I
*0


d


Eighland C.nfederationClan Chattan,

most ancient of all Highland clans.


Finley, Ph.D. of Penny

family history and oev

searches in Scotland,

ancient anc noble fami

a Campbell, a Stuart,

During the 17th

ware fro r Inverness.

others settled on the

Finleys of Castle Towr

crossed over into the

Fror the Irish

Scotch-Irish Finleys,


sylvania,

oted much


who

time


declares that

i in Scotlan

a CaL:eron or

century, the

Certain member


is said to be one of the

The late Johr,-Borland

was an ardent lover of

and labor ro f&nily re-

the Clan Finley is the .mast

., ar:c was proriicent before

. EcDonald had an existence.

clcn began to migrate .outh-

's stopped in -t.tLe lowl.-.:dd ,


western coast of Scotland, where the

rd in Argyleshire now are, while other

North of Ireland.

branch. the ancestors of the American

strong in the presbyterian religious


i ''~


faith,

,in -the


derive

family


their descent. In fact there

that the American Finleys are


is ? tradition

lineally descendedI


- ac \


THE FI IJEYS OF VIRGINIA

Armst- Argent an a chevron, Azure, between three roses, Gules,

two swords points downward and conjoined at the po=mels

of the field, halted and pommeled, or, a bordure of the

second.

Crest:- A boar passant proper.

Another Cresto- A dexter hand holding a scymitar ppr.

Motto: Fortis in Arduis "Steadfast in adversity,"

(Burkets "General Armory", P. 351, Lodon,

The clan of Finley of Scotland, a Pighland fai:ily of

the country in the vicinity of Inverrness, a sect of the great


1884)


ers




2.


from the same ancesto:

Finley, who was burnt

religious principles,

James Finley,

Fifeshire, Scotland,

and had two sons, Ale:

James Finley born in

Finle., who followed

1769, when he came ov

Princeton College in

Finley, whk- graduated

tutor and trustee of


r as the martyred covenanter, Rev. John

at the stake for Lis adherence to his

in Edinburg, 15 Dec., 1682.

born in Balchrystie, Mewbern Parish,


Sept.

xande

1670,

the R

er to

New J

from

that


9, 1631, ma

r, born 1669

was the anc

ev. Jcl-ohn W it

accept a a

jersey. He w

Princetion i

institution,


rried

and

e t cr

,.hersp;.

to

C&as tohe

n 1787

nd-vrvd


Barbara Henderson,

James, born 1670.

of Rev. James

;on to America in

the presidency of

Father of Robert

, and later was. a

kho died in 1817,


while serving as president of the Universi

Athens.


ty cf Georgia at


Alexander, the oldest son of James, who was born in Bal-

chrystie, Scotland, in 1669, removed to the north of Ireland

about 1679, married in 16P5-9, (name of wife unknown), and had

Four sons, John, James, Samuel and ^-ndrew. The history of

Chester County, Pa., shows that these four brothers came td

America with their families and settled in East Nottingham

Township, Chester Co., Penn., (now in karyland), in the year

1700.

Of these four sons of Alexander Pinley, James, the second-son,

born about 1687, who married in .relrnd, Elizabeth

'moved from Chester County, I'd., in 1733, and took up his

residence in Cumberland County, Pa., where he died in 1764.

dames Finley had eight sons as followed: Thomas, John, Robert,


r"
y -



\'"'


i 9


;*:
V.-
K





3..



William, George, Alexander, James and Andrew. Of these sons,

John, Robert and Williams Finley moved fror: Pennsylvania to

Virginia in 173601737, and became the progenitors of the

Virginia branch of the family.
t
Early in the Spring of 1736, Benjamin Burden, an agent

for Lord Fairfax, who held, under a patent from ring James II,

of England, all that part of Virginia known as the Northern Neck,

came over, and after remaining a short tire in Williamsburg,

accepted an invitation to visit John eewis, then living 'vest of

the Flue Ridge Yountains in Virginia, where he Lad settled in

1732. Retur:.ing shortly after to "illiamsburg, Burden presented

a fine buffalo calf he had captured to Governor Gcoch, which se

much gratified thc.t functionEry, that -.e fcrthwith directed a

warrant to be made out, authorizing Burden, the agent, to locate
-'
500,000 acres of land on Shenandoah, or James River, west of the

Blue Ridge Mountains. The grant required that Burden should

settle one-hundred families upon said land within ten years,

(DeFess' "History of Western Virginia", P. 38). For this

purpose Burden brought over from England, Scotland, Ireland and
' from Pennsylvania ir 1737, upwards of one tuhdred families. Re

did not receive his grant from the Virginia Council until .1739,
however, (Val Iag. Vol. XXXI, P. 2421; the first settlers of this

grant 'to Burden were EphriamrEcbowell and James Greenlee. And

th their wake followed that atsry .cotch-Irish race from

Pennsylvania, represented by the families of Pinley, Cald ell,

"'atthews, Crawford, Stuart, Lyle, Tilford, Paxton, oore, Doak,
L :.: '


N52
.. '


...-..: --- ---------- --~-----"-~




4 '. .


