Thomas Lynch, Jr.

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For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Lynch.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr. (August 5, 1749 – 1779), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina.

He was born in Winyah, Prince George's County, South Carolina, the son of Thomas Lynch. He was schooled at the Indigo Society School in Georgetown before being sent to England, where he studied at Eton College and at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. He studied law in London, returning to America in 1772. He became a company commander in the 1st South Carolina regiment in 1775 and was elected to the Continental Congress. He was taken ill at the end of 1776 and he sailed, with his wife, for the West Indies. Their ship disappeared at sea. Before he departed for his ill fated voyage, he made a will. The will stipulated that heirs of his sister or female relatives must change their surname to Lynch in order to inherit the family estate.

John Trumbull's famous painting is usually incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration. What the painting actually depicts is the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Congress. Trumbull's painting can also be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill.^[1]

His stepfather was South Carolina Governor William Moultrie; a nephew was South Carolina Governor James Hamilton Jr.