SAMUEL LYNDE was born in Saybrook, October 29, 1689, the elder son and second child of Nathaniel Lynde, a man of wealth and position in Saybrook, a son of the Hon. Simon Lynde, of Boston, and the brother of one Chief-Justice of Massachusetts, and uncle of another. As early as 1702 this Nathaniel Lynde had offered to the College a house and lot of land on Saybrook Point, if it would remove thither and remain ; though the formal deed did not pass until 1708, it is probable that by the time his son graduated, the school was already established in this its second domicil. The graduate's mother was Susanna, only daughter of Deputy-Governor Francis Willoughby, of Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Samuel Lynde spent his life in his native town, engaged in business as a merchant, and also much employed with public duties. He was a justice of the peace from 1721, and in 1729 became judge of the New London County Court, so continuing until appointed in May, 1752, a judge of the Superior Court of the Colony, which office he held till his death. He represented the town in the General Assembly in May, 1724, and in eleven subsequent sessions, until in 1730 he was elected one of the Upper House, or ‘Douncil, which position he retained until his death. He was also for many years (appointed in 1739) a colonel in the militia. From 1730 until his death he was one of the guardians or overseers of the Mohegan Indians.
He died of a fever, in Saybrook, September 19, 1754, in his 65th year, leaving an estate valued at over £11,000. The inventory includes about 230 books.
His first wife, Rebecca, daughter of Major John Clark, of Saybrook, to whom he was married April 4, 1710, died January 20, 1716. He had by her a son, Willoughby, who graduated at this College in 1732, but died before his father, leaving one son.
His second wife was Lucy, daughter of Major Edward Palmes, of New London, and widow of Samuel Gray, of the same town; she died December 27, 1737, leaving no children. He married again, widow Hannah Huntington, of Norwich, who survived him.
AUTHORITIES.
Caulkins, Hist. of New London, 360.
Field, Statist. Account of Middlesex Co., 104.
Lynde Diaries, viii, 178.
N. E. Hist, and Geneal Register, iv, 139.
R. D. Smyth, in College Courant, August 8, 1868, p. 83.