Brown, Wilsen, Caruthers, Pet~terson, Ransey, Grigsby and others,

Cne of the first Presbyterian ministers to settle here was the
Rev. John Craig, a native of Ireland. The Sir6 church to be

built was Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church, of which John
Finley, Sr., was an elder in 1740. In compliance with the

petition of John ,inley, Sr., wnd John Caldwell, the synod of

Philadelphia in 1738, addressed a letter to Governor Gooch soli-
citing his favor in behalf of.such persons as should remove to

western Virginia in allowing their the free enjoyment of their
civil and religious liberties, an-d the Governor gave a favorable

response.
The early settlers in this portion of Virginia had to

contend with titles obtained by individuals and companies for

large tracts of land, and such grantees were usually favorites

of the king, or the king's councillers. On the 6th of September,

1736, *illiam Gooch, Lieutenant-Governor of firginia, issued

a patent for the "Manor of Peverley", covering one hundred and
eighteen thousand and ninety-one acres of land lying in the

county of Orange between the great mountains and on the Riuer

Sherando, and on Sept. 7, 1736,, William everyl. of Essex

County, Va., became the owner of the entire gran n. This-

patent covered most of the fine lands in the VallJey of Vi ginia

near Staunton and Waynesboro, and it was from this grant t

Augusta County was carved out.of the "palanainate* of Orange in

1738, although'the county was not o anized until 1745. Te-

grant to Benjamin Burden of five hundred thousand area was

situated south of every Manorv and on the waters of the ies

and Shenandoah rivers (h~a sters' 'Riptory of Whahingten

c^,"
o^0C *




5.



County", P. 39).

In studying the nationality of the early settlers of

southwest Virginia, it must be kept in mind that there was a.. _

great difference between the people inhabiting the eastern '

shores of Tirginia and the early settlers in the.mountains of .

Western Virginia. They differed-both in their ancestry and in --

their religion. The early settlers of Eastern Virginia were

English by birth and Episcopalians in religion; while the early

settlers of Southwest Virginia were Scotch-Irish by birth

and Presbyterians in religious belief. The people thus invited

to settle the g-rden spot of Virginia -.er- the sons of the men

who followed Cromwell. They were mren -ho regarded themselves

according to 1Macaulay, 'as kings by the right of a earlier

creation and priests by the interposition of an Almighty hand ,

King James I, when speaking of a Scotch Prespytery, said, *3Peam-,

bytCry agreath as well with monarchy as Gold7 and the devil.-"

(Ibid. pp. 117, 118.)

Writing about the western movement of the Scotch-Irisrii-'.:
4, ._ .- .
Fiske, the historian says: "This development occurred in'

way even far-seeing men could not have predicted. It introedu8 -

into Virginia a new set of people, new forms of religion, neri,.:.

habits of life. It affected all the colonies south of Pennsyl

,vania most profoundly, and did more than anything else to deteoif.'

mine the character of all the.states afterwards founded west of

the Alleghanies and' south of the latitude of middle Illinois*

Until recent years, little has been written about the coming eWf ..

the so-called Scotch-Irish to America, and yet it is an event @4 '

scarcely less importance than the exodus of English Puritans .

..c .'. 4




6.




New England and that cf the English Cavaliers to Virgini It
is impossible to understand the drift whiich American history,

social and political, hos taken since the time of Andrew Jackson,

without studying the early life of the Scotch-Irish population

of the Alleghaney regions, the pioneers of the Americab back-

woods. "
John Finley, Robert Finley and William, Finley, sons of

James and ElizU.Leth Finley of Cumberland County, Pa., who

moved to Virginia in 1736-1737, received a grant of 3143 rcres of

land out of the "-everly Yaner* tract, lying on South river in

Augusta County. (See Virginia Deed Books for 1736, 1737, 1741

and 1742.)
rf Robert Finley little is known. He dou-ltes never

married. Fe served in Captain David Stua.rt's company of

Augusta Ccunty militia in 175?, and was dead prior to October

1765, as John Finley acknowledges receipt from 1,is father, James

Yinley, of certain notes and bond: "as his full part of his

- uncle, Robert Finley's estate." (Chalkley'b "Augusta County

Records", Vol. III, P. 437). Also on 20th of May, 1766, James

inley of Staunton Conveyed to-Sampson and George Matthews

certain land. described in a lease from James Brown to the A-id
Robert Finley, 16th Jan. 1754, for the term of 57 years; all .

which land wee conveyed to Robert 1inley, late of Augusta

Bounty, deceased, and descended to .ases linley as his brother

and heirmat-law.o (Ibid. Vol. fII, P. 448).

SWilliama linley received 500 acres of the "Beverly Manor

tract. He served in the Augusta County militia in Captain

Preston's company under Iajor Andrew Lewis, in the Sandy Cre ..

S6\1 31


<-, ..*


'1 .-




7.


expedition, 1756-57, against the Shawnees on the Ohio niver,

also in the Trench and Indian Wars. He rrried Mary.Wallace,

daughter of Rev. Caleb Wallace. She died prior to 1781, and

he died in 1789. In his will, dated July 28, 1781, he le t his

old cutlas and gun to his son William. His descendants live in

Ohio.

SI. John Finley, Sr., second son of James and Elizabeth

"inley of Cumberland County, Pa., was born idr Ireland in L702.

He married in Pennsylvania in 1723, Thankful Doak, sister of

three brother, Robert, Samuel and David Doak, who had c ne

from the north of Ireland and settled in Chester County, Penn.

in 1720. John Yinley with his family moved to Augusta CoUnty,

Va. in 1737, and was the progenitor of the Finleys of Lincoln -

County, Ky. and Wilson County, Trnn.

