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Archiver > GAFULTON > 2001-03 > 0984805710


From:
Subject: Re: [GAFULTON] EVANS CHAPEL.
Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 00:08:32 EST


Ann,
I am sending you the only information I have on the Lynch family. I hope to
have more soon.
I will definitely let you know when I can attend your tour!
Mimi
The information on the house is towards the end in bold print and underlined.

Please note: Katherine Hinton Wootten, Granddaughter of Patrick Lynch, wrote
the following for the Atlanta Pioneer Society, in March of 1939.
I, Miriam Weems Stewart, am a descendant of Sophia Heery and Patrick Lynch.

In 1847, just after Atlanta had emerged from Marthasville, five young
brothers, Peter, Patrick, James, John and Michael Lynch, sons of Patrick and
Nan (Little) Lynch, came from their home in County Meath, Parish of Slane,
Ireland, seeking escape from English tyranny and Irish poverty to win fame
and fortune in the new city.
Four of the brothers, Patrick, James, Michael and John, bought a tract of
land now bounded by Courtland (then Collins), Gilmer, Ivy, and Auburn Avenue
(then Wheat Street) and erected their homes thereon.
Michael built on the corner of Gilmer and Ivy Streets, and long known as
Mead's corner.
I cannot remember whether the Mead house was originally built by John Lynch,
or whether he built the house that long stood at the corner of Auburn and Ivy
Streets.
Peter, the eldest brother, opened a store on Whitehall Street, near the
corner of Mitchell, which was long a landmark, and erected his comfortable
home at the corner of Trinity Avenue and Central Avenue (then Lloyd Street).
This house is now used by the Atlanta Juvenile Court, but it is a place of
happy memory to many older Atlantans, for to his dying day, Peter Lynch and
his family dispersed a lavish hospitality.
He first married Miss Mary Ann Cannon, by whom he had one daughter, Mary. As
second wife, he married Miss Julia Rice, of the well-known Augusta family.
Children of Peter Lynch and Julia Rice Lynch are:
Lula-married John Murphy
Clara-married Patrick McGeever
Lizzie-married Patrick Bloomfield
Cecelia-married Jerry Wallace
Josephine-married Harry Rutler, of Savannah
Thomas-married Mary Coleman
Nellie-never married
Peter-died single
Michael Lynch married Ellen ? ,who died within a few months.
He married second Margaret Carey, and he died within a year. His widow lived
in the large frame house he built at the corner of Courtland and Gilmer
Streets, directly opposite the City Auditorium, now the site of the last home
of his brother James. He left no children.
James Lynch became a merchant, and married Johanna Mayer. Their first home,
on Gilmer Street, was surrounded by a garden, which would be noteworthy even
in this garden conscious age. Their second home still stands on the corner of
Courtland and Gilmer Streets, and was quite palatial at the time of its
erection. His daughter, Mrs. Edward Kenney, his only living child, now
occupies it.
Children of James Lynch and Johanna Mayer Lynch are:
John-married Hannah Mahoney, who recently endeared herself to Georgia
Catholics by financing so many churches.
Mary Ann-married William Erskine, long known as the "Linen Merchant" on
Whitehall Street.
Patrick-married Lizzie Connelly
Lizzie-married Henry Williamson
Theresa-married Edward Kinney
James-died single

Patrick Lynch became a contractor and builder, and erected his home at 20
Gilmer Street. Tradition says that mass was often offered in this home before
there was a Catholic Church in the city. During Sherman's occupancy of
Atlanta, Patrick Lynch went with the Catholic priest, Father O'Reilly, and
persuaded Sherman to place guards around the churches, thus saving many from
destruction.
He owned a large rock quarry on Simpson Street, now used by the Power Plant,
and later operated by his eldest son, Patrick, who followed his father's
business as contractor. From this quarry, came the foundation stones of many
Atlanta buildings, notably the old Fulton County Court House and the
Immaculate Conception Church, the rock for the foundation, which was his
personal contribution to it's building.
Patrick also owned a plantation on McDonough Road, (made famous by Margaret
Mitchell's book, Gone With The Wind), to which his family refuged during the
shelling of Atlanta, and which descended to his son James, and is now
occupied by his grandson, James Lynch.
Patrick Lynch, Senior and Junior were huge men, weighing over three hundred
pounds. His weight kept Patrick Senior from service in the Confederate Army,
but in recent years a claim against the government for cotton taken from the
plantation by Federal troops was not allowed, as the Government proved that
he had given so much aid to the Confederacy in the way of supplies, etc. His
three sons were in the Confederate Army.
The grounds of his home at 20 Gilmer Street extended far into the tract
purchased by the four brothers, and around the branch which flowed down what
is now the center of Edgewood Avenue, he established a brick yard, to
supplement the building stones from the quarry.
Before leaving Ireland, Patrick Lynch had married Bridget Maginnis, of his
native village, and when he came to America he left her at home with their
three babies, promising to send back his first earnings for her to follow
him. She joined him in Atlanta the next year, 1848 and left the city but one
time until her death in 1901. Patrick Lynch died in 1871. Their children
numbered thirteen.
Children of Patrick Lynch and Bridget Maginnis Lynch are:
Seven of the thirteen died in infancy.
Mary-died unmarried
Patrick-born in Ireland, married Sophia Heery
James-born in Ireland married Belle Thompson
Anne-born in Ireland, married (1) John Mann (2) John Hamilton
Hugh-born in Atlanta, married Mary Elizabeth Blotter
Katherine-born in Atlanta, married Powhatan Bowling Wootten
These Lynch brothers had four sisters, one of whom lived in Atlanta.
Elizabeth-married John Blount (parents of Mike, Mary, Maggie and John)
Mary Ann-married in Ireland to John Jarrett. (Their son, John lived in
Atlanta)
Fannie-died single in New York
Julia-married in New York to? Russell (had one daughter, Julia Russell)
None of these Lynch pioneers gained fame, or considerable fortune, but they
did their part in building the great Atlanta of today, and they left to their
descendant's examples well worthy of imitation.
Washington DC
March 2, 1939
By Katherine Hinton Wootten
Granddaughter of Patrick Lynch and PROUD OF HIM.
Copied by Mary Weems Gilbert
Saginaw, Michigan
July 1, 1976
Descendant of Patrick Lynch and Sophia Heery








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