Adrian Van Sinderen Lindsley

Adrian Van Sinderen Lindsley
Born	1814 New Jersey, U.S.
Died	1885 Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Olivet Cemetery
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Nashville
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, businessman, politician
Spouse	Eliza Trimble Lindsley
Children	9
Parent(s)	Philip Lindsley Margaret Lawrence Lindsley
Relatives	John Berrien Lindsley (brother) Nathaniel Lawrence Lindsley (brother) Nathaniel Lawrence (maternal grandfather)

Adrian Van Sinderen Lindsley (1814–1885) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician from Tennessee.

Early life

Adrian Van Sinderen Lindsley was born in 1814 in New Jersey.[1] His father, Philip Lindsley (1786-1855), served as the first President of the University of Nashville in Nashville, Tennessee.[1][2] His brother, John Berrien Lindsley (1822-1897), served as its second President. His mother was Margaret Lawrence Lindsley. His maternal grandfather was Nathaniel Lawrence (1761–1797), who served as the New York Attorney General from 1792 to 1795.

Lindsley graduated from the University of Nashville.[1]

Career

Lindsley started his career as a lawyer.[3] He later became President of the Mt Olivet Cemetery Company, which established the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.[1] He also served as President of the Nashville and Lebanon Turnpike Company, which built a toll road from Nashville to Lebanon, Tennessee.[1] He also served as the Secretary of the Board of Trust of his alma mater, the University of Nashville, from 1839 to 1885.[3]

Lindsley was a Republican and supported the Union.[2] He served as Nashville postmaster from 1862 to 1867, during the American Civil War of 1861-1865.[1][2] In a letter to Governor Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) on April 22, 1862, he blamed Reverend John Berry McFerrin (1807-1887), a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South for encouraging secessionist activities in Nashville, as opposed to more moderate Methodists like Reverend Holland Nimmons McTyeire (1824–1889), Reverend John B. Somers (1801-1876), Reverend James L. Houston (1806-1888) and Alexander Little Page Green (1806-1874).[1]

After the war, Lindsley served as a member of the Tennessee Senate from 1868 to 1869.[1] As Senator, he opposed the coercive policies towards former Confederates imposed by Governor William Gannaway Brownlow (1805-1877).[2]

Personal life

Lindsley married Eliza Trimble Lindsley (1819-1893). They had nine children.

Lindsley died in 1885 in Davidson County, Tennessee. He was buried at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.[4]

References

1. Andrew Johnson, The Papers: 1822-1851, Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, Volume 5, p. 320 [1]
2. Recent Deaths, Boston Evening Transcript, January 26, 1885
3. Paul Keith Conkin, Peabody College: From a Frontier Academy to the Frontiers of Teaching and Learning, Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press, 2002, p. 74 [2]
4. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Mount Olivet Cemetery". National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved September 7, 2017.