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©This website and contents, copyright, 2004, by John Lynch
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The
Lynch family in Crow Creek Valley
My branch of the Lynch family came to Crow Creek sometime around 1819. My immediate family moved away from the valley in 1962. In 2003 my Aunt Beth (Lynch) Robinson moved away following the death of her husband Arthur. She was the last of the Lynches who lived in the valley. JOHN DILLON LYNCH and KATIE DAVIS The earliest known generation in our Lynch family records is that of John Dillon Lynch and Katie Davis Lynch. (View a text list of their descendants.) John Dillon and Katie were born sometime around 1770 in Virginia, and both died in Kentucky. Keep in mind, however, at the time of their birth there was no state of Kentucky. They had at least three children, possibly five. Jim Willis, who researched many of the original families of Sherwood, lists five -- Elijah, James 1791, David 1793, John Dillon2 1796, and Patience 1795. There is no solid evidence that Elijah and James were members of this family. There is, however, strong circumstantial evidence that James was one of the family.
Sometime before between 1817 and 1819, David1, John Dillon3 and Patience moved from Kentucky to the Crow Creek Valley in Tennessee.
Our line in the Lynch family is descended from David1. According to the book Lynch Families of the Southern United States, Lois Davidson Hines (page 278) David was born in Barren County, Ky. He married Elizabeth Wells February 2, 1815 in Madison County, Ky. He was in Company 6, 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Militia in the War of 1812. It is unclear who were the parents of Elizabeth. Hines, in her book says, "she is believed to be a daughter of Daniel Wells, Sr., or of Benjamin E. Wells and a sister of Daniel Wells. David1 and Elizabeth had six children John Dillon3 1817, Lucinda 1819, Metilda 1821, William Green 1823, David2 1826, and Patience "Pashia" 1828. JOHN DILLON LYNCH and HETTY WILKINSON Our line of the Lynch family continues through John Dillon3, who according to Jim Willis, was also known as "Bunty." "Bunty" was born October 18, 1817 in Kentucky, and died July 21, 1881 in Crow Creek. He married Hetty Wilkinson February 11, 1836. She was born December 09, 1811 in Kentucky, and died January 05, 1894 in Crow Creek. Here's what Jim Willis had to say about "Bunty" Lynch.
Occupants of this house also include members of the Beene family. Matt Beene brother of Henry Harrison Beene lived in the house and brothers John and William Beene also lived in the house. Bunty is buried in the Cemetery on the hill behind the old Gager Lime Plant .
The couple had seven children - Lucinda 1836, Elizabeth 1838, David2 1840, Hettie2 1843, John Dillon4 1843, Frances A. 1851, and Sarah Ann 1852. Hettie2 and John Dillon4 were twins. JOHN DILLON LYNCH and NANCY JANE KING John Dillon4 and his brother David2 were both veterans of the Civil War. John Dillon4 was barely 17 years old when he joined the Confederate Army on May 10, 1861. According to his records he served in Company I, 17th Tenn. Infantry. His rank at the time of his enlistment was that of private. He took the oath and was paroled on May 12, 1865. His rank at that time was still that of private. In his application to become a member of the Association of Confederate Soldiers, Tennessee Division, he writes, "I lost my right leg at the Battle of Chickamauga, amputated above the knee. Remained within the Confederate lines until the close of the war, Paroled at Macon, Ga. the morning Jeff Davis was brought into town." Because he had only one leg, John Dillon4 was called "Peg." He had a reputation as being rather cantankerous. It is said that on one occasion, a traveling salesman, was boarding with the Lynch family. It was still dark when Peg banged on the ceiling to wake up the household. The salesman came down the stairs with his bag and headed for the front door. "Where you going," Peg asked. "I'm going somewhere to get me some sleep," the man replied. On another occasion, Peg had hired some young men to clear rocks from a field near the house and throw them on the other side of the fence. They had finished their work by lunch. One version of this story says that Peg's response was motivated by compassion for the otherwise unemployed men. Another version says his response sprang merely from his cantankerous nature. After the men finished eating, they asked what they were to do that afternoon. "Pick up the rocks and throw 'em back on the other side," he said. My grandfather, John Crittenden "Crit" Beene, tells this story about John Dillon4. Peg's house sat beside the road that ran back into Cross Creek Hollow. Following the death of their father, Henry Harrison Beene, in May 1911, Crit and his brother Joe went to stay with their Aunt Mildred Midora Beene and Uncle Lawrence Robinson who lived near Peg. By this time Peg was a stooped, bearded old man, with one leg - no doubt a frightening figure for two young boys. The effect was heightened, as Crit said, by Peg's high pitched, nasal voice. The boys would avoid the old man in working his garden by running quickly past the Lynch house, until, one day, they were forced to meet the him face to face. Without laying a hand on them Peg called them up short as they attempted to run by. There is little more to this story than the impact of Peg calling out to the frightened boys in his thin, reedy voice, "God Damn, boys. Where y'all goin'." My other grandfather, Walter Lynch, was the youngest child of Peg and Nancy Jane. Walter remembered attending a reunion of Civil War soldiers in Chattanooga with his father. Walking down the street, they passed an old man dressed in the blue uniform of a Union soldier. The old veteran sat on the sidewalk, both legs missing, and an upturned hat to collect money from passers by. Peg tossed a whole dollar into the man's hat. Walter was astonished and asked his father why he had been so generous. "Only damned Yankee I ever saw that got what was coming to him," was Peg's reply. John Dillon4 is mentioned on page 832, History of Tennessee, Published in Nashville.
John Dillon4 married Nancy Jane King on April 18, 1867. According to the record in John D. Lynch's bible the two were married in the home of his brother-in-law Benjamin Payne, "in presence of W. C. Gibson, Elizabeth A. Payne" -- W.C. Gibson, being the husband of John D.'s twin sister Hettie, and Elizabeth the wife of Benjamin Payne. (click to view John Dillon Lynch Bible pages) John Dillon4 and Nancy Jane had eleven children. Their first, Braxton, lived less than a week. It is possible he was named for Confederate General Braxton Bragg. John B. Lynch was born in 1869 and was known all his life as "Johnny Boy." Hettie, probably named for John Dillon4's twin sister, was born in 1871. Other children were David 1874, Lucy 1876, Rebecca 1878, George 1880, William 1882, Mary Alice 1883, Nancy Jane 1885, and Walter 1888. George, William, and Mary Alice died in their childhood. Rebecca, who went by the name "Shug", was married to Will Bledsoe, who formed a partnership with Walter Lynch, called "Bledsoe and Lynch" Grocery.
WALTER LYNCH and MARY ESTHER HUFFER Walter, married Mary Esther Huffer on October 23, 1912. Her family, the
Huffers (originally Hofert) family came to Tennessee from Ohio.
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