Nathaniel "Nathan" York, Jr was the ninth child of eleven children born at Reed Creek, Columbia Township, Randolph County, North Carolina to Nathaniel York, Sr. and his wife Mary Ann Culberson.

Nathaniel York, Jr. first married a neighbor sixteen year old Mary BURGESS in 1832. The six children of Nathaniel York, Jr. and his wife Mary Burgess were born in their Reed Creek community log cabin of eastern Columbia Township, Randolph County, North Carolina:

1. Eliza Jane York; b. 19 Jul 1834; d. 27 Jul 1905
2. Garner M. Burgess York; b. 1837 NC; d. aft. 1850 NC
3. Margaret York; b. 1839 NC; d. aft. 1860 TN
4. John M. York; b. 1842 NC; d. bef. 1910 TN
5. Martha R. York; b. 12 May 1943 NC; d. 23 Nov 1929 TN
6. Eli 'Milton' York; b. 25 Apr 1845 NC; d. 2 Apr 1930 TN

Tragedy struck about 1847 with death of young wife Mary Burgess York most likely from complications at child birth.

Two years later on 2 June 1849 Nathaniel married a second time to twenty four year old Cary "Kessiah" Kidd Anna ARLEDGE from the Sandy Creek Baptist Church Community where he attended church with his family.

The five children of Nathaniel and Cary are:
1. Jesse Horton E. York; b. 15 Feb 1853 NC, d. 8 Nov 1922 TN
2. Isaac 'Henry' York; b. May 1855 NC; d. 15 May 1935 TN
3. Lydia Emily "Emme" York; b. May 1858 NC; d. 30 Jun 1945 AL
4. William "Will" York; b. 19 Nov 1961 TN; d. 24 Aug 1934 TN
5. Mary Alice York; b. Jul 1866 TN; d. 12 Dec 1900 AL

In the fall of 1859 Nathaniel York, Jr gathered his carpenter's tools, farm tools, family possessions, his new wife and young children and joined a wagon train going west into Tennessee. Nathaniel York Jr. migrated over 400 miles by wagons and mules from Randolph County, North Carolina across the Appalachian Mountains. No doubt it took weeks to travel the rough rocky dirt trails with four children by his first wife and three young children by his new young wife and a grandson of his oldest daughter who lost her husband. Then they traveled down into the lower mountain valleys at McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee to start a new life by June 1860.

The children, and many grandchildren, great grandchildren and many descendants from this family are in Warren County and Coffee County Tennessee, Limestone County, Alabama and Marion County, Indiana.

Nathaniel York, Jr died age 70 in 1874 in Warren County, Tennessee. He is buried most likely in an undiscovered private cemetery or an unmarked grave in the Caney Branch Cemetery where some of his sons are buried. The Caney Branch Cemetery is on the Caney Branch Road, off Jacksboro Road, beside the Caney Branch Baptist Church in Warren County, Tennessee. The cemetery is located west of McMinnville between Centertown and Morrison. The GPS coordinates are: Latitude: 35.64408, Longitude: -85.93633

Cary "Kessiah" Kidd Anna ARLEDGE YORK died after 1880 in Limestone County, Alabama at the home of her daughter Lydia Emily "Emme" York McMahan. It is presently unknown where she is buried.