Dr. William Lynn

Dr. William Lynn Born about 1690 in Ulster, Ireland

Ancestors ancestors

Son of William David Lynn [uncertain] and Margaret (Patton) Lynn [uncertain]

Brother of Elizabeth (Lynn) Hutchenson, Sarah Cameron (Lynn) Patton, Thomas Andrew Linn, Margaret (Lynn) Lewis, John Lynn, Audley Lynn, Charles Lynn and Ann (Lynn) Miller

[spouse%28s%29 unknown]

Father of Ann (Lynn) Finnie

Died 1758 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia Colony

Biography

Dr. William Lynn, brother of Charles Lynn, Audley Lynn, Elizabeth (Lynn) Hutchenson, and Margaret (Lynn) Lewis, wrote his will on October 21, 1757 and named these four siblings (describing Audley as deceased) and no more. He named no sons in his will but made bequests to his daughter Ann and to several more distant relatives back in Ireland. (Note: The .pdf files attached to this profile are Dr. Lynn's will and my transcription thereof. Loretta (Lynn) Layman)

A birth date for Dr. Lynn earlier than 1690 seems unlikely since, in his 1757 will, he expressed the expectation that his daughter might bear a son sometime in the future.

On January 2, 1715/16, an apothecary named William Lin petitioned the Londonderry Common Council for admission as a freeman of the city of Londonderry, Ireland.[1] Apothecaries in that day had earned the status of skilled practitioners and often served as physicians. At the same time, it wasn't until the 19th century that the medical professions as a whole were fully established in their modern institutional forms. It may be no coincidence that one Roger Dixon appears in the Londonderry minute book just twenty-five days later - Dr. Lynn bequeathed certain of his property to "my friend Mr. Roger Dixon". Several men named Dent, which would become the married name of Dr. Lynn's daughter Ann, also appear in the Londonderry minute book as contemporaries of William.

In two later Virginia land acquisitions, Dr. Lynn was described not simply as a doctor of Spotsylvania County but as a "Gent. & Practitioner of Physick". In his will, he described himself as a "doctor of physic", which in that era meant a doctor of medicine while the field of physics was part of what then was called "natural philosophy", referring to the study of the natural world.

Leaving a number of relatives in northwest Ulster, Dr. Lynn crossed the Atlantic sometime in or before 1727 and settled in the colony of Virginia. In 1727, he and Robert Brooke, Jr., Robert Lewis, James Mills, William Lewis, and Beverly Robinson petitioned the Governor and Council of Virginia for "Fifty Thousand Acres ... on the head branches of the James River to the West and Northwestward of the Cow Pasture [River] ... lying among the great North Mountains, being about Two Hundred Miles at least from any landing ..." They also asked to be allowed six years to seat the land with "one Family for every Thousand Acres".[2][3] The Cowpasture River flows from Bullpasture Mountain in the north to just south of Iron Gate, Virginia, where it empties into the James River. It passes Staunton, Virginia roughly 25 miles west of the city.

In the early 1730s, Dr. Lynn's brother-in-law John Lewis, along with James Patton, requested a patent for "30,000 acres along the Calf Pasture River, west of Beverley Manor and next to William Lynn's grant". This patent was granted in 1739.[4] The Calf Pasture River flows from Gordons Peak in the Allegheny Mountains to Maury River, which then empties into the James. It passes Staunton roughly 16 miles west of the city; thus, William Lynn's property lay on the west side of John Lewis's.

In about 1743, Dr. Lynn made a permanent home 150 miles away in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. On June 9 of that year, he purchased Lot 22 in Fredericksburg from Humphrey and Frances Hill of King and Queen County for 310 pounds. On October 1, 1745, he purchased Lot 60 from Richard Todd of King and Queen County for 40 pounds. On March 12, 1754, he was conveyed Lot 13 in Fredericksburg by the estate of Gilson Berryman of Stafford County, Virginia.[5] In the fifteen years between 1743 and his death in 1758, Dr. Lynn acquired numerous properties in Spotsylvania, Orange, and Culpepper Counties, seven of which - totalling more than 1,500 acres - are described in his will. Dr. Lynn apparently had disposed of the Cowpasture land as it is never mentioned again after 1739.

While still new to Fredericksburg, "Dr. William Lynn, a recent arrival from elsewhere in the Colony", was one of three non-residents of Fredericksburg included in a 1744 "new commission of the peace" sent from Williamsburg to the sitting justices of the court of Fredericksburg. In the commission, the three men were to be made new justices. Protocol was that sitting justices were to nominate men for the position and the Governor would then act on the nominations. Having these three men added as justices without being nominated by the sitting justices was offensive to the sitting justices, who all resigned. Within a month, however, they acquired a new commission of the peace, and Lynn's name never appeared again as a justice for Fredericksburg, although he had taken the oath.[6]

Though removed from Augusta County, Dr. Lynn still had associations there. In November 1751, he was the plaintiff in an Augusta County lawsuit in which he was described as the "Irish Doctor William Lynn of Fredericksburg". Interestingly, the defendant was "Irish Doctor John Lynn, of Augusta". In the following year, it was noted in a lawsuit captioned Wright vs. Linn that Dr. John Linn had left Augusta County.[7] While supporting evidence is lacking, it has been suggested that the two men were brothers. Dr. John, however, was not named in William's will; and it is possible that they were not brothers but cousins.

