The Lin family lived on Decatur Street in Atlanta, Georgia, between Bell and Gartrell Streets. Mrs. Amanda M. Lin lived there as the head-of-household with her children: Mary Ann Lin, Susan B. Lin, Georgia Lin, and Charles B. "Bud" Lin. Her household also consisted of several slaves and their children. Georgia Lin was educated in Covington, Georgia from 1859-1860. Charles B. "Bud" Lin was attending school in Augusta and living with relatives when the Civil War began. In order to keep him out of the Confederate army, which he had threatened to join, his mother enrolled him in the Georgia Military Institute in Marietta, Georgia. Bud spent most of the war in the Georgia Military Institute except for the summer of 1864 when Marietta and Atlanta were attacked. During the seige he was in the trenches around the city. Fleeing the falling city, the cadets advanced to Milledgeville, Georgia, in an attempt to defend the capitol. Georgia Military Institute resumed classes in 1865 in Milledgeville. Additional biographical information about the Lin family has not been determined.