James William Lynd (November 25, 1830 – August 18, 1862) was a member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

, elected in 1861, and the first person killed in the initial action of the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota people, Da ...

. At the time, he was working in the

Lower Sioux Agency The Lower Sioux Agency, or Redwood Agency, was the federal administrative center for the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation in what became Redwood County, Minnesota, United States. It was the site of the Battle of Lower Sioux Agency on August 18, 1 ...

as a clerk at Myrick's trading store. A historical marker stands at the site he was killed. The town of Lynd, Minnesota is named after him.

References

1830 births 1862 deaths Minnesota state senators 19th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-MNSenate-stub