Hiram Young

Hiram Young (c. 1812–1882) was one of the leading manufacturers of wagons in Independence, Missouri, for westward pioneers in the mid-19th century, notably the Forty-niners, and a successful African-American entrepreneur.

Young was born a slave in Tennessee in the early 19th century, and married while still a slave. He moved to Missouri, and at some point he purchased his wife Matilda's freedom; according to some reports he bought Matilda's freedom before his own, a common practice at the time because the children of a slave and a free person inherited the mother's status.

After freeing himself, Young went into business building wagons. Young owned slaves and it is said that he allowed them to work their way out of slavery—however, there are no facts at present to support this. He also boarded at least on Irish immigrant in his household. By 1860, Young's business was producing 800-900 wagons annually, and some 50,000 ox yokes. The business's inventory alone was appraised at over $50,000, with a capital investment of another $30 to $35 thousand. Young was one of the most successful businessmen in Independence during the period 1851-1860.

During the American Civil War, Young and his family moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to avoid local hostility; variously described as motivated by secessionist sentiment or by envy of his success. He returned to Independence at the war's end to find his business sacked and destroyed. He opened a planing mill, although his business never returned to the peak of prosperity it had enjoyed before the war. A school for African-American children in Independence was later named for Young. Trying without success to recoup the losses he had suffered during the war from damage inflicted by Federal soldiers, Young died in 1882 leaving his estate heavily in debt.

References

William P. O'Brien. "Hiram Young: Black Entrepreneur on the Santa Fe Trail." Wagon Tracks 4(1), Nov. 1989.

http://www.hiramyoungcsc.org/hyhistory.htm