John Roy Lynch
Born: September 10, 1847 in Vidalia, Louisiana
Died: November 2, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois
United States Representative, 1873–1877; 1882–1883
Republican from Mississippi
- At the age of 24, John Roy Lynch became the first African American speaker of the Mississippi state house in 1872. He served as the only Black Representatives in the U.S House from Mississippi for over a century. Lynch was an outspoken advocate for the Civil Rights Bill of 1875 and an active Republican throughout his long life.
- Politician, military officer, lawyer, businessman, photographer and author, John Roy Lynch was born a slave on a Louisiana plantation, later moved to Mississippi with his mother, and became free when Union forces occupied Natchez in 1863.
- Served in the U.S. Army in both the later stages of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
- Lynch was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873 to 1877, and again in 1881-1882. When the 43rd Congress (1873–1875) convened, 26 year old Lynch was its youngest Member.
- In 1884 Lynch became the first African American to deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention.
- Lynch held appointive offices in the federal government and the army under Presidents Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Howard Taft.
- Lynch worked for 25 years as a lawyer and realtor in Chicago.
- Mostly self-taught, Lynch published two books and several articles and, right before he died at age 92, he wrote an autobiography, Reminiscences of an Active Life. Lynch was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and his autobiography was finally published in 1970, edited by noted Black historian John Hope Franklin.
- Mississippi would not elect another Black Representative until Mike Espy, who was elected in November 1986, over 100 years later.
John Roy Lynch
1911
Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division
NYPL Digital Collections: Major John R. Lynch, U.S.A. who served as a member of Congress from Mississippi.