Thomas Lynch at Rivertowne

Thomas Lynch at Rivertowne. . , Side A , Thomas and Sabina Lynch were some of Mount Pleasant’s earliest and wealthiest residents. Their 18th century plantation house was located here in Rivertowne. The Lynch family story begins in 1677 when Jonack Lynch emigrated from Ireland to Charles Towne and was granted land on the Cooper River. He established Blessing Plantation and quickly amassed a fortune. He used his new wealth to expand his holdings and cement the family’s social standing among the planter elite. By 1715, Jonack’s son Thomas had acquired 1,170 acres of land on the east bank of the Wando River and additional property in Berkeley County and along the Santee River. Thomas built a "new dwelling house" called Brick House on his Wando property in 1713. Lynch served in the Commons House of Assembly and was a colonel in the Christ Church Parish militia. When Thomas died in 1738, he left his property to his wife Sabina Vanderhorst and their children.

Side B , Thomas’s wife, Sabina, lived on the plantation until her death in 1741. Sabina was the last member of the Lynch family to reside on their Wando River property. Their son Thomas amassed his own fortune and resided at his principal home on Hopsewee Plantation near Georgetown. Thomas was a staunch patriot and was elected as a representative to the First Continental Congress. Sadly, he was struck down by a cerebral hemorrhage. His son, Thomas Lynch, Jr., signed the Declaration of Independence on behalf of his ailing father in 1776. In the 1990s, archaeologists located the foundation of Thomas Lynch’s Brick House and a small brick kiln used to make bricks for its construction. A variety of household artifacts were found including a silver needle case engraved with Sabina Lynch’s initials. The artifacts confirm that the house was built in the early 1700s. This may be the oldest house excavated in Mount Pleasant.