A blog about living in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Dr Alexander H Young, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Matawan (1894 - 1907)

Alexander H Young

Rev Alexander H Young (1838 - 1914) became the pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Matawan in January 1894, replacing Dr William C Alexander. He served there until late 1907.

Below is a rendering of my research on the information available online about Rev Young's life and career.

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The 1850 Federal Census showed Alexander Young (age 12) living in the Cincinnati, Ohio household of his Scottish parents, Robert and Catharine Young, ages 45 and 35, respectively, along with his siblings Elizabeth (age 14) and Robert H (age 3). The head of household was a teacher. Elizabeth and Alexander were born in Kentucky, while Robert was born in Ohio. (The 9 year gap suggests Robert (aka Harvey) might have been a surprise.)

Alex Young, age 20, was living with his parents Robert (age 55) and Catharine (age 45) in Millcreek, Ohio, in Hamilton County in the 1860 Federal Census, along with older sister Elizabeth (age 22) and younger brother Harvey (age 12). (Note: Harvey is identical with Robert H from the 1850 Census.) Alex was listed as a student. His father, Robert, was a teacher with $25,000 in real property and $500 in personal property.

The 1870 Federal Census showed Alexander H oung and wife Sarah E living in Oxford, Ohio in Butler County. He was 32 years old; his wife was 29. Alexander was a minister of the gospel. Sarah had $40,000 in real property. They had an Irish servant named Anna Connerly, age 22.

As of the 1880 Federal Census, Alex Young and his wife Sarah E were residing on Washington Avenue in Jersey City. Alex was a minister of the gospel. They had sons Alex O and Harvey W, ages 9 and 7, respectively. Young Alex was born in Ohio, while Harvey was born in NJ. The family had a German (Saxony) servant named Amelia Hattenhoof (age 24).

The 11 Apr 1896 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 2) described Dr Young's activities at Easter time at First Presbyterian of Matawan. The sanctuary was decorated with an array of flowers. Dr Young gave his monthly five-minute address to the children for Children's Day, and the choir director, Miss Tuthill, handled the musical offerings. Miss Tully played the organ. Dr Young also participated in a united service with the Methodist and Baptist ministers that week.

Alex H Young appears in the Ministerial Directory of the Presbyterian Church (PCUS and PCUSA) published in 1898. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Miami (Ohio) in 1859. He earned his master of arts from the same university. He received his doctor of divinity from Maryville College (Tennessee). He graduated Lane Theological Seminary in Ohio in 1863 and received his license the same year from the Presbytery of Cincinnati. He was ordained 8 Feb 1864 by the Presbytery of Chillicothe. He was pastor at South Salem, Ohio (1864 - 1868), Oxford, Ohio (1869 - 1871),  Greenville Church, Jersey City, NJ (1872 - 1880), Newton, NJ (1881 - 1891), and Matawan (1894 - ).

Rev Young officiated at a society wedding held at a home in New York City in April 1898, according to the 29 Apr 1898 edition of The the New York Times. The groom was from Scotland.

The Federal Census as of 1 Jun 1900 showed Alexander H Young, born in Feb 1838 (age 62) in Kentucky to parents born in Scotland, living on Main Street in Matawan as a clergyman. His wife Sarah E was born in Sep 1840 (age 60) in Ohio to parents born in Ohio. They had been married 31 years. Two of their three children were still alive but not living with them.

Reverend Young assisted the Moderator of the Synod of New Jersey in worship at the 78th annual session, which was held in Atlantic City on 16 Oct 1900, according to its minutes

The 6 Nov 1901 edition of The Red Bank Register said Dr Young of Matawan would address the 84th annual meeting of the Monmouth County Bible Society, which would be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Matawan the following day.

The 15 Mar 1905 edition of The Red Bank Register said Dr Young had been named executor of his brother-in-law's estate worth $350,000. The late David W Oliver had lived in Jersey City.

The 23 Oct 1907 edition of The Red Bank Register said Dr Young announced his resignation during the Sunday service. His son Robert had accepted a call to ministry in Binghamton, NY, so Dr Young and his wife would leave to join him there. Their other son, Dr Harvey W Young, was living in Red Bank.

The 13 May 1908 edition of The Red Bank Register (pg 5) said William V Clark would soon be building a new house in Matawan on a lot he purchased from Dr Young.