On January 16, 1752, Dr. Lynn ran unsuccessfully for Spotsylvania's Representative in the House of Burgesses. He placed third out of five candidates with 32 votes to the winner's 159.[8]

Dr. Lynn also served in the Colonial army of Virginia. On January 26, 1753, he was commissioned as Captain of the Independent Company of Foot, composed of the "Gentlemen Inhabitants of the Town of Fredericksburg". He took the oath on February 7. On July 29, 1755, William Lynn, Gentleman was commissioned as Major.[9]

About this time, Dr. Lynn's health began to fail. He wrote his will on October 21, 1757; then added, dated, and signed the appointment of an additional executor on February 16, 1758. The will was probated less than a month later, on March 7, 1758. Thus, Dr. Lynn must have died between February 16 and March 7, 1758. In his will, he made bequests to his "friend Mr. Roger Dixon" and the following relatives ...

   "my Daughter Ann Dent" 

   "my reputed Daughter, Mrs. Hannah McCauley" 

   "Mary McCauley, daughter of the aforementioned Hannah McCauley", 

   "children of my Brother Charles in Ireland ... his eldest son, William Lynn" 

   "the Daughter of my Brother Audley Lynn, Dec'd, named Ann, now living in London with her Mother who married Doctor Paul" 

   "my sister Elizabeth Hutchenson in Ireland and ... her children ... Her two oldest David & William" 

   "my kinsman Moses Lynn near Strabane in Ireland ... [and] his sister Elizabeth, who first married Samuel Cook" 

   "the children of my kinswoman Margaret Stuart now living in Augusta County, in Virginia which she had by her former husband, the Rev. Mr. Paul" 

   "the female issue of Lieut. Matthew Lynn, near Londonderry, in Ireland" 

   "my Brother in Law Mr. Charles Colhoun & my sister in Law, Rebecca Colhoun, both of Letter Kenny in Ireland" 

   "my sister [blank] Lewis & my Nephews Thomas Lewis, Andrew Lewis, William Lewis & Charles Lewis ... all of Augusta Co. [Virginia]"[10] 

Many Lynn genealogists assume that Hannah McCauley was Dr. Lynn's illegitimate daughter, but it is just as likely that she was a daughter of his wife but that he had reason to believe he was not the father. In those days, when there were no paternity tests, any child born during a marriage was always legally presumed to be a child of the husband.

Images of documents concerning the life of Dr. William Lynn of Fredericksburg, taken from historical records, can be seen at this writer's website at [1]. Sources

   ↑ http://www.proni.gov.uk/la_79_2_aa_3a_1704-1720_pdf8.pdf : Corporation of Londonderry Minute Book, vol. 3A, p. 256 (p. 14 of the .pdf), Londonderry City, County Londonderry, Ireland; images of the original at : 1715 Admission of William Lin, apothecary, as a freeman of Londonderry

   ↑ Gray, Gertrude E. : "Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants", Vol. II 1742-1775, Baltimore, MD (1988), pp. 41, 47

   ↑ https://archive.org/stream/virginiamagazine13bruc#page/114/mode/1up...] : Virginia Historical Society : "The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography", vol. 13, Richmond, VA (Jul. 1905), p. 114 citing "Calendar of Virginia State Papers", vol. I, p. 214 : 1727 Petition to Governor and Council of Virginia (1875)

   ↑ Lewis, Thomas A. : "West from Shenandoah - A Scotch-Irish Family Fights for America - 1729-1783", John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Publishers, NJ (2004), pp. 27, 111

   ↑ Crozier, William Armstrong, Edit. : "Virginia County Records. Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800, Being Transcriptions, from the Original Files at the County Court House”, Fox, Duffield & Company, NY (1905), pp. 163, 171, 195

   ↑ Felder, Paula S. : "Forgotten Companions, the First Settlers of Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburgh Town", VA (1982), pp. 103-5, 133

   ↑ https://archive.org/stream/chroniclesscotc00lockgoog#page/n307/mode... : Chalkley, Lyman : "Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia : Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800", Rosslyn, VA (1912), Vol. I, pp. 305, 307

   ↑ Felder, Ibid., p. 237

   ↑ Crozier, Ibid., p. 516

   ↑ Spotsylvania County, VA Will Book B, 1749-1759, pp. 350-54 : Last Will and Testament of Dr. William Lynn of Fredericksburg, VA

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lynn-159

-----------------------------------

https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kerrstudio&id=I5648

Event: Alt Birth Abt. 1671 ,, Ireland

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lynn-159

Dr. William Lynn, brother of Charles Lynn, Audley Lynn, Elizabeth (Lynn) Hutchenson, and Margaret (Lynn) Lewis, wrote his will on 21 October 1757 and named these four siblings (describing Audley as deceased) and no more. He named no sons in his will but made bequests to his daughter Ann and to several more distant relatives back in Ireland.

• Residence: Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 15 2021, 2:28:08 UTC
  • (Note: The .pdf files are Dr. Lynn's will and my transcription thereof. Loretta (Lynn) Layman)
  • 1757 Will of Dr. William Lynn of Fredericksburg, Virginia < PDF >
  • Transcript of the 1757 Will of Dr. William Lynn of Fredericksburg, Virginia < PDF >