Milton Omer Lynn (1909)

Milton Omer Lynn
Born	October 29, 1909(1909-10-29) Hagerstown, Maryland
Died	October 7, 1976 (aged 66)
Resting place	Baltimore, Maryland
Spouse	Mary Elizabeth Keever-Freeman (m. ?–) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: Mary Elizabeth Keever-Freeman to Milton Omer Lynn (1909)" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/Milton_Omer_Lynn_(1909))
Children	Jeannette Irene Lynn Eloise Faye Linn Milton Omer Lynn Charles Nelson Lynn Dorothy Ruth Lynn Julia Lorraine Lynn Mary Frances Lynn Sharon Elaine Lynn Loretta Ann Lynn Barbara Jean Lynn Patricia Anita Lynn
Parents	Cambridge Milton Linn (1889) Jane Butler Swain

Entry in Clan Linn

Written by Loretta Lynn-Layman and Pattie Lynn-Blevins

Milton Omer Lynn, Sr. was the firstborn of six children. His only sister lived but two brief months. The youngest of his four brothers was born when Dad was ten years old, but survived only a few days. Then---in a few days more---his mother was taken from him.

Dad and his three surviving brothers were brought to Baltimore and placed in an orphanage while their father looked for work. The boys were so thoroughly miserable and restless that life in the orphanage was difficult at best. Their grandmother, who before was either unable or unwilling to care for them, now took them into her home in Haggerstown. The following years were not happy ones. It was the decade just before the Great Depression, and the nations economy was quickly failing. Dad was unable to finish school. Four boys were sent out to the streets each day to do whatever they could to add to the family purse. Even in the bitterness of winter, they were told not to return empty-handed. One of the brothers, with no gloves for his youthful hands, suffered severe frostbite.

Finally, in 1927, two months before his eighteenth birthday, Milton Omer Lynn enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He became a signalman, and served on the U.S.S Utah during the good-will tour of President-Elect Hoover. He was, in fact, Hoover's aide-de-camp. On 9 January 1929, at home on leave, he was married to Mary Elizabeth Freeman, a half-sister of his Uncle Bill's wife, Esther. In 1930 he was honorably discharged from the navy as Seaman First Class.

Back in Hagerstown, Milton joined the Western Maryland Railroad as a fireman. He became an engineer after moving permanently to Baltimore, and finally retired after thirty-three years with Western Maryland.

In Hagerstown Dad attended The Salvation Army, the church in which Mother was raised after her mother died. He became very active in the youth work there, and with Mother he blessed the congregation with the singing of 'Ivory Palaces' and 'In the Garden.' We know that the faith he expressed was real, and hope that although he later foresook the assembling together of the saints on earth, he did not lose his place in the assembly of God in Heaven. Jesus said that all the Father gives Him will come to Him and that he shall lose none of them (John 6:37-39). Once we are Christ's, not even we can take ourselves from Him. Now, being more perfect than any other human being, Dad neglected certain Christian duties; but even late in life he recoiled from the denial by others of the kingdom of God and was ever stirred by hymns of faith. At his parting, Dad might well have said these words found upon a stone in the cemetery of the early Linns: 'Weep not for me, my friends, weep not, but wipe your tears away. For you shall see me again on the resurrection day.' We look forward to that reunion.

Now we rejoice that here and there in our generation the spirit of the Clan Linn is seen in full bloom. And we pray that all our loved ones may realize that hope which turns trial into triumph. Without it, even the most successful life is in vain and the life that fails is doubly tragic. That hope is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That is the hope which moved and sustained not only many of our Linn ancestors, but many in our mother's family as well.

Historical Records

• The 1930 Federal Census of Hagerstown records Elizabeth J Lynn (70), with son Cambridge M (a Roll Operator at an Iron Works, 39), and grandsons Milton O (a construction truck driver, 19), Ellsworth (17), and Donald B (14).
• The 1920 Federal Census of Hagerstown records Cambridge M Lynn (a railroad conductor, 30), with his wife Julia L. (32), and their children: Milton O (10), Ellsworth C (8), Harold E (6), and Donald B (4)