Dr. young is a Southerner by birth and education. His boyhood home was upon a farm in West Tennessee. At seventeen years of age he united with the stanton Baptist Church, and was later ordained to the Gospel ministry by them. In 1882, he entered the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson (Madison County) Tennessee, where he spent five years, graduating in 1887 with the degree of Master of Arts. In October 1887, he entered the Southern Baptist Theological seminary at Louisville KY, graduating in 1888, Dr.Young became student pastor of the Portland Avenue Baptist Church, Louisville, and continued till October, 1904. In the meantime the church membership increased from 80 to over 300, and a handsome parsonage was built.

In 1894 Dr. Young became pastor of the First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at once endeared himself to the citizens of the town, to the faculty and students of the University. In the twelve years pastorate at Ann Arbor, nearly 800 members were received into the church. The plan of establishing the Baptist Students' Guild took definite form in his mind, and by conferences, correspondence, and articles in the Christian Herald he interested others. In 1902 he brought the matter before the Baptist State Convention, in session in Detroit,and secured their unanimous approval. A committee with Dr. Young as Chairman, was appointed and the work of promoting the enterprise was pushed rapidly to completion.

In 1905 Dr. and Mrs. Young attended the World's Baptist Congress in London England, followed by an extended journey on the continent, returning with increased power for service in the Ann Arbor pastorate, but in 1906 came a call of the North Baptist Church, Detroit. Dr. Young considered this an opportunity to build up a great work in a great city and entered upon his duties in May 1906. From he first, the membership has grown rapidly, increasing at the rate of more than 100 each year. To meet the needs a new church edifice had to be built. The work of building was launched in the spring of 1907. A new site was purchased, corner of Pingree and Woodward Avenues. The corner stone was laid in June 1908 and the new building was occupied in May 1909. It is a fine stone structure, equipped with every convenience for modern church work, and cost completed a little over $100,000. Dr. Young received from his Alma Mater in 1902 the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Divinity.

From the "Baptists In Michigan 1909"