Galway - Dominick Lynch and His Family

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Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives
Galway Index
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File contributed by: C.L.

DOMINICK LYNCH AND HIS FAMILY
Compiled from Various Sources

	Dominick Lynch was a member of the Friendly Sons of St.
Patrick, New York, as early as 1786; a prominent merchant;
was of the firm Lynch & Stoughton, New York. A biographical
sketch of Mr. Lynch was published some years ago in the
American Catholic Historical Researches. It was written by
Richard H. Clarke, LL. D. and treated the subject at great
length. According to Dr. Clarke, Mr.
Lynch was born in Galway, Ireland, in 1754.
	He married his cousin, Jane Lynch, a native of Dublin.
Shortly after, Dominick and his wife went to reside at
Bruges, in Flanders, where he established a commercial
house, a branch of his father's in Galway. He amassed a
handsome fortune in Bruges and three of his children were
born there. While engaged in business in Bruges he became
acquainted with Don Thomas Stoughton, a merchant having
commercial relations with France and Spain. Eventually,
Lynch and Stoughton formed a co-partnership for the purpose
of conducting business in Ameica. The articles of
co-partnership were dated March 10, 1783; the capital agreed
upon was £7,500, of which amount furnished £5,000 and
Stoughton £2,500.
	Stoughton, in pursuance of the agreement, came to New
York City and opened the business house of Lynch and
Stoughton. Lynch visited London and Galway, and in 1785
sailed for America, reaching New York June 20 of that year.
Stoughton was a bachelor, and Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, their
three children and a number of servants, went to reside with
him. Later, Stoughton was made Spanish consul at New York.
Eventually, differences broke out between the partners, the
firm was dissolved and each member sued the other. These two
suits in chancery, Stoughton vs. Lynch and Lynch vs.
Stoughton, were tried before Chancellor Kent and after
pending for over twenty years, were finally decided adverse
to Lynch.
	The latter had to pay Stoughton, besides fines and
costs, $25,076. After the dissolution of the firm, Lynch
retired in affluent circumstances largely on account of the
wealth he had amassed in Bruges. It was said of him in New
York that "he dispensed a bountiful and refined
hospitality." He was an earnest Catholic, gave liberally of
his means to forward church work and was one of the
representative men who signed the "Catholic Address" to
George Washington. It is said of Lynch that upon arriving in
New York, in 1785, he brought a large amount of specie with
him and the advent of a man with such extensive financial
resources created quite a stir. He was at one time offered,
for what would today be considered a ridiculously small sum,
a farm of twenty acres near City Hall, New York.
	He declined to buy the property, but with the same
amount of money purchased 697 acres near Fort Stanwix on the
Mohawk River. Before the year 1800 he had increased his
holding there to about 2,000 acres. As early as 1796, he
laid this property out in village lots, and called the place
Lynchville. Later, he changed the name to Rome, perhaps in
honor of the Eternal City. Between the years 1800 and 1820,
he built a woolen mill, a cotton factory and a saw-mill at
Rome, which place he had founded. It is said that the
southeast corner of Fort Stanwix was leveled to make room
for a mansion erected by him. In 1797, Dominick purchased an
estate in West Chester County, N.Y., bordering Long Island
Sound. Here he built a magnificent stone residence after the
style of chateaus he had seen in Flanders. This was his home
for the remainder of his life. He continued to dispense
"munificent hospitality, took a leading part in the social
events of the metropolis, and manifested to the end a
zealous and active zeal in the growth of the Catholic church
in New York."
	He died in 1825 and his widow in 1849. At his death his
children were thirteen in number, i.e. - James, Anastasia,
Anthony, Dominick, Alexander, Margaret, Jasper, Jane, Henry,
Harriet, Louisa, Edward and William. By the marriage of
these children, the family has become allied with many of
the old families of New York and Pennsylvania, including the
Tillotsons, Shippens, Leas, Laurences, Nortons, Luquers,
Pringles, Maitlands, Harveys, Ridgways, etc. James Lynch,
the oldest of Dominick's thirteen children, resided in Rome,
N.Y., represented Oneida County in the state legislature for
several years, and was later a judge for the Court of
Sessions and of the Marine, now City, Court, of New York.
Dominick Lynch, 2d, at the time of, and after, his father's
death became a prominent merchant in New York City. This
second Dominick was spoken of as "the most fashionable man
in New York." He made quite a reputation as proprietor of
Lynch's Chateau Marguaux, Lynch's Sauterne and Lynch's Lucca
Oil. It is said of him that he "coined money and spent it
with the freedom of a prince," and that he "went into the
best society." He resided on Greenwich Street "Opposite the
Battery." He died in 1844. He "was a Roman Catholic as his
father had been."
	Dominick Lynch, 3d, grandson of the first Dominick, was
a man of good public spirit, an elegant conversationalist
and the possessor of musical talent. He became a naval
officer, served under Perry in the Mexican war, and was also
in the Civil War. He died in 1884. Dominick Lynch, 4th, was
a lieutenant in the Fourth U.S. Cavalry, and died some years
ago. Speaking of the Lynches and others, Barrett's Old
Merchants of New York City says: "These Irish families are
the cream of the old families here."

Source:
Journal Of The American Irish Historical Society. Volume
Vii, 1907