Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/85

Rh tion of the first regiment of South Carolina pro- vincials in 1775 he was commissioned as captain, and while raising his company in North Carolina contracted swamp fever. When his father was stricken with paralysis he was unable to obtain from Col. Christopher Gadsden leave of absence, but his connection with the reg- iment was sev- ered soon after- ward by his unan- imous election by the provincial as- sembly to be his father's successor in the Continen- tal congress. On his arrival in Philadelphia he took his seat in the congress of 1776, and, not- withstanding the weak state of his own health, im- pressed that body

with his earnestness and eloquence. One of his last public acts was to affix his signature to the Declaration of Independence. In the autumn of 1776 the ailments that he had incurred during his military service compelled him to return to South Carolina. His health continued to decline, and, as a last hope, he embarked about the close of 1779 for St. Eustatius, where he expected to take pass- age in some neutral ship for the south of France. The vessel in which he sailed was seen for the last time when a few days out at sea, and was probably lost in a tempest.

LYNCH, William Francis, naval officer, b. in Norfolk, Va., in April, 1801 ; d. in Baltimore, Md., 17 Oct., 1865. He entered the U. S. navy as mid- shipman in 1819, and was promoted lieutenant in 1828. The expedition to exj)lore the course of the Jordan and the Dead sea was planned by him in 1847, and, after receiving the sanction of the gov- ernment, was carried out by him with success. He sailed for Smyrna in the storeship " Supply," and thence made an overland journey on camels to Constantinople, where he obtained the requisite authority and protection from the Turkish govern- ment to pass through Palestine. In March, 1848, he landed in the Bay of Acre, and in April began the work of navigating the Jordan from Lake Tiberias to the Dead sea, performing the journey in two metallic life-boats. By the establishment of a series of levels, the Dead sea was shown to be 1,312 feet below the Mediterranean, corroborating an earlier survey made under the direction of the British navy. Subsequently he planned an ex- ploration of western Africa, but it failed of ap- proval. He was advanced to the rank of com- mander in 1849, and in 1856 was made captain, which rank he held until 1861, when he resigned to join the Confederate navy. In June, 1861, he re- ceived the commisson of flag-officer, and was as- signed to the command of the defences of North Carolina. He had charge of the naval force that unsuccessfully resisted Flag-Officer Louis M. Golds- borough's attack on Roanoke island in February, 1862, and he subsequently commanded the remain- der of the fleet which was surprised by part of Com. Stephen C. Rowan's forces and driven up Al- bemarle sound to Elizabeth City. Later he com- manded Smithville during Admiral David D. Por- ter's attack on Fort Fisher, and after its surrender he dismantled the Smithville defences and retired with his marines to Wilmington. He published "Narrative of the United States Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea " (Philadelphia, 1849), and " Naval Life, or Observations Afloat and on Shore " (New York. 1851).

LYNCH, William Warren, Canadian journal- ist, b. in Bedford, Quebec, 30 Sept., 1845. He was educated at Stanbridge academy, and at Vermont and McGill universities, and was graduated at the latter in 1868. He was admitted to the bar of Lower Canada in June, 1868, and was appointed queen's counsel, 11 Oct., 1880. He has been mayor of the township of Brome, warden of the county of that name, and editor of the Cowansville " Ob- server," and has twice been president of the pro- vincial association of Protestant teachers of Que- bec. He was elected to the legislative assembly by acclamation in 1871, re-elected by acclamation five times between that year and 1886. He became solicitor-general, 30 Oct., 1879, and on the abolition of that office, 31 July, 1882. was appointed com- missioner of crown lands, which post he resigned, 20 Jan., 1887. He held the same portfolio in the Taillon administration from 25 Jan.. 1887, until it resigned, 27 Jan., 1887. In June, 1883, he re- ceived the degree of D. C. L. from the University of Bishop's college, Lennoxville. He has been a delegate to the provincial synod of the Church of England, and also a member of the executive com- mittee of the diocese of Montreal.

LYNDE, Benjamin, jurist, b. in Salem, Mass., 22 Sept., 1666: d. there, 28 Jan., 1745. He was graduated at Harvard in 1686, studied law in the Temple, London, practised in Massachusetts, and was appointed a judge in 1712, and chief justice of the colony in 1729. He was a member of the council from 1723 till 1737. — His son, Benjamin, jurist, b. in Salem, Mass., 4 Oct., 1700 ; d. there, 9 Oct., 1781, was graduated at Harvard in 1718, studied law, and practised in Massachusetts. He was chosen a member of the council in 1737, and continued in that body for many years, serving also as a representative, and for some time as naval officer of the port. He became judge of sessions and com- mon pleas, and in 1745 succeeded his father as judge of the supreme court. He presided at the trial of Capt. Preston in 1770 for ordering the Bos- ton massacre, and was accused of packing the jury with the corrupt object of disposing of unsalable products of his manufacturing business to the government. In 1772 he resigned the chief jus- ticeship, and in 1774 he was one of the _ signers of the Sa- lem address to Gen. Thomas Gage. To- ward the close of his life he was judge of probate.

LYNDE, William Pitt, member of congress, b. in Sherburne, N. Y., 16 Dec, 1817; d.in Milwaukee, Wis., 18 Dec, 1885. He was graduated at Y^ale in 1838, studied law in the law-school at Harvard, was ad- mitted to the bar in New York city in 1841, and established himself in practice in Milwaukee, Wis., and gained a high professional reputation, especially in the departments of commercial