Forever Young: Mapping Connections Between Armuchee Valley Families
This past week, I visited Young Cemetery in West Armuchee in Walker County, Georgia. I always enjoy old cemeteries, particularly those in the Armuchee and Dirt Town Valleys. Young Cemetery is overgrown. It’s challenging to navigate through the graves, and I got stuck by more than my fair share of briar branches… but hiking through the brush makes it that much more my kind of adventure.
My third great-grandmother is Caroline Pracilla Young, daughter of Peter and Rachael Young. She married Francis Marion Holcomb in 1853 (Marriage license). I know very little about Caroline’s Young family, and the recent visit to Young Cemetery is part of an ongoing effort to map out the Young families in the Armuchee and Dirt Town Valley areas. Census records show Caroline’s niece Mary Ellen Young (who married Marshall A. Shelton) lived in the Armuchee Valleys at least starting in 1900, and the 1890 tax digest suggests they were there as early as 1890 (Ancestry.com 1900; 1910; 2920; Tax Digests 1890).
Another Young family in my tree includes Nancy Young (wife of William Foster). Nancy’s son James Young Foster was counted in the West Armuchee Valley in 1850 and 1860 (Ancestry.com).
James Thomas Young is buried in Young Cemetery in West Armuchee. James represents another Young family grouping. At least three of his children lived in the Armuchee Valleys: Jane Young (b.26 Mar 1813, d.25 Feb 1878) was the wife of John Byars Suttle (of the previously mentioned Suttle family); Mary Young (b.15 Jul 1817, d.27 Aug 1890) was the wife of William Marcellus Puryear; and Francis Marion Young (b.12 Jan 1823, d. 14 Feb 1895) whose wife is Martha (last name unknown Green). Jane is buried in the Suttle family cemetery in West Armuchee. Mary is buried in the Puryear family cemetery in East Armuchee. Francis is buried in the Young family cemetery in West Armuchee.
Given that these three Young family groupings are in the same area, I suspect they are related in one way or another. But I haven’t been able to document a connection yet. If you know anything about the Young families (the ones discussed here or otherwise) in Northwest Georgia, please leave a comment to get in touch.
SOURCES
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
James Young Foster: Year: 1850; Census Place: West Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M432_85; Page: 375A; Image: 187.
Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
James Young Foster: Year: 1860; Census Place: West Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M653_139; Page: 762; Image: 225; Family History Library Film: 803139.
Mary [Young] Puryear: Year: 1860; Census Place: East Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M653_139; Page: 740; Image: 203; Family History Library Film: 803139.
Jane [Young] Suttle: Year: 1860; Census Place: West Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M653_139; Page: 765; Image: 228; Family History Library Film: 803139.
Francis Marion Young: Year: 1860; Census Place: West Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M653_139; Page: 766; Image: 229; Family History Library Film: 803139.
Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Jane [Young] Suttle: Year: 1870; Census Place: Subdivision 145, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M593_180; Page: 295A; Image: 228; Family History Library Film: 545679.
Francis Marion Young: Year: 1870; Census Place: Subdivision 145, Walker, Georgia; Roll: M593_180; Page: 290B; Image: 219; Family History Library Film: 545679.
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
Mary Ellen [Young] Shelton: Year: 1900; Census Place: West Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: T623; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 98.
Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
Mary Ellen [Young] Shelton: Year: 1910; Census Place: East Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: T624_214; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0144; Image: 508; FHL Number: 1374227.
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Mary Ellen [Young] Shelton: Year: 1920; Census Place: East Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: T625_281; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 181; Image: 340.
Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Marshall Shelton: Militia District Number: 1053; Post Office: Green Bush.
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010
Mary [Young] Puryear: Year: 1880; Census Place: East Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: 169; Family History Film: 1254169; Page: 408D; Enumeration District: 188; Image: 0625.
Francis Marion Young: Year: 1880; Census Place: East Armuchee, Walker, Georgia; Roll: 169; Family History Film: 1254169; Page: 415B; Enumeration District: 188; Image: 0639.
Marriage license, Marion Holcomb and Caroline P. Young, 4 Aug 1853, Chattooga County, Georgia. Probate Office, Summerville, Georgia. Retrieved by Michael, Rhonda, and Jordan Scoggins, Feb 2011.
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The second picture in this blog post is so beautiful to me, probably one of my absolute favorites. I can’t express how it impacts me emotionally except that it really touches me. The colors work so well together, there is the lovely lace-like texture of the withered tree that amost evokes a memory, something that almost reminds me of a long forgotten valentine rediscovered or a lace dolly created by one’s grandmother and unburied in one’s attic. Except that description sounds sentimental and that’s not what this picture makes me feel. It’s not hallmark sentimentaility but something else that is so fragile and almost melanchoic. It’s just so very lovely and strikes a chord in me everytime I have seen it and it only gets stronger each time. Who would have imagined that nature’s winter could make something so achingly beautiful? I always thought of winter landscapes and especially withered flora as being so barren and ugly. I guess you’ve proven me wrong. Do you happen to have that image available as a print? I would love to be able to own it and hang it somewhere special.
Also, I was thinking as I read this that I knew some Young’s in highschool. I wonder if any of them are kin to your family through these lines. Hmm…
Also, the overgrown cemetary. I didn’t realize there were so many cemetaries that were half forgotten and hidden away like that. It’s really amazing.
