Joseph and Marie

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the one- room school was the standard for education in rural America. In New York State, the one-room school was an integral part of the common school system established by the state in the early 1800s.

-New York State Historical Association

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Joseph Young

Joseph Young was born the second son of John B. and Pauline Schooley Young, in August of 1831 in the state of New York. His mother had also been born in New York, but his father was born in Yorkshire England. The city in New York for both Mother and Son is believed to be Seneca, as the family lived there around the times of their birth. Pauline was a school teacher and John was briefly the Captain of a ship that sailed to New York before becoming a teacher himself. Joseph had an older brother, William "Thompson" and three younger sisters, Elizabeth "Matilda," Frances, and Lazetta. Sometime between 1850 and 1860 the family moved from Seneca to Deerfield Illinois.

The following comes from "Portrait and Biographical Album of Lenawee County, Mich.," Chapman Brothers, 1888.

[John] (Joseph's father) came to America when a young man, and married in the State of New York. He was well educated and taught school, and he also studied medicine and practiced it in various places. After marriage he bought a farm in Seneca County, near the town of Ovid, and was one of the pioneers of the Holland Purchase, New York. He was a licensed minister in the Methodist Church, and often varied his duties as a farmer or physician by preaching in other towns wherever needed. After carrying on his farm for a short time he sold it and turned his attention to the mercantile business in Ovid, but in 1853 he disposed of his business interests and removed to Maryland, where he bought 200 acres of land. He did not like it here, however, and soon sold his farm and returned to New York, where he bought a farm in Varick Township, on which he resided for five years, when he went to Geneva and practiced medicine at the water cure establishment with Dr. Smith. In a few months he left there and went West, and practiced his profession in McGregor, Iowa, for a year, going from there to Highland Park, Ill. In the year 1864 he removed to Marion County, Ill., and bought a tract of land near Kinmundy, and there death closed his earthly pilgrimage in September 1877. There his faithful wife, the companion of his wanderings, preceded him to that home not built with hands, her death occurring in September 1868. During his residence in America, Mr. Young had visited his old home in England twice, the first time in 1833, and the last time while he lived in Illinois. His wife, whose maiden name was Paulina Schooley, was the daughter of William H. and Anna (Miller) Schooley.

The article went on to say that Joseph's brother, William T., graduated from the medical depoartment of the State University at Ann Arbor; and that Joseph himself was an inventor.

The 1860 Census shows Joseph as the head of household at age 28, living with his mother, his sister Frances, and WJ Schooley aged 90. This was his maternal grandfather who lived to be 101 (see clip below). In 1863 Joseph registered for the draft into the Civil War. He was 31 years old, unmarried and listed as a machinist. To my knowledge he never served.

Joseph's brother, William "Thompson" Young

Joseph's sister, Elizabeth "Matilda" Twilliger, known as "Aunt Matilda"

In 1886 Joseph married Marie Prosperina Kroelinger, sometimes called Mary. She was 22 and he was 55. Later that year, on 1 November 1886, their first child was born, John Kroelinger Young (or sometimes John William Young) who was my great grandfather. They would go on to have two more children, Marie and Joseph Young, Jr.

Marie Mary Prosperina Kroelinger Young Simpkins

Marie Kroelinger Young and grand- children Johnny, Herbert and Matilda

Marie was born on the 4th of October, 1864, in Switzerland, to Adam and Marie Prosperina Kroelinger, their second child. Their first child was Marie's brother Caesar. Her father was Swiss, but her mother was German. Unfortunately her mother died and never made it to America. Adam remarried Emily Agathe Duchaud and went on to have seven children with her. Adam and Emily immigrated together with Caesar, Marie, and Marie's first two half brothers, Hubert (also known as Reuben), and Bernard, on 29 April 1873, aboard the "Greece" headed for New York. They almost immediately took up farming in Vineland, NJ and lived there the rest of their lives. They already had friends in Vineland that helped them settle there. They were Baptists, and they all spoke French within the family. The airport in Vineland NJ is called the Kroelinger Airport. I believe the name comes from one of Marie's brothers, but more research is needed on that.

Marie Kroelinger Young (and later Simpkins) was a dietitian at the Veteran's Home for Old Soldiers in Vineland New Jersey.

