) HENRIETTA HUPP Bef. 1879.

Children of WILLIAM YOUNG and MARY SMITH are:

Children of WILLIAM YOUNG and CHARLOTTE BROMLEY are:

Children of WILLIAM YOUNG and HENRIETTA HUPP are: