John Albert Young is the son of Thomas D. Young (b. 1800, VA, d. 1853, Desota Co., Mississippi) and Elizabeth Cooper(b. 1798, Montgomery Co., NC). John A. lived in Hardeman Co., TN, and moved with father and step-mother, Merena Eleanor Goodwin, to Desoto Co., MS in 1838.
At 19 yrs old, he is found in the 1850 Census of Desoto, MS with Eliza ? Young, 18 yrs old, born in VA, on the same page as his father and Merena. A marriage is recorded for John A Young and Eliza A Sutton in Giles, TN, but is dated Nov 12, 1865.
In 1859, he moved his family to Carroll Parish, LA. He married Nancy Ann Hays on July 19, 1859 in East Carroll, Louisiana and is found with her in the 1860 Census with Elizabeth, age 10 and Samuel, age 8. The Census records both children born in Louisiana.
John served as a private in the "Floyd Guards" Co. G of the 2nd Louisiana Infantry from May to Dec. of 1861, spending time in a Williamsburg, VA hospital and as a 2nd Lt 31st LA Infantry beginning in 1862. He is listed in the United Daughters of the Confederacy CSA Ancestor Album, First Pelican edition, 2015.
In July of 1866, John married for a third time, Margaret Inez Hunsucker (b. Aug 18, 1846, Moore Co., NC). In the 1870 Census, John and Margaret were still in Carroll Parish with Samuel, 16, Julia A., 14, both born in Mississippi, John C., 3 and Joseph H., 1. Margaret's mother and stepfather, Ephraim and Sarah Oldham are on the same page with her brother, Arch Hunsucker and family on the next.
John and Margaret were in Fayette Co., TX by 1880 and are listed in the census with the following children: John C., 12, Joseph H., 11, James E., 9, Henry P., 6, Sarah J., 4, and Molly, 1. Although John's occupation is listed as a miller and farmer, he owned the Colony General Mercantile Store and was postmaster. He built the first cotton gin in Colony. In 1876, John and Margaret donated land for a church and cemetery. See the Colony Cemetery page for a picture of the historical marker noting the donation.
John died while driving cattle from Colony to Wharton, TX and is buried there next to a grandson and daughter-in-law. Margaret died six years later and is buried in the Colony Cemetery.
John and Margaret had the following children: John Calvin, Joseph Harvey, James Edward, Henry Jefferson, Sarah P., Mollie E., Maggie Douglas, Merena Elender, Archibald Monroe and Emma Murle. As both John and Margaret had died by 1900, the Census that year shows that Maggie D. was living in the home of Joseph H., Emma M. with James E., and Archie M. with Henry J.