Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/89

 LYNCH

LYNDE

father in 1776, he was elected by the Provincial as- sembly a delegate to the Continental congress as his successor and he arrived in Philadelphia in time to become one of the signers of the Declara- tion of Independence. His health, which had been broken by his services in the army, failed soon after, and he returned to his plantation in South Carolina in 1777. By advice of his physi- cian he undertook the sea voyage to the Island of St. Eustatius, W.I., in 1779, intending to take passage from there for the south of France. The vessel in which he sailed from Charleston was never heard from after being sighted when four days out of port in 1779.

LYNCH, Thomas, representative, was born in Milwaukee county, Wis., Nov. 21, 1844; son of Patrick and Mary Lynch, and grandson of John Lynch. He was brought up on a farm, and acquired his education chiefly in the local schools. In 1863 he removed to Chilton, Calumet county, Wis., where he taught school until 1871. He was a representative in the Wisconsin legislature, 1873 and 1883 ; was graduated from the Wiscon- sin university, LL.B., 1875 ; was district attorney of Calumet county, 1878-82, and in the latter year removed to Antigo, Langlade county. He was mayor of Antigo, 1885 and 1888, and a Dem- ocratic representative from the ninth Wisconsin district in the 52d and 53d congresses, 1891-95. Ha died at Pelican Lake, Wis., May 4, 1898.

LYNCH, William Francis, naval officer, was born in Norfolk, Va., April, 1801. He entered the U.S. navy as midshipman in 1819, and was promoted lieutenant in 1828. He proposed the expedition to explore the river Jordan and the Dead Sea in 1847, and receiving from the govern- ment a favorable reply to his proposition, he sailed on the U.S. store-ship Supply to Smyrna, made an overland journey to Constan- tinople, and after obtaining the necessary author- ity and protection from the Turkish government, he landed at the Bay of Acre, in March, 1848, and in metallic life-boats navigated and explored the Jordan from Lake Tiberius to the Dead Sea. On liis return to the United States he planned an expedition to explore Western Africa, which the government failed to sanction. He was pro- moted commander in 1849, and captain in 1856. In 1861 he resigned his commission in the U.S. navy and enlisted in the Confederate navy. He was commissioned flag officer, and assigned to the command of the coast defence of North Caro- lina ; captured the Federal supply ship Fanny ; commanded the mosquito fleet, composed of the Confederate vessels Appomattox, Seabird. Ellis, Black Warrior, Curlew and Fanny, in the de- fence of Roanoke Island ; unsuccessfully re- sisted the attack of Flag-Officer Louis M. Golds- borough ; fired one of his own steamers, the

Curlew, to prevent her capture ; blew up Fort Forrest, and retreated up the Pasqviotank river, where he concentrated his vessels behind a four- gun land battery, below Elizabeth City, On Feb. 10, 1862, he engaged the Union fleet, under Commander Rowan, with a loss of five of the six vessels comprising his fleet, and he escaped to Norfolk in the Beaufort. He subsequently com- manded the defences of Smithville, N.C., during the attack on Fort Fisher, December, 1864-Janu- ary, 1865, and after the surrender he dismantled the defences and returned with his marines to Wilmington, N.C. He is the author of : Narrative of the United States Expedition up the River Jor- dan and the Dead Sea (1849) ; Naval Life, or Ob- servations Afloat and Ashore (1851). He died in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 17, 1865.

LYNDE, Benjamin, jurist, was born in Salem, Mass., Sept. 22, 1666 ; son of Simon and Hannah (Newgate) Lynde, and grandson of Enoch and Elizabeth (Digbie) Lynde, of London, England, and of John Newgate, of Boston, Mass. He was graduated from Harvard, A.B., 1686, A.M., 1689, and studied law in the Middle Temple, England, 1692-97. He returned to America in 1697 with a commission as advocate-general of the court of admiralty of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. He removed from Boston to Salem, Mass., in 1698, and engaged in practice, although he did not take the oath of office till 1701. He was representative from Salem in the general court of Massachusetts in 1703, 1706, 1711 and 1712, and a member of the council, 1713-37. He was judge of the superior court of Massachusetts in 1712-28, and upon Judge Sewall's resignation in 1728, became chief justice, which office he held until his death. He was married April 27, 1699, to Mary, daughter of Judge William and Hannah (Cur win) Browne, of Salem. He died at Salem, Mass., Jan. 28, 1745.

LYNDE, Benjamin, jurist, was born in Salem, Mass., Oct. 5, 1700, son of Judge Benjamin and Mary (Browne) Lynde, and grandson of Judge William and Hannah (Curwin) Browne. He graduated at Harvard in 1718, and studied law with his uncle, Samuel Browne. He was naval officer for the port of Salem, 1721-29 ; a special judge of the court of common pleas for Suffolk county, 1734 ; agent of the province to settle the boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 1737 ; judge of the court of common pleas for Essex county, 1737-46 ; judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts, 1746-71, and chief justice, 1771-72. During his judicial term, in the absence of Chief-Justice Hutchin- son, he tried the soldiers who fired on the mob in State street, and was accused of packing the jury. He resigned in 1772. and was appointed judge of the probate for the county of Essex.