Thomas Lynch, Jr

Signature of Thomas Lynch Jn
Black and white portrait of a woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing a high-collared lace blouse and a dark jacket.

BORN - August 5, 1749, at Hopsewee Plantation, Prince George’s Parish, Winyah (Georgetown), SC.  Parents (Irish ancestry) - Thomas Lynch, Sr. (b1727-d1776) and Elizabeth Allston Lynch (b1706-d1755).  Three Children – Esther Lynch (b1746-d1825), Sabina Lynch (b1747-d1812), Thomas Lynch Jr. (b1749-d1779).  

DIED – 1779 (age 30).  He became seriously ill in 1779.  Thomas and his wife sailed for the southern France by way of St. Eustatius in the West Indies, to help regain his health.  Their ship disappeared at sea in a storm.  Religion – Anglican / Episcopalian.  Buried – Lost at sea.

APPEARANCE – The picture above is a portrait of Thomas Lynch painted by Anna Lea in 1875, based on the image in the earlier painting by John Trumbull titled “Declaration of Independence”.   

FAMILY – Married - Elizabeth Shubrick (b1748-d1779) in 1772.  No Children. 

OCCUPATION – PLANTER, SOLDIER, LEGISLATOR.  Graduated from the Eton College, Cambridge University in England and the Temple Law School in London.  Served as a company commander in the First SC Regiment in 1775.  Came down with malaria which affected him for the rest of his life.  Member of the Continental Congress representing South Carolina in 1776.   

AT SIGNING – Age 26 at signing.  Second youngest Signer after Edward Rutledge.  He was elected to help his father who had a stroke while serving in Congress in Philadelphia.    

AFTER SIGNING – Returned home in 1776, due to ill health from malaria.    

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                                                                                  

Hopeswee – Hopeswee Plantation, Georgetown, SC (1735).  Located at 494 Hop Sewee Road, Georgetown, SC 29440, Phone 843-546-7891, Website www.hopsewee.com.  Birthplace and childhood home of Thomas Lynch.                                                                          

Peachtree – Peachtree Plantation, St. James Parish, SC (1762).  Located in St. James Parish (present Charleston County) on the South Santee River 4 miles south of Hopsewee.  Second home which burned in the 1840’s.  The ruins of the brick house remain. 

Gravesite – Thomas Lynch and his wife Elizabeth were lost at sea in 1779. 

A large two-story white house with a wraparound porch, surrounded by trees and greenery.

Home of Thomas Lynch, Hopsewee Plantation, Georgetown, SC (1735). 

Located at 494 Hop Sewee Road, Georgetown, SC 29440, Phone 843-546-7891, Website www.hopsewee.com.

The roadside historical marker reads – “HOPSEWEE – Thomas Lynch, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born here August 5, 1749.  He was elected from St. James’s Parish, Santee, to 1st Provincial Congress, Dec. 9, 1774; to 2nd Provincial Congress, Aug. 7-8, 1775; to the Continental Congress, Mar. 23, 1776; Commissioned Captain, Provincial Troops, June 17, 1775; Served on Committee to Draft Constitution for South Carolina, 1776.  He was lost at sea 1779.”  Hopsewee was a rice and indigo plantation overlooking the Santee River.