[5] Young arrived in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, in April 1848, in what is now Medina, where his cedar-log shanty became a stopping place for travellers going north.

He bought land from Zebediah Hyde (one of the earliest white men to settle in the place) and built a large hotel and livery stable.

[8] In October 1862, the farmers of the town of Dale assembled and raised $131 in a few hours with which to purchase a fine sword[2] for Lieutenant William Young of Company "I", Thirty-second regiment.

[9] He resigned his commission a year later on August 8, 1863,[10] and later joined Company "A" of the 47th Wisconsin Volunteers, enlisting at Dale on February 18, 1865, and mustered out on September 4, 1865.

[2] It was reported by the Appleton Post-Crescent that Captain Young during the war enlisted 300 of the men who went from Outagamie county into the Union army.