San Diego County Biographies

Nestor A. Young

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
Nestor A. Young, Harbor-Master and Chief Wharfinger of the Bay of San Diego, was 
born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1845, having descended from New England 
ancestry. John Virgil Young came over to the Colonies on the receipt of a 
handsome land grant from King George III, in the colony of Massachusetts. 
Royalty could not, however, hold the young family to the English crown, for 
their lot was soon cast among the true friends and staunch supporters of the 
American cause. Virgil Young, the great-grandfather of Nestor A., joined 
Washington, fighting under the "Father of our Country" through the tedious and 
bitter struggle for national existence and perpetual independence. Not only did 
he thus contribute to the fullest extent his personal service and energy, but 
sacrificed largely his lands and contributed financially to the cause so near 
and dear to his heart. His grandfather, the Rev. Nestor Young, was a clergyman 
of unusual prominence and ability. He was one of the most eloquent of pulpit 
orators, and assisted largely in the spread of Methodism from the Ohio and 
Mississippi, and came within a few votes of being made a Bishop. J. B. Young, 
the father of Nestor A., had no taste for public life or the honors which attach 
to professional pursuits. Mechanic arts had the strongest attraction for him, 
and for more than forty years he was a silversmith and jeweler, and was esteemed 
by all who knew him as an honest, upright citizen.
   Nestor A. Young, the subject of this sketch, received a classical education in 
the Wesleyan University of Iowa. As well as having both before and since passed 
through those scenes of exterior hardihood and interior refinement which go 
toward the make-up of a symmetrical life, he is well qualified to meet the 
requirements of this living age, discriminating between right and wrong with a 
keen discernment not always found among the characteristics with which the 
average public is endowed; and yet, while his record as a legislator in this 
State is too well known to be for a moment assailed, it may not be amiss to give 
a few of the varied experiences of life which have had a bearing toward that 
thorough equipment of mental faculty and heart so essential in public or 
political life. Hence the same motives which impelled the great-grandfather to 
cast his lot with Washington and his coadjutors in those early days, caused the 
subject of this sketch, in the dark, dark days of civil strife, to enlist at the 
outbreak of the Rebellion, though at that time a mere boy. The survivors of the 
Thirteenth and Forty-fifth Iowa Infantry, to which regiments he belonged, are 
best able to judge of his course in field and in camp, in those times of danger 
and endurance. A steady aim of purpose, courageous bearing, and a persistent 
energy, characterized him as an uncompromising and aggressive defender of his 
country's flag. Tireless and unflinching in military duty throughout his entire 
term of enlistment, he was, in 1864, honorably discharged. His whole soul was in 
full accord with the support of the Union cause throughout the bitter struggle. 
Three years of honorable service and distinction were, however, contributed with 
cheerful alacrity, and the flag so dearly loved in years of strife and conquest 
has no less a place in the affections of his heart to day, as years of peace 
glide swiftly by.
   In 1868 he married Miss Mattie Dawson, of Washington, Iowa, coming soon after to 
California. As an educator his qualifications quickly became manifest to the 
California public, as they had previously been well known to the people of Iowa, 
and he was for some time an honored member of the faculty of Alexander Academy 
at Healdsburg, then a leading institution of that State. Mr. Young, in 1875, 
engaged in the newspaper business as publisher of the Sonoma County Journal, 
turning his attention to the building up of the interests and developing the 
resources of that county. His services in the promotion of public prosperity 
being discovered by the leading men of the northern part of the State, he was 
offered a position as a superintendant and manager of the Pioneer Immigrant 
Bureau of San Francisco, in which position he became an adept, and for several 
years ably conducted its affairs, much to the satisfaction of all concerned in 
the welfare of that part of the State. Mrs. Young's health becoming impaired, 
and desiring to make a change, Mr. Young removed to Southern California, 
locating in Santa Ana, and engaged in the publication of a spirited journal 
called Homes and Lands in Semi-Tropic California, which became so popular that 
the circulation increased 10,000 copies per month.
   Mr. Young has served two terms as Representative from San Diego County to the 
General Assembly of this State, being first elected in 1884, and re-elected in 
1886, and, though passing through two campaigns, incurred no political abuse. 
Fearless in matters of duty, and consistent in public acts and private demeanor, 
and always sincere in every undertaking, his opinion as a law-framer has 
frequently been sought, and therefore it is not strange that his service as 
chairman of the Committee on Claims, and as a member of other important 
committees, were so often sought for and universally approved. On July 1, 1889, 
he was appointed Harbor-Master and Chief Wharfinger of the Bay of San Diego, 
which position he is filling with universal approval and commendation.

An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San 
Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower 
California, from the Earliest Period of Occupancy to the Present Time.... - 
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. pp 335-337