Oliver F. Young, a prominent merchant and farmer of Simpson’s mills, was born January 4, 1825, in Jackson County, Tenn., a son of James and Elizabeth (Draper) Young. The father was born in North Carolina about 1787, and immigrated to Tennessee in 1797 with his parents, John and Sarah Young. John Young, when six years of age, was captured by the Indians, and retained by them until he reached his majority, at which time a treaty was made between the whites and Indians, and prisoners exchanged. He was thus restored to his friend, his parents having been massacred at the time of his capture. James (subject’s father) located in Sumner County, and lived for a number of years in the only settlement of the western portion of the State. He afterward moved to Jackson County, where he died in 1860. He was sheriff of the county for fourteen years, and a member of the Legislature two terms — the first at Murfreesboro and the last at Nashville. His wife was born in 1787, and died in 1872. She was a daughter of Thomas Draper, one of the early pioneers of Tennessee. Our subject was reared on a farm, receiving the education of the average country boy of that day; he engaged in the merchandise business at Bagdad, Smith County, until 1852, when he moved to Hickman, Ky., continuing in the same business. In 1859 he went to New Orleans, where he was a commission merchant until 1862, when he suspended business until after the restoration of peace in1865, when he again resumed and continued till 1869. He then moved to Paducah, Ky., and in 1870 to White County, where he has been, and still is, interested in the merchandise, farming and milling business, in which he has been very successful. He is a self-made, industrious and able man. His possessions have been amassed by his own exertions and careful management. He is a member of the Christian Church, and a Democrat. In 1848 he married Nancy E., daughter of James and Rebecca Wilson, of Monroe County, Ky. She died in January, 1855. She was the mother of four children: Hayden M., Samuel A. (who died December 11, 1858), James E. (who died June 29, 1855) and an infant. In July, 1857, our subject wedded Virgie B. Watson, who bore him six children, four of whom are still living: Bettie C. (wife of the Hon. L. D. Hill), Prof. Frank S., Sallie B. and Dr. W. B. Mrs. Young died in August, 1868. July 31, 1870, our subject was united in marriage to Mrs. Eva Metcalf, nee Simpson. Her father, Gen. John W. Simpson, took a prominent part in the war of 1812.

Source:   Goodspeed Pub. Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present; Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of the Counties of White, Warren, Coffee, DeKalb, and Cannon, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Reminiscences, Etc., Etc. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1887.