Lafayette Young

Lafayette "Lafe" Young (May 10, 1848 – November 15, 1926) was a newspaper reporter and editor, and a Republican Senator from Iowa.

Early life and education

Young was born in Monroe County, Iowa. His early education was acquired in the public schools and in printing offices at Albia, Iowa and Des Moines, Iowa. His first business establishment was a newspaper in Atlantic, Iowa, which he named the Telegraph. In all, Young served in the U.S. Senate from November 1910 to April 1911.

After his Senate service, Young returned to Des Moines and his newspaper. He again became a war correspondent, travelling to southeastern Europe in 1913 to cover the Second Balkan War. In 1915, he again returned to Europe, this time to assess the early stages of World War I (before the United States' entry). During that trip he was detained in Innsbruck by Austria-Hungary, but was later released.

After the United States declared war in 1917, he was appointed chairman of the Iowa State Council for Defense. As the Council's chairman, Young urged that "disloyal" persons should be impoverished and imprisoned, arguing that "ny man who has lived under the protection of our laws and has accumulated wealth and is now disloyal should be deprived of every dollar he possesses and he should be interned in a stockade until the end of the war and at that time his fate should be considered carefully." He also campaigned against the teaching of any foreign language in any public school or college, and for the imposition of English literacy tests for voting.

In recognition of his work in raising funds in Iowa for the children of Belgium, Young was made a Knight of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium. He continued to edit his newspaper until his death in Des Moines on November 15, 1926. His wife Josephine died 5 weeks later of heart disease. They are interred in Des Moines' Woodland Cemetery.