Charles Lynch (politician)

Charles Lynch (August 8, 1783 – February 9, 1853) was a Democratic and Whig politician who served as Governor of Mississippi and was a former enslaver.

Charles Lynch
8th and 11th Governor of Mississippi
In office
June 12, 1833 – November 20, 1833
Preceded byAbram M. Scott
Succeeded byHiram Runnels
In office
January 7, 1836 – January 8, 1838
Preceded byJohn A. Quitman
Succeeded byAlexander G. McNutt
Member of the Mississippi State Senate
In office
1827
In office
1832–1833
Personal details
Born(1783-08-08)August 8, 1783
Jefferson County, Virginia
(in modern-day Shelby County, Kentucky), U.S.
DiedFebruary 9, 1853(1853-02-09) (aged 69)
Monticello, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (before 1833)
Whig (1833–1852)

Early life and career

Charles Lynch was born in 1783 in either South Carolina or Virginia.[1][2] He was born into a planter family, and settled as a farmer near Monticello, Mississippi, sometime before 1821, when he was appointed probate judge of Lawrence County, Mississippi.[1] According to the 1820 US Federal Census, Lynch also enslaved seven people.

In 1827, he was elected to the Mississippi State Senate, and returned to the State Senate after the Constitutional Convention of 1832.[1]

Governorship and Later Life

Lynch returned to the Mississippi Senate in 1832. He was elected President of the Senate, and in June 1833, he succeeded Governor Abram L. Scott, who had died in office. He completed Scott's term, serving until November 1833, when he was succeeded by Hiram Runnels. In his first six-month tenure as governor, Lynch advocated for a state system of public schools, but his plan was rejected by the State Legislature.[2]

In 1835 Lynch, now a Whig, ran successfully for governor, narrowly defeating incumbent Governor Hiram Runnels.[1][3] He took office in January 1836 and served a two-year term. One of his first acts as governor was approving a law to create 10 new counties from land received after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek between the Choctaw tribe and the federal government.[1]

As Governor, Lynch advocated for criminal justice reform, changing the state's criminal code, which he referred to as the "Bloody Code," and recommending the construction of a state penitentary.[3]

Mississippi became involved in central banking by chartering the Union Bank during his tenure.[1] During the Panic of 1837, the state issued 5 million dollars in bonds through the Union Bank, but due to the continued decline of land prices, the Union Bank failed quickly. Lynch did not run for reelection.[3]

After the end of Lynch's term, he served as the President of the Alabama and Mississippi Railroad and Banking Company, and served as Commissioner of Public Buildings for Jackson, Mississippi's capital, where he would oversee the construction of a new state capitol building, executive mansion, and state penitentary, a facility known as "The Walls," located at the site of the current Mississippi State Capitol.[1][4]

He died on February 9, 1853, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi.[2]

References
  1. Biographical directory of the governors of the United States, 1789-1978. Vol. 2. Meckler Books. 1978. pp. 804–805.
  2. "Charles Lynch". National Governors Association. January 10, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  3. "Charles Lynch, Eighth and Eleventh Governor of Mississippi: June to November 1833; 1836-1838 - 2003-12". www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  4. "A Brief History of MDOC | Mississippi Department of Corrections". www.mdoc.ms.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
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