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biography
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Young, William A., of Millvale Borough, who is a Notary Public,
and conducts a prosperous business in insurance, real estate, and loans, was born in Pine township, Allegheny County, December 15, 1850, son of Henry
and Catherine (Wyland) Young. His paternal grandfather, Henry Young,- of Germany, who served as a soldier in the German army, was three times married,
had three children, one by each marriage, and lived to an advanced age. The father, born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, came to America in 1837. He located
in Pine Creek, where he met Catherine Wyland, who was living there with her parents. She was born in Alsace, then a province of France, daughter of Peter
Wyland, a French soldier, who came to Pine Creek in 1827, and died in 1843, at the age of eighty-nine years. Henry Young, Jr., and Catherine were married
in 1840, after which they removed to East Deer township, where he carried on farming. He was also a shoemaker by trade. Both he and his wife were members
of the German Methodist church, and Mr. Young was class leader. Their children were: Henry L., of Pitcairn; Margaret C, the wife of George Pflasterer, of
Braddock; Mary A., the widow of John McClelland, of Pittsburg; William A. and Samuel T., both of Bennett. After the mother's death in 1870, her husband
married Mrs. Mary A. McMaster, the widow of Joseph McMaster and a daughter of Joseph Kelker, who bore him one child, Ralph B.
William A. Young spent his boyhood on his father's farm in the township of East Deer, and was sent with the other boys of the neighborhood to the district
school. After leaving school William learned shoemaking from his father, and worked at that trade in Oil City until 1880. In 1881 and 1885 he was elected
Justice of the Peace at Bennett, to which place he had moved. After that he went into the real estate business, in which he has since been engaged.
Besides filling the position of Justice of the Peace, he has also served two terms as Notary Public. On February 17, 1897, he was elected Burgess of
the borough of Millvale for three years, beginning March 1, 1897.
On January 1, 1873, Mr. Young was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Steckman, who died in 1879. Her children are: Emma E. and William Clarence.
In 1881 Mr. Young married Miss Kittie Becker, daughter of Henry and Margaret (Walter) Becker, both of whom were natives of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany.
By the second marriage there were three children — Lillian E., Walter M., and Lincoln Earl. Politically, Mr. Young is a Republican. In religious faith
he is a Methodist. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the Order of United Workmen, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and to the Knights of the Mystic
Chain. Mr. Young's home and office are at 54 Grant Avenue, Millvale, a borough of nine thousand inhabitants. He is widely known and respected as a man of unquestioned integrity.
Biographical review: containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897, Author: Anonymous.
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