Thomas Young. Origin: Old Inhabitant

Thomas Young received a grant of 80 acres in the current McKanns settlement of Long Island on 4 December 1789. There are numerous Thomas Youngs listed in early Bahamas records who were of the right age to have received this land grant. For example, the 1740 Census enumerated husband Thomas, wife Keziah, children Elizabeth and William, and Thomas’ adult brother Richard living together in the Bahamas. Presumed to be relatives, Thomas and William Young are listed in the 1736 Poll Tax. A Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Young’s daughter Sarah was born 29 May 1772, and a daughter Alice was born 8 May 1773. There are at least a dozen more examples of Thomas Youngs recorded in Dolly Mae as having had children in the Bahamas in the years prior to the American Revolution. As far as pre-Bahamas origin goes, Young(e) was also a common early Bermudian name.

On the other hand, we also identified Thomas Young in several Loyalist records. There was a Private Thomas Young serving in the Orangeburgh Militia in South Carolina, but no other Long Island grantees in that militia. And in Sabine, we read that a Thomas Younge of Georgia was known as “the richest man and greatest Tory in Georgia,” but it is very unlikely that this was our Thomas Young grantee, as he only received 80 acres.

References: DM, Sabine, LSC, JR