The 23 Sep 1908 edition of The Red Bank Register said that Rev Young was retired and living in  Binghamton, NY. (The article documents two memorial fund gifts to the church totaling $10,000 that were still being held in perpetuity by the church's session in the 1990s.)

CHURCH GETS $5,000 GIFT.
Given to Matawan Presbyterians by William Terhune's Children.
 
Last week a gift of $5,000 in West Shore four per cent bonds was presented to the Matawan Presbyterians as a memorial to the. late Margaret L. and William L. Terhune of Matawan. The bonds were given to the church by James L., John, Henry S. and Margaret L. Terhune, children of Margaret and William L. Terhune. The announcement of the gift was made last week by Rev. A. H. Young of Binghamton, N. Y., a former pastor of the church. William V. Simpson, in behalf of the church trustees, accepted the gift.
 
After Margaret L Terhune died it was found that she had left no will, but on a piece of paper she stated that she desired to make a gift of $1,000 to the Matawan Presbyterian church. Rev. Mr. Young stated that this money had been paid to the church a short time ago and commended Mrs. Terhune for her interest in the welfare of the church.
 
This is the second donation of $5,000 made to the church. The first was given by the late Henry S. Little as a memorial to his parents, Deborah and William Little. Mr. Little was a brother of Mrs Terhune.

Alexander and Sarah Young were living with their son Robert in Binghamton, NY in Broome County in the 1910 Census. Robert was a clergyman with an active pastorate, while his father was listed as a retired clergyman. Robert was 29 years old and born in New Jersey. His father was 71 and born in Kentucky of Scottish parents. His mother was 69 and born in Ohio to Ohioans. Unlike the 1900 census, Sarah reported that two of 4 children were still alive. Robert was single.

The Associated Press reported as of 10 May 1914 that Dr A H Young, a retired Presbyterian minister, had died in a fire in Newark. The Cornell Daily Sun published the article in its 11 May 1914 edition.

FOUR DIE IN NEWARK APARTMENT HOUSE FIRE

By The Associated Press. NEWARK, N. J., May 10— Four persons were burned to death yesterday in a fire which swept through a large stone appartment house on Broad street. Three of the victims were women servants; the fourth was Dr. A. H. Young, a retired Presbyterian clergyman. A number of others sustained injuries but will recover.

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The Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Third Congressional District of New Jersey, by Samuel T Wiley, pp 289 - 290, contains this extensive biography of Rev Young.

REV. ALEXANDER H. YOUNG, D.D., pastor of the Presbyterian church of Matawan, Monmouth county, New Jersey, is a son of Rev. Robert and Catharine Young, and was born in Louisville, Kv. He is of Scotch descent, all the members of his ancestral line reaching down to both father and mother having been natives of Scotland. His father, Rev. Robert Young, graduated at the University of Glasgow and was licensed to preach by the Established Church of Scotland. He came to America in 1831, and located in Cincinnati. In addition to preaching he spent a large part of his life as a successful educator of youth in the Ohio Valley. Catharine Young, the mother of Dr. Young, was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Harvey, who settled in Cincinnati about 1820. She still lives in Cincinnati, on part of the farm then purchased.

Rev. Alexander H. Young attended the private school of his father, at Louisville, Ky., where he spent his earlier years, and subsequently in those at Cincinnati, O., whither the family had removed. His collegiate education was obtained at Miami University, Oxford, 0., and his theological course he took at Lane University, Walnut Hills, in the same state. He was ordained to the work of the Presbyterian ministry by the Presbytery of Chillicothe. His first pulpit assignment was at South Salem, 0., which he occupied from 1864 to 1869.