On December 1, 1740, Governor Blair of Virginia,

patented to John Finley Sr., 183 acres of land in Augusta

County, and he took up his residence on the tract. In 1742

he is listed as a member of Capt. John Smith's company of Auigusta

County Militia. Although the act providing for Augusta Coupty

te.be carved out of Orange County was passed by the Virginia"

House of Delegates in 1738, the county was not organized until

' 1748.. The first Justice Court assembled at Staunton, the county

seat, on December 9, 1745, and John Finley, Sr., was aamemnber 'af

this court. On the 19th day of Nove~ber,1747 Wnm. thompson and

wife deeded to John linley, Sr., and others, W'ommissioners

and Trustees of the Presbyterian congregation of Tinkling Spring

110 acres called Tinkling spring in Be verly Maner It wa l


4- '




8.


on this land that the noted Tinkling Spring church was built

and John linley, Sr., was active as an elder in the organization

for many years. In 1749 John Minley, Sr., conveyed the 183

acres of land patented to him by Gov. Blair, 'to Alexander Gardner,

and in the deed the land is described as being on *'inley's

Branch of Cathey's River", and took up 297 acres on South -iver

in "Beverly Manor" adjoining the lind of .W. Finley, presumably

his brother, to whom he sold the tract for 150 pounds on the

18thrcf March, 1765. (In the deed both John and Williram inley
j-
are described as "gentlemenW!. This was part of the original

"tract of 892-acres on Shannondore surveyed for John Finley, Jr."

John Finley Sr., served in Captain rm. Preston's company of

Augusta County Militia, under Major Andrew Lewis, in the Sandy

Creek expedition against the Shawnees on the Ohio in.1756,

and in the French and Indian Wars in 1757; (Henning's *Statutes

of Virginia*, Vol. VII, P. 179). The time and place of his

death is not known. He was living on South River as late as

1771. The children of John and Thankful (Doak) inley were:

John Finley, Jr., born in Pennsylvania in 1724; died in

Augusta County, Va. in 1791, of whom later; tHbert linley, boft

1725; James Finley; born 1728; riargaret finley born 1730;
i
Samuel inley, bori 1732; Andrew Yinley, born 1736; Alexander.

Finley born 1738; Thankful finley born 1739; slizabeth kinley

born 1741 William Tinley born 17435..George iinley born about

1745.

IT. John Tinley, Jr., eldest son of John and Thankful

C(oak) l3inley, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in'









1724, andmoved with his father, John Jinley, Sr., to what was

later Augusta County, Virginia, in 1737. (He was the lineal'

ancestor of the Kentucky and Tennessee finleys).
vn the 13th of say, 1748, he bought of teorge robinson

for *100: ounds-current money Virginia, 892 acres, part of

Eeverly Manor, and granted by ieverly to ,eorge 21st reb. 1738,

on Shannandore -iver*. (Chalkley s Augusta Records, Vol, III,

p. 254). In 1755 he was a member of Capt. Thomas Armstrong's
i Company of Augusta rIilitia (Ibid. Vrol. II p.44Z), and in 1757
served with his father, John Finley, Sr., in the French and
Indion Wars. (Eenning's Statutes of Virginia, Vol. TII. PP 179-

200), under Captain Williar Preston; was county surveyor in
1758 and again 1769; appointed M1ay 18, 1768, one of the com-

missioners to build a meeting house; John Finley an.- John Fin-

ley, Jr., added to tithables Aug. 18, 1762. (Augusta Records

Vol. I, p. 99); September 1776, John Jinley,as commissary of the

Washington Co. Militia, gave a voucher to Hugh Barclay for corn

for Tm. Lyle's brigade on the Cherokkee Expecition (Preston Lndi

Va. papers, Draper, Col-. pub. by Wisconsin His. Soc. Vol. 'I,

p. 181). In March, 1768, John Brown and Margaret, his wife,Adeeded
to John Finley and others as trustee, the *stone-meeing-house

by a branch-of the Meadow River, a branch of Middle River of.

Shenandore*. The fee book of Augusta County locates John
Pinley, Jr., on middle River.in 1765; and again in 1774, and

John 1inley; Sr., on South River in 1T71 (Vol. II, P. 402,
40&). middle River is a small stream running through the

central portion of Washington County, Ta., which was cut out t.




10.


Augusta County, midway between the north and soutl

Holston River. John Finley was married by the Ree

on April 22, 1741, to Mary thankful Caldwell, dauE

David and Mary Caldwell of Prince Edward County, I

of Mairtha Caldell, who married Patrick Calhoun al

mother of the grect statement, John C. Calhoun, of

Carolina.

The Caldwell family is a very ancient one.

to be descended from the Albigenses and Waldenses


i forks of

r. John Craig

ghter of

Ta., cousin

nd became the

Scuth


It is

of the


said

Pied-


mcnt section of Italy, who were dr

Roman Catholic persecutions. Some

living at iount Arid, near Toulon,

of Francis I. of France, and after

under Charles T. of Germany, three

Alexander and Cliver, emigrated to

the consent cf Jtaes I. purchased

Douglas, located near Solney Frith


iven into France by the

of the Caldwells, who were

France, earned the enmity i

his escape from imprisonment

Caldwells, Brothers, John,.

