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LYNCH LYNCH LAW 751 sea in the latter part of 1776. He was edu- cated at Eton and at the university of Cam- bridge, and was subsequently admitted a student in the Temple, London. In 1772 he returned to South Carolina, relinquished the profession of the law, and settled upon a plantation on the North Santee river. At the outbreak of hos- tilities in 1775 he was appointed a captain in the first regiment of provincial regulars raised by South Carolina, and by his arduous exer- tions to recruit his command seriously impaired Ms health. Being unanimously chosen by the provincial assembly to succeed his father, who was unable through ill health to discharge his duties as a member of congress, he took his seat in that body in 1776, but in a few months was compelled by the precarious state of his own health to retire from active political life. One of his last public acts was to affix his signature to the Declaration of Independence. Toward the close of 1776, as the only means of saving his life, he was prevailed upon to sail for St. Eustatius, where he could find a neutral vessel which would convey him to France. The ship in which he sailed was never heard from after she had been a few days at sea, and is supposed to have been lost in a violent storm which occurred about that time. LYNCH, William F., an American naval officer, born in Virginia in 1801, died in Baltimore, Oct. 17, 1865. He entered the service as a midshipman in 1819, became a lieutenant in 1828, commander in 1849, and captain in 1856. In 1847 he planned an expedition to explore the course of the river Jordan and the snores of the Dead sea, which received the sanction of the government ; and in November of that year he sailed for Smyrna in the naval store ship Supply, with a party consisting in all of 16 persons. On March 31, 1848, they landed in the bay of Acre ; in April they were upon the lake of Tiberias, and commenced the navi- gation of the Jordan to the Dead sea, having for the purpose two metallic life boats. On April 19 they reached the Dead sea, of which a thorough exploration (including many sound- ings) was made. In May a portion of the party commenced their return to the Mediter- ranean by way of Jerusalem, a part remaining to determine by a series of levels the depres- sion of the Dead sea below the Mediterranean ; 23 days were occupied in this work, the result coinciding almost precisely with that obtained by Lieut. Symonds, an English officer. The de- pression was found to be about 1,312 ft. He published a "Narrative of the United States Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea" (Philadelphia, 1849), and "Naval Life, or Observations Afloat and on Shore " (New York, 1851). He resigned his commission in 1861, and was appointed a commodore in the con- federate navy. His services were mostly con- fined to the coast of North Carolina. The flo- tilla which he commanded was defeated, Feb. 9, 1862, by Flag Officer Goldsborough. He subsequently commanded at Smithville, N. 0. 516 VOL. x. 48 LTNCHBURG, a city of Campbell co., Vir- ginia, on the S. bank of James river, and on the James River and Kanawha canal, at the junction of the Washington City, Virginia Midland, and Great Southern railroad with the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio line, 90 m. W. by S. of Richmond; pop. in 1850, 8,067; in 1860, 6,853; in 1870, 6,825, of whom 3,353 were colored; in 1874, about 13,500. It oc- cupies a steep acclivity rising gradually from the river bank, and breaking away into numer- ous hills, whose terraced walks and ornament- ed dwellings give a picturesque and romantic appearance to the town. About 20 m. in the background rises the Blue Ridge, together with the celebrated peaks of Otter, which are in full view. Lynchburg is supplied with water by a reservoir constructed in 1828, at an expense of $50,000. This reservoir is situated at a point 253 ft. above the level of the James river, and is capable of containing 400,000 gallons of water, which is forced a distance of 2,000 ft. by a double force pump, worked by a large breast wheel. The city is favorably situated for a large inland commerce, and for manufac- tures. It has tributary to it a great extent of magnificent country, enjoys almost inexhaus- tible water power, which is yet however unde- veloped, and is in the neighborhood of vast fields of coal and iron ore. The celebrated Botetourt iron works are not far distant. To- bacco manufacturing, which is the chief indus- try, employs about 40 establishments, and there are two iron founderies, besides the extensive machine shops of the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio railroad company. There are two na- tional banks with a capital of $400,000, an in- surance and banking company with $350,000, three savings banks, a court house, jail, small- pox hospital, female orphan asylum, four large public school buildings, with a system of gra- ded schools, including two high schools, seve- ral private schools, three daily and three tri- weekly newspapers, and one weekly, a month- ly periodical, ten churches, and three chapels. Lynchburg was laid out in 1786. It was strongly held by the confederates during the civil war, and was an important source of sup- plies till February, 1865, when Gen. Sheridan destroyed the canal and railroads for a con- siderable distance around it. Lee was endeav- oring to reach it when he surrendered. LYNCH LAW, as commonly used in America, the practice of punishing men for alleged crimes and offences by private and unauthorized per- sons, without a trial according to due forms of law. The practice has more or less prevailed in times of popular excitement, and especially in newly settled regions before the power of the civil government had been established. Ac- cording to some authorities, the term was de- rived from a Virginia farmer named Lynch, who having caught a thief, instead of deliver- ing him to the law, tied him to a tree and flogged him with his own hands. Another account says that "in 1687-'8 one Lynch was