John Van Lindley

Who was John Van Lindley?

John Van Mons Lindley, Pomologist and early Nurseryman, was born in Monrovia, Indiana. He was also known as John Van Lindley, but as an adult preferred the name J. Van Lindley. He was the second son of Joshua Lindley, one of the earliest Pomologists in both Indiana and North Carolina and a prominent Quaker. He was the great-great-grandson of Thomas Lindley, Sr., on whose land the Battle of Lindley's Mill was fought.

J. Van Lindley’s family moved to North Carolina when he was three years old. J. Van grew up first in Chatham County and then Guilford County. In Guilford County he was part of the Quaker New Garden Monthly Meeting. His strong Quaker upbringing led him to take up the Union cause and he served three years during the civil war with the 4th Regiment of the Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Following the war, he returned to Greensboro, NC where he restarted his father’s nursery business, paid off the $5000 of debt accumulated during the war, and then started Pomona Hills Nursery about 1877.

J. Van built his nursery business deliberately until he owned over 900 acres in the town of Pomona, on the west side of Greensboro.