Wetzel County West Virginia Joe Young

 A man named Joe Young, a gunsmith by trade, and lately living near East Liberty, recently constructed a boat for the purpose of transporting his family and effects to some point on the Ohio River.  The boat was built at the mouth of Dickerson Run, and on Friday last was successfully launched. Mr Young and his family and all their goods moved in, and with the help of the good people of the vicinity of East Liberty and Dawson, the boat was pushed off and committed to the turbulent waters of the "Dare Devil Yough" and was soon gliding smoothly and swiftly down the river out of sight with it's precious freight...

                                       (Uniontown Genius of Liberty, 8 March 1877)

                                                                           

Joe Young was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania 1842.  He moved to Wetzel County in the1870s.  Joe lived in Hanes Run.  He advertised as a gunsmith in the 1884 Polks West Virginia directory.  While many of Joe's rifles are utilitarian, he made some real fine looking rifles.  A few years back a very elegant heavily silver inlaid signed rifle showed up, unfortunately we do not have any photos of that rifle.  There is more than ample evidence that Joe worked for gunsmith J W Stackhouse, a gunsmith who worked both sides of the river, Ohio & West Virginia in the mid 1800s and by the 1870s was working in the Hanes Runs area. 

Joe Young died in 1918 of influenza and is buried in New Martinsville. 

Thanks to  Aspenshadeltd  for the use of their excellent Joe Young rifle photos & a special thanks to James W Whisker for the use of the photo of Joe Young and all of this research that he shared.

JDM & BMS

FB