Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/86

66 and admiralty law. He was appointed attorney- general of Wisconsin territory in 1844, and in the following year U. S. district attorney, which office he held "till the admission of the state into the Union, when he was elected to congress as a Demo- crat, and took his seat on 5 June, 1848. He was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by Charles Durkee on the Free-soil issue, which they debated in a joint canvass. His term ended on 3 March, 1849, and in that year he was a Democratic candidate for the supreme court bench, but was not elected. He was mayor of Milwaukee in 1860, a member of the legislature in 1866, and of the state senate in 1868-9. In 1874 he was again sent to congress, and in 1876 was re-elected.

LYNDON, Josiah, governor of Rhode Island, b. in Newport, E,. I., lO" March, 1704: d. in War- ren, R. I., 30 March, 1778. He received a good education, and in 1730 became clerk of the lower house of the legislature and of the superior court of Newport county, which offices he held for many years. In 1768-9 he was governor of the colony, declining to serve longer than one term. He then returned to his clerkship, which he held until his death. His administration was marked by signs of growing hostility to the British government, and especially by a correspondence between the governor and the Earl of Hillsborough, in which the former protested against the arbitrary acts of the home government. This, with a similar letter to the king, expressing the sentiments of the gen- eral assembly and signed by Gov. Lyndon, is in John R. Bartlett's " Records of the Colony of Rhode Island " (10 vols.. Providence, 1856-65).

LYNN, Benjamin, pioneer, lived in the latter half of the 18th century. He was a wandering hunter in Green river valley, Ky., before its settle- ment, and as soon as stockades began to be built along Nolin (No-Lynn) river, to which he had given his name, he formed in 1782 a Separate Bap- tist congregation there and became its pastor. He afterward held other charges, and his name is con- nected with the traditions and eai-ly records of the oldest churches in southern Kentucky. He is called the " hunter-preacher "' and the " Daniel Boone of southern Kentucky."

LYON, Asa, clergyman, b. in Pomfret, Conn., 81 Dec, 1763; d. in South Hero, Grand Isle co., Vt., 4 April, 1841. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1790, studied divinity with Rev. Charles Backus, and was ordained pastor at Sutherland, Mass., 24 Oct., 1792. He remained there till the following year, and from 1802 till 1840 was pastor at South Hero. He was chief judge of Grand Isle county in 1805-14, and was a representative in the legisla- ture in 1800, 1802, 1805-6, 1808, and 1810-14, and a member of the executive council in 1808. He was elected to congress as a Federalist, and served from 4 Dec, 1815,1111 3 March, 1817. Mr. Lyon is said to have been a cousin of Robert Burns. He was an impressive preacher, distinguished for his knowledge of literature. He published sermons and patriotic addresses.

LYON, Caleb, congressman, b. in Lyonsdale, N. Y., 7 Dec, 1822 : d. near Rossville, Staten island, N. Y., 8 Sept., 1875. He was graduated at Nor- wich university, Vt., in 1841, travelled in Europe for several years, and in 1847 was appointed consul to Shanghai, China. On his return he travelled through Central and South America, arrived in California in 1849. and was secretary of the con- vention that was called to frame a state constitu- tion. While there he designed the state coat of arms. After another journey in Europe and the East he returned to his native state, and was elected to the assembly in 1850, but resigned on the ques- tion of enlarging the Erie canal, of which he was an advocate, and was in the same year elected to the state senate. At the close of his term he again went abroad, and as a friend of Capt. Duncan N. Ingraham {q. v.) was concerned in the rescue of Martin Koszta from an Austrian brig in the port of Smyrna. When he returned he was elected as an Independent to congress, and served froin 5 Dec, 1853, till 3 March, 1855. After the burning of the family mansion at Lyonsdale he removed to Staten island, and occupied and restored the coun- try-seat known as Ross castle. In 1864 he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln governor of Idaho, which post he held till December, 1866. He was a ready orator, whose memory and knowledge of statistics rendered him formidable in debate. As a connoisseur of the fine arts his opinion was es- teemed. He published poems, which have never been collected, and lectured on his travels. Norwich university gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1851.

LYON, George Francis, English traveller, b. in Chichester, England, in 1795 ; d. at sea in October^ 1832. He entered the British naval service in 1808, was present at the attack on Algiers by Lord Exmouth in 1816, and in 1818 was commissioned to accompany Joseph Ritchie on his tour of explo- ration into central Africa. Ritchie died in Fezzan,. and Lyon returned to England, after encountering- many dangers and privations, which he described in his " Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa " (London, 1821). In 1821, in command of the " Hecla," he accompanied Capt. William E. Parry on his arctic expedition, publishing on his return " The Private Journal of Capt. G. F. Lyon " (1824). In 1824 he sailed in command of the " Griper " with the mission of exploring Melville peninsula,, and following its western shore as far as Turn- again, he found, after three months' searching, a passage through the group of islets called South- ampton island, but was unable to enter Repulse bay through Sir Thomas Rowe's Welcome. On 13 Sept., a violent tempest compelled him to return to England. The story of the voyage was told in "A Brief Nan-ative of an Unsuccessful Attempt " (1825). He subsequently passed several years in Mexico, and died on his return from a second visit to America. His remaining works are " The Sketch- Book of Capt. G. F. Lyon during Eighteen Months' Residence in Mexico, No. 1 "' (London. 1827). and " Journal of a Residence and Tour in Mexico in 1828 " (2 vols., 1828).

LYON, John Christian, clergyman, b. in Leonsberg, Würtemberg, Germany, 11 Feb., 1802; d. in Catonville, Md., 21 May, 1868. His parents were Lutherans. The son came to this country in 1817, united with the Methodist Episcopal church in 1826, and soon afterward entered its ministry, in which he served until he was superannuated in 1862. He preached generally in German and did much to bring his countrymen into his denomination. He has been called the founder of the German Methodist church in the United States. He was the author and translator of several theological works.

LYON, Lucius, senator, b. in Shelburn, Vt., 26 Feb., 1800; d. in Detroit, Mich., 24 Sept., 1851. He received a public-school education, and, settling in Detroit in 1822, was elected a territorial delegate to congress as a Democrat, serving from 3 Dec. 1833, till 3 March, 1835. In the latter year he was a member of the State constitutional convention, and he also served in that of 1850. He was a U. S. senator from 26 Jan.. 1837, till 3 March, 1839, and a representative from 4 Dec, 1843, till 3