Scotland, and thete with

the estate of a Bishop named

I t was provided that


*the said brothers, John, Alexander and Oliver, late of Mount
Arid, should on condition that when the kind should require,

they should each send a son with. twenty men. ofa sound limbs, to.

aid in the wars of the king. (Account of Elsie Chapline

Pheby Cross, in Journal of American History). Therels a cup,

S.,preserved as an heirloom, which represents a chieftain and

/twenty mounted men, all armed, and a man drawing water from a

%well, with the words underneath, gAlexander of Caldwellw. It

sAle shows a fire burning on a hill, over the words ount

idw, and also a vessel surrounded by high waves, which latter

W intended te commemorate the foot that their ancesetrs ware

.,":-5Til




1.1.


seamen

teenth


in the Mediterranean, in the latter part of the kour-

Century. (Ibid) .

Oliver Cromwell's grandmother was Ann Caldwell, and


Joseph, Yohn, Alexander, Daniel, David and Andrewr, of Cauldwell,

went with Cromwell to Ireland and in various capa.clties served

his interest there, after his accession to the Protettorate..

Upon the restoration of Charle. II, a number of the family'

emigrated to America. There are traceable three distinct

immigrations of the Caldwells to America fr o. Ireland.

We are concerned chiefly with the first emigrant, John

Caldwell and his group, comprising his wife, five children and

three brothers-in-law, Eoore, Riche3 and Dudgeon, who landed

at New Castle, Delaware, Dec. 1C, 172.7, for he -vas-6ne of

the three pioneer settlers of the territory created into Lunen-

burg County, Va.; after landing and before emigrating to Virgini-

he located for a time in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

STi.e circumstances under which he and his Presbyterian

.associates came to Virginia are given in the account of the earl;

Presbyterians in Chapter IX, Vol. on the Early C urdhes.

He was born in Ireland, (probably in County Derry) and there

married Margaret Phillips. Five of their children were born;

before they came to America. John Caldwell (b. in Ireland,

d. 1750-51, in Lunenburg County, Virginial, married in Ireland,

:Margaret Phillips (d. evidently before 1748, for the will of

XJohn Caldwell dated Nov. 26, 1748, makes no mention her).. His

will was probated in Lunenburg County, Va., Xpril 3, 1751.


("The Old Free State*, Lunenburg


County, Va., by Landon d.


aTCP\


Y




12.




Bell, LL..B., Vol. II, p. 182, Richmond, 1927). (Note in

passing, I may remark that John Caldwell's great-grandmother,

Rebecca Caldwell (1765-1848), was the ancestress of the wiTfe

of lr. A. F. France, of Annapolis, Rd., who has rendered invalu-

albe assistance in straightening out the Vinley genealogy.)

SJohn Finley, Jr., died in 1791; his will dated April 17th,

was proved in Augusta County, Va., Sept. 20, 1791. By his

wife, Mary Thankful Caldwell, he had eight children, five.

sons and three daughters, as follows;

S. John C. linley, eldest son of John and Mary

-(Caldwell. Finley., w-s born in Augusta County, Va. Jan. i1,

1742, and died in Gaston Co. N. C. where he moved in 1762.

His old home on the South Fork of the Catawba River was not-

far from the famous battlefied of King's Mountain. .He enlisted

on June 7, 1766, age 24, (N. C. Military Records) in Capt.

Adam Alexander's company of militia against the Cherokeese

served under Capt. Even Shelby in the battle of Point Pleasant,

Oct. 10, 1774, and with the Lincoln County men, under Lieut.
4fc
Edmondson in Capt. Evan Shelbyrs company, &t the battle of

King's Mouttain, Oct. 7, 1780; His old sword and flint gun -i

now in the possession of his great-great-grandson, Herbert -

Wallace inley. John C. Finley married inn, daughter, of David

Miller of iGaston County, N. C. They had eight children:

Their eldest daughter, 1iary Finley,.. married Joseph Sevier,

son of Col. John Sevier, one of the heroes of King's Mountain

and Governor of Tennessee 1803-1819. Their eldest sena

Williaa yFinley, married Jean Kennedy, and were the parents









of Eary Finley, wife of the pioneer soldier and politician, ;

David Crockett, one of the heroes of the Alama.

2. George Finley, second son of JIohn and Kary (Cald-

welli. Finley, of whon later*

3. Robert Osborn Finley,. third son of John and ih&ry

(Caldwelll Finley, was born in Augusta Co. Va, March 21. 1745,

and baptized by Rev. John Craig, April 21, 1745. He moved

in early life to Lincoln Co., N. C. where he enlisted June 7,

1766, at the age of 21 years, in the T. C. militia under

Captain Adam Alexander; was a Sergeant in Captain Pazuling's

company at the battle of Point Pleasant, Oct. 10, 1774

(rs. Piffenbargerts History of Pattle of Point Pleasant, -. FI

Lieutenant in Tashington Co., 7a. egiment in 17P0; took lp .

land near his brother John in Lincoln Co. T1. C. T.o record of

his marriage, tut in the census of 1785-90 he is l-sted in that

county with three sons over 16 years, two under 16 years and

one daughter.

4. .David Finley, fourth son of Iohn and Eary (Caldwell)

Finley was born in Augusta Co. Va., and was baptized Jan.. 20

1748, by Rev, John Thompson. He grew up on his father's farn

and &t h.s death inherited it. He served as Lieutenarntin

Captain Kirk"s company in the Revolution (Augusta Records,

Vol. I, p.232), and on April 5, 1781, was granted 1000 acres et

land on lDix River in Lincoln Co. 'KyT. presumably o account ef

his service in the war. (Virginia Grants B.l.p.2711. His old

homestead was known Ps MCamp Diek Robinsn' to rich he moved

about 1783. He signed a petition Kay l.st, 1783, as a citizen .:

of Lincoln County, to the General Asedialy f Virginia, to.
'' ," '




14 .,



pass a law authorizing *some civil power to solemnize the rites

of matrimony". (RobertsonCs 'Petitions 1769 to 1792 p.681

Before he. removed to Fentucky he married Elizabeth ounts,

and by her had a large family of children. He subsequently

sold his farm in Kentucky and moved to Grange County, Ind.

