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James Howard Young enjoying home and family A visit in 1995 with James Howard Young, my former teacher and a co conspirator to all of us who love tradition and preservation with a passion. By Linda Marcum Waggener and Geniece Marcum This could be a story about James Howard Young and his famous Kentucky headhunters sons, Richard and Fred, who are booked solid to tour straight through the summer. It could detail a father's deep sense of pride in his boys' well-balanced lives, putting family and home first above the great fame they enjoy. We might talk about Richard who married Cindy Love and their son, Jon Fred, now ten, or we could also talk about Fred who married Martha Devore and their little girl Rachel who celebrated her second birthday this spring. But that's the story of the Kentucky Headhunters musicians, a story we'll plan to take up on another day when we can enjoy it over a "Slaw Burger and a bottle of Ski." This could be a story about James Howard Young who found his future wife, Gwendolyn Genetta Kirby, at the 150th anniversary of the Dripping Springs Baptist Church where her father was the guest minister, about how Gwen was several years younger than James Howard, wearing her first pair of high-heeled slippers on that day, and about her father taking her aside later to advise her that he better never see her with that man again. But that's Gwen's story and this one is just James Howard's. Then again this could be a drama about the recent fearful night when James Howard, Gwen, Richard and Fred almost lost their beloved daughter and sister Mary Jane who lives in Washington DC with her husband, Dr. Bill Thistlethwaite, a practicing surgeon, and their son, Taylor. Everyone looked forward to the birth of their second child although James Howard remembers that Mary Jane commented having a baby at 38 is a lot different from having one at 28. However, everything went fine and on April 29, 1995, Bill made what he thought would be his only call to his in-laws that evening announcing the birth of the newborn James Clayton, mother and son were both fine. Then on his unexpected second call that night he had to explain that Mary Jane had suddenly collapsed from hemorrhaging and was in serious condition. James Howard recounted scary hours, tears, clinging to one another as the four of them called airlines to find the quickest way to get Gwen to Washington to care for Taylor while Bill gave his full attention to Mary Jane. His medical training in trauma care and Mary Jane's inner strength saved her life and her condition was improving by the time Gwen arrived. Her call home was to say that Mary Jane was going to be alright and the new baby was fine. But then that is Mary Jane's story and this one is just James Howard's. And if you know him, the son of John Orin and Effie Shirley Young, grandson of James Shirley and Hettie Bennett Griggs Shirley, and William Bennett Young and Birchie Branstetter, you'd know that only leaves enough information to write a good-sized book, maybe two, because you just can't visit James Howard Young without feeling as if you've also walked through several chapters of Metcalfe County history. For instance - imagine you awaken this morning after having just spent the night at the Old Beaumont Inn in Southern Metcalfe County, The year is 1810 and as you begin a hearty country breakfast you comment to the proprietress on her handsome mirrors. Seeing into her future, Maria Catherina (Mary) Branstetter might have said to you in her heavy German accent, "well, just pass through Metcalfe County again around the year 1995 and you will see the same mirrors in perfect condition in the home of my great-great-great-grandson James Howard Young, because he will be a person who will appreciate his roots and will treasure the keepsakes passed down from his ancestors." Actually she might not have been able to see into the future but she was a forward thinking woman, he says. She was probably among the first in the world to draw up a prenuptial agreement for her second husband Abraham Ritter to sign so that she would maintain complete ownership and control of the Inn she had started before being widowed my first husband Michael Branstetter. Today James Howard holds tight to the land and the keepsakes, including the two mirrors from the Old Beaumont Inn handed down to him. He lives in what he calls his second childhood home. "I was all always drawn to the peace of this place where five generations of Youngs have lived," he says, "My grandmother kept me so often that she made sure I had a complete extra set of clothes and toys here. She'd tell people, 'James Howard doesn't take spoiling' -- he laughs -- "and my God you know I must of been rotten because I got all their attention being the only grandson on that side." He has fond memories of growing up at Wisdom where his parents ran the Young and Shirley's General Store and sold just about everything including Oldsmobiles. "In those days you bought a car from a picture and then I remember my father making the trip to Detroit to drive the new car back to Metcalfe County. I was a lucky cat." He remembers growing up around old folks, being given their strong values. James Howard retired in 1980 from a 39-year teaching career, educated in agriculture and biology, he taught a variety of subjects. While he was not necessarily a history teacher he lived history, walked it, talked it and brought the old times and old folks to life in everything he did. He has worked tirelessly to protect antiques with local history. A visit to the home of this lifetime collector begins with history right at the entrance which was saved from demolition when the late John Thompson decided to build a modern home. James Howard bought the two-story southern style home from Thompson and had it moved to the Young farm where he restored it and filled every room with the antiques he spent his lifetime accumulating. On every wall hangs historic paintings in elaborate antique frames. Each and every single item from the rugs to the chandeliers has its own special story, among them an old sugar chest from his great great-great-grandfather Branstetter which James Howard says is distinctive to Kentucky and Tennessee the bourbon making states. What makes it unique is the indentation in each of the four feet at the base of the sugar chest. "You had to trick ants," he said, "which defy gravity and were able to march up the legs of a sugar chest and go through any small crack and get right into the sugar." By filling each indentation in each leg with coal oil or turpentine created a little moat which turned the ants back and protected the hard-to-get sugar. In an afternoon with him one could look forward to experiencing many facets of James Harrod Young's wonderful entertaining personality, from humor and charm to hospitality without discrimination, and of course, always, reverent irreverence. He might nod at an antique framed portrait of a famous person such as Charlotte Metcalfe, daughter of Gov. Thomas Metcalfe, for whom this County was named, and after sharing her significance end his comments with an irreverent, "mean looking (bleep), wasn't she?" Then later he will describe Beaver Creek which flows across his farm from its origin at the Whitlow's nearby and say, reverently, "you know, I take a peaceful walk beside that creek and think, hasn't God been so very good to us." Writer Linda Reid Marcum Waggener can be reached by email at lindawaggener@gmail.com This story was posted on 2013-10-06 15:15:49
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