Northwest Arkansas is the birthplace and home to many people who reside here.
However, over the years many people have moved here drawn by the Natural State's charm and current prosperity as well as unique way of life.
Regardless of the circumstances that brought people here, northwest Arkansas has a rich frontier history and as the years pass, a search for that history can tug on an ancestral yearning. This is particularly true if someone left the region and then allows the area's pioneer beginnings to draw them back to their earliest ancestors' history.
It is important to remember that Arkansas was a territory in 1819 and didn't become a state until June of 1836. Many of the early settlers in the area were moving here during the period before and after the Civil War. The battle of Elk Horn Tavern was fought in the area of Pea Ridge in March of 1862. So it should not be a surprise many have ancestors who migrated to the area prior to the Civil War.
Such was the need of a great, great grandson of Andy Jack Lynch, (Stephen Lynch) who began a personal search for Lynch family history which has now grown into an email group exceeding a dozen members and is still growing. Seven direct descendants of an early resident, Andy Jack Lynch, came together over the Easter weekend to meet (some for the first time), share stories of family connections, take pictures and tour local history on Sugar Creek, the Elk Horn Tavern, local cemeteries and the Andy Jack Lynch log cabin now located in Bentonville. Although it in no way provides a complete record, the abstract for part of the Sugar Creek land owned by Andy Jack's father-in-law Hardy Wilson shows that the land was purchased in 1853 prior to the Civil War. This property became part of Andy Jack and Malinda Lynch's farm and later shows up as part of Harra Lynch's farm. The abstract records the purchase of only 40 acres and it is believed Andy Jack's property was much larger than this parcel. The abstract shows it as being given to Andy Jack and Malinda at Hardy Wilson's death in 1863.
Three of the four Lynch sons, Carlos, John and Harra, farmed land on Sugar Creek that was part of the original property of Andy Jack Lynch. It is probably safe to say the need to connect to our ancestors, and our family history, becomes much stronger as we grow older. The three brothers and their wives are the family links to Andy Jack Lynch's heritage that brought the cousins together over Easter.
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Editor's note: This is the first in a three part series about the descendants of Andy Jack Lynch, a resident of the Sugar Creek area near Brightwater.
Community on 05/02/2018