Lynn, James

Born: 1788-02-23 Rowan County, North Carolina

Died: 1860-03-11 Buffalo Hart Grove, Illinois

Flourished: Buffalo Hart Grove, Illinois

Lynn spent his formative years in his native North Carolina. In 1809, he migrated to Muhlenburg County, Kentucky. When the War of 1812 broke out, he enlisted in a regiment in Russellville, Kentucky. He served in the army eighteenth months, and was wounded severely at the Battle of Fort Meigs. He would carry the musket ball that wounded him in his body for the rest of his life. After the war, he returned to Muhlenburg County and married Sarah DePoyster on November 27, 1814, in Butler County, Kentucky. Lynn and Sarah moved to Rowan County, North Carolina, remaining their one year, and in 1815, they relocated to Butler County, Kentucky, where they had four children. In 1825, Lynn and family moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, settling in Buffalo Hart Grove, where James and Sarah had four additional children. Lynn bought several tracts of public land and commenced farming. In 1850, he owned real estate valued at $2,400.

Gravestone, Cass Cemetery, Buffalo Hart, IL; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 470-71; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Sangamon County, 59:15, 106; 70:123; Logan County, 69:20, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon County, IL, 272.