An Enigma Wrapped With a Bow: Clara Mason Young (52 Ancestors #11)

It’s amazing what you think you know until you go to write about it. Such is the case with Clara Mason Young, my great-grandmother. Perhaps it’s because I have several photographs of her. Perhaps it’s because she’s the only great-grandparent I ever met. But for someone who I thought I had a good handle on, it turns out I know fairly little.

Clara Mason, the daughter of  Eber and Lavada Jane (McKitrick) Mason, was born in West Virginia 10 October 1884, according to her death certificate. Though census records seem to be in agreement, I’ve yet to find a birth record for her.

By 1900, she had moved with her parents and siblings to Washington County, Ohio. It was there that she met and married Robert Andrew Young.

Clara (Mason) and Robert Andrew Young. We believe this photo was taken around the time of their wedding in 1903.

Clara (Mason) and Robert Andrew Young. We believe this photo was taken around the time of their wedding in 1903.

Clara and Robert had ten children; my grandmother Adah was their oldest. When I started into genealogy, I got a kick out of discovering that my dad is older than one of his aunts (Clara and Robert’s youngest daughter, Vida).

Clara (Mason) Young with her great-grandchildren, 1964.

Clara (Mason) Young with her great-grandchildren, 1964.

I’m fortunate to have several photos of her, including this one of her with her great-grandchildren in 1964. (This photo was scanned from a slide. Eat your heart out, Instagram.)

Great-grandma Clara (Mason) Young and me. Photo taken in my grandparents' (Stanley and Adah Young Johnson) back yard.

Great-grandma Clara (Mason) Young and me. Photo taken in my grandparents’ (Stanley and Adah Young Johnson) backyard.

Despite the photos, I don’t feel like I know her as well as I should. I need to go back through Grandma’s memoirs and see what I can glean. I also need to talk to Dad and my Aunt Clara (named for her grandmother) to get more stories.

Clara (Mason) Young died 25 August 1970 in Licking County, Ohio and is buried with Robert in Wilson Cemetery. Dad has promised to go with me to the cemetery if this winter would ever stop.

4 thoughts on “An Enigma Wrapped With a Bow: Clara Mason Young (52 Ancestors #11)

  1. Kenda

    Wasn’t Great-Grandma beautiful?! In my notes from Grandma (Adah) I have this story: “Clara worked as a housekeeper, laundress, and cook for a family who owned a store across the field from the Mason home. She met Robert Young who was a clerk and and stock boy at the store and who roomed with the storekeeper’s family.

    “Clara was the object of Robert’s jokes. For example, he once tied her to the clothesline when she was hanging out clothes. She retaliated afterwards–by starching his underwear stiff!”

    Now doesn’t that sound like a fun-loving couple?

    Thanks for highlighting our dear great-grandmother, Amy. I enjoy all these stories. Btw, I’m the hidden cousin in the photo above, lost behind my brother Mark. You, of course, are the baby on Grandma’s lap :-)

    Reply
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      She really was beautiful, wasn’t she.

      Tell Mark to get his head out of the way! Though if the date on the photo is correct, that is Carol sitting on Grandma Young’s lap. I wasn’t quite thought of yet 😉

      Reply

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