Lindley was born at
Ten Mile Creek, Pennsylvania, on 24 August 1801. He was the eldest child of
Jacob and Hannah Lindley. His father had founded
Ohio University so not surprisingly Lindley was educated there and at the Union Seminary in
Prince Edward, Virginia. In 1831 he was ordained by the
Presbyterian Church. On 20 November 1834 he married Lucy Virginia Allen and they were sent by the
American Board of Missions to South Africa. When they arrived in
Cape Town they still had to cover. Their journey in the company of Alexander Wilson, Henry Venable and their wives took a year by ox cart to get to
Matabeleland. Lindley together with other missionaries were to work creating converts amongst the Matabele but their plan was thwarted by the fighting that was taking place between the Dutch and the Matebele. They had to retreat to
Natal and from there they were driven away again by the fighting between the
Boers and the
Zulus. These institutions were successful, and amongst the first to be confirmed was
Paul Kruger, who was to be the first president of South Africa. At the Lindleys' retirement in 1873, Zulus and Boers expressed deep regard. The Lindleys retired to the United States in 1874. Lindley died on 3 September 1880 in
Morristown, New Jersey. He was buried in the
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York. ==School for girls==