John Lynch (1740–1820)

John Lynch
John Lynch's grave, at the South River Friends Meetinghouse
Personal details
Born(1740-08-28)August 28, 1740
Albemarle County, Virginia
DiedOctober 31, 1820(1820-10-31) (aged 80)
Lynchburg, Virginia
Resting placeSouth River Friends Meetinghouse
SpouseMary Bowles
Parents
  • Charles Lynch, Sr. (father)
  • Sarah Clark (mother)
RelativesCharles Lynch (brother)
Sarah Lynch Terrell (sister)

John Lynch (August 28, 1740 – October 31, 1820) was an American merchant and abolitionist who founded the city of Lynchburg, Virginia.

Early life

Lynch was born on August 28, 1740, in Albemarle County, Virginia.[1] Lynch's father was Charles Lynch Sr., who was born in Galway, Ireland, but immigrated to Virginia in 1720, marrying John's mother, Sarah.[2] John was the youngest of six siblings, another of whom was Charles Jr., a judge believed to be the namesake of lynching.[3] Charles Sr. died in 1752, when Lynch was 13.[4] Lynch's mother, Sarah, was an active member in the local Quaker meeting, and she donated land that would become the South River Friends Meetinghouse. Lynch would later donate additional land and help build a new meetinghouse on the same property.[5] He married a woman named Mary Bowles while still young.[6]: 75 

Founding of Lynchburg

Lynch's father had patented 410 acres of land in the Piedmont region of Virginia, and bought another 550 acres from John Bolling, the latter of which held the present day site of Lynchburg.[7]: 43–44  The Lynch Ferry across the James River was established by the family in about 1745.[2] In 1757, seventeen-year-old John Lynch took over control of the ferry business. Years later, first in 1784 and again in 1786, Lynch petitioned the General Assembly of Virginia for a charter to establish a town on the bluffs above the ferry upon land Lynch had inherited from an older brother. The 1786 petition was granted, and the town of Lynchburg was founded.[2]

Personal life

Lynch was a devout Quaker throughout his life.[8] In 1787, he was briefly disowned by the local meeting, but later reconciled with them, writing that he had "given way to the spirit of resentment," and asked for the meeting's forgiveness.[7]: 46 

Abolition

Lynch freed all of his slaves by the mid-1780s,[9] including the slave who confessed to killing his son.[8][10] He consistently supported the antislavery movement.[11]

Lynch's sister, Sarah Lynch Terrell, was an elder in the local Quaker meeting.[10] She was a well-known anti-slavery advocate in her own right,[4] with one account saying she "so strongly [impressed] her neighbors that many leading men acted on her suggestion and freed their bondsman”.[7]: 46 [8] Her will, known as "The Last Sayings of Sarah Lynch Terrell", became a slavery abolitionist tract to other Quakers in Colonial Virginia.[7]: 46 [12] Quakers, despite only accounting for a small minority of Virginia's population, were estimated to be responsible for over 25% of manumissions between 1782 and 1806.[8]

Death

Lynch died on October 31, 1820, and is buried at the South River Friends Meetinghouse.[10] A Lynchburg local wrote the following obituary of Lynch:[6]: 76 

He was a zealous and pious member of the Society of Friends, and although laboring for the last fifty years of his life under a pulmonary complaint, which rendered him extremely weak and feeble in body, he was nevertheless active and prompt in the discharge of the various duties of husband, father, and friend. He possessed a mind of the first order — a mind unimpaired by disease or old age, until a very short time before his death, and a fortitude and firmness of character seldom equaled... Few measures of a general nature were set on foot without consulting him, and he was always found a zealous promoter of whatever tended to advance the general good. Amongst other traits of character in this excellent man, those of charity and benevolence were very conspicuous. To the poor his doors were ever opened.

References

  1. ^ Stanbridge, Alexia (August 27, 2023). "Folks celebrate the founder of Lynchburg's birthday". WSET. Archived from the original on October 30, 2025. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Lynchburg History: John Lynch". LYH – Lynchburg Tourism. May 22, 2020. Archived from the original on April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Melli-Huber, Santiago (February 5, 2024). "Breaking down the history behind how the City of Lynchburg was named". WFXR. Archived from the original on February 20, 2024. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Brown, Douglas Summers (1936). A History of Lynchburg's Pioneer Quakers and Their Meeting House 1754-1936 (1st ed.). Lynchburg, VA: J.P. Bell Company. p. 46. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  5. ^ "South River Meeting House - Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church - Lynchburg, Virginia". Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church. Archived from the original on April 10, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Christian, William Asbury (1900). Lynchburg and its people. Lynchburg, VA: J.P. Bell Co.
  7. ^ a b c d Early, Ruth Hairston (1927). Campbell chronicles and family sketches, embracing the history of Campbell county, Virginia, 1782-1926, by R. H. Early. Lynchburg, VA: J.P. Bell Company. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "John Lynch". The Manumission Project. Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  9. ^ Smith, Samantha (May 7, 2021). "'We can be proud of what the real story is': Meet Lynchburg's namesake and learn how his spirit lives on". WSLS-TV. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Langeland, Stephen. "Manumission in Virginia: The Anti-Slavery Legacy of John Lynch". Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy. 2 (1). Liberty University. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via Digital Commons.
  11. ^ "John Lynch to Thomas Jefferson, 25 December 1810". Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  12. ^ ""The Last Sayings of Sarah Lynch Terrell" and the Radical Abolitionism of the South River Quakers". The Lynchburg Museum. April 24, 2024. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.

Sources

  • Elson, James M. (2004). Lynchburg, Virginia: The First Two Hundred Years 1786 – 1986. Lynchburg, VA: Warwick House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-890306-72-4. LCCN 2004111050.
  • Loyd, Richard B.; Mundy, Bernard K. (1975). Lynchburg: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company. ISBN 0-915442-06-X. LCCN 75020230.
  • Chambers, S. Allen Jr. (1981). Lynchburg: An Architectural History. University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-0882-3. LCCN 81003000.
  • Scruggs, Philip Lightfoot (1978). The History of Lynchburg, Virginia 1786–1946. J. P. Bell. LCCN 78184897.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lynch_(1740%E2%80%931820)