Joshua Young

Joshua Young
Rev. Joshua Young, who presided over the funeral of John Brown
Born	(1823-09-23)September 23, 1823
Died	February 7, 1904(1904-02-07) (aged 80)
Occupation	Congregational Unitarian minister
Years active	1849–1904
Known for	Presiding over the funeral of John Brown

Joshua Young (September 23, 1823 – February 7, 1904) was an abolitionist Congregational Unitarian minister who crossed paths with many famous people of the mid-19th century. He received national publicity, and lost his pulpit (job) for presiding in 1859 over the funeral of John Brown, both the most famous person in the country and the first person executed for treason in the history of the United States.^[1][2] Contrary to his friends' expectations,^{[3]: 236 [4]} his resignation under pressure in Burlington did not ruin his career; the church in Burlington later apologized and invited him back to speak,^[5] "an honored guest",^[6] There is a memorial tablet in the church.^[7]

Life and career

Young was born in 1823 in Randolph, near

In 1849 he married Mary Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sylvanus Plympton, M.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[10] Their children were: Mary Elizabeth Young Stevens (1849–1891), Lucy F. Young (1854–1922), Dr. Joshua Edson Young of Medford, Massachusetts (1856–1940), Henry Guy Young of Winchester, Massachusetts (1865–1936), and Mrs. Grace D. Patton of Bangor, Maine.^[8]

He held the following positions as minister:

• 1849–1852 New North Church, Boston.^[11]
• 1852–1862 First Congregational (Unitarian) Church,
  fugitive slaves in his home. He was also accused by the church of doing the same in Burlington; the charge was not substantiated. In 1858, when he resigned his pulpit at the Burlington church, the church held a meeting to persuade him to withdraw his resignation, which he did.^[13] He was also Superintendent of Common Schools in Burlington.^[14] He resigned these positions in 1862.^[15] There followed a year in Deerfield [Massachusetts].^[8]
• 1864–1868 3rd Congregational Society, Hingham, Massachusetts. One source says his salary was $1,200 (equivalent to $23,377 in 2023),^[16] another $1,500 (equivalent to $29,221 in 2023).^[17] Between this position and the following one in Fall River he travelled to Egypt, the Holy Land, and Europe.^[18]
• 1868–1875 Unitarian Church, Fall River, Massachusetts.^[19][20]
• 1875–1904 First Parish Meeting House, Groton, Massachusetts.

Young died in 1904 in Winchester, Massachusetts, at the home of his son.

Young and slavery

Young described himself as "bred in the Garrisonian school of abolitionists".

Young was also "a station-keeper on the Underground Railroad when the blow at Harper's Ferry shook the whole nation like an earthquake".^{[3]: 635–636} He frequently sheltered fugitives himself.^[22]: 45 In Burlington he was less than 50 miles (80 km) from the Canadian border. One account says that he sheltered up to six fugitives at a time in his "comfortable" barn.^[5] Another source says that about 1850 fugitives appeared daily, and sometimes more than one a day, but then dropped to two or three a fortnight.^{[22]: 81–82}

The John Brown funeral

The most significant event of Young's life, in his own judgment, was his participation in the funeral of abolitionist John Brown, the consequences of which participation surprised and pained him. He often spoke about it and, as an old man, he wrote up his experience at length.^[3]

Brown was executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia on December 2, 1859, after his conviction for murder, treason, and inciting a slave insurrection. Young had never met Brown, but when his abolitionist friend Lucius G. Bigelow informed him that John Brown's body was passing through Rutland en route to be buried at his home in North Elba, New York, only 100 miles (160 km) away across Lake Champlain, they decided to attend.^[3]: 236 They traveled all night and arrived only hours before the service began. As he was the only minister present (others had declined^[5]), when Wendell Phillips asked him to preside, he said that he then "knew why God had sent [him] there".^[3]: 239 The reporter present, who took it down "phonographically" (stenographically), called Young's impromptu opening prayer "impressive".^[23] As the body was being lowered into the grave he felt moved to recite words of

When he returned to Burlington, he found himself savagely attacked in the local paper. He was socially ostracized and snubbed and prominent members of his church resigned. Young said he was the victim of persecution.^[24]

Honorable men there were who suggested it would be a spectacle not for tears to see me dangling at the end of a rope from the highest tree on the common, swinging and twisting in the wind.^[6]

He was told that he would never again be permitted to occupy a pulpit.^[25]

In a 2016 sermon on Young, Rev. Karen G. Johnston says, without explanation, "that there is dispute between Young’s account, and that of the Burlington church, about what led to his leaving."^[26]

Reburials in 1899

Young presided over the 1899 ceremony in which ten of Brown's men, which had been buried elsewhere, eight of them thrown into two packing crates, were reburied next to John Brown's grave.^[27]

Publications

• Young, Joshua (June 11, 1854). God Greater than Man.—A Sermon Preached June 11th, after the Rendition of Anthony Burns, by Joshua Young, Minister of the First Congregational Church, Burlington, Vt. Burlington, Vermont: Samuel B. Nichols.
• Young, Joshua (November 26, 1854). Come and see! What It Is to be a Unitarian. A Discourse delivered in Burlington, Vermont, November 26, 1854, with an Appendix, by Joshua Young, Minister of the First Congregational Church. Burlington, Vermont: Samuel B. Nichols.
• Young, Joshua; Miller, W. A. (March 11, 1859) [March 1, 1859]. "Report of the town superintendants of common schools, for the year ending March 1, 1859". p. 1 – via Chronicling America.
• Young, Joshua (1859). Man Better than a Sheep. A Sermon Preached Thanksgiving day, Nov. 24, 1859, by Joshua Young, Minister of the Unitarian Church, Burlington, Vt. : Published by request. Burlington, Vermont: E. A. Fuller, Bookseller and Stationer.
• Young, Joshua (November 1865). "To the Worshipful Masters, Wardens, and Brothers of Si. Mary's Lodge, A.F. and A.M., St. Mary's, Georgia. Old Colony Lodge of Hingham, Mass., sends greeting". Moore's Freemason's Magazine.
• Young, Joshua (February 11, 1872). The Tree Is Known by its Fruit. A Sermon Preached Feb. 11, 1872, in the Unitarian Church, Fall River. Fall River, Massachusetts.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Young, Joshua (1889). "Progress of the Country during the Century". Centennial anniversary of Washington's inauguration. Proceedings in the First Parish Meeting-house, at Groton, Massachusetts, April 30, 1889. Groton, Massachusetts: University Press. pp. 17–23.
• Young, Joshua (December 9, 1892). One hundred years of Old Colony Lodge A.F. and A.M. : Centennial celebration, Higham, Dec. 9, 1892. Hingham, Massachusetts: Old Colony Lodge.
• Young, Joshua (January 25, 1902). Address at the Funeral of Mrs. Charlotte Augusta Langdon Sibley: of Groton, Mass., Jan. 25, 1902, by her pastor, Rev. Joshua Young, D.D. Groton, Massachusetts: E.A. Fuller.
• Young, Joshua (March 8, 1902). Letter of resignation of Rev. Joshua Young, D.D. : of the First Parish Church in Groton, Massachusetts, March 8, 1902.
• Young, Joshua (April 1904). "The Funeral of John Brown".
  New England Magazine
  : 229–243.

Legacy

• Folk singer Pete Sutherland based a 1997 song, "A Crown of Righteousness”, on a sermon by Young.^[5]
• In 2012, lines from Young's 1854 sermon “Come and See What It Is to Be a Unitarian" were used for responsive reading by Young's final parish, the First Parish Church of Groton.^[28]

References