This stone wall spanning across the Yantic River may be the foundation of the Lynch story in America—a sort of Plymouth Rock. It’s in a wooded area, under a little now-closed bridge, on a dead-end street, in rural Lebanon, Connecticut. This place has been left behind and forgotten, as has so much of my family’s history. Looking back, and building our immigrant story, block by block, has been my mission lately. It’s a project of discovery through drawing, and years of research.
These are the remains of a small mill built for Nathaniel Hayward, the inventor of vulcanized rubber. At its peak in the 1860s, 50 men worked processing raw rubber into workable shape or form for the much bigger rubber mill in the neighboring town of Colchester. Michael Lynch, from the western edge of County Kerry, Ireland, (Cahersiveen) was one of those men. By 1870, there were more Lynches. The story goes that Hayward, in need of workers, sent a ship to Ireland and recruited workers in Kerry. Another story describes how Hayward’s people would recruit in New York City where so many Irish were immigrating after the Great Famine. Either way, Michael Lynch came here with his young family, and before long, lots of family and friends from back home joined him in working here. Some of the women worked as servants for the more wealthy managers. In the 1870s, the mill closed. A number of Lynches stayed and worked in the nearby cotton mill, while others moved down the river to different mill towns.
As I drew, I hoped I was correct in finding the right spot. Driving away, I took a left instead of a right to get back home, and found quickly that I needed to turn around. A short distance away, a street afforded me that opportunity. Its name was Lynch Road.
Visiting the Relatives 