It’s named after the founder Lynch, Who was an abolitionist no less, not after lynching.

Very cool he’s from there

Upon reading his article he even freed a slave that he thought killed his son. Freeing them mid 1780s is super progressive for the time.

Reading further, his brother Charles Jr. Lynch might be where the term comes from. Upon reading more it seems the term comes his free use of imprisoning Loyalists during the Revolutionary war without support of the law. Then he was worried about getting in trouble for this so he asked the Continental Congress to pass Lynch’s law to forgive it.

Maybe the term later was construed to me taking the law into your own hands by killing enslaved or freed black people?

So if this is true, John Lynch, good Lynch, founded Lynchburg. Charles Lynch, bad lynch, termed extrajudicial killings, of mostly enslaved black people. Diverse family.

Abolitionist John Lynch

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lynch_(1740%E2%80%931820)