Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Young, George Warner 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

George Warner Young, attorney at law in Joliet, was born in Manhattan, Will 
county, Illinois, March 25, 1866. In both the paternal and maternal lines he 
is descended from ancestry that for many generations has been represented in 
America. The line of descent is traced down from Rev. John Young, a missionary 
of the Church of England, who was driven out of Massachusetts by the Puritans 
and later out of Rhode Island by the Baptists. He settled near Sag Harbor, 
Long Island, about 1640. From him have descended two lines in which the names 
Edward and Alexander are familiar, spreading through New Jersey and New York 
to the west. Alexander Young, great-grandfather of George Warner Young, was a 
celebrated Hicksite Quaker preacher. He married Elizabeth Lawrence, of the 
same family as Captain James Lawrence, the naval hero, whose military service 
and his words, "Don't give up the ship!" brought him fame. They had six 
children, of whom John Young was the fourth. John Young was born at New Paltz 
on the Hudson, July 18, 1798. He was a highly educated man and for many years 
was president of the Brooklyn Collegiate Institute. In 1848 he came to 
Illinois and settled at Manhattan Center. He named the town, was supervisor 
for eight years and was the first president of the Will County Agricultural 
Society. He died December 24, 1884, at the home of his son, Mansfield Young, 
at Joliet, Illinois. In 1825 he was married to Caroline Elizabeth Thompson, a 
daughter of the Rev. James Thompson, of Durham, New York, an Episcopal 
clergyman, whose wife, Anna, was a daughter of Major Elijah Humphreys, of the 
Connecticut line in the Revolutionary army, and Anna Mansfield, a daughter of 
the celebrated Rev. Dr. Richard Mansfield, of Derby, Connecticut. Elijah 
Humphreys was a brother of General David Humphreys, of Washington's staff, who 
was also first minister to Spain, who introduced fine Merino sheep into 
America and did much to develop the growing and manufacture of wool in the 
United States. Anna Humphreys Thompson, Caroline Thompson Young and John Young 
all are buried in St. Paul's church cemetery at Manhattan Center. John Young 
and his family were ardent supporters of the Episcopal church and they made it 
an early duty, when settling on the prairie, to build the church at Manhattan 
Center, since removed to the village of Manhattan one mile west and still 
flourishing. Mrs. Young died in 1858. Edward Young, son of John and Caroline 
Young, was born in Durham, New York, February 6, 1837, and when a youth of 
eleven years accompanied his parents on their removal westward to Will county. 
After the war he took charge of the family business and built a new house one 
mile east of Manhattan Center, where he continued farming until 1876, when 
they removed to Joliet, where he entered the hay and grain business, which, 
under his management, grew to large proportions. He is a man of rather 
retiring disposition but of strong domestic tastes, devoted to his family. He 
was for many years a vestryman and junior warden of Christ's Episcopal church 
at Joliet. In 1865 he married Ann Eliza Hoyt, of Greenwich, Connecticut, who 
was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, June 15, 1839. The marriage was 
celebrated in Greenwich, February 13, 1865, by the Rev. Benjamin Yarrington, 
rector of Christ's Episcopal church. Mrs. Young is a daughter of Rev. Warner 
and Elizabeth P. (Reynolds) Hoyt. The Hoyts came to America in earliest 
colonial times, as did the Reynolds. Mrs. Hoyt's mother was born in Leyden, 
Holland, and was a daughter of Godfried Doll and settled in Albany, New York, 
1797. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Edward Young have been born six children: George 
Warner, Rev. Charles Herbert Young, rector of Christ's church, Woodlawn, 
Chicago; John Mansfield Young, publisher of the Queen of the West at Chicago; 
Heusted Thompson Young, business agent of the Erie Railroad Company at St. 
Louis, Missouri; Francis Edward Young, engaged in the land and loan business 
at Bismarck, North Dakota; and Margaret Hoyt Young, a teacher in the public 
schools of Joliet. George Warner Young was educated by his grandfather and 
private tutors and also attended the city schools of Joliet to the age of 
sixteen years, when he put aside his text-books to earn his own living. 