Little is knowr..of his descendants. Ee died in 1843, aged 95

years.

5. Thomas Finley, fifth son of John and Lary (Caldweill

Finley, was born in Augusta Co. Va., Feb. 26, 1749, and tap-

tised in April _,1749, by Rev. John Thompson. He

moved to ITorth Carolina at an early age and settled in KYcklen-

berg County. He was a private in a company of foot soldiers

cormnanded byiCapt. Adam Alexander at Clecr Creek; E.eklenberg

County, June 7, 1766. (M. C. State Records Vol, XII, p.396).s

Later in life he:.moved to South Carolina tnd settle on a planta-

ti&n in the Ninety-Six, or Abbeville District. Thomas Finley,

with one son 16 years nd one son under 16 years and wife .ra re-

ported in the Ninety-Six District, S. C. in the 1790 census of

the United States. He was granted several large tracts of land

according to the records of the Land Office at Columbia. Two If

his neices, Aifn and Catherine Finley., came to live with him on

the death of their father and his brother, George Jinley, 1809.

Ann married Major Robert Green of the Abbevile District, and had

one daughter, Sary Gaines Green, who married P. H. Earle. a

banker of Birmingham, Ala.

6. Jean Finley, first daughter of John and' KEry (Cald-

well) .inley, was born in Augusta Co. Va. Feb. 16, 1744, and'

6^7
;Q~ .




/ 15.
A



baptised April 21, 1744, by Rev. John Craig, She married inj .
-
1764, John Trimble, son of William Trimble, of Washihgton Co;

Va. They had four sens, all of whom became distinguished citi-

"zens. Robert Trimnble was chief justice of the Supreme Court of

Kentucky in 1826, and John Trimble was a Prigadier General in

the Confederate Army.

'7. Margeret Finley, second daughter of John and .ary

(CaldwellY Finley, was born in Augusta Co. Va. Yarch 2nd, 1746,

and baptised by Rev. John Craig, Dec. 1746. Sie married

June 26, 1768, John Shiedids, who died 1802, scn of JAmes

Shields, ,wh had emigrated to Americ. in 1737, and settled in

R? Rocingham Co. Va. John Shields moved to Nelson Co. Va.

8. Thankful Finley, third oaa.ghter of John anc .'.ry ..

(Caldwell~ Finley, was born May 3, 1751, and married -

McKarter. She was living as a widow with her father at the time

of his death in 1791. No further record.

I come back now to George Flnley, second son of John and

Srary (Caldwell) Finley, hte lineal ancestor of the Kentucky

and Tennesssee Finleya.

III. George Finley waasborn in Augusta County, T; a.d

was baptised by Rev. J.ohn Craig, J n. 30, 1743. e died in

Vayne Co. Ky. in 1809. The first mention we find of him in thie

records of Augusta County is on the 17th of Iov. 1767, when'his

father, John Finley, Jr. and Thankful, his wife, for 5 shillings,

conveyed to him 0176 acres of land, part of the tract John

now lives on). He at that time had married for his first wife,

Dec. 18, 1761, Ann, daughter of eIsac Jewland, who died in




16.



1782, at the age of 36 years, and lies buried in the Sinking

Spring church graveyard in Washington Co., Va. In 1774, in the

battle of Point Pleasant on the 10th of October, George linley

served as a private under that great warrior Captain (afterwards
Major General) Andrew Lewis, when he defeated the Shawnee Chief

Cornstalk in that most notable contest between the Whites and

the Indians. (Mrs. Poffenbargeres *History of Battle of Point

Pleasant*, p.8P; see also Summer's Southwest Virginia*, p.156).

He was conmissry to, the Washington Ocunty TAilitia in 1777.

.(Va. Mag. of His. Vol. VITI, p. 196'. In 1778 he -.ne commissioned

by the Governor, Lieutenant of T'ilitia, and served in that
capacity against the British in the decisit battle of Tin'rs

mountain Cct.,7 170C. Suinmners' "Scuthwest Virginia"' p.3C2,

859). Served in Captain las. Davie'Company from catol:er 25th

to Tcvember 25th, 1782, under George Rogers Clark, i n anexpe-

dition against the .Sawnees ("Tllin is Paperslt in Va. State

Library). In 1783 he w s a dele te to the Asermbly- that met to

memorialize the Congress of the United States to erect a new '*

state (Franklin) cut of the country west of the Alleghany aAd

south of the Cumberland Mountains. (Summers' "Southwest Virgiuia*

p 394); .Elder in the Sinking Spring Church in 1782; Surveyqr

of Washington Co. 1784; moved to Kentucky in 1785, and settled. \

first in Bourbon County that he was partly instrumental in

having cut out of Fayette in 1786. C(ilson Club. Pub. No. 27,

p.85). On June 29, 1786, George #iiley nmrried in Lincoln Co.

Ky.,'for his second wife, Yary. (Pbllyl Gaines, daughter of


81-* C ~1~




17.


