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Kinyon Digital Library

History of Madison
County, Iowa, 1915.

Biographical.  Volume 2.

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Myles Young, Sr.

Myles Young, Sr., who is engaged in the grain, coal, seed and feed business is one of the oldest and most highly respected business men of Winterset.  The methods which he has followed in all of his business career are such as have commended him to the confidence and goodwill of the public and his course constitutes an example which others might profitably follow.

He was born in Ireland on the 3d of April, 1843, a son of Mason and Susan (Kirby) Young.  The father was born in Ireland of English parents but the mother's birth occurred in England.  They lived in the north of Ireland and in 1849 came to the United States, establishing their home in Chicago, Illinois, where the father engaged in the lumber business.  He was there at the time of the memorable fire of 1871, but his lumberyard was not within the fire zone.  He continued actively and successfully in the lumber trade until his death, which occurred when he had reached the age of seventy-six years.  His widow survived him for a considerable period and passed away at the very advanced age of eighty-seven years.  Both were members of the Episcopal church.  In their family were eight children:  Anna M., the wife of Andrew McGlade, of Chicago;  Susanna, the wife of James Barton;  Harriett, the wife of Robert Anderson;  Flarinda, who married J. R. Fairfield:  Lillian, the wife of James Hopkins:  Henry;  Myles;  and Thomas.

During the period of his youth Myles Young attended the public schools near his father's home and when about eighteen years of age he went to Peru, Illinois, where he learned the grain business, being there employed for about seven years.  On the expiration of that period he engaged in the same business on his own account.  In 1884 he came to Winterset, where he also embarked in the same business and has continued active along that line.  He is today the oldest grain merchant and leading representative of the trade in Madison county.  He not only handles grain but also deals in seed, feed and coal, and is accorded a liberal patronage, for his business methods have always been reliable and his enterprise unfaltering.

Mr. Young was married in Peru, Illinois, to Mess Gertrude Magill, who was born in Covington, Kentucky, a daughter of the Rev. Magill, an Episcopalian minister.  Mrs. Young passed away at the age of fifty-one years.  They were the parents of four children:  Arthur, who died at the age of thirteen years;  Fred, who is now engaged in business in Chicago;  Myles, who is associated with his father;  and Lillian, the wife of J. W. Ripey, at attorney practicing at Des Moines, Iowa.  For his second wife Mr. Young chose Clydona Wight a native of Madison county, and to them have been born two children:  Irene and Mildred, both at home.

The family occupy at attractive residence in Winterset which Mr. Young owns.  Mrs. Young has two farms in Jackson and Lincoln townships comprising two hundred acres of rich and valuable land, from which is derived a substantial annual income.  Mr. Young also owns two elevators in Winterset and his seed house is fifty by one hundred feet and two stories in height.  The elevators have a capacity of about forty-two thousand bushels of grain.

Mr. Young and his family are members of the Episcopal church and are prominent socially, the hospitality of the best homes being cordially extended them.  In politics Mr. Young is a stalwart republican but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking.  He served on the school board for about two years and has always been an earnest champion of the cause of education, which he has ever regarded as one of the bulwarks of the nation as well as one of the strongest forces in individual success.

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