WILLIAM YOUNG.
A native born Kansan, who became a successful agriculturist and banker, and left an indelible imprint upon the business and social life of Atchison county, was the late William Young, of Arrington, Kan. The Young family was one of the real pioneer families of the county, and the late Mr. Young was born on a pioneer farm in Mt. Pleasant township May 20, 1858. He was a son of William Johnson Young, whose wife was Mrs. Martha (Wamach) Snowden, widow, born in Virginia, a daughter of Abraham Wamach, an early pioneer settler of Atchison county, who came to this county in 1854 and settled on adjoining homesteads with W. J. Young. W. J. Young, the father of William, was born in Tennessee in 1815, and was the first judge of Atchison county. He settled on a farm in Walnut township, two and one-half miles northeast of Potter, Kan., which farm is now owned by Peter C. Griner. The elder Young was a natural born leader of men, and took an active and influential part in the political affairs of the county in the early days. He was a religious man, whose home was a meeting place for the politicians and ministers of the Gospel, and he was very hospitable. His father was the Rev. Duke Young, a native of Tennessee, who came to Kansas in 1854, and preached the first sermon in the county, on the doctrine of the Christian denomination. The Rev. Mr. Young was about sixty years of age when he came to Atchison county, and he had been preaching the Gospel for many years in Tennessee. J. W. Young became a member of the Christian church when sixteen years of age. The Young family was of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
William Young, with whom this review is directly concerned, was one of a family of fourteen children reared by his parents. He grew to manhood on his father’s farm, and after his marriage, in 1880, he and his wife located on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township, near the town of Potter, and developed it into a fine and productive tract. He continued in agricultural pursuits until 1908, when he went to Arrington, Kan., and purchased the Arrington State Bank, which he operated until his demise, January 12, 1910. After Mr. Young’s death, his widow disposed of the bank and the Arrington property, and removed to Atchison, where she has since made her home at 419 Kearney street.
William Young was married February 5, 1880, to Miss Angie Cooley, and to this union were born the following children: Maude, wife of Earl Stapler, Atchison; Duff D. Young, born April 8, 1901. The mother of these children was born November 9, 1861, a daughter of James and Cassendania (Waddle) Cooley, both of whom were born and reared in Kentucky. James Cooley, her father, migrated to Kansas in 1854 and settled on a homestead south of Potter, in Leavenworth county. His wife, Cassendania, came to Kansas to reside with her sister, Mrs. Masterson, who lived in Mt. Pleasant township, and she was married in 1860 to James Cooley. Eight children were born to them, of whom Mrs. Young was the fifth in order of birth. James Cooley took an active and prominent part in political affairs in Kansas in the early days, and served as the representative to the State legislature from Leavenworth county for two terms, from 1868 to 1872, inclusive. He died in 1876.
William Young was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Fraternal Aid Union. He was a man who lived his life according to Christian precepts, and was a regular attendant at church and Sunday school of the Christian denomination. His start in life was at the foot of the ladder, and he was successful in his undertakings, building for himself and his family, and leaving behind him on this earth the memory of a life well spent, and to his family a heritage of industry, honesty, straightforwardness and right living which will long be remembered by those who knew him best.