The Tragic End of James Lynch

This story of James Lynch dovetails with another post written recently about James’ likely father, William.

James Lynch was born about 23 December 1854, probably on a farm in rural Wayne County. Records suggest his parents were named William Lynch and Elisabeth Lynch. Both parents were likely born in Ireland around 1830, and their appearance in Michigan as early as the 1850s corresponded with many other Irish fleeing the Potato Famine. In 1860, James appeared to live with his parents and siblings on a farm in Grosse Point Township, Wayne, Michigan (in an area also called Connor’s Creek).

(Editor’s note: I haven’t definitively linked this James Lynch to this William Lynch. The theorized relationship fits well into available evidence, but in research I have yet to find an original record with a primary informant for that claim.)

By 1870, James appeared to live with his father, an implied step-mother named Margaret, and siblings on a farm in Columbus Township, St. Clair, Michigan, just about 5 miles southeast of the small town of Memphis.

He probably married Jane Freeman around 1878 in Memphis. (Her obituary stated 1887, but their first child Blanche was born in 1879, suggesting a marriage the year before.) Around this time, he also started appearing in Saginaw, answering the call for workers at the city’s busy mills. His identification was not always clear, but records suggested he started working there enough to appear in directories by the late 1870s. His brother John Lynch may also have worked in the city, but his identification there is also unproven.

James appeared to be a boarder in Saginaw working at the mills while Jane lived elsewhere for the births of their first children, Blanche and Etridge. The leading image for this post shows a man I believe to be this James Lynch boarding at Kinney’s House in Saginaw in 1880. The image is poor quality, but he’s near the top. Blanche was often recorded as born in Wayne County, and Etridge in Sanilac County. Jane may have lived with either Lynch or Freeman relatives during this time. Searches in the 1880 census for her have produced nil results in both counties — as well as St. Clair.

The family appeared to all live together in Saginaw by about 1886. Daughter Maude and son William are both recorded as being born in Saginaw County and all four children were captured in a portrait made around spring 1890. I believe this may be the oldest photo in my family.

James joined the Carrollton Howard Lodge No. 220, International Order of Odd Fellows by late 1886. The lodge had been founded late the previous year, and he was involved by the time the group planned its first anniversary celebration. Many of the men in the group appeared to work at the mills up and down the shore of the Saginaw River in Carrollton. Names like Baird or Bierd, and Cook came up regularly in FAN club research. Later, wife Jane Lynch joined the Rebekahs, the women’s auxiliary, a group she appeared active with until her death in 1934.

By summer 1886, James appeared to work as a foreman at Stevens & LaDue’s salt works in Carrollton. That year, he was scalded after falling into a grainer, and was reported to walk with a crutch a few days later. He was 31.

By spring of 1891, records showed James worked as a foreman at Bliss mill, owned by A.T. Bliss, who would be elected Michigan’s governor in 1900. James was 36.

Just shy of two years later, on 27 January 1893, James Lynch was seriously injured at the mill. A newspaper report from the day described the incident:

“He knocked the stake out and several heavy logs rolled on him, crushing his body in a shocking manner. He was taken to his home and Dr. Rodwell summoned, but the injured man lies in a very critical condition.”

James lived for another 10 days, while his wife and children tried their best to make him comfortable at home. He died from his injuries on Monday, 6 February 1893.

The headline in The Saginaw Evening News read, “It Proved Fatal”:

“James Lynch, aged 39 years, the unfortunate man who was so terribly crushed upon the head and chest last week at the yard of the Bliss mill while unloading logs from a car, died this morning at his home in Carrollton. The deceased leaves a wife and four children in poor circumstances. The oldest child is only 12 years of age.“

That night, the Howard Lodge No. 220, I.O.O.F., held a meeting to plan for James’ funeral. The funeral was held Thursday, 9 February 1893 at the family residence in Carrollton, with the lodge in full attendance, followed by burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

James left behind wife Jane and four children: Blanche, Etridge, Maude and William. Blanche, who was 13 when her father died — not 12 as reported in the newspaper, was my third great-grandmother.

Research Desk Notes:

• This family offers several examples of the “same name” problem that genealogists frequently encounter. Irish families often reused given names. If all the connections I theorize for this family are correct, there are at least three William Lynch men across three generations: James’ father appeared to be William, James appeared to have a younger brother named William, and James and Jane named their youngest child William.
• James’ theorized father William may have died in 1901 in Hamtramck, Wayne, Michigan. I have a death certificate for that William Lynch, but I’m still not convinced he and my William Lynch in Columbus Township are the same person.
• Probate documents offer a great avenue to connect parents to children in this time period, but if William the father died after James, that path would be unavailable.
• I plan to eventually research all of James’ hypothesized siblings: Elizabeth, William, Catherine and John. Perhaps a will for one of them will surface that names James’ widow or children. That would strengthen the hypothesized links for this family.