For Church and Confederacy : The Lynches of South Carolina

An Irish Catholic family settled in the upcountry and helped shape mid-nineteenth-century South Carolina For Church and Confederacy brings together a wealth of fascinating letters and other writings that unveil the lives of a prominent Southern Irish Catholic family during the late antebellum and Civil War years. Conlaw and Eleanor Lynch, hoping to restore the fortunes they had lost in their native country, settled in the South Carolina upcountry, where they imparted their ambitions to their children, several of whom would make exceptional marks in such areas as education, manufacturing, and religious life. Most prominent of the second-generation Lynches was Patrick, the eldest, who became the third Roman Catholic bishop of Charleston and developed a national reputation as a polemicist, preacher, and self-taught geologist. During the Civil War he proved to be a major Confederate apologist, a role that led officials in Richmond to appoint him to be a special commissioner to the Papal States as part of an effort to secure European support for the Southern cause. Other family members, particularly Francis, whose tanneries in the Carolinas supplied shoes to thousands of soldiers, and Ellen (also known as Sister Baptista), whose Catholic academy in Columbia became a refuge for the children of prominent Southern families, also made valuable contributions to the Confederacy. For all of them, slaveholding was considered indispensable to acquiring and sustaining their position in Southern society. Their correspondence shows them to have been on the periphery of the political turmoil that led to disunion, but once the war erupted, they quickly became strong secessionists. By the war's end most found themselves in the path of William T. Sherman's avenging army and, as a consequence, suffered great losses, both material and human. Featuring meticulous notes and commentary placing the Lynch siblings' writings in historical context, this compelling portrait of the complex relationship among religion, slavery, and war has a sweep that carries the reader along as the war gradually overtakes the family's privileged world and eventually brings it down.

Through letters and other writings, this historical study chronicles an Irish Catholic family's influence on mid-nineteenth–century South Carolina. For Church and Confederacy unveils the lives of the Lynch family during the late antebellum and Civil War years. Settling in the South Carolina upcountry, Irish immigrants Conlaw and Eleanor Lynch imparted their ambitions to their children, several of whom would make exceptional marks in such areas as education, manufacturing, and religious life. Patrick Lynch, the third Roman Catholic bishop of Charleston, developed a national reputation as a polemicist, and during the Civil War he was appointed as a Confederate special commissioner to the Papal States. Other family members, particularly Francis, whose tanneries supplied shoes to thousands of soldiers, and Ellen, whose Catholic academy became a refuge for the children of prominent Southern families, also made valuable contributions to the Confederacy. All of them considered slaveholding indispensable to achieving their position in Southern society. Though the Lynches were on the periphery of the political turmoil that led to disunion, they became strong secessionists once the war began. By the war's end most found themselves in the path of William T. Sherman's avenging army and suffered great losses. Featuring meticulous notes and commentary placing the Lynch siblings' writings in historical context, this compelling portrait of the complex relationship among religion, slavery, and war has a sweep that carries the reader along as the war gradually overtakes the family's privileged world and eventually brings it down.

"The Lynches of South Carolina were second-generation immigrants of parents with distinguished Irish roots who had come to America to restore the fortunes which religion and race had cost them in their occupied homeland. In the rising upcountry town of Cheraw Conlaw, Peter and Eleanor Neison Lynch quickly established themselves as leading citizens. The dozen children Eleanor successfully bore, however, were hardly conducive to the reacquisition of wealth. Of the twelve, five succumbed to tuberculosis, the disease that haunted the family. Of the seven survivors, five made exceptional marks in the careers they pursued, in medicine, manufacturing, and the religious life. Most notable was the eldest, Patrick Neison, who became the third Roman Catholic bishop of Charleston. Patrick developed a national reputation as a polemicist, preacher, and self-taught geologist. During the Civil War, Bishop Lynch proved to be the outstanding Catholic apologist for the Confederacy, a status that led Confederate officials to appoint him a special commissioner to the Papal States, in order to gain, if possible, the Church's recognition of the Confederate States, and with that recognition, the influence that might lead to European intervention"-- Provided by publisher