Thomas Bowen Lynch was born in Providence, R.I. on August 25, 1832. As a young man of 17 he and his brother joined the California Gold Rush of 1849, sailing first to Panama and crossing the Isthmus of Panama on foot. Abandoning the Gold Rush, Lynch began a career at sea with various positions, at one time finding himself on a British vessel delivering troops to the Crimean War and was there for the Charge of the Light Brigade. Thomas B. Lynch continued his sailing career, returning home in 1864 to marry Jane Goodwin (Gough) Lynch, with whom he had two sons, Frederick and Frank. Lynch spent the better part of forty years at sea, including surviving ship wrecks, taking part in the blockade of Southern harbors during the Civil War as well as sealing in the Antarctic. He ended his sailing career as the captain of the yacht ILEEN. Captain Thomas B. Lynch died at home in Peace Dale, R.I. on January 28, 1920.