Williams and Sarah (Strother) Gaines, who had moved in 1783 from

Albemarle Go. Va., and settled in Linceln o. Kentucky. On

the 10th March, 1786, depositions were taken at the house of

Captain Thomas Price on Clinch River, where George kinley

testified in : half of Col. Arthur Campbell charged pv.ith

inciting rebellion against the Governor and Council of Virginia

for collecting unnecessary taxes. (Summers' "Southwest Vir-

ginia, page 394). Jan. 13, 1786, he was granted 250 acres of

land in Nelson County, and Dec. 16, 1786, 323 acres on Glen's

Creek in W odford County, yy. (Jillson's "Kentucky Land

Grants"). This latter tract adjoined a tract of 1400 acres

belonging to Cyrus McCrackin, and of which George inley was

to receive 4C0 acres for food and sup-lies he furnished

YcCracken from his farm near Holston, Va., as he passed there .d

his way to Kentucky in November 1779. EcCracken failed to

stand by his written agreement aid died in 1795, leaving all

his land to his wife and children. A suit followed, but

Finley finally lost the case in the Supreme Court in 1805,

because he did not bring action during I6Cracken's lifetimes

The next mention. of George 1inley in the court records of

Kentucky is in October 1797, when he bought of Jesse Helton a

tract of 100 acres on Dick's River in Lincoln County, "the

place that said Helton now lives on* adjoining Col. McKee'se

and had the deed to the place executed to his wife, Mary
4 .*Oe 'S
Finley. He subsequently must have mneed to Wayne Co., where

he died in, 1809, for in deed book No. 7, p. 229 of that county,

appears the following: 0George Finley of Wayne Co., Ky., Miarch 4,


6 3i-17


n




183


1809, deeds to Wi. Gaines of Mercer 0o. for 5 shillings and for

love and affection I have for my wife, Mary Linley, I transfer

and make over to said Wvf. Gaines in trust for use of said Mary

finley and her heirs the following property,- stock, furniture,

etc. Wts. Samuel C. Pulliam, ,m. rmcDowell, Oct. 3, 1809*.


The children by the first marriage of George Finley with

Ann Newland in Augusta Co. Va., were as fellows:

1. Issac Minley, eldest son born in Augusta Co. Va.,

Sept. 22nd, 1762; married Sarah moved to Jefferson Co.

Ky., where he died.

2. John linley, second son, born in Agusta Co. va.Apri

14th, 1764, married Mary school teacher, enidied in

Cannon County, Tenn. in 1846.

3. George Finley, Jr., third.son, born in Augusta Co. Va

May 13, 1765. He first went to Kentucky, thence to Tennessee,

and finally set-led permanently in Orange Co. Ind., where he die

in 1849.


I
*1
.1 -i
4


wav ,


4. Ann Pinley., only daughter by the first marriage,' born

in Augusta County, Va. in 1769 Died young- unmarried.

The children by the second marriage of George 'inley (with

Mary Gaines) in Lincoln Co. Ky. were as follows:-

1. Obadiah Gaines Winley, only son, bern in Aourben o.

Kentucky May 24, 1787 of whom later.

2. Sarah Finley, first daughter, born in Lincoln so. K,

Jan. 12, 1799; married in Danville, Ky. dt. 5, 1819, 5amuel.
-I.
Pennebaker, born Nay 20, 1796, and die at Lebanon, Tenn. Oct. 250

1835, by whom she had five children. e,. married for her secei

,cSr 6 JP7


_




19.


husebnd, John Wiseman, a baptist minister, but hbd no issue by I

3. Ann Finley, second daughter, born i- Lincoln, Co. "Ky

May 24, 1801; married Jan. 15, 1829, a-jor Robert Green, of-

Abbeville, S. C., and died there Aug. 13, 1857, leaving a fail:

of seven children.

4. Kittie Bruce Pinley, third daughter, born in Lincoln

Co. Ky. May 24, 1803; married first July 19, 1821, William

Brewster, born Oct. 20, 1793; and died Oct. 13, 1854, by whom s]

had ten children: She married secondly major -obert H. Green,

of Abbeville, S. C. husband of her deceased.sister, Ann Finley

Green. Noeissue by this marriage.

5. Mary 'inley, fourth daughter, born 1804; no record.


hime


he


6. Lucinda Ponley, fifth daughter, born 1866; no record.

I come back now to Chadiah Gaires Finley, only son of

George Finley by his second marriage with Mary (Polly) Gaines,

daughter of Williem and Sarah (Strother) Gaines, of Lincoln Co. Ky.

IV. Col. CObdiah Gaines 'inley was born in Bourbon County,

Ky., ay 24, 1a87. He mov d vith his father to Lincolr CountyrKy"

in 1797, wheie he continued to reside until 1809, when, on'the

death of his father, George rinley, he sold his property in i

Lincoln County and moved to Lebanon, Wilson Go. Tenn. There he

first engaged in the manufacture of leather, later (1830) moving

to a large farm two miles from Lebanon, on the Trousdale Ferry

Pike that he had purchased many years before. *He was a man af:

strong character, reared in Kentucky, when it wae a frontier sat ea

He received a limited early education, but owing to his fondness.

for books and thirst for knowledge he became a finely educated ian,


A "




20.


and was pronounced by the Rev. Dr. Lindsley, president of the

Nashville University, one of the best read historians in the-

fGoodsoeed's History of Tennessee, p. 191). Col. Finley was a


member of the Tennessee State Sei

was at Knoxville. He served in

Andrew Jckson (Ibid) and helped

at Tehopeka or Horsehoe Fen, Ala

destroyed the Indian power in th

according to the Enc. AJer. vol.

