Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Tombstone Tuesday
James Lynch
1838-1872

James Lynch was Secretary of State during Reconstruction, and held other positions of honor. He died December 18, 1872. At the time, he was the only African American in the history of Mississippi that ever laid in State in the capitol.

After remaining in his coffin two days in the rotunda of the capital, he was buried with great ceremony. A handsome monument for which the State of Mississippi paid in part, was erected over his grave.

Funeral Obsequies of James Lynch The late Secretary of State was interred from the Captiol yesterday. The funeral oration was delivered by the Rev Mr McDonald, and the remains were escorted to the grave bt the State authorities, the city authorities, Hope Fire Company No 3 (colored) of Jackson, United States Fire Company No 1, (colored) of Vicksburg, the Friendly Brothers, (colored) of Vicksburg, a delegation from Vicksburg Fire Company No 2 (colored) and a large concourse of colored people.

James Lynch was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi.
His monument reads 'True To The Public Trust".

James Lynch, Mississippi's Secretary of State During Reconstruction

Source: Subject File for James D Lynch - File found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History
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Monday, October 20, 2014

James Lynch
Mississippi's Secretary of State
During Reconstruction

Lynch, Jas (1870 U.S. Census) Mississippi, Hinds County, Jackson

I came across James Lynch, an interesting figure during Reconstruction in Mississippi while researching the surname Lynch in my family.

James Lynch was born in Baltimore in 1838. He was the son of a slave woman, and his father was a white merchant and minister. James became a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Illinois and Indiana. He married in 1860, and moved to Philadelphia, where he edited a Methodist newspaper. During the War he followed Sherman through Georgia as a missionary to freedmen. In 1867, he came to Mississippi to preach and teach. He also entered politics soon after his arrival, working fervently toward black voter registration.

Lynch was elected Secretary of State. By all accounts, he was an effective political speaker and administrator. He also served on a three man board of education, administering sixteenth section lands, which had been poorly managed. He developed Rust College in Holly Springs, which was run by the Northern Methodist Church.

He failed to gain the nomination for Congress in 1872, losing to John Roy Lynch, not related. Apparently stories of alcoholism began to surface, and blacks lost faith in him.

He died December 18, 1872, at the age of 34 of Bright's Disease. He was buried at the all white cemetery in Jackson, Greenwood Cemetery.

Source: Subject File for James D Lynch - File found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History
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Sunday, October 12, 2014

Added a Steeple to Providence Baptist Church

Providence Baptist Church
HWY 28
Copiah County, Mississippi

Providence was one of the churches my paternal family attended in rural Copiah County, Mississippi. My branch of the family left the area beginning in the early 1950s. The church was mentioned often and they would go back when they could, especially for funerals. Stopping by for a quick visit to a place where change is slow, is comforting now that the family members of my youth are gone.

Improvements have arrived at Providence. A steeple has been added and there is a new tin roof and porch, and fresh paint. The building looks more like a church and is easier to notice on the rural highway. I suppose my paternal aunts and uncles would like the new look and the grandparents wouldn't recognize the place.

Change is good.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contract - 1865
James R Godbold

List of Freedmen Residing on James R Godbold's Plantation
in Franklin County, Mississippi
Oct 7th 1865

NAMEAGESEXCOLORFORMER OWNERFORMER RESIDENCE
Silvester Crossley47male2/3 whiteJames R GodboldWoodside
Louisa Crossley46womanblackdo do do
Andrew Crossley11male1/3 white" " "
Kate Benton45womanblack" " " "
Jane Crossley22docopper" " " "
Mathew Benton11boydo" " " "
Missouri Benton16dodo" " " "
Hannah Benton7girldo" " " "
Charlotte Pettis18womando" " " "
Jeni Pettis1/2girldo" " " "
Robeson Monan28manblack" " " "
Clorinda Monan21womando" " " "
Joseph Monan1/2boydo" " " "
Silvy Dixon32femaledoDeparted fromthe place
Clorinda Dixon7dodo" " " "
Therisa Dixon4docopper" " " "
Davidson Dixon2maleblack" " " "
Harriet Morris34femaledo" " " "
Patsey Morris6dodo" " " "
Elec Morris4maledo" " " "
Elizabeth Morris1femaledo" " " "
Nora Morris1dodo" " " "
Betty Morris48dodo" " " "
Isabelle Morris13dodo" " " "
Mary Morris7dodo" " " "
Rose Wells45dodo" " " "
Macdaniel Wells15maledo" " " "
Jinney Wells9femaledo" " " "
Racheal Guthrie22dodo" " " "
Will Guthrie3maledo" " " "
Harrison Guthrie1doyellow" " " "
Source: Record Group 105 - NARA Microfilm M1907: Records of the Field Offices for the State of Mississippi, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands 1865-1872
Roll #35
Natchez Office - Registry of Freedmen, August to October 1865