Joshua Young (September 23, 1823 – February 7, 1904) was an
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
Congregational Unitarian minister who crossed paths with many famous people of the mid-19th century. He received national publicity and lost his pulpit for presiding in 1859 over the funeral of
John Brown, the first person executed for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
by a U.S. state. Contrary to his friends' expectations,
[ his resignation under pressure in Burlington did not ruin his career; the church in Burlington later apologized and invited him back to speak][ as "an honored guest."][ There is a memorial tablet in the church.][ Leonard Twynham is a pseudonym, first used by Achsa White Sprague (1827–1861). The real name of the author of this article is Leonard Twinem (per http://psychictruth.info/Medium_Achsa_W_Sprague.htm).]
Young was also deaf. Abraham Willard Jackson, a contemporary Unitarian Preacher and deaf man said about Young, "In a Massachusetts village there toils a minister, and for more than a quarter of a century has toiled, though his deafness is so extreme that speech with him is scarcely possible, who once told me that in all these years no unpleasant reminder of his infirmity, either by act or word, had ever come to him from his people... I cannot think I need hesitate to say that my reference here is to Rev. Joshua Young, of Groton. With this testimony before them, all deaf people should pray for the prosperity of his church."
Life and career
Young was born in 1823 in Randolph, near Pittston, Maine, the youngest of eleven children of Aaron Young and Mary Colburn Young.[ At about age 4 the family moved to Bangor, where he attended local schools. At the age of 16 he entered ]Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794.
The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...
, where he was a member of Chi Psi
Chi Psi () is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity consisting of active chapters at 34 American colleges and universities. Chi Psi was founded in 1841 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. It was the first Greek-letter organization to b ...
fraternity, graduating Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
in 1845. He continued his studies at Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...
, graduating in 1848. In 1890, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...
from Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794.
The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...
. He became a Mason and was the chaplain of his local chapter. Hr described himself as a "Garrisonian abolitionist".[
In 1849 he married Mary Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sylvanus Plympton, M.D., of ]Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. Their children were: Mary Elizabeth Young Stevens (1849–1891), Lucy F. Young (1854–1922), Dr. Joshua Edson Young of Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...
(1856–1940), Henry Guy Young of Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capit ...
(1865–1936), and Mrs. Grace D. Patton of Bangor, Maine
Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...
.
He held the following positions as minister:
* 1849–1852 New North Church, Boston.
* 1852–1862 First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...
. His salary was $1,000, .[ He was at first very popular, but began to lose popularity when parishioners learned that he had been on the Boston Vigilance Committee and sheltered fugitive slaves in his home. He was also accused by the church of doing the same in Burlington; the charge was not substantiated. In 1858, when he resigned his pulpit at the Burlington church, the church held a meeting to persuade him to withdraw his resignation, which he did. He was also Superintendent of Common Schools in Burlington. He resigned these positions in 1862. There followed a year in Deerfield ">assachusetts][
* 1864–1868 3rd Congregational Society, ]Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham ( ) is a town in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Part of the Greater Boston region, it is located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of Massachusetts. At the 2020 ...
. One source says his salary was $1,200 (), another $1,500 (). Between this position and the following one in Fall River he travelled to Egypt, the Holy Land, and Europe.
* 1868–1875 Unitarian Church, Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...
.
* 1875–1904 First Parish Meeting House, Groton, Massachusetts
Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. An affluent bedroom community roughly 45 miles from Boston, Groton has a ...
.
Young died in 1904 in Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capit ...
, at the home of his son.
Young and slavery
Young described himself as "bred in the Garrisonian school of abolitionists".[ His graduate school and his first call to the pulpit were in Boston, center of the American abolitionist movement and where Wm. Lloyd Garrison's newspaper The Liberator was published. Young was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, set up after passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 to help ]fugitives
A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...
avoid slave catchers. He saw the forced and public return of fugitive Anthony Burns to slavery, and gave a sermon on it, published as a pamphlet.
Young was also "a station-keeper on the Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
when the blow at Harper's Ferry shook the whole nation like an earthquake".[ He frequently sheltered fugitives himself.][ In Burlington he was less than from the Canadian border. One account says that he sheltered up to six fugitives at a time in his "comfortable" barn.] Another source says that about 1850 fugitives appeared daily, and sometimes more than one a day, but then dropped to two or three a fortnight
A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).
Astronomy and tides
In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
.
The John Brown funeral
The most significant event of Young's life, in his own judgment, was his participation in the funeral of abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
John Brown, the consequences of which participation surprised and pained him. He often spoke about it and, as an old man, he wrote up his experience at length.
Brown was executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia on December 2, 1859, after his conviction for murder, treason, and inciting a slave insurrection. Young had never met Brown, but when his abolitionist friend Lucius G. Bigelow informed him that John Brown's body was passing through Rutland
Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town.
Rutland has a ...
en route to be buried at his home in North Elba, New York, only away across Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec.
The cities of Burlington, Ve ...
, they decided to attend.[ They traveled all night and arrived only hours before the service began. As he was the only minister present (others had declined][), when ]Wendell Phillips
Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist, labor reformer, temperance activist, advocate for Native Americans, orator, and attorney.
According to George Lewis Ruffin, a black attorney, Phillip ...
asked him to preside, he said that he then "knew why God had sent imthere".[ The reporter present, who took it down "phonographically" (stenographically), called Young's impromptu opening prayer "impressive".
As the body was being lowered into the grave he felt moved to recite words of ]the apostle Paul
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
: "I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).
When he returned to Burlington, he found himself savagely attacked in the local paper. He was socially ostracized and snubbed and prominent members of his church resigned. Young said he was the victim of persecution.
He was told that he would never again be permitted to occupy a pulpit.
In a 2016 sermon on Young, Rev. Karen G. Johnston says, without explanation, "that there is dispute between Young's account, and that of the Burlington church, about what led to his leaving."
Reburials in 1899
Young presided over the 1899 ceremony in which ten of Brown's men, which had been buried elsewhere, eight of them thrown into two packing crates, were reburied next to John Brown's grave.
Publications
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Legacy
* Folk singer
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
Pete Sutherland based a 1997 song, "A Crown of Righteousness”, on a sermon by Young.[
* In 2012, lines from Young's 1854 sermon “Come and See What It Is to Be a Unitarian" were used for responsive reading by Young's final parish, the First Parish Church of Groton.]
References
''This article incorporates material from a work in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1872
'' pp. 385–387.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Joshua
People from Burlington, Vermont
1823 births
1904 deaths
American Unitarian clergy
American Congregationalist ministers
Bowdoin College alumni
People from Pittston, Maine
Harvard Divinity School alumni
Doctors of Divinity
People from Fall River, Massachusetts
American Freemasons
People from Groton, Massachusetts
Young
People from Hingham, Massachusetts
Clergy from Boston
Underground Railroad people
Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery
Abolitionists from Massachusetts