Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1897-01-15
IN SLEEPS CLOTHING
totNbREL MASQUERADEp FOR
MONTHS AT PoMERoY.
REST Whflom EpiscOpnIian
"s"mist, Wife Deserter and
an oily Seductr.

| pfeclpitate flight to parts unknown of
me Rev. f. James Lyons Young, pastor OF
the Christian church at this place, to es-
| cape the clutches of the law for perform
ing marriage ceremonies without authori-
| ~ and to avoid the disgrace of a public
| dismissal from his pulpit as an impostor
ana criminal, to say nothing OF a coat
| OIL TAR ana feathers to be applied by the
WIRING hands OIL lrate husbands and
| fathers.
| Last October Young dapper smooth
| tongued and plausible with Just enough
| Oh foreign accent to his speech to make
| MS sermons perfectly lovely" to the la
| dies, came to this place representing him.
sell 10 be single man, on a letter from
| the Baptist church of Ponca, Neb. and
| by his pleasant manners soon drew into
| his church large number of the elite
| OF TINS city, especially of the fair SEX
many OF whom were completely enrap
| tured with the graces of the little min
| lster,' as they called him. Young was
| very active in social circles, and inaugu-
rated many little evening parties at which
| he Shone to a particular advantage as a
| gallant, with the result that several
young ladies', as well as one or two mar
| rled ones, were so infatuated with him
as to furnish a topic of considerable COM
| ment. Young was no less aggressive in
| the PROSECUTING field, and so rapidly in
creased the membership of the church as
to become source of genuine satisfac-
| ton to the deacons, who looked forward
| TO speedy capitulation of the whole city
to the terms of the gospel as preached
| by the new paragon Young. Loving fem
| mime hands kept in order the bachelor
| apartments of the new minister adjoin-
| Ing the church, and everywhere feminine
| presence testified to the wisdom of the
| church in securing such a valuable acqui-
| - he ID To-,
| However, the conflicting statements of
| Young, induced by his desire to talk on
| all occasions together with his especial
| effort to have it understood that he was
| single man, one of which statements
| to his brother ministers was to the eff
feet that his reason for being single was
his adherence to the female sex, occa-
stoned by his having dissected so many
women while medical student, aroused
| the suspicious of many, who began to
| investigate Young's antecedents
Had No Letter From POnca.
The first inquiry led to the disclosure
| that the Baptist church of Ponca, Neb.,
whose letter was Young's credentials to
| his charge at Pomeroy, had never issued
such letter, but, to the contrary, had
| expelled Young as an impostor. Fur
| Their, that he went by the name of Ly-
on at Ponca and that his reputation
| there was most unsavory, he having
| been engaged to four girls at the same
| time while minister at that place.
An attempt was made to have Young
stand a church trial for forgery of his
| church letter, as well as for immoral con-
| duct, but his church refused to counte-
| nance the demand for a moment. insist
| ing that he was innocent. When Young
| himself was confronted with a question
| as to his change of name, he declared
| that he had had his name changed by
| the court in Dakota in order to inherit
/ = 4,
name of Young. This explanation, coupled
| with the fact that the estate was reputed
| to be valuable, only served to make
| Young all the more desirable in the eyes
| of the marriageable female members OF
| his congregation. An examination of the
| court records, however, failed to show
| any such change of name, or any law
permitting the adoption of an adult. The
demand for an official investigation Their
| only increased in its intensity. Young
| seeing that something must be done tC
stop the agitation, employed an attor'
ney and threatened his detractors with {
! criminal suit for libel, endeavoring among
| other things to secure from the mos
| prominent of them, Edward b. Pace o.
this city, a written retraction, under pair
of a long term in the penitentiary This
Pace refused to give, although exacteo
in a most bulldozing manner.
They StiIl Had Faith.
The investigation still proceeded unofh
cially Youngs church still refused Il
investigate and Young still delayed hi
libel suit, the church furnishing him {
written resolution of confidence and eX
oneration.
The next chapter of his previous caree
was the disclosure made by the receip
of a number of old files of the Egan Ix
press. published by Will II. Clough a
Egan s. D., branding Young as scoun
drel during his stay IN that town, ant
published during Youngs passionate there
also charging him with having deserted
a wife and children in Roxbury, Mass
and with having sued for divorce, whicl
| was still pending in an obscure count,
| of Dakota. Besides that, he had beel
mixed up in a woman case in Egan, stu
claiming to be a single man. On tn
heels of this came copy OF the RoH
bury, Mass, Gazette, publishing 1ouh
as an absconding preacher of the Ike
formed Episcopal church of that city
who had run away to Canada with wo
man named O'Brien, leaving a Wlie
+ destitute circumstances, and two childre
, | in the charity hospital
In answer to these disclosures Youn
eoolly said that the editor of the Ega
2 Express was Jealous of his popularit
while there, hence was only trying |
iniure him. AS to why he did not brin
| a libel suit, he said he preferred to re
main a martyr than become a persecu
| tor. AS to the RoXDury article, ne 9iih
ply said that he was never there, an
that it must have been some other Ly
e ons This lucid explanation, togethe
with the Christian spirit manifested D
a Young toward his enemies, magnihed hi
, beautiful character in the eyes OF nj
church. In fact, If anything, the sister
became more attentive, and another Vot
e of confidence and exoneration was a(
C corded him by the church. The socii
e gatherings grew larger and more fr'
O uuent, and the reverend gentleman bt
came the lion of the hour.
EpiscOpalians DenOunce Him.
Next came a flood of letters from Epi
:. copal bishops and ministers brandin
d | Young as an impostor, at one time
:, their church under the name of Lyon
| Then a letter from Catholic bisho
| in Canada that Young was an excon
Il municated Catholic priest. Young ST
l. maintained his placid demeanor, and
: explanation of the testimony of the bisl
: ops said that he was another Lyons, ar
. not the man mentioned by them. tn
! sagacous explanation was proof enous
for his confiding congregation. More re
u olutions of generation followed, mo
| evening parties and more attention fro
| the enraptured females.
The audacity of the scoundrel by tn