However, he continued his studies as opportunity offered, giving particular 
attention to historical subjects. Business reverses of his father compelled 
him to go to work in 1882 and he drove a delivery wagon, clerked in a store 
and was afterward in the general offices of the old Chicago, Pekin & 
Southwestern railroad at Joliet. In the fall of 1883 he entered the office of 
the Joliet Republic and Sun, under Major Robert Mann Woods, there continuing 
until he entered college. Mr. Woods was an ardent republican and had marked 
influence over Mr. Young, whose people had all been supporters of democracy, 
but through the influence of Mr. Woods and of Mr. Blaine's personality George 
W. Young became a republican. Early ambitions to attain something better than 
could be achieved in the humble positions which were open to him by reason of 
his educational equipment, Mr. Young, in September, 1885, found opportunity to 
carry out his desire by pursuing a collegiate course and entered the Columbia 
University Law School of New York city and also matriculated in the School of 
Political Science, carrying both courses. He was graduated with the degree of 
Bachelor of Law (cum laude) in 1887. Following his graduation Mr. Young 
returned to Joliet, took the state examinations and was admitted to the bar. 
He entered the office of Judge Olin and Captain Phelps, where he remained 
until 1890, when he entered upon an independent law practice. For two years he 
was alone, having W. D. Heise, afterward state's attorney, for an office 
associate. In 1892 he formed a partnership with George J. Cowing, which has 
continued to the present time, the business continually growing and developing 
into the handling of large sums of money for clients, advising financial 
interests, examining titles to lands, caring for the proper probates of 
estates and kindred matters. Mr. Cowing was elected county judge in the fall 
of 1906. With a realization of the duties and obligations of citizenship and 
always active in the republican party, Mr. Young has never been a candidate 
for office but once, preferring to do his public service as a private citizen. 
In 1897 he was nominated without his solicitation for the position of city 
attorney, but poor health compelled him to decline. In 1899 he was a candidate 
for the nomination against Hon. R. J. Barr, who had made the race before and 
was beaten by only two votes. Subsequently his private business developed so 
rapidly that he has never desired office, feeling that until a man is 
financially independent he can not afford the sacrifice which office holding 
entails. He has, however, been president of the Improvement Association, which 
has done so much to improve the appearance of the city and advance municipal 
interests. He is likewise president of the University Extension Circle, is 
chairman of the industrial committee of the Commercial Club of Joliet, and 
secretary of the deep waterway committee, in which connection he has done most 
effective and beneficial service. He has always stood for opposition to 
misrule in public affairs and was active in criticism of machine methods in 
politics, but has never allowed disagreement with methods to fall into 
personalities, but retains pleasant personal relations with his opponents. On 
the 5th of September, 1889, Mr. Young was married to Miss Corabelle Beers 
Rugar, at Galesburg, Illinois, by the Rev. John Wilkinson. Mrs. Young is a 
daughter of Captain Francis Rugar, quartermaster of the Sixty-fourth Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, and Elizabeth Beers Rugar. Both the Beers and Rugar 
families are from central New York. Captain Rugar was a cousin of General 
Thomas Ruger, U. S. A., and of William Ruger, chief justice of the state of 
New York. The family is of German origin, the name being originally Rugner. 
They came from the Rhine valley, near where the river Rhine is joined by the 
river Main. The family now consists of three branches in New York, Illinois 
and Wisconsin, but only the Illinois adopts the "ar" in the last syllable of 
the name. Captain Rugar settled in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1852, and was a 
very successful merchant, accumulating quite an extensive fortune. When the 
Civil war was inaugurated he joined the army with the Sixty-fourth Illinois 
Regiment and his talents for business soon found play in the quartermasters 
department. After the battle of Chickamauga General Thomas told him he was the 
best quartermaster he knew in the army. Mr. and Mrs. Young have two children: 
Rugar, born October 23, 1891; and Elizabeth Rugar, born April 30, 1897. They 
also lost one son, Warner Rugar, who was born July 2, 1895, and died July 15, 
1896. Mr. Young holds membership in Paul Revere lodge, K. P., and is a valued 
member of Christ's church (Episcopal) at Joliet, of which he has been 
vestryman and treasurer. Of social nature, education, culture and training 
have vied in making him an interesting and entertaining gentleman. He is fond 
of flowers and of literature and has always been an interested student of 
history. An entertaining after-dinner speaker, he is frequently called upon to 
address public gatherings and banquets, and without being in any sense a 
political leader he has nevertheless figured prominently in the public life of 
Joliet in social and professional circles and in connection with those 
movements and measures which have had direct bearing upon the upbuilding, 
improvement and adornment of the city. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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