James R. Young (North Carolina politician)

Born in 1853 in what was then Granville County, North Carolina, Young was educated at Hampden-Sydney College and established an insurance agency in Henderson.

On March 6, 1899, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Department of Insurance to regulate its namesake industry in the state.

The agency was to be led by a commissioner of insurance, who was to be appointed by the governor to two-year terms, though the legislature selected the first commissioner; the day the insurance department was created, the legislature elected Young to the commissionership.

[4] Young returned to the private insurance business after leaving office.

He retired in 1935 due to poor health and died on April 25, 1937, at his home in Raleigh and was buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Henderson.