Orleans. He was married three t:

iary Lewis Johnson (born Aug. 20

dauLghter of Jesse Johnson of ITor

(N. C. Army Rev. Accts. vol. II,

2ndly, in 1831, he married Sarah


nate,

the C

d to


1812-1813, when the capitoI%.,

reek 'Tar under General

overTrheln the Creek Indians


., 27th Mr.

at regicn and

XV. p. 575,

imes: 1st on

, 17 1; died

th Croclina,


17.3

Ann


John so i


wife (born 1788) died Aug. 20, 1757 (No


0

n.

ue


issi


1814,


which battle


made it

the victim

Feb. 26,

Feb. 14,

a Revolu

Vol .-X.

sister

k); 3rdly


possible,

ory at New

1811, to

181^,

tionzry so"

4.1.) .

of his firi

SApril 16


18E1, he married Bettie Wasson of Tennessee (No issue) Colopel,'

irnley died Mar. 27, 1870. Children by the first marriage we r

1. General Jesse Johnson 'inley, eldest son of Col. --

Obadiah Gaines and Mary Lewis (Johnson) Finley, was born at

Lebanon, Tem n. Nov. 17, 1812, and received an academic educ .! l

He was a Captain of Mounted volunteers in the Seminole Wars i. :,:

1836; studied law and ad:.itted to the bar in 1838; located in-.

Arkansas in 1840, and was elected to the State Senate in 184.L:o:,

He removed to Memphis, Tenn. in 1842, and began practicing 1~V#^

elected Mayor of Memphis in 1845, but a year later moved to ..

Florida and was there elected to the State Senate in 1850, gUiS

appointed candidate for Presidential elector on the Whig tickbi,

in 1852. He became Judge of the Western Judicial Uircuit oZf.: di

ro


ldier


Bt


N - -x- - - %01




21.


in 1353

wit -out

rate eta

vz te in

colonel

1c71, h

to the

clineed


,and was elected to the same tw;o :erm-3 thereafter

opposition. In 1861 he wvs elected Judge of the Confede-

tes Cout, but resigned in 1862, and enlisted as a pri-

the Confederate Army, and rose to the rank of Captain,

!-nd Brig:adier-General of the 6th Ploridct Regiment. In

Le located in Jacksonville, Flh., a::d in 1374 .Tat elected

United States Congre :s," nd -e-elected in 1875, but de-

to be c ca ndi'ate in 1878. Hle vT '- :in elected in l O


p.. 1~-1~r oppointe- by the Governor as United 3Sa.=q Senator,

to fil' o-t -n unexpired term. Tie emphtically declined to suc-

cee d hi:elf or io0;7 hi3 n -e to be used, eer.i. n hil .1f

bound by ties cf friendshi. and loa-e r" feeling himself mor'lly

obli-gated to Gov. Perry, .7hoanz 0 Ie:retc .:;ish s3 t: 5e elected

t:S tie u. S. Sen:.te. Perry was not the ch-oice of the caucus,

and a-fter his cause seemed to be hopeless one, delegation

: s. sent ito Gen. Finley. pleading -Sith l.iri to let his n; me to be

used that he >2?.s the choice of the Senmte but Gen. Finley,

ever true to his hih- standar:i of principle a.d honor, still re-=

fused. An outside -as elected. Hee ,w-as later appointed Judge'

of the superior Court (or Circui-t Court it v s then called) fo'

the District of Florida. After retiring Jirom thp Judicial

bench at 84 years old, he moved to Lake City, Florida, and for

six ye-r,3 before his death mide his home with his son Charles-

A. M. Finley. He 4ied in Lake City, Pla. Nov. 12, 1904.


He married


1st:


Amanda C.


Yerger, by


whom he had two


sons- Lucius, a lieutenant in the

Yer er Finley, wpunded in battle,


Confederate

and retired


Army, and Samuel

from active servibo

'*a^117




-


2ndil married Eliza H. Lamb, by whom he h'd one son Gaston Fin-

ley, a soldier in the Confederate Army., and one daughter, Sidney,

who died in infancy; 3rdly married Margaret Harris Martin, of

nolly Sprin-gs, Ess., by whom he had -Charles alexanderr and Mar-

arbet srinley, both of whom are still living, the letter -the widow

of illim vllc-ce 'uynner, vl:orn she married in Europe and who

died in 1924, without issue. Charles Alexander Finley v-.o born

in rianna, Fi. April 21, l4; M rgaret F-inley as b':r~n ov. 2D

1362, married 1,t, Gec. Gleason ..rif.'it:, ho died in 1l87; second-

ly, ,villim ~_ ---ll-ce ?'.ynner, died 1924. S::e is nor: ivi: in

nil-inton,- iTor,th C r.lina.

Charles le--rnder Finley mz--'ried Ar-bell'- Kcncrcief in

etc. ''heir children.

