Joshua Maria Young

He was born in Acton, Maine, to Jonathan and Mehetable (née Moody) Young.[1] One of ten children, he had three brothers and six sisters.[2] Raised as a Congregationalist, he belonged to a prominent New England family of Harvard graduates and Protestant ministers.[3][4] At age eight Young was sent to live with his uncle in Saco, and later became a printer's apprentice for the Portland-based Eastern Argus newspaper in 1823.[1] He was editor of The Maine Democrat for about a year after his apprenticeship.[1] After a co-worker lent him Catholic books, Young decided to convert to Catholicism and received a conditional baptism in October 1828.[1] Following his conversion, he changed his name to Joshua Maria in honor of the Virgin Mary.[3]

In 1830 he went to study for the priesthood at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he hoped the climate would be more congenial with his health.[1] He briefly continued to work in publishing, and was employed with The Catholic Telegraph.[1] After completing his theological studies at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, Young was ordained a priest by Bishop John Baptist Purcell on April 1, 1838.[5] He then labored as a missionary in the West before becoming pastor of St. Mary's Church at Lancaster, Ohio.[1] He also attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852 as a theologian to Bishop Purcell.

On July 29, 1853, Young was appointed the second Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania, by Pope Pius IX.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on April 23, 1854, from Bishop Purcell, with Bishops Martin John Spalding and Louis Amadeus Rappe serving as co-consecrators.[5] He was an opponent of slavery during the Civil War (1861–1865),[4] and witnessed the 1859 discovery of oil in Titusville, which forced him to erect numerous churches to accommodate the settlers along Oil Creek and the Allegheny River.[3] At the beginning of Young's tenure, the diocese contained 28 churches and 14 priests; by the time of his death, the number of churches and priests were both over 50.[3] He established several Catholic schools and orphanages, and a hospital.[3] He also introduced into the diocese the Sisters of St. Joseph from Buffalo, New York.[4]

Young died suddenly at his residence in Erie, at age 57.[1]