Reverend John Youngs: A True Hero and Ambassador from Another Time

Written By: Thomas Roulette

“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferrable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.” John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America Reverend John Youngs, was known to be a great hero of his country, England, for nearly two decades spanning from the years 1618-1636. He grew up as the son of a very wealthy family and his father, Christopher Yonges, raised him to be a noble. He was known for battling and defeating “The Eternal Dweller” in 1634, who had threatened the country of England for centuries before John Youngs came to save the day. He battled this monster in a faraway land, alone without anyone’s help. There had been other battles throughout this time that John had fought and been successful in; however, this one was one of his most noteworthy. All around the world he was known as “the Great Hero of England” and other countries had even been trying to recruit him for help in their own battles, but he always stayed loyal to his home country, England. However, one day things had begun to change in England that had lowered the status of John Youngs and his importance to England. Things began to change for John as communities advanced and the people of England did not find it necessary to keep him as their national warrior and hero. Much of it was because they felt fighting was unnecessary, and they thought that if they were to have issues they could each fight for themselves with the new advancements in weaponry. Weaponry in England such as firearms were being invented so that people could fight each other much easier than before. Throughout this time, firearms became a nationwide invention that anyone could get hold of. People wanted to take charge of their lives and defend themselves rather than let someone else fight for them. This concept left John Youngs stuck because his importance and heroism to his country was taken from him. The first thing John did when he realized his situation was to ask his father, “How can I bring back the importance I once had to my country?” to which his father responded, “You must prove yourself, John.” At first, John was confused. His father responded, “Until you show the people of England how great you truly are, you will never regain the praise they once had for you. You must prove your courage and strength amongst them for you to be of importance once again.” For the next few days after speaking to his father, John contemplated how he could prove himself a hero. He wanted to show the country of England how he could continue to be important to them, by improving their lives and livelihoods. At the same time, John was fed up with the country which once regarded him as a true hero and ambassador from another time. He felt abandoned and unappreciated and was also disillusioned with the advancement of weaponry and the potential damage it represented. John was determined to prove himself and decided to leave his country and move to another country, the New World. His first stop was Salem, Massachusetts in 1637 where he remained until October 1640 before sailing to America. When John first arrived in Southold in 1640, he was a young man filled with ambition and promise. He quickly got to work acquiring livestock such as herds of cattle, goats, and sheep. His new monsters in the New World to conquer were wolves and wildcats, which he did in his puritan style. John vowed to be moral, prudent, and committed to the mission he came to Southold to carry out. While living in Southold, John fostered communications between his North American settlement and his mother country, England. He strengthened the ties between the two countries and was responsible for many fellow countrymen from England coming to the New World and aided them in acquiring land and livestock. Although John’s father passed away in 1655, he died a proud man knowing his son had lived up to the commitments he set out to achieve on his voyage to the New World some years earlier. Reverend John Youngs made his mark in both the history annals of England and Southold. Initially known as a crusader in his mother country, England, he died in 1672 of cholera and was regarded as a trailblazer in Southold who was successful in quelling the divisions that frequently surfaced between the British army and colonists. When he died, in true heroic style, Reverend John Youngs left his land and accumulated wealth to the town of Southold.