Thomas Young

Background

Young was born on February 19, 1731 in New Windsor, New York, the son of John and Mary (Crawford) Young. His father came to New York in 1729 with his kinsman, Charles Clinton.

Education

Young attended a local school, borrowed books from Colonel Clinton, and acquired an understanding of French, Latin, and Greek, with a speaking knowledge of German and Dutch.

Career

In 1753 Young began the practice of medicine in Amenia, Dutchess County, New York, and his fame spread during the next decade through eleven counties. He advocated the use of calomel in certain cases when other members of his profession did not dare use it and was especially successful in treating smallpox. Young, who was a deist, is said to have collaborated with Ethan Allen in writing Reason the Only Oracle of Man, or a Compendious System of Natural Religion (1784); the text is certainly not like any of Allen's other writings. Young was also the author of an epic poem of 608 lines - A Poem Sacred to the Memory of James Wolfe - vividly describing Wolfe's siege of Quebec. Copies of this rare pamphlet, which was published anonymously in 1761, are owned by the New York Historical Society, Yale University, and Brown University. About 1760 Young purchased of a Dutch trader, John Henry Lydius, a tract of land in what is now Vermont. The title, which rested on Indian deeds, proved to be tainted with fraud and after prolonged litigation Young was left almost penniless. In 1764, over the signature "Philodicaius, " he published Some Reflections on the Disputes between New-York, New-Hampshire, and Col. John Henry Lydius, a small pamphlet in defense of the Lydius claims. In the same year he moved to Albany and two years later, to Boston, where he was a neighbor and friend of Dr. Joseph Warren. In 1774-1775 he contributed articles on medical topics to the Royal American Magazine. In Albany he had actively opposed the operation of the Stamp Act. In Boston for seven years he was known as one of the "lesser incendiaries. " Once he was nearly assassinated by his political enemies. He had a large personal following at town meetings and was the first president of the North End Caucus. On March 5, 1771, he delivered the first of the annual orations commemorative of the Boston Massacre. Next to Samuel Adams, he was the most active member of the Boston Committee of Correspondence. He spoke at Old South Meeting House, December 16, 1773, a few hours before the tea was thrown overboard into Boston Harbor, and then without disguise helped to destroy the tea. The British having closed the port of Boston to commerce, in September 1774 Young took his wife and children to Newport, Rhode Island. There he labored in the patriot group until April 1775, when friends detected a plot to kidnap him and take him to England to be tried for treason. He escaped to Philadelphia; his family rejoined him, and he practised in that city. He soon became secretary of the Whig Society and associated with the small group of radical leaders who with the counsel of Benjamin Franklin framed the constitution of Pennsylvania. When in the spring of 1777 delegates from the New Hampshire Grants appeared in Philadelphia and sought to persuade Congress to recognize that district as a state, Young was a helpful adviser to the visitors. He suggested for the new state the name "Vermont, " making the first known use of the title in a public letter dated April 17, 1777. The Pennsylvania constitution, a copy of which Young supplied to the petitioners, became the basis of the constitution of Vermont. Congress, influenced by its New York members, in the week after he died passed a vote of censure on him for his diligence in behalf of the independence of Vermont. Under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Young was a senior surgeon in one of the Continental hospitals in Philadelphia, and while caring for wounded and sick soldiers contracted a virulent type of fever, of which, after only a day's illness, he died.

Achievements

• Young was an American patriot, known for his role in Boston Tea Party.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Some reflections on the disputes between New-York, New-Hampshire, and Col. John Henry Lydius of Albany. One line in Latin To these reflections are ... fit to be observed in purchasing land, &c.

    ( The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration...)

  • A poem sacred to the memory of James Wolfe Esq; major-general and commander in chief of His Majesty's forces, destined for the reduction of Quebec. ... Plains of Abraham, near that capital, 1759

    (The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration a...)

  • Reason, the Only Oracle of Man: Or a Compenduous System of Natural Religion (Classic Reprint)

    (Colonel Ethan A llen, the author ofO racles of Reason, vf...)

Connections

Young married Mary, daughter of Capt. Garret Winegar, and they had two sons and four daughters.

Father:

John Young

Mother:

Mary (Crawford) Young

Spouse:

Mary Winegar

References

• The Hundred Boston Orators Appointed by the Municipal Authorities and Other Public Bodies, From 1770 to 1852: Comprising Historical Gleanings, ... Our Republican Institutions (Classic Reprint)
• First book of geography, for Vermont children.
• The History of Vermont: From Its Discovery to Its Admission Into the Union in 1791. by Hiland Hall