The SS Greece was the ship used by the Kroelingers to come to America

Post card from 1910 of the Soldiers Home in Vineland New Jersey where Marie worked as a Dietitian.

Kroelinger New Jersey Charles Lewis Hubert Anne

A Kroelinger family get-together, unfortunately Marie is not in the picture. Marie died in 1945 and I believe this picture was taken some time after that. This picture does however show us four of Marie's siblings, Charles, Lewis, Hubert and Anne Kroelinger. All but Hubert have a spouse next to them. Picture credit goes to Kathy B. who I met on Ancestry.com and she was nice enough to send me this picture. She is an expert on the Kroelinger family history. The man seated on the far right looks a lot like the man in the photo with John K. below. He married the lady sitting next to him, Anne's daughter, who would be John K's cousin. This picture was taken some time prior to 1958 when Hubert passed away.

Their Children

Their first son John Kroelinger Young, my great grandfather, was born on 1 November 1886. He married Tillie Coari in 1911 and they had 10 children together. In his early years he worked in the local glass factory, but later had his own moving business. Unfortunately, John ended up abandoning Tillie when she still had five children at home. Eventually he moved to Florida where he died in 1959. There has been some speculation that John had a second family after he left, but I can find no evidence of that. When the 1950s Census Reports are released we should know more about his later years.

John Kroelinger Young to the right with a friend (possibly the man above in the Kroelinger family picture.

John K. and wife Tillie Coari Young

John's moving business, this is also their home address

Their home as it looked in 2014 on Google maps

John K. and his first 4 kids, Matilda, Johnny, Herb and Norman (6 more to come)

John with his son Walter

Their daughter Marie Young is a little bit of a mystery and I've never seen a photo of her. She was born on the 9th of March in 1892. The 1910 Census shows her working in a waste management facility. She would've been about 17 or 18. In 1920 she was working in a coat factory. In 1930 she is a machine operator in a sewing factory, and finally in 1940 she is a sorter at a canning factory. She never married nor had children and she lived off and on with her mother and step father most of her life.

Their last child was Joseph Jr., or Joseph Arnold Young to be precise. He was born on 9 January 1898. Joseph spent most of his life working in the glass factory. In 1922 he married Viola Watson and they had one child, a son named Arnold Joseph Young. Sadly, by the 1930 Census Viola lists her marital status as divorced. Joseph Jr. died in 1973 and was buried in the City of Vineland Cemetery.

Joseph and Marie's son, Joseph Young Jr. 1898-1973

Viola Watson Young

1901 - 1975

Arnold Joseph Young

2 years old

Registered for the Draft, WWI

Night shift in Wheaton Glass Works, Millville, N.J. 1909. Library of Congress. This is the glass factory where Joseph Jr. worked.

Joseph died in 1912, exact date is unknown, as is the cause of death. He would have been 80 or 81, and Marie about 48. Oddly, they are listed in separate Census records in 1910. Marie in the Millville family home with Joseph Jr, and daughter Marie. I can't find their other son John K. in any 1910 Census, but he would marry Tillie Coari in 1911. The 1905 State Census shows him (John) working in the glass factory as many did in that area. But 1910 doesn't find Joseph living in the family home, instead he is living with his sister, Matilda, and her husband Coleman Keeler, in Niagra County NY. Why separate households? Only room for speculation here, but he's about 80 years old, and she's not yet 50. That had to be a strain. On the other hand, he may have good reason to be in New York or just there for an extended visit. In any case, he left a relatively young widow.

Marie married again to David Simpkins, sometime between 1920 and 1930. David's first wife Hannah died in 1920. Doris Young Grimm, my great aunt, wrote of her memories of having Sunday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Simpkins and Aunt Marie. John K.'s ten children never knew their grandfather Joseph, only the Simpkins. David's occupation was salesman and he lived until 1942. Marie lived until 1945.

Who is buried with Joseph? Well, not Marie. I don't know where Marie is buried but it's not with either of her husbands. David Simpkins was buried with his first wife, and she wasn't buried with Joseph either. This is one of the strangest burial plots I've seen. He was buried with his brother William Thompson, his grandson Norman who died tragically in a swimming accident in his 20s, his daughter-in-law Tillie (but not his son John K.), and his granddaughter Matilda and her husband. Also there's a typo on his gravestone. He was born in 1831, not 1881.