Natchez in Adams County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
John R. Lynch - St. Catherine Street Land Speculator
Natchez Trails
Photographed By Cajun Scrambler, July 8, 2017
1. John R. Lynch - St. Catherine Street Land Speculator Marker
Inscription.
John R. Lynch - St. Catherine Street Land Speculator. Natchez Trails. , John R. Lynch turned to writing in his later years and wrote the Facts of Reconstruction in 1913. He completed his autobiography Reminiscences of an Active Life when he was 90, two years before his death in 1939.
Lynch invested in Adams County real estate from 1869 until 1898. Pictured above is Providence Plantation on which he operated a cotton gin. His largest land purchase was the 694-acre Grove Plantation. His family residence was on Homochitto Street in Natchez.
John R. Lynch speculated on St. Catherine Street property in 1887 when he purchased three lots on what later became known as Winston Hill.
Lynch... had few superiors as a stump-speaker.
Confederate Colonel Frank A. Montgomery
And when every man, woman, and child can feel and know that his, her, and their rights are fully protected by the strong arm of a generous and grateful Republic, then we can truthfully say that this beautiful land of ours, over which the Star Spangled Banner so triumphantly waves, is in truth and in fact, the “land of the free and the home of the brave." , John R. Lynch Civil Rights Speech Congressional Record, 1876
John Roy Lynch rose from slavery to become one of America's most powerful African American political figures.
He was first appointed as justice of the peace in Adams County. Elected in 1869 to the Mississippi Legislature, he became the first African American to serve as Speaker of the House. When elected to Congress in 1873 for the first of three terms, Lynch was only 25.
In 1884 Lynch became the first African American to chair a national political convention and in 1901 the first to serve as paymaster of the Army, where he attained the rank of major. He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1896. Lynch moved to Chicago in 1912 and practiced law until his death in 1939.
John Roy Lynch was born in 1847 on Tacony Plantation (above), located across the river in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. He was the son of Patrick Lynch, an Irish plantation manager, and Catherine White, an enslaved woman.
His father died before securing his family's freedom, and the Lynch family was sold with the plantation to Natchez cotton planter Alfred V. Davis.
Lynch "attended” the white 1846 Natchez Institute (above) by eavesdropping from his place of employment across the alley behind the school.
When Alfred V. Davis bought Dunleith (above) in 1859, he relocated the Lynch family from his plantation to the grand mansion on the outskirts of Natchez. Lynch had a good relationship with Davis but displeased his wife, who sent him back to the Tacony cotton fields.
John R. Lynch, who brushed flies" while serving in the dining room, became the most famous person ever to live in Dunleith.
John R. Lynch's sister Catherine married Clarence Johnson, son of diarist William Johnson, whose State Street house (left) is owned and interpreted by the National Park Service. Lynch's nephew Dr. William R. Johnston and wife Sally were the last family members to reside in the house.
John R. Lynch turned to writing in his later years and wrote the Facts of Reconstruction in 1913. He completed his autobiography Reminiscences of an Active Life when he was 90, two years before his death in 1939.
Lynch invested in Adams County real estate from 1869 until 1898. Pictured above is Providence Plantation on which he operated a cotton gin. His largest land purchase was the 694-acre Grove Plantation. His family residence was on Homochitto Street in Natchez.
John R. Lynch speculated on St. Catherine Street property in 1887 when he purchased three lots on what later became known as Winston Hill.
Lynch... had few superiors as a stump-speaker.
Confederate Colonel Frank A. Montgomery
And when every man, woman, and child can feel and know that his, her, and their rights are fully protected by the strong arm of a generous and grateful Republic, then we can truthfully say that this beautiful land of ours, over which the Star Spangled Banner so triumphantly waves, is in truth and in fact, the “land of the free and the home of the brave." John R. Lynch Civil Rights Speech Congressional Record, 1876
John Roy Lynch rose from slavery to become one of America's most powerful African American political figures.
He was first appointed as justice
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of the peace in Adams County. Elected in 1869 to the Mississippi Legislature, he became the first African American to serve as Speaker of the House. When elected to Congress in 1873 for the first of three terms, Lynch was only 25.
In 1884 Lynch became the first African American to chair a national political convention and in 1901 the first to serve as paymaster of the Army, where he attained the rank of major. He was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1896. Lynch moved to Chicago in 1912 and practiced law until his death in 1939.
John Roy Lynch was born in 1847 on Tacony Plantation (above), located across the river in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. He was the son of Patrick Lynch, an Irish plantation manager, and Catherine White, an enslaved woman.
His father died before securing his family's freedom, and the Lynch family was sold with the plantation to Natchez cotton planter Alfred V. Davis.
Lynch "attended” the white 1846 Natchez Institute (above) by eavesdropping from his place of employment across the alley behind the school.
When Alfred V. Davis bought Dunleith (above) in 1859, he relocated the Lynch family from his plantation to the grand mansion on the outskirts of Natchez. Lynch had a good relationship with Davis but displeased his wife, who sent him back to the Tacony cotton fields.
John R. Lynch, who brushed flies" while serving in the dining room,
Photographed By Cajun Scrambler, July 8, 2017
2. John R. Lynch - St. Catherine Street Land Speculator Marker
became the most famous person ever to live in Dunleith.
John R. Lynch's sister Catherine married Clarence Johnson, son of diarist William Johnson, whose State Street house (left) is owned and interpreted by the National Park Service. Lynch's nephew Dr. William R. Johnston and wife Sally were the last family members to reside in the house.
Location. 31° 33.453′ N, 91° 23.522′ W. Marker is in Natchez, Mississippi, in Adams County. Marker is at the intersection of St. Catherine Street and 6th Street, on the left when traveling west on St. Catherine Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Natchez MS 39120, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 26, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2018, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 803 times since then and 80 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 5, 2018.
