97 



Dr. Fothergill to Humphry Marshall dated London, February 

 II, 1 771: ''William Young sends his plants over very safely. 

 by wrapping them up in moss, and packing them prett\- close in 

 a box. They come thus ver\' safe, and we lose very few of them. 

 He ties the moss in a ball about the roots with a peice of pack 

 thread or matting, or hemp strings, and puts them so close 

 as to prevent them shaking about in the box." 



Again Fothergill writes to Marshall on September, 1772, and 

 it "I know not whether J. Bartram of any of his family con- 

 tinue to send over boxes of seeds as usual. He collected them 

 with much care and they mostly gave satisfaction. \V. Young 

 has been very diligent, but has glutted the market with man}- 

 common things; as the tulip trees, Robinias and the like. But 

 contrary to my opinion he put them into the hands of a person, 

 who, to make the most of them, bought up, I am told, all the 

 old American seeds that were in the hands of the seedsmen here 

 and mixed them with a few of W. Young's to increase the 

 quantity. Being old and effete, they did not come up, and have 

 thereby injured his reputation. I am sorry for him; have 

 endeavored to help him; but he is not discreet." 



Soon after the Revolutionary War broke out and the entries 

 in the Leech family journal describe the part taken by members 

 of the family in this conflict, we find that William Leech and 

 John Leech were taken prisoners by the British and that William 

 Young, Sr., was taken prisoner on March 18, 1778, his house 

 was plundered and his cattle driven off. The total loss was 

 estimated at £400. Later, on April 16, 1778, William Young, 

 Sr., was liberated. The journal mentions the surrender of Lord 

 Cornwallis on October 18, 1781, and the conclusion of peace in 

 1783. During the war the mother of William Young, Jr., 

 Elizabeth Young, died on November 21, 1777, aged 66 years. 

 After the declaration of peace William Young, Jr.. started to 

 collect plants again by land, but on March 16, 1785. evidently 

 on his way back to Philadelphia, he was drowned, while crossing 

 Gunpowder Creek. His body was in the water for seven weeks 

 and three days and when found was buried without coffin on 

 the banks of the creek, aged 43 years. On May 28, 1785, 



