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Ferdinand Young

Birth Date: April 19, 1845

Location: Rockaway Neck,Pine Brook, Morris County, N.J.

Date of Death:March 13,1929 (aged 83 years)at Cranford, New Jersey.

Enlistment Date: July 1, 1861 at Brooklyn, NY to serve 3 years (16 years of age)

Mustered In: August 1, 1861 as Private

Description:

Company: K

Muster Out Date:Listed as Deserted January 20, 1863 at Belle Plains, Va.
(See explanation below) :
Listed as deserting, January 20, 1863. Private Young was away visiting his parents on furlough.
Overstaying his leave, Private Young was afraid to return to the 14th, so he enlisted in the 11th Maryland.
He received an honorable discharge, and then joined the Quartermaster Corps.
He was discharged honorably. June 1, 1865, being commended by his commanding officer for bravery and exemplary conduct.
In 1928, through the efforts of Representative Ernest R. Ackerman, and United States Senator Walter E. Edge, a bill
was passed through Congress restoring his good name, and rights, and was signed by President Coolidge
the first week of January, 1929.

Promotions:

Wounded/Sick:

Taken Prisoner:

Details:

Previous Service:

Subsequent Service:
Co. D 11th Maryland (1863) under the name of James Williams
1864 Quartermaster Corps
Mustered Out - Honorable Discharge September 29, 1864
November, 1864 re-enlisted in the Quartermaster Corp. and sent to a Smallpox camp near Nashville, TN.
Honorably Discharged on June 1, 1865. Commended by his Commanding Officer for bravery
and exemplary conduct.

Marriage Date and Place: 1867

Wife's Maiden Name: Deborah Dangler, born 1848, Eatontown, NJ. Died 1931.

Wife's Father's Name:: John Young

Wife's Mother's Maiden Name: Catherine M. Dixon

Father's Name:

Mother's Maiden Name

Occupations Post War:1880: Listed as: Packer

Fraternal Organizations:VFW Captain Newell Rodney Fiske Post # 335

G.A.R. Post:Member of GAR, post unknown

Known Addresses:
1880: 183 Adams Street Brooklyn NY
11 Pittsfield Street, Cranford, NJ

Pension Application Date:6-30-1911

Last Pension Rate:

Wife Pension Application Date: 3-29-1929

Children:
1) Ethel Born 1869
2) Genevieve Born 1876

The following information was provided by S.D. Glazer Lt.-Colonel of USAR (Retired)

By an Act of Congress signed by President Coolidge as one of his last official duties
in January of 1929, Private Ferdinand Young was entirely exonerated and recognized for
his long and faithful service to the Union. as certified at page 10,284 of the Congressional
Record, Vol. 69, No. 139,
May 25, 1928. I also attach hereto Private Young's obituary.

The following is the obituary that was provided by Mr. Glazer as it appeared in the New York Times March 15, 1929,page 19 :

His Rights Restored; Burial As A Soldier

Ferdinand Young, Who Cleared His Name 60 Years After Civil War, Dies at 83.


Special To New York Times


Cranford, N.J., March 14.- His desire of the last sixty years to have a miltary funeral,
with the Stars and Stripes on his coffin and his name cleared of the charge of deserter, will be fulfilled
here on Saturday for Ferdinand Young, Civil War Veteran, who died of pneumonia in his
eighty-fourth year at the home of his daughter, Mrs. John H. Thompson, 11 Pittsfield Street,
on Wednesday. Captain N.R. Fiske Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, will honor him.
Mr. Young was born April 19,1845, at Rockaway Neck, Pine Brook, Morris County, N.J. At the age of
16 he enlisted in the Eighty-fourth New York Volunteers on June 5,1861. He took part in the Second Bull Run,
South Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburg battles. After two years' service he left the regiment at Falmouth, Va.
to visit his parents. Overstaying his leave, he feared to return , so he enlisted in Comapny D Eleventh Maryland Volunteers,
under the name of James Williams and was honorably discharged on Sept. 29, 1864. He reenlisted in the following November, serving in the Quartermaster Corps, and was sent to a smallpox camp near Nashville, Tenn.
On June 1, 1865 he was discharged, being commended by his commanding officer for bravery and exemplary conduct.
For fifty years Mr. Young tried to get his war record clear. Last year, through the efforts of Representative Ernest
R. Ackerman and United States Senator Walter E. Edge, a bill was passed through Congress restoring his
rights, coming as a Christmas present to the veteran. President Coolidge signed the bill in the first week of January.
Mr. Young is survived by a widow. Deborah, whom he married sixty-two years ago, and two daughters,
Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. William Schwarz of Allentown, Pa.

Below are pictures of Ferdinand's membership certificate into the "Society of the Army of the Potomac".
Please note it bears the signatures of U.S. Grant and Horatio C. King. (Provided by Steve Glazer)

  • Ferdinand is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, NJ.
  • Sources:
    The History of the Fighting Fourteenth by Tevis & Marquis.
    We Came to Fight -History of the 5th New York Veteran Volunteer Infantry by Patrick Schroeder.
    Special thanks to Steven Glazer Lieutenant-Colonel of USAR (Ret.)
    of the Cranford (NJ) Historical Society
    for bringing the fact that Ferdinand was not a deserter to our attention and for the majority of the
    information contained on this page.
    Return to the Co. K Roster
    Return to the Co. K Soldier Listing
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