IREDELL COUNTY, NC - BIOGRAPHIES - Alexander Young, Iredell's Oldest ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Ginger Weston robertginger@worldnet.att.net ==================================================================== Newspaper Article, Mooresville, North Carolina, Iredell County Thursday,January 22,1953 Alexander Young Iredell's Oldest Taken from a Family Reunion Book/Byers/Young Family Reunion 1998 'Uncle Alex'Young Is still Pert at 100 He sat on the front porch of his three room house last Friday afternoon and reminisced about the Civil War and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. His mood was alternately humorous and grave,and his memory was unusually keen for one who had passed the century mark. Alexander Young - "Uncle Alex" as he is widely known throughout Iredell County - was once the cattel of Jack Young, who owned a big plantation in and around Third Creek community between Mooresville and Statesville. More than a hundred winters have slipped by since Uncle Alex was born into slavery. He isn't certain of his birthday, but can estimate his age by subtracting the years since the Civil War from his approximate age at the time of the War between the states. He was in his early teens at the time. Born A Slave Uncle Alex was born on Jack Young's Third Creek Plantation. Young owned "oceans and oceans" of slaves, according to Uncle Alex, among which were young Alex, his parents, six sisters and a brother Sam. They're all dead now. His sister Adeline was sold at a slave auction when still a young woman. Uncle Alex remembers it well. "They took her off to Mississippi", he pronounced it "Massassappi". During the war between the states he and the rest of the family continued work on the Young plantation, and after the slaves were freed they stayed on for a while working for wages. Finally they moved to a farm near Mineral Springs, just south of Mooresville, where young Alex met his future wife. What kind of fellow was Jack Young? Was he good to his slaves? Uncle Alex laughed." Same as people today. He had his good points, and he had his bad points". Then he recalled how Young had once tied his father to a tree and whipped him for half a day, trying successfully to make him admit he had injured a hog. "He'd beat him awhile, then go in the house for another drink of whiskey, "said Uncle Alex. Whiskey was almost as common as water then, he recalled, but much purer than today's product. He used to drink a bit himself. I've drunk good liquor and, I've drunk bad liquor, he admitted. "but that was long ago. Now he's a staunch Presbyterian, and has made his peace calling and election sure with his maker. "But that sugarhead' will kill you "Uncle Alex added as sort of afterthought, referring to a common variet of moonshine. He has outlived all of the relatives of his own generation, as well as his wife who died when she was about 75. He isn't surprised that this is so. He was foretold of it my a fortune teller many years ago. A few years after his marriage, he was fortunate in finding work with a Mooresville farmer named Frank Jones, who , in the patriarch's words, "give me my start". It wasn't long before he had aquired six acres of land, along with four boys, and three daughters. All are still alive except his oldest son, who died at 75. Two sons Buster and Vic, live in the Mooresville area;a third Espy, lives in Ohio. He has numerous grandchildren, great grandhcildren and great great grandchildren, but has lost count of them, if indeed he ever knew their exact number. Sitting there on the porch in the January weather, Uncle Alex's sweater looked skimpy and frayed. And the rest of his clothing showed signs of long wear. Gets No Pension To tell you the truth, the genial old fellow isn't in the best of circumstances. He lives with an aged housekeeper who has a small grandson to support. She gets an old age pension of $30 a month, but he gets none at all. Why ? Uncle Alex had a little story to tell. He once got a pension of $25 a month, but it was discontinued after two years. The difficulty started when the Welfare Office in Statesville learned that he owned ten acres of land. The way Uncle Alex related it ran something like this: "Truman found out about the land-he knows all things. He wrote and said if I kept getting the pension, he'd get my property when I died. When I told Espey, who lives in Ohio, about it, he came down and had them to stop the pension. Then he had another of my sons, who lives here, to sell the land and let me live off of that. I've been living off of that ever since, but I'spect it's about gone". Fortunately, he can live rent free in the Duke Power Company house as long as he lives. This was his reward for the 28 year's service he rendered the company farming its land. The small house, is need of considerable repair, is located on the pump station road in the Doolie community. Now Uncle Alex is "waiting on Ike" before applying for reinstatement of his pension. He hopes Ike will treat him better than did Harry Truman. When the weather is pretty, he does most of his waiting on Ike sitting on his front porch in a straight back chair. He is constantly amazed and alarmed at the traffic that surges past his front door. "People is going crazy", he lamented. "Some knows they's ridin' and some don't know they's ridin'. They all drive too fast. Sometimes, when he gets tired of sitting. He strolls down the road for a mile or so with the aid of his cane. Considering his age, his health is good. His eyesight is failing, nut his hearing is excellent. And he still has most of his teeth. I can crack peanuts like a hog, "he chuckled. He's chewed tobacco and smoked a pipe since he was a youngster. What is his secret of his longevity? "God spared me this long for being good to my parents, "he thinks. His memory is remarkable in one so old. "People ask m, how come you still got such good sense? I tells them I'se born with it. God give me mother wit. Ain't no wit like mother wit." About ten years ago a knot, about hen-egg size, appeared on the top of his head and it's still there. A doctor at Rockwell, between Charlotte and Salisbury, told him the knot contained his "sense". He told Uncle Alex that if the knot were cut off he would go crazy. And Uncle Alex believes it. How much longer does he think he is going to live? "You're gonna live as long as God will let you ."was the way Uncle Alex answered the question. And that's how he sums up his chances for increased longevity. Alexander Young Summary: According to the Family Reunion and Bibles passed down from generation to generation. Alexander Young (1853-1957) Married Alice Davis and to this union ten children were born..Alexander also fathered two other children. He died on August 7, 1957, God blessed him with 104 years. Childrens' names were John, Sam, Espie, Bessie, Leachie, Aurelia, Laura Jane, Tinnie, Woodie Bell, Vic, Claudia and Olene. Family research for the Young family has been provided by Ginger Weston, mother of Terrence Alexander II and Tanya Sipos-Alexander, ggg grandchildren of Alexander Young. Summary transcribed by:Ginger Weston