First Fathers

N.B. This is an edited reprise of an earlier post on the subject. With Father's Day tomorrow, I decided to revisit the tragic case of the Lynch father-son team.

Who’s your Daddy?

 There were many father-son pairs during the American War of Independence, especially in the local militia units that fluctuated with the intensity of hostilities. However, some served at the highest levels of the Revolution. The Lynches were one such duo.

Father-Son Signers...

Thomas Lynch Sr. was the son of Jonas Lynch from the Galway branch of the Lynch family, who were expelled from Ireland after their defeat in the Irish wars of William of Orange. Jonas Lynch came to America and became a successful planter. His son Thomas was born in Berkeley County, South Carolina, in 1727. 

Eighteenth-century rice house

By the time his son Thomas Jr. was born in 1747, he owned a large estate called Hopsewee Plantation along the North Santee River and other watercourses. He was also active in politics. As tensions with Britain grew, the elder Lynch became a prominent and often fiery supporter of the revolution. He later served in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. The senior Lynch was set to sign the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina, but he suffered a massive stroke early in 1776.

With the father fallen, the South Carolina Assembly appointed his son, Thomas Lynch Jr., to succeed him. Thomas Jr. was born at Hopeswee and, unlike his father, had the benefit of a top-tier education. He attended prestigious schools in America and then Eton, Cambridge, and finally studied law in London. He returned to America and married well. He then went into planting. As the heir of a passionate revolutionary and influential man in the colony, Lynch Jr. naturally took a keen interest in politics. He enjoyed strong support from voters. During 1774-76, while his father served in the Continental Congress, he worked on the home front, attending the first and second provincial congresses as well as the first State legislature and sitting on the State constitutional committee.

A Military Career Curtailed

In 1775, Lynch took a captaincy in the First South Carolina Regiment of Continentals. This upset his father, who wanted to use his influence to secure a higher rank for his son. Unfortunately, young Lynch caught bilious fever (an intestinal fever) while on recruiting duty in North Carolina. Sick and unable to serve, he had to give up his promising military career.

The Stand-In

But in the spring of 1776, when Thomas Sr.’s condition became critical, South Carolina’s Assembly elected Thomas Jr. to the Continental Congress. Despite facing his own serious health issues, the younger Lynch dutifully traveled to Philadelphia, where he stayed for the entire summer. During that revolutionary season, he was able to vote for and sign the Declaration of Independence at just twenty-seven years old. The Lynches were the only father-son pair to serve simultaneously in the Continental Congress.

Signing the Declaration of Independence

Double Tragedy

Political triumph was met with personal tragedy, and more blows to the patriot family were yet to come. Both Lynchs' health worsened, and by the end of the year, they headed homeward. En route, in Annapolis, MD, a second stroke took the life of the senior Lynch. Thomas Jr. returned home a broken man—physically and emotionally. Late in 1779, he and his wife traveled to France in an attempt to regain his health. They sailed for the Dutch island of St. Eustatius in the West Indies to find a ship to return across the ocean, but a storm struck, and their ship was lost at sea.

Espionage: Born on the 4th of July

Thomas Jefferson

The birth of our nation is rightly celebrated on the 4th of July, although the actual signing was not on the fourth and Thomas Jefferson drafted what is perhaps the most famous document in the world between the 21st and 28th of June, 1776.  But, as of the 4th of July, the British colonies in North America were no longer fighting for their rights as Englishmen, but for their independence as a sovereign nation.



What has this to do with espionage and the Yankee Doodle Spies?  Well, everything. The Yankee Doodle Spies are stories of action and espionage during the American Revolution. Counterintelligence plays no small role in the stories and its prime purpose is to root out spies to be prosecuted for treason.  Espionage is a legal term for treason acted out by passing a nation's secrets to a foreign power.  So, you have to have a nation to have treason, and by extension, you have to have a nation to have espionage.



Intelligence gathering was a little known but widespread activity by both sides throughout the eight year war that was the American Revolution. One famous (or infamous) spy during the war was Doctor Benjamin Church.  In the environs of Boston, this chief medical officer for the rebel army passed secrets to the British high command through his mistress in Boston.  His mistress betrayed him. Exposed and convicted at court martial - he could not be found guilty of treason (espionage) because as British subjects, the rebels came under British law and treason (espionage) could only be committed against the King.  The irony was rich!

Church was nonetheless kept under arrest for some years and finally exchanged in 1778.  He died when the ship he was returning to England in was lost in a storm at sea.



