Constructing, and Reconstructing, a Pioneer Home in the Wilderness of Yancey County
Sometime around 1840, perhaps earlier, Josiah Young decided to build a house. Nearly 200 years later, his descendants built it again.
Josiah was born in Yancey County, the son of Strawbridge Young, the first Methodist minister in the British colonies. Strawbridge was the son of Thomas Young, who had emigrated to North Carolina from Maryland, settling in the McDowell County foothills in the mid-1700s. When the western territories opened up after the Revolutionary War, Strawbridge became one of the first settlers to seek his fortune up the mountainside in what is now Yancey County. His sons and daughters would eventually fan out across western North Carolina, clearing land and creating farms.
One of those sons was Josiah Young, who married Frances Ray. Frances had inherited property on Bolens Creek, and it was there that they decided to build a home in which to raise their children.
In the early 19th century, raising four walls and a roof was no easy matter. Just clearing land for a home and farm was backbreaking work—chopping down huge trees with hand-held tools, hacking away centuries of wilderness growth, and pulling up enormous stumps. Without the benefit of modern tools, one stump could take days to remove. But such work was necessary for basic survival.
After plenty of sweat—and help from family and neighbors—raw logs rose into a home. The cabin had two wings, separated by a covered area known as a “dogtrot,” which provided cross ventilation and workspace. The second story featured a sleeping loft. And, of course, a roomy front porch.
Vision
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