2. 2fapoleon B. Finley, : cod son of Col bObc.dih Gaines

n: .-E .ry Le,:is (Johnson) Finley:, .::3 b rn Dec. 5, 1 and died

"e e:n onl- 12 years :of -;e

3. Dr. lilli.mr M. Finley, third son of Col. Obadii.h

.*'.jenes ..nd eMry Levis (Johins n) Finley s was b.rn .t Lebanon, Tenn.

uct. 11, 1816, an-. received an ac.demie education; volunteered in

.1836 as a private and served in trhe Seminole YTar; returned home.-

in 1337, and entered Cincinnati Colle;e of Medicine, but in 1858F

removed to Tr.nsylvani? University :rt Lexington, Kentucky, from-

whic: institution he was graduated in 1839 with the decree of M.Dl

te loc-.ted in Arkans.s in 1840 and in.2.842 was elected to -he

6tate Legil3ature; in 1843 he removed to Clarksville, Tenn.-, where

he practiced his profession for thirty years. In 1871, owing to -

impaired hearing, he gave up his profession, and purchased and

1I
'


22.




23.




located on1 the old Finley homestead, called "Grassland", near Leba-

non -renn. ie died Dec. 26, 1890. He ma--ried Se--t. 20, 1369,

ar s. Virginria (Conrad) Boyd, (born at S rin fiTld, Tenn. Tov 4,

1824; .ied June 29, 1901), ;,ido-v of George Boyd, ? noted Tennessee

U1 'yer, and druthter of Nicholas s.nd Mrry (Coon) Conrad, of

prir -:fie e), Ten. (by who she "ad one d:aiu.hter, E. ry 3oyd, :ife

of 20oll': TohnsQon ani Mother of 3oyd Johnson, pf Cl-rksville, n'en.)

'"e'r ch-ldren Pe e:

), Vi -:c;nih Lee i _le,- b31r..: in Crksville, Ten., Oct.

~*i
207, 1862,t aaried Dec. 21, l11a2, Clifton roocl 3ra2sford, c.r' in

-en-3br., :y., n. 24, 1385, 3sc of :3en. cnin annc rr ny le.nor

(At-) 3rn-ford..., of 0 ensboro, -.
e/n
Children:

1. iMry 3oyd 3r nsf-or c_, born in O':'ens .ro, sy.

Liov. '3, 1383, am.rried April 14, 1910, Sher: od' >HuTo,'rd Ztandish,

of :e-;roit, lic.., b:-rn June 25. 1583. The: ha.e. thr-e children:

virZgnia Caroline, born at R-.ci--, /is., A.g. 19, 1911;

ag,--ret -ichai-cs, born .t MilJ-.ukee ,/is M r. 31, 1917; Sherwood

nubbzrni Sitndish, Jr., born t St. Louis, Mo. April 12, 1921.

2. Virginia Lee 3ransford, born in 0"-:ensboro, Ky.

june 30, 1338., and died. Nov. 26, 1920; married June 15, 1911,

-..om.s K1arr riivens, born at Providence Ky. Their children --ere.

ulifton .ra-nsford GiVens, born June 27, 1912, died Aug. 30, 191k;

.homas Karr "ivens, Jr., born Nov. 14,"1913, died Dec. 25, 1914;

rcry Finley "ivens, born Nov. 12, 1920.

3. Benjamin Amonet Bransford, born in Owensboro-

Ky., Feb. 7, 1896, died March 6, 1907.

(3) 4. Jessie Conrad Pinley., born intClsrksville,
i-' 1




2.c


.Lenn. Mr.rch 18, 1865; married May 8, 1861, Samuel M. Anderson,

born 1859, .t Lebanon, Tenn.

Children:

1. l.rginic. Lee Anderson, born at Lebanon, Tenn.

june 23, 1662; married 3ept. 3, r9102, G. G. Bryson. No issue Mar-.

ried 3 scondly ijn 118, 1TilTlia. H. acadox of YTew York City; They

.-ha.-:e one ciil; Jeanne -de ..re ie M bdox, born Jan. 20, 1920.

2. M th. .Motley Anders;.-n, born June 23, l`o4,- m~r

ried at Fine Dluff, jArk., Feb. 21, 1904i, 0-car Gordon Johnston,

of Pri-r's- Point :iss.

3. --nley T. Ane: on, bor.- June 5, 13C-, at Le'a:on

,enn. m.rr ieId .ept. 21, 1920, E1sie Booth. They hwve one child,

oanuel motley Anderson, born Oct. 27, 1921.

4. Mary liz-n 'inley,. first id u rhter and fourth child

of Col. ubd'diah Grines nd M ary Le-!is (Johnson) Finley, -;-s born

.iept. 15, 1lj, and died Dec. 1821.

5. ut. John B. *inle--, fourth son of Col. Obadil:h Gaines

and iary .Lewis '(Johnson) 'inley,--r-,s born June 13, 1820, at Leb;-

non, rerin. ie received a practical deduction, '-nd e3,rly evinced

a fondness for milit ry tpcti.cs. ne is said to h:-ve posesesed

d splendid physique ;:nd -t ; the comnencpemer.t of the Wviil w.r Tas

md.e captain of .n Arkansas Company in the Confederate Army. He

haa previously taken the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and ranked

high in the community where he practiced. Owing to-disease he was

compelled to resign his command in the army, and die. at 'Searcy,

Ark. lMr. 16, 1868. He married Nov. 2, 1845, Elizabeth Lamb,'of

Raleigh, N. C., who died in Sept. 6, 1901. Their children were

nC + B""




SI 25.



Miry Uaines, born Sept. 2, 1846; married Sept. 2, 1569, Jacob

zrolich, and died Aug. 2, 1919; "idney Lamb, born Dec. 5, 1