Last updated: October 25, 2022
Person
Charles Noel Young
National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center
Quick Facts
Significance:
Educator and Son of Charles and Ada Young
Place of Birth:
Wilberforce, Ohio
Date of Birth:
December 25, 1906
Place of Death:
Wilberforce, Ohio
Date of Death:
June 6, 1967
Place of Burial:
Ceadarville, Ohio
Cemetery Name:
Massies Creek Cemetery
Charles Noel Young was the oldest child of Charles and Ada Young. He was born in Wilberforce, Ohio, on Christmas Day 1906. His father, Charles Young, was not able to be there for his birth because he was stationed in Haiti as a military attaché at the time. Charles Noel was named after his father and the day he was born.
In July 1908, The Young family traveled to the Philippines for Charles’s next assignment. Upon arrival in Manila, the family took up residence in the officers’ quarters at Camp McGrath. While at Camp McGrath, Marie Young was born, on March 26, 1909. Shortly thereafter, the family was on the move again, this time to Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming.
On May 16, 1910, the family left Fort D.A. Russell and headed home to Wilberforce. This was Charles Noel’s first time in Ohio in almost two years. This did not end Charles Noel’s travels. On April 30, 1912, the family arrived in Monrovia, Liberia. Charles Young rented a home there for the family. Shortly after arriving, Charles Noel and Marie went to Belgium to continue their education.
Education was central to the Charles and Ada’s children as it was for their father and their paternal grandmother. After schooling in Belgium and France, Charles Noel later earned a master’s degree from Ohio State University and taught agriculture and foreign languages at Central State University. He also hand-dug the historic pond at Youngsholm in the 1950s. He along with his sister Marie Young continued to live at Youngsholm as adults. He died on June 6, 1967, at the age of 60. He was buried in Massies Creek Cemetery in Cedarville, Ohio. The cemetery is just down the road from what is now the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.