“This photograph of Catherine Young and her children was taken in 1909. Three months later, they were torn apart by tragic circumstances. Today, 105 years later, in this museum, the family is finally together again.” -Joe Manning, speaking at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and … [Read more...]

"Whenever there was anything that had to do with the church or the school, my daddy was the one sitting out there waiting for me. When my brother or I was out on an outing with the kids, we were always late coming back, and he would sit there and wait and never complain about it. … [Read more...]

"I always wondered where she came from, and what her life was like before she was adopted. The picture kind of helped me to understand more about why she was the way she was." -Evie Taylor, granddaughter of Elizabeth Young It took me a month to identify the youngest girl in … [Read more...]

Benjamin Seaborn Young was born about 1904. He was named after Seaborn Bailey, his grandfather (Catherine's father), and was known as Seaborn. He left the orphanage on May 15, 1911, at about the age of seven, and went to live with James Walter White and his wife Pruella (Thomas) … [Read more...]

Elzy P. Young was born about 1902. One undocumented source states that his middle name was Prescott. He left the orphan home on March 9, 1912, at the age of about eight, and went to live in the home of a man identified as Alex Kitchen, of Griswoldville, Georgia, which is in Jones … [Read more...]

"Eddie Lou looks exactly like I would have expected her to look at that age. I love that little smile on her face. When I saw that, I cried. She was one of the happiest people I ever knew. She was also very talkative. She could tell you so many tales and stories that could keep … [Read more...]

Roy Alexander Young was born on May 4, 1899. He was commonly known as Alex, and occasionally as Roy. He stayed at the orphan home longer than any of his siblings, possibly by his own choice. According to several of the Young family descendants, he didn't want to leave, but the … [Read more...]

                          "My parents feared God, but we couldn't go to church because we didn't have any clothes or shoes to wear. And the only way we had to travel was in … [Read more...]

Mattie Sylvania Young was born on January 4, 1895. She and older sister Mell were the only two children in the Hine photo that did not go to the orphanage. She may have stayed a while with her mother, possibly in Ashburn. But in 1912, she married Nelson Colup Ricks. She was 17 … [Read more...]

"My mother got married when she was about 15. Daddy was much older than her. He was 5' 2'' tall, but when my mother married him, she could walk underneath his outstretched arm." -Clinton Willis, son of Mell Young Mell Diantha Young, the oldest child in the Hine photo, was … [Read more...]

  Georgia Young In one of my early interviews, a descendant told me that Catherine's oldest child was named Georgia, but the person didn't know her last name. I found the death certificate online for a Georgia Watson, who died in Georgia and was about the right age. … [Read more...]