During the civil war he was a delegate to the United States Christian Commission for two years, serving at Chattanooga, Tenn., in the winter of 1863, and at City Point, Va., in the spring of 1865. From 1869 to 1872 he was pastor of the Oxford, 0., Presbyterian church, and during his residence in that town he was appointed trustee of Miami University by the governor of Ohio. In 1872 he received a call to the pastorate of the Reformed church of Greenville. New Jersey, which he served as its first pastor until 1881, a term of nine years. In 1882 he assumed charge of the Presbyterian church of Newton, New Jersey. Upon his advent there he found a united and powerful church, strong in numbers and beyond question the wealthiest and most influential in the Presbytery of Newton. Its line of progress was greatly augmented in every feature of church work by Mr. Young's great natural ability as a pulpit orator and his christian diplomacy and pastoral tact. From an
education by the best masters, from cultured associations and extensive travel, he has gathered polish. His wide experience and excellent judgment, combined with his native southern characteristics make up an exceedingly pleasant personality and delineate the character in his countenance. During his ministry of the Newton church a debt of five thousand dollars was liquidated, and a stone chapel, the most beautiful church edifice in northern New Jersey, was erected at an outlay of eleven thousand dollars free of incumbrance. While this was being done the beneficent work of the church constantly increased, and domestic and foreign missions received many thousands of dollars from his congregation, the church becoming known in the Newton Presbytery as the missionary church.

Rev. Mr. Young toward the . . . of his pastorate of the Newton church, in May, 1890, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the College of Maryville, Tenn. After a service of nearly nine years Dr. Young was compelled, by reason of business affairs that demanded his attention, . . . Newton church pastorate, and for about two and a half years he remained without any pastoral charge, although during that time it was a rare occurrence for him not to be occupying a brother minister's pulpit and expounding Bible truths on each successive Lord's Day. On Dec. 17, 1893, Dr. Young was invited to preach in the Presbyterian church in Matawan, and on the following Sunday a congregational meeting was called, at which he was chosen its pastor. This church, widely known for the marked intelligence, culture, and liberality of its members, received Dr. and Mrs. Young with great cordiality, and from the first has co-operated with them most heartily
in all lines of christian activity. Mrs. Young is well known throughout the state as one of the most devoted and  efficient workers in the cause of missions, and is frequently called upon to give Bible readings and to deliver addresses in the interest of home and foreign missions. Dr. Young was united in marriage to this estimable lady, Sarah (Everett) Oliver, youngest daughter of David and Mary Wade Oliver, March ..., 1869. her grandparents, David E. and Mary I. Wade, were among tlie earliest settlers of Cincinnati, O., and migrated there from Connecticut Farms, New Jersey, about 1795. A large number of both Dr. and Mrs. Young's relatives still reside in and around Cincinnati. The issue of this union were three sons : A. Oliver, graduate from Princeton in 1892, deceased near the end of his first year at Harvard Law College; Harvey W., a graduate of Princeton, in the class of 1894, now in his senior year at the Medical department of the University of New York, and Robert S., now attending the Newark Academy.

The History of Chillicothe Presbytery, by Robert Christy Galbraith, pp 255 - 256, provides some additional details of Rev Young's early career.

At South Salem, April 13th and 14th, 1869, H. W. Biggs, and elder John R. Allston, were appointed a committee to organize a church at Massieville, if the way be clear. Alexander H. Young was dismissed to the Presbytery of Hamilton, N. S. (New School), and R. J. Hall to the Presbytery of Oxford. It appears however, that Mr. Young did not present this certificate of dismission, for in Presbytery at Chillicothe, April 5, 1870, he gave by letter reasons for his absence and in the minutes of the meeting at Cincinnati, Oct. 21, 1870, during session of Synod, the following appears: "Rev. A. H. Young, having been received by the Presbytery of Dayton, on a certificate granted by the old Presbytery of Chillicothe, his name was dropped from our roll."

The Rev. Alexander H. Young was born at Louisville, Ky., Feb. 13, 1838, graduated from Miami University, with the class of 1859; from Lane Seminary, in 1863; supplied tlie churches of Monroe and Felicity, during part of 1863; was called to the Salem church in the spring of 1864; ordained by the Presbytery of Chillicothe, and installed in the church at South Salem, Nov. 8, 1864; left South Salem Feb. 28, 1869; preached to the Oxford church, N. S. (New School) from March 21 to Sep., 1869; to the United church, at Oxford, from Nov., 1869, to January, 1872; to the Greenville, New Jersey, Dutch Reformed Church, from 1872 to 1881, and at Newton, New Jersey, to the Presbyterian Church of which he is now pastor, since 1883.

The History of the South Salem Presbyterian Church, Ross County, Ohio, published by the Southern Ohio Genealogical Society, pp 17 - 18, says Rev Young was installed as pastor in May 1864. according to the Descendants of John Hugh Wilson.

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