Patrick Lynch

Patrick Lynch was born on Monday, 05 February 1883 at Waterbury (New Haven County) Connecticut. The vital records for the city of Waterbury include an entry in Birth Volume 1, page 370, for a child named Patrick born to parents Eugene (age 29 from Ireland) and Elizabeth Rourke (age 25 from Ireland). The entry also references a 1943 Baptismal record from the Immaculate Conception Church. The Certificate of Baptism, dated Mar. 22, 1943, notes that Patrick, son of Eugene Lynch and Elizabeth Rourke was baptized on the 8th day of February 1883. The sponsors were listed as Thomas Lynch and Honora McCarthy. Since the practice of recording individual birth certificates didn't begin until January 1886, the ledger entry is the only birth record for this child. Although there is no specific indication of birth order, it is believed that Patrick was the first child born to these parents.

Also found in Waterbury vital records, Marriage Volume 3, page 138, is an entry for Eugene Lynch (28 year old male from Ireland) being wed on 25 June 1882 (a Sunday) to Elizabeth Rourke (25 year old female from Ireland). It was the first marriage for both and they were joined by Lawrence Walsh. Based on the ages reported at the time of this entry, the approximate birth year for Eugene was 1854 and 1857 for Elizabeth. The date of this marriage would seem to validate our earlier assumption that Patrick was the first born child of this couple. Similar to birth records, marriage records prior to January 1885 were recorded in ledger books only, meaning that no individual certificate is on file for this marriage.

The above photo is the earliest one known to exist of Patrick Lynch. The details are not known, but it appears to be a shop photo taken about 1900. As a young man, Patrick lost his left eye in a shop accident and it was replaced with a glass eye. It cannot be determined from this photo if he had yet suffered this injury.

On his Draft Registration card for what would later become known as World War I, Patrick's physical description is listed as medium height, medium build, blue eyes, and brown hair. The description further states "Has a defective left eye." The information was provided on 12 September 1918. At the time, Patrick was 35 years old, living at 1372 Baldwin Street, and listed his occupation as Toolsetter for Steele and Johnson, South Main Street, Waterbury CT. His wife, Mary E. Lynch is listed as his nearest relative. At that time, the couple had just one son (John) and were expecting their second child.

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The photographs below were taken by grandson Dan Lynch on 28 April 2006 and show the gravesite of Patrick Eugene Lynch and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Phelan) Lynch. They are buried in Calvary Cemetery, East Main Street, Waterbury CT. The location of their gravesite is just inside the southern (western) entrance, visible near the top left of the aerial view. After entering the cemetery, take a left and then the grave is just past a right-hand fork.