Nathaniel Young (abt. 1750 - abt. 1787)

Born about 1750 in Spartanburg, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Descendants

Died about Mar 1787 at about age 37 in Spartanburg, Spartanburg, South Carolina

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Nathaniel Young Senior

Nathaniel Young was born about 1750, probably in Pennsylvania, where his uncle Thomas B. Young is known to have emigrated from to South Carolina (and where Nathaniel's father Col William Young is presumed to also have been born), probably in the early 1760's. Nathaniels's father, William Young, was granted land in 1764 in what was then Ninety-Six district (later Spartanburg County), near the confluence of James Creek (Jimmy's Creek today) and the Tyger River. At that time, many settlers living along the frontier in Western Pennsylvania, and further down into Western Virginia, emigrated to the Carolinas, partly because of recurring problems with Indian raids along the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontier during and following the French and Indian War, and also due to ongoing efforts by the colonial governments to draw settlers to the Carolinas.

Nathaniel was the eldest of 4 known sons (Nathaniel and his brothers William, Thomas and Richard), and one daughter (Mary). Nathaniel's mother is unknown. Nathaniel married his next-door neighbor George Crawford's daughter, Patty Crawford, on 22 Nov 1772; they lived along the James Creek branch of the Tyger River, on land given him and Patty by Patty's father. They are believed to have had 7 children: 1. William Young b. 1773 d. After 1840, Spartanburg, SC 2. John Archibald Young b. 1774, d. 17 Oct 1838 Giles Co., TN 3. Nathaniel Young, b. 1777 d. 1848 Maury Co., TN 4. Joseph Young, b. 1780-1781, d. 1831 Giles Co., TN 5. Thomas Young, b. Jul 1781 d. 1841 Giles Co., TN 6. Mary Young 7. girl Young, who died as an infant.

Nathaniel's activities during the early years of the Revolution are unknown, but by the middle of 1780, after the capture of Charleston by the British in May 1780, and the invasion by the British into the South Carolina backcountry, Nathaniel was serving as a Lieutenant in Major Zachariah Gibbs' Loyalist Regiment. At the same time, his father William was also serving as a Captain in the same Regiment (William Young became a Major in 1782, and eventually rose to the rank of Colonel, commanding a Loyalist militia regiment).

Nathaniel later became the Captain of a band of Loyalist (Tory) militia who were known locally by the epithet "Bloody Scouts." They were notorious for raiding through the countryside searching for and executing, or outright murdering, "outliers" or "outlaws;" known Patriot supporters, organized to defend their homes and families, and who had to flee their homes and live in the woods to evade capture - and who sometimes could be just as murderous as the Bloody Scouts.

One such intended victim was Captain Joseph Wofford, leader of a band of patriot militia. Nathaniel Young knew the family, knew his wife was pregnant, and knowing that Joseph Wofford would be worried about his family, was watching Joseph's cabin. One night, Captain Wofford was seen entering the house; the house was soon surrounded and Wofford was captured, amid threats to hang him from a tree. Captain Wofford's pregnant wife, Martha, observing all this from the house, called out to Nathaniel and pleaded with him to spare her husband's life. Nathaniel had been one of Martha’s suitors prior to her marriage to Joseph, even asking her to marry him, and apparently still held some regard for her; in response to her pleas, he promised that he would ensure that he returned home the next day. Joseph Wofford did return the next day, probably on a parole with a promise to cease any participation in the rebellion. It may have helped that Captain Wofford's brother Benjamin was also active with the Loyalist militia; Captain Wofford's son, who they named Benjamin, was born that same night, the night that Joseph Wofford was taken away (Joseph's son Benjamin would later found Wofford College in Spartanburg). Nathaniel's charity in this instance was not rewarded; Captain Wofford reportedly was present when Nathaniel Young was later captured and executed.

Nathaniel's last act was to murder a man named Elder, while sick in bed with smallpox, at his farm a few miles south of Spartanburg. One story claims that Nathaniel was actually after a young horse Elder owned, and became angry when Elder wouldn't tell him where his sons were with the horse; in any case, he killed Elder, a staunch Whig, shooting him through the window of his cabin. When the sons "...returned from their work and ascertained who had committed the foul deed, they armed themselves, remounted their horses, and promised their mother that they would neither sleep nor eat until their father's death was avenged. They at once sped on their way in pursuit, and gathering some recruits as they sped over the river and hills, they pursued the Tory."

Nathaniel and his band fled west and north, up Blackstock Road, then, after crossing over the North Fork Tyger River at Ott's Ford (Ott's Shoals), they doubled back south, likely headed toward their own neighborhood near the James fork (Jimmy's Creek on today's map), where their close neighbors were mostly friendly to the King; George Crawford, Nathaniel’s father-in-law, who lived next door, was the leader of another band of Tory militia, and Nathaniel's father - Loyalist Colonel William Young - was, of course, the commander of a Loyalist mounted regiment.

A mile further, they crossed over the Tyger's south fork at Price's Ford, and a bit further on they stopped for a rest, near the upper reaches of James Creek and not far from their destination, apparently thinking they had by then shed any possible pursuit. That's where the Elder brothers' band found them. Most of Nathaniel's party were able to mount their horses and flee, but Nathaniel paused to retrieve his hat that had fallen off as he mounted; he was shot before he could climb back on his horse. As the rest of the contestants charged off down the road, Nathaniel made his way through the brush to the edge of a nearby creek, where the Elder brothers and their party found him when they returned. They dragged him from the creek, and after denying him 5 minutes to pray, executed him on the spot. The manner of his execution is unknown. (1)

As close as the site of his execution was to his nearby plantation, his body most likely was returned there, to his plantation, for burial.

In March 1787 his widow, as administrator of Nathaniel's estate, was sued in the Spartanburg County 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. Nathaniel's son John Archibald Young sold, on 23 December 1808, Sixty-six acres of James Creek-Tyger River land 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 1760s, and likely was land given, or sold, to Nathaniel by his father-in-law George Crawford.

(1) Source: Jane Wofford Wait, "History of the Wofford Family," Band and White, Spartanburg, SC, 1928, p 47 and p 243.

From "The Young Families of Early Giles County" (2013 update):

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 1760s 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. 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)

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.

Sources

The Young families of early Giles County, Tennessee : including many early Young families of surrounding counties Author: John E Young