"My mind's made up - don't confuse me with the facts!" That's how so many of us are. But for some reason, my DNA is quite different. I say - "Show me the facts so I can make up my mind!"
I wrote about Esther Young before, but I need to re-write this to make some clarifications, add images, and show us that if we look for the documents, and use genealogy, we are able to show that facts can change what we think we knew in our minds!
If you visit the cemetery in Cotopaxi, be sure to look to the hill to the north of it. Yes, a completely separate hill with a small ravine between it and the cemetery, in fact, there's a road at the bottom. On that hill (to the north east), there is another grave. Nelson has it pretty well documented here:
Cotopaxi Cemetery - Ester L. Young
Why was she buried on a separate hill?
Her headstone:
Our Mother
Though out of sight to memory dear
Esther L. Young
born in Rutherford Co, Tenn
June 18, 1809
Died in Cotopaxi Colo
Dec 9 1898
Note it does spell her first name with an "h" - it is left out of some of the writings.
Local lore has it that she was a woman of color:
When I started my journey of creating family trees for the gentile families who were at Cotopaxi in the early days, I discovered who Esther L. Young really is! She is a caucasian woman! She was T. Witcher's grandmother-in-law. But what was her relationship to Charlie McCoy? And why would he make the above statement about her?
This is the family tree I was able to build from census records:
James B. Young, born 1800, married Esther Lamira Moore born 1809.
They had:
Alex Young b 1827
Sarah Young b 1834
Mary Young b 1842
Lamiar J Young b 1846
Sarah Young married Joseph Hardin and they had:
Mary Belle Hardin, b 1860
Willie Hardin b 1862
Mary Belle Hardin b 1860 married T Witcher b 1842 and they had
Otis W Witcher b 1881
going back to the first family of James B Young b 1800, married to Esther Lamire Moore born 1809, their daughter
Lamiar J Young b 1846 married Jeremiah D. Hylton b 1838 and they had
Thomas Hylton b 1868
Lucy Hylton b 1870
Mary Hylton b 1870
So, Esther L. Young, born 1809 was the grandmother-in-law to T. Witcher, the mother-in-law of J. D. Hylton, and the grandmother of Thomas Hylton.
We can then prove this with census records;
In the 1850 Census, Esther L. Young, widow, is living in Blue Township, Jackson County, MO. Her mother, Sarah Moore, is living with her family. Her children are Martha 20, Sarah 16, Mary 8, Lamira J. 4.
In the 1860 Census, Esther L. Young, widow, is living in Blue Township, Jackson County, MO, born in TN. Her children are Mary 18, Lamira 13
In the 1870 Census, Esther L. Young, widow, is living in Lees Summit, Jackson County, MO with Sarah Hardin who is now widowed, age 36. Sarah's children: Mary is 10 and William is 8.
In the 1880 Census, Precinct 5 of Fremont County: (Cotopaxi was Precinct 7 at that time)
Sarah Hardin, age 46
Lamira Young, age 70, (b 1810) mother
T. Witcher, age 37, son-in-law
Belle Witcher, age 20, daughter
Willie Hardin, age 18, son
Therefore, Esther Lamire Young was now known as Lamira Young (her daughter Lamiar J. Young would have been known as Lamiar J. Hylton).
T. Witcher was living with his mother-in-law AND his grandmother-in-law!!
Did they love here so much that they gave her a separate burial ground with a wood picket fence around it? Go back and look at the headstone - "Our Mother Though out of sight to memory dear" She lived with her children - they must have loved her!
Her obituary in the Canon City newspaper:
which I have transcribed for easier reading:
Mrs. Lamira Young died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. L. J. Hylton, Cotopaxi, last Friday morning in the ninetieth year of her age. Mrs. Young was the sister of Rev. B. Frank Moore of this city. She leaves three children: Mrs. Sarah Hardin, this city; Mrs. M. C. Gelknap, Hillside, Colo. and Mrs. L. J. Hylton. She was born in Bedford co., Tenn, June 19, 1809. In 1831 she married Mr. William Stokes, who died in 1833; shortly after this she and her family moved to Missouri, where she married in 1840, Mr. James Young, who died in 1846.Mrs. Young crossed the plains seven times, making her home finally in this county, and the last year of her life with her daughter, Mrs. Hylton. She became a christian at the age of 12 years, uniting with the Cumberland Presbyterian church and faithfully served God for 77 years of her life. She was a noble woman, always ready to respond to a case of need; a true friend, who in her long life did the good that came to hand, with kindly word and hand ministering to all. The fragrance of her memory is sweet and she still lives in the influence of her beautiful example. Our loss is her gain, for she hath now entered into the glorious rest of the children of God, where we shall again meet her.The funeral services were celebrated by the Rev. W. J. Fisher, Pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian church of Canon City, at Cotopaxi, Dec 10, 1898.
She was a good woman.
So, how did Charlie McCoy come to make the statement that he did? Was he also related to her? Let's look at Charlie's family tree:
Charlie's sister, Minnie is married to Thomas Hylton. If you go back up to the Hylton tree above, you will see that Thomas Hylton is the son of Lamire Young Hylton.
Thus Charlie McCoy's sister is the granddaughter-in-law of Esther L. Young. And in such a tiny community, Charlie would have known her and known that this woman was caucasian! Did he start a rumor because he didn't like her? I'm not sure we will ever know, but it's something to keep researching.
Charley McCoy was born in 1860. He was 38 in 1898 when Esther L. Young died.
A little logic and reasoning here. If Esther L. Young was not caucasian, then her children and her grandchildren would not have been caucasian. That means Thomas Hylton would have been a colored man because he was her grandson. Yet he wasn't. Neither was his mother, Lamar Young Hylton.
In this family tree, I have connected the Youngs, McCoys, Hiltons, Witchers, Mullins, Hendricks and Carrolls. One big tree for sure!
And at this point - I believe we can change the oral histories to show that Esther L. Young was a caucasian woman - she was an honorable woman. I would go one step farther and state that she was most likely buried on a separate hillside because her children loved her so much, they wanted her separated out.
But if your mind is made up after 100+ years of oral history, don't let me confuse you with the facts!
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