Thank you, Tammy! This cemetery visit was particularly inspiring. While on one hand it’s sad that it is grown over, on the other hand it really was just so beautiful. I love the thought that such beauty springs from earth literally fertilized by ancestors!
As for a print of the photo, yes, let’s get in touch offline.
Jordan,
My name is Jeffrey Frank Young. I live in Canadian, Texas. My great grandfather was Francis Marion Young (Tobe), who was born in Armuchee, Ga. in 1861.
He was the son of Francis Marion Young Sr, born 1829, a Captain in the Georgia Infantry, who had 11 siblings, all raised in Armuchee. His mother was Martha Ann Green of Mississippi. Tobe…had 6 siblings. All of whom died except for a brother named John Calvin. They are all buried at the Young Cemetery. Except for Tobe. When he was 19, Tobe came to Texas, his brother stayed at the home-place in Armuchee, and married Lula McWilliams. They had 8 children. Tobe married Lizzie Frye of Wheeler Texas. They had three children: Sallie, Henry, and Johnnie. I am the grandson of Henry.
Francis Marion Young Sr…is the son of James Thomas Young, born 1775 in Ireland. I bleieve he was raised by a man named Col. Marion, in the area of Spartanburg, SC. Im not sure of this, the documents get hazy. James Thomas married Anna Foster, also buried at Young Cemetery. They had 12 children. Note worthy for me to mention of the 12 children, Polly married William Puryear, and Jane married J.B.Suttle. **The Puryears had a son named George who married Lizzie Fryes sister. (Wheeler Texas), and the Puryears live about 15 miles South of me in Wheeler, Texas.
I have searched very hard for records and names of Caroline Pracilla Young, Peter and Rachael Young,Francis Marion Holcomb. Im simply not finding them.
I would love to come to Armuchee. I love your videos and to find you on the web is fascinating. Do you know where the “homeplace” that Tobe was raised in would have been, or maybe even is still standing? Do you know if James Thomas was raised by Col Marion, and why? Are there still any Youngs in Armuchee? I wonder why Tobe left, and became a cowboy? And last thought is this:
My great grandfather Tobe…his wife Lizzie died after her third child was born. Tobe, sent his children BACK TO ARMUCHEE, Im guessing to live with John C., for several years, until he sent for them. How can I verify that to be true?
I live on the Young Ranch in Hemphill County Texas. It will turn 100 years old next year. This was the second ranch purchased by Tobe, and was originally called the YY Ranch. Im on FaceBook under Jeffrey Frank Young.
Id LOVE to hear from you. Thanks for being on the web. This has been so fascinating.
Take care….
Jy
Jeffrey Frank Young and Jordan,
My Great Great Grandfather, Robert Patterson, is buried in the Young Family Cemetery across the road from the old Young Plantation. Other members of my family are also buried there. Others are buried in the cemetery in Villanow. Robert’s son, William, was the overseer of the Young Plantation and, although I do not know exactly where the Patterson’s lived, I believe it was nearby. Robert’s wife, Susanna Hedrick, had sisters who married
Grigsby and Cottrell and lived further south on E. Armuchee road.
The four oldest Patterson brothers enlisted in the CSA and were part of the Bartow Invincibles, 23rd infantry, which Captain Francis M.Young commanded. During the war, the youngest son (James, my great grandfather)hid family valuables wrapped in handmade quilts (which I have) in caves in the Armuchee Mountain. In LaFeyette, there is a large granite memorial bearing the names of the men of the area who fought.
I believe there is a “relationship” between the Youngs and the Patterson’s, in that their families were from the same area in South Carolina. Both families left South Carolina and after some years, both families are found together in Georgia. There are Youngs in Tennessee where the Patterson’s lived, however I do not know if it is the same family.
I have been to the Young Cemetery and Plantation. This cemetery is literally at the back end of a cow pasture and it is a hike to get there. I also had relatives (the George Patterson family)in LaFayette, who are buried in the cemetery there.
Someone please contact me if you wish to share information.
Candace Lombardo
Pogo207@AOL.com.
Mary (Polly) Young and William Marcellus Puryear are my 4th great-grandparents through their son Francis Marion Puryear. I have run across William Marcellus’s death certificate, but that is about all that I have found as far a documents and sources. If anyone runs across more information I would love to hear about it. Thanks! (eksummit@gmail.com)
I began doing research of my family in January 2014. My mother was raised in West Armuchee, she was part of the Yother family. My third great-grandmother on my father’s side was Nancy Young Foster. She is listed on the 1850 census living with her son, James Young Foster. I have often wondered where she was buried and found a small article on Ancestry that mentioned the Young Cemetery. I Googled Young Cemetery, West Armuchee and found this! I am so excited. I have a cousin in West Armuchee and 3 cousins who own their father and mother’s property on Cantrell Road. I would love to visit this cemetery. Thank you so much for all this wonderful information.
You’re welcome, Sara. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Over the past 2 months, the Young cemetery has been restored as much as possible by the local Boy Scouts, the UDC and the SCV. Two new headstones were added and all the others restored. The two new headstone were Col. Frank Little and his brother Robert Little. GPR was used to find their graves and an old letter from Dixie Little used for prof that they were buried there. A ceremony for the headstones and reclaiming the grave yard will be held soon. It took the SCV historian abt 20 years to find and prove where the two boys were buried. Along journey but well worth it.
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