His father had founded Ohio University[1] so not surprisingly Lindley was educated there and at the Union Seminary in Prince Edward, Virginia.

On 20 November 1834 he married Lucy Virginia Allen and they were sent by the American Board of Missions to South Africa.

[2] His colleagues on board the Burlington were the medical doctors Newton Adams, Alexander Erwin Wilson, three other missionaries and their wives.

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.

On 31 March 1842, Lindley led the founding congregation of the first Dutch Reformed Church in the Orange Free State.

[2] In 1847, Lindley established a station at Inanda, centering his efforts on the Zulus and helping set aside large "native locations" to protect them from land-hungry settlers.

The family returned in October 1862 leaving their third child Sarah behind to take up a position teaching in Rochester, New York.