Ohio Governor Gravesites: #33 Thomas L. Young

Thomas L. Young

Born: December 14, 1832
Died: July 20, 1888
Political Party: Republican
Term of Office: March 2, 1877 - January 14, 1878
Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery Cincinnati, Ohio
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   Thomas L. Young was born in Ireland in 1832. At the age of 12, he immigrated with his family to the United States threw New York City. He joined the Army in 1848, where he served as a musician for 10 years and earned the rank of first Sergeant. After he left the Army, he moved to Cincinnati where he became a school superintendent and teacher.

   At the onset of the Civil War, young volunteered and served for 3 months as a Captain in General John C. Fremont's bodyguard. After this he went to work as an editor for a Democratic newspaper in Sydney. In August 1862, Young was commissioned as a Major in the 118th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. As a field officer, Young would earn the rank of Colonel. At the Battle of Resaca in Georgia in May 1864, Young led a charge that killed 106 of his 270 men in just a matter of minutes. Due to health reasons during the Atlanta campaign, Young resigned his commission in September 1864. On March 13, 1865, President Lincoln honored him for his service by giving him the rank of Brigadier General.

   When Young left the military, he moved back home to Cincinnati and started to practice law. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in April 1865. That same month, he entered politics by becoming Cincinnati's assistant city auditor. Later in the year, Young was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. He served a single 2 year term in the state legislature. He them became recorder of Hamilton County in 1867. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson named him solicitor of internal revenue for Ohio's southern district.

   In 1871, having switched to the Republican Party, Young was elected to the Ohio State Senate. Young grew in popularity within the state's Republican party and was chosen as candidate for Lt. Governor of Ohio in the election of 1875. He won the election, as did the Republican's candidate for Governor Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1876, Hayes won the Presidential election. Upon Hayes ascension to the highest office in the land, Young became Ohio's 33rd Governor.

   The biggest thing to happen during Young's less then one year in office was when he had to restore the peace from a railroad strike by using the Ohio state militia.

   In 1878, Young reentered politics by being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. After 2 - 2 years terms in Congress, Young lost reelection to a 3rd term. He then carried on with his law practice in Cincinnati until Governor Joseph Foraker appointed him to Cincinnati Board of Public Affairs in 1886. Young held that position until his death in 1888.

Thomas L. Young was the 2nd of 6 Governors we saw in Spring Grove Cemetery on February 26, 2012. We had just seen the grave of Youngs successor Richard M. Bishop. After Young we would see the graves of Governors George Hoadly, Judson Harmon, Joseph Foraker, and Myers Y. Cooper.