LYNCH, John Roy, member of congress, born in Concordia parish, Louisiana, 10 September, 1847. He is a mulatto, and was not born a slave, but after his father's death the administrator of the estate held his mother in bondage. When a child he was carried with his mother to Natchez, Mississippi, where he continued to reside after he obtained his freedom on the occupation of the city by the National troops. He had received no previous training, but, by attending a night-school for a few months, and afterward studying privately, he obtained a good English education. He engaged in the business of photography until 1869, when he was appointed a justice of the peace. He was elected to the legislature in the same year, and re-elected and chosen speaker in 1871. In 1872 he was sent to congress, and re-elected for the following term. In 1876 he was again a candidate, and his friends claimed that he was elected, but James R. Chalmers obtained the seat. In 1878 he defeated General Chalmers, and in 1880 was defeated by the Democratic candidate. He was temporary chairman of the Republican national convention of 1884.