Had Church been identified after July 4th 1776, however, he would have been traitor to a nation and thus guilty of treason (espionage).  The states had committees for detecting spies, but these were informal and poorly coordinated efforts that often confused misplaced loyalty with treason.  As Americans celebrate the birth of our nation with the usual parades, fireworks and barbecues, we should keep in mind that the Declaration of Independence, which birthed the world's first modern republic and set the precedent that ideas can challenge dynasties...created the political and military conditions for a counterintelligence service that could ultimately bring charges of espionage against traitors to the Glorious Cause.

Signing the Declaration of Independence

Founding Fathers & Sons

Who’s your Daddy? 

I apologize for using a clichéd phrase to introduce this blog, but the topic is anything but dull. During the American War for Independence, many father-son pairs served together, especially in local militia units that appeared and disappeared with the shifting tides of conflict. Some, however, fought at the highest levels of the Revolution. With Father’s Day coming up, I thought it would be worthwhile to highlight a few of these extraordinary duos. To keep things brief, I’ll be sharing these stories in three separate blogs this week, so stay tuned!

Part One

A Pair of Irishmen from the Palmetto State

This pair of First Patriots hails from South Carolina, originally from Ireland. Jonas Lynch fought alongside the Irish in their brave yet doomed stand against William of Orange's forces. The final resistance to William's mercenary army surrendered after the siege of Wexford in 1691. Many fled to France, hoping to support the cause under the French king. Unlike many Irish expelled from their homeland following the defeat in the Irish wars, Jonas Lynch made his way to America. He became a successful planter. His son, Thomas, was born in Berkeley County in 1727.

Thomas Lynch Sr. also worked as a planter and owned extensive rice fields along the Santee River and other waterways, as well as a vast estate known as Hopsewee Plantation on the North Santee River. He became the second-wealthiest man in the colony. Lynch was also a leading statesman, serving in the South Carolina Colonial Legislature and representing South Carolina in the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, where he headed the committee that drafted the petition to the House of Commons and served as a delegate to both the first and second Continental Congresses. Lynch Sr. likely signed the Declaration of Independence, representing South Carolina. Sadly, he suffered a massive stroke early in 1776. With his father incapacitated, the South Carolina Assembly appointed his son, Thomas Lynch Jr., to succeed him. 

Thomas Lynch Jr. was born in 1747 at his family's Hopeswee Plantation. Unlike his father, he had access to a top-tier education, attending prestigious schools in America before going to Eton and Cambridge, where he studied law in London. He returned to America, married well, and took up planting like his father. As the son of one of the most passionate revolutionaries and influential men in the colony, Lynch Jr. naturally became very interested in politics and enjoyed strong support from the voters. 

Thomas Lynch Junior

During the years 1774-76, while his father served in the Continental Congress, Thomas Jr. contributed on the home front by attending the first and second provincial congresses, the first State legislature, and serving on the State constitutional committee. In 1775, the younger Lynch took a captaincy in the First South Carolina Regiment of Continentals. This upset his father, who hoped to influence a higher rank for his son. Unfortunately, young Captain Lynch contracted bilious fever, an intestinal ailment, while on recruiting duties in North Carolina. Incapacitated, he had to give up his early military career. 

Triumph and Tragedy

However, when Thomas Sr.’s condition in Philadelphia became critical in the spring of 1776, South Carolina’s Assembly sent Thomas Jr. to the Continental Congress. Despite his own serious health issues, the younger Lynch dutifully traveled to Philadelphia, where he stayed throughout the summer. During that revolutionary season, it was the younger Lynch, not his father, who voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence. The Lynches were the only father-son pair to serve together in the Continental Congress at the same time.  

However, personal tragedy followed political triumph, and more blows were yet to come to the father and son, the First Patriots. Both Lynches’ health worsened, and by the end of the year, they headed homeward. Thomas Sr. never made it back. En route, in Annapolis, MD, a second stroke took the life of the elder Lynch. Thomas Jr. returned home a broken man—physically and emotionally. 

Late in 1779, he and his wife went to France in an effort to regain his health. They sailed for the Dutch island of St. Eustatius in the West Indies to find a ship back across the ocean, but a storm struck, and their ship was lost at sea. This was common during the age of sail, but the tragedy is not just personal (Thomas Jr. left no male heirs). The loss of the father and son was a blow to the young nation, which could have benefited from the talents and dedication of the Lynches of South Carolina.

The Harbor at Saint Eustatius

The Tax Man and the Revolution

This week heralds our federal income tax deadline - a time that fills most Americans with dread. And no wonder. Our nation was founded by men who resisted unjust taxes. The American Revolution was precipitated, in part, by a series of laws passed between 1763 and 1775 that regulated trade and taxes. These laws caused tensions between colonists and British officials. British unwillingness to respond to American demands for change allowed colonists to argue that they were part of an increasingly corrupt and autocratic empire in which their traditional liberties were threatened. This position eventually served as the basis for the colonial Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence was the result
of years of political turmoil and outright rebellion

After 1763, the British government emerged from the Seven Years' War (known in America as the French and Indian War) burdened by heavy debts. This led British Prime Minister George Grenville to reduce duties on sugar and molasses while enforcing the law more strictly. The colonial governments of New York and Massachusetts sent formal letters of protest to Parliament.

George Grenville

 

To ensure that the colonies did not try to pay for goods and their taxes in local currency, the British Parliament passed the 1764 Currency Act, which forbade the colonies from issuing paper currency. This made it even more difficult for colonists to pay their debts and taxes.

 

Following the Currency Act, Grenville proposed a Stamp Tax. This law would require colonists to purchase a government-issued stamp for legal documents and other paper goods. In effect, it was an indirect tax on many things colonists needed to conduct day-to-day business. Grenville submitted the bill to Parliament for debate, and only one member objected to Parliament's right to tax the colonies.

 

In response, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed resolutions denying the British Parliament's authority to tax the colonies. In Boston, tensions escalated. Colonists rioted and destroyed the house of the stamp distributor. News of these protests inspired similar actions in other colonies, and thus the Stamp Act served as a common cause that united the 13 colonies in opposition to the British Parliament. In October of 1765, delegates from 9 colonies met to issue petitions to the British government denying Parliament's authority to tax the colonies. An American boycott of British goods, coupled with a recession, also led British merchants to lobby for the act's repeal on pragmatic economic grounds. Under pressure from American colonists and British merchants, the British government decided it was easier to repeal the Stamp Act than to enforce it.

The Boston Tea Party

The repeal of the Stamp Act temporarily quieted colonial protest, but resistance to new taxes imposed in 1767 under the Townshend Acts soon returned. Tensions escalated as disgruntled colonists organized. In 1773, colonists staged more vocal, widespread protests after the British Parliament granted the East India Company a monopoly on the tax-free transport of tea. The tax-free status of the British East India Company meant that colonial tea traders could not compete. Enraged colonists responded by encouraging a general boycott of British goods. On December 16, 1773, American colonists disguised as Indians boarded East India Company ships in Boston Harbor and threw crates of tea overboard. This famous protest became known as the Boston Tea Party.

 

When news of the Tea Party reached England, British officials moved to enforce discipline and order in the colonies. The British government ordered the closure of the port of Boston until the East India Company was compensated for the destroyed tea. Parliament also passed several pieces of legislation in 1774, which Americans termed the Intolerable Acts. British control was further solidified by the appointment of General Thomas Gage as the military governor of Massachusetts. He attempted to place Massachusetts under direct British control. 

By 1774, most colonists agreed that a meeting to discuss an appropriate collective response to British actions was a good idea. Colonial legislatures sent representatives to Philadelphia, and the First Continental Congress convened in September 1774. The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Association on October 20. These Articles listed colonial grievances and called for a locally enforced boycott across all the colonies, effective December 1. The delegates also drafted a petition to King George III outlining their grievances, although by then they doubted the crisis would be resolved peacefully.

King George III

Recognizing that further coercive measures would only enrage the colonists and might lead to war, British military governor Gage wrote to London, recommending the suspension of the Intolerable Acts. Gage hoped to appease many colonists and thereby split colonial moderates from radicals. If London was not amenable to his recommendations, Gage stated that he would need significant reinforcements to crush the growing rebellion.

General Thomas Gage

As a reward for his suggestions, Gage was ordered to be removed from his post. The British government felt that further punitive measures were necessary, so Parliament passed additional trade restrictions on New England. London declared the colonies in rebellion, but to split the resistance, it also offered to stop taxing those colonies that supported the British government.

Lexington

By this time, the most astute leaders on both sides viewed armed conflict as inevitable. Gage's attempts to secure his position in Boston only brought him into conflict with local militias and a hostile populace, and it was only a matter of time before open war broke out in 1775. The opportunity for peaceful negotiation had ended, and the war for American Independence began on April 19, 1775, when British troops and American colonists clashed at Lexington and Concord.

Concord

Later this week (after our taxes are paid), we will celebrate the anniversary of the battles at Lexington and Concord...the shot heard round the world...