Captain America

AKA Jace/Grandbundle

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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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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Tombstone Tuesday The End of the Road

Greenwood Cemetery
Jackson, Mississippi

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.

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

NAME	AGE	SEX	COLOR	FORMER OWNER	FORMER RESIDENCE
Silvester Crossley	47	male	2/3 white	James R Godbold	Woodside
Louisa Crossley	46	woman	black	do do	do
Andrew Crossley	11	male	1/3 white	" "	"
Kate Benton	45	woman	black	" "	" "
Jane Crossley	22	do	copper	" "	" "
Mathew Benton	11	boy	do	" "	" "
Missouri Benton	16	do	do	" "	" "
Hannah Benton	7	girl	do	" "	" "
Charlotte Pettis	18	woman	do	" "	" "
Jeni Pettis	1/2	girl	do	" "	" "
Robeson Monan	28	man	black	" "	" "
Clorinda Monan	21	woman	do	" "	" "
Joseph Monan	1/2	boy	do	" "	" "
Silvy Dixon	32	female	do	Departed from	the place
Clorinda Dixon	7	do	do	" "	" "
Therisa Dixon	4	do	copper	" "	" "
Davidson Dixon	2	male	black	" "	" "
Harriet Morris	34	female	do	" "	" "
Patsey Morris	6	do	do	" "	" "
Elec Morris	4	male	do	" "	" "
Elizabeth Morris	1	female	do	" "	" "
Nora Morris	1	do	do	" "	" "
Betty Morris	48	do	do	" "	" "
Isabelle Morris	13	do	do	" "	" "
Mary Morris	7	do	do	" "	" "
Rose Wells	45	do	do	" "	" "
Macdaniel Wells	15	male	do	" "	" "
Jinney Wells	9	female	do	" "	" "
Racheal Guthrie	22	do	do	" "	" "
Will Guthrie	3	male	do	" "	" "
Harrison Guthrie	1	do	yellow	" "	" "

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