Of James Ansley Young, the following is known:



	Census data indicates birth around 1822, in Tennessee. He probably went

west to California as a '49er. Nickname was "Cojo," from the Spanish for

"limper" or "gimpy": he had a limp from a gunshot wound suffered in an indian

fight. At some point he married Sarah Elizabeth Caroline Shaw, whose birth is

indicated as around 1847; location variously reported as Kentucky or Texas.

(Family tradition has it that she was an Indian, a tradition supported by

surviving photographs of her).



	The couple came to Arizona prior to the civil war. Their eldest son, Thomas

Marshall Young (usually known as Marshall Young), was born in La Paz, a

mining settlement on the Colorado River north of Yuma; dates variously given as

1859 or 1866, the former more likely. (When he returned to Yuma in 1909, the local

newspaper stated he was the oldest living native of Yuma County). Their second

son, James W., is one of three competitors for the first Anglo born in Phoenix,

born around 1871.



	Young was one of the first pioneers of central Arizona. (The area was

controlled by the Apaches until the 1870's or so, when it was populated, largely by

washed up '49ers' travelling east from California).  The Weekly Arizona Miner

reported on April 25, 1868 that "J.A. Young has sold his claim on the Vulture

Lode at Wickenburg in this county for $10,000." On Feb. 27, 1869, it reported that

Young and others were "working a bar" (panning for gold) on the Hassaympa,

just below the mouth of Big Copper Creek.



	The pivotal event in opening the middle part of Arizona was Henry

Wickenburg's discovery of gold at the Vulture Mine in 1864. Young was involved

in that strike, and in 1864 was called as a witness in a court battle over ownership.

An article in the Weekly Miner, Jan. 20, 1872, recounts the author's travels

through Arizona in 1864, and mentions: "At that time (early in '64) not a house

was to be seen between the sink of the Hassayampa and Walnut Grove--a distance

of about 40 miles--and only seven men--Henry Wickenburg (discoverer of the

Vulture Lode); his partner, Jas. Moore, now of Maricopa Wells;  Jas. A. Young

(Coho), now of Phoenix; Valentine, murdered by Apaches..." 



 The Weekly Arizona Miner reported on April 25, 1868 that "J.A. Young has sold

his claim on the Vulture Lode at Wickenburg in this county for $10,000." On Feb.

27, 1869, it reported that Young and others were "working a bar" (panning for

gold) on the Hassaympa, just below the mouth of Big Copper Creek. Young

apparently invested his funds in Phoenix when the new city was platted in 1870.

He bought a quarter section of the town, immediately south of the present

Fairgrounds, and various lots.



Young was elected first Justice of the Peace of Maricopa County, as reported in

the Miner of Dec. 3, 1870. Unfortunately, Young's career as judge was abruptly

arrested when he shot a man in a street fight .  The Weekly Arizona Miner

reported on Sept. 28, 1872 that "James A. Young was indicted for assault with a

deadly weapon to commit murder and given until Monday to plead." Apparently,

he had shot an Indian in the arm during an argument. Instead of appearing for

trial, he went into hiding. The Miner reported on the same date "The Board of

Supervisors met on Monday and appointed J.R. Darroche Justice of the Peace

instead of Jas. A. Young, who has left the country." An unsigned pioneer's

recollections, found in the Carl Hayden Collection, tell of "an amusing incident"

in which the J.P. shot an Indian in a street fight and had to go into hiding until it

was forgotten "more or less."



	James Ansley Young died in Phoenix on 4 December 1877. He is buried in

the tiny "Crosscut Cemetery" in south-central Phoenix. His probate file (No.28)

was one of the earlier in Maricopa County. The Weekly Miner for Dec. 31, 1877

reported: "J.A. Young, an old pioneer in the Territory, and Salt River Valley, died

a few days ago at his home in Phoenix of lung fever. [Could mean anything from

pneumonia to TB to lung cancer]. Mr. Young leaves a wife and an interesting

family [??] to mourn his loss."



	Sarah, his widow, married my g-grandfather, Charles Hardy (an alias for

his real name of Nathaniel Hickman) in 1879. She had held a ranch at Grapevine

Springs (north of Cave Creek); he held mining claims at Cave Creek Station,

north of the present town, up Spur Crossing Road. They remained there until the

late 1890's, probably driven out by the drought that hit the area at that time. They

moved to Mayer, to Aultman, and then to Yuma. He died at Yuma in 1914; she

died there on Nov. 29, 1916. Death certificate states she was born April 1, 1848 in

Texas, father named James Shaw.



	Marshall Young married Adeline "Addie" Champie, born in Arizona

(probably around Castle Hot Springs) in 1885. They ranched on "Turkey Creek"

north of Phoenix, near Mayer and Cordes Junction, then moved to Yuma. The

Weekly Yuma Sun reported on Oct. 15, 1909 that "Marshall Young and his wife, of

Prescott, arrived in Yuma Sunday and are quartered at the Molina house. ... Mr.

Young has the distinction of being the oldest living person born in Yuma County.

He was born at the old county seat, the mining camp of La Paz, fifty years ago.

There are but three older native sons of Arizona now living than Mr. Young, a

distinction for which he has a right to be proud...." They had two children, Ralph

Marshall and Mary Elizabeth. Ralph Marshall in turn served as vice principal of

Hoover High School in San Diego; he died around 1992. He married Beatrice

Brown and had two children, Kenneth and James. Mary Elizabeth married L.

Smith. All descendants are likely in southern California now.

	

	James W. married Myrtle Gill. He died in Yuma in 1934. An undated

newspaper article in Arizona State Univ.'s Carl Hayden Collection stated "James

Young, 63 years old, said here to have been the first white child born in Phoenix,

died in his home in the Yuma Valley. ... He leaves a widow and a son, James,

26." James is reported to have run a lumberyard in Indio, Calif. in 1947.



	John Ansley, known as Ansley Young died (probably) sometime before 1900.

A family record indicates he was killed in an accident at the "K. Mine"--possibly

Kennecott Mine.



	Carolina Young married Andrew Farley; she died in Globe, AZ in 1895.



	Mary, or Polly, Ann Young married Eugene Morrell. She died in Yuma,

AZ in 1930, after the birth of her fourth child (names not known) and he moved to

Kentucky.



	Among the more interesting documents in the Carl Hayden files is a June

14, 1947 letter of Addie Champie Young to the senator, responding to his requests

for information. (Hayden was undertaking to create a collection on early Arizona

pioneers). Ms. Young states that her husband Marshall has uncles and relations

in Tennessee. She adds that his mother, Sarah, "told me of the covered wagon

days when she came across--how they would circle the wagons when the Indians

came after them--at night they would eat cold food, not wanting to make fires.

Seems there were 6 wagons in the drive. Marshall & my father (C.E. Champie)

always saw to it that you were returned to Washington. .... Marshall often spoke

of the earlier days when your father had the "Hayden Flour Mills" and you boys

were friends." Her address is given as R. 1, Box 173, Escondido, Calif. In a letter

of June 28, 1947, she mentions their children, Ralph's service in the military and

present position as vice principal, and adds: "Mother is here with me for the

summer. She is 82 and strong. We will return to Ariz. and the mines in the fall."