Young, William H.

Born: 1824-XX-XX New York

Died: 1863-XX-XX

Flourished: Logan County, Illinois

William H. Young was a prominent attorney, landowner, and civic leader in Logan County, Illinois. Young moved to Logan County in the early 1840s, settling in Postville, where he taught school. When the Mexican War commenced, Young volunteered for military service, serving as a sergeant in Company I of the Fourth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers from June 14, 1846 until his discharge on surgeon's certificate on August 26, 1846. After the war, Young was among the first group of attorneys to practice law in Logan County, Illinois, moving first to Mount Pulaski and later to Lincoln to be in close proximity to the Logan County Circuit Court. His practice in the Logan County Circuit Court brought him into contact with Abraham Lincoln, and the two were involved in numerous cases together and became close friends. In 1850, he was practicing law and living in Mount Pulaski and owned real estate valued at $1,000. In 1851 and 1852, Young purchased large tracts of public land east of Lincoln, amassing approximately 3,200 acres. In 1856, he ran for secretary of state on the American Party ticket. In 1860, he was living in Lincoln with his wife and five children. He was practicing law, and owned real estate valued at $12,000 and had a personal estate of $2,000. In 1861, Governor Richard Yates appointed Young as prosecuting district attorney of Logan County, finishing the term of Harvey E. Hogg. Young did not finish the term, dying unexpectedly in the summer of 1863.

Isaac H. Elliott, Record of the Services of Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War, 1831-32, and in the Mexican War, 1846-8 (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1882), 300; For Young's cases involving Lincoln, search "Young, William H.," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Mount Pulaski, Logan County, IL, 177; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Logan County, 59:101, 105; 819:202, 203, 204; 825:15, 16, 20, 21, 22, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Lincoln, Logan County, IL, 547; Lawrence B. Stringer, History of Logan County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1911), 1:129, 135, 217, 229, 280, 321, 324, 334, 397, 422.