author

Andrew W. (Andrew White) Young

1802–1877

A 19th-century American writer of civics textbooks and local histories, he helped turn the early story of New York communities into books that are still used by researchers today.

1 Audiobook

The government class book Designed for the instruction of youth in the principles of constitutional government and the rights and duties of citizens.

The government class book Designed for the instruction of youth in the principles of constitutional government and the rights and duties of citizens.

by Andrew W. (Andrew White) Young

About the author

Born in Carlisle, New York, in March 1802, Andrew W. Young was an American author and historian best known for writing about government and local history. The Library of Congress records him as the author of Introduction to the Science of Government (1839), an early civics text, showing that he wrote not only for historians but also for students and general readers.

He later became especially known for detailed community histories. His books include History of the Town of Warsaw, New York and History of Chautauqua County, New York, from its First Settlement to the Present Time (1875). Those works gathered family sketches, biographical notes, and accounts of settlement, which helped preserve stories that might otherwise have been lost.

Young died in 1877. Today, his books remain useful to readers interested in New York history, genealogy, and the way 19th-century Americans recorded the growth of towns, counties, and public life.