John Colby Young

John Colby Young is my great great grandfather.  Born about September, 1836 in Logan, Kentucky to Martin Young and Susannah Sale.  His father died when he was barely two years old.  He had six older siblings and one younger.  In 1863 he enlisted in the 8th Kentucky Cavalry Company D, which was the Union side during the Civil War.  On September 21st 1865 he reenlisted as a 1st lieutenant in the 17th Kentucky Cavalry Company C.  During the Civil War, his hand was injured and he did not have full use of that hand ever again.  It was said that there was nerve damage either from being stabbed or shot.
On March 27, 1878 John Colby Young married 26 year old Mary E. Edwards in Logan County Kentucky. After marrying, the two packed up and moved to Carrigan, Illinois where they were found in the 1880 census living with their 2 infants: a boy named Martin B. Young born in December, 1878 and an infant girl born August, 1879.  (These 2 children died soon after the 1880 census, possibly some illness going around at the time.)
Soon after 1880, John Colby Young and Mary E. Edwards packed up again and headed west to settle in the town of Rich Hill, Missouri.  This is where their son Robert Cleveland Young (my great grandfather) was born on October 25, 1882.  In 1883, John Colby Young was listed in a Rich Hill directory along with his older brother Richard T. Young as employees of "Rich Hill Mills."  Richard lived down the road with his wife Mary Ann Morehead and his 4 children.  Richard and John were both professional millers.  It was said that John Colby Young was an excellent horseman and knew the ins and outs of running a working farm.
In 1884 and 1885 John and Mary had 2 more sons: J. C. Young and Colby E. Young.  (Both died in 1892)

The rest of the living children born to John and Mary are as follows:
Joseph Clay Young born on August 15, 1886
Mary E. Young born on February 18, 1888
William Beverly Young born on March 28, 1890
Lemar E. Young born on May 16, 1894

John Colby Young died on May 8, 1899 in Rich Hill Missouri leaving behind his wife and 5 children.  Although no death certificate is on file because of the fires that destroyed them back in the day, it was said that John Colby Young died of a heart attack or something of that nature.  He was a hard working man.  He bravely joined the Union Army at the ripe age of 26.  He chose to go against slavery in a state that sympathized with the South.  In Kentucky there were many battles which put brother against brother and sometimes father against son.  It was a brutal war that people today cannot comprehend the blood shed that happened.  It was scary times and John Colby and his brothers Richard, Robert and Joseph all joined the Union side.  It is still unclear whether or not Joseph survived the war, as there is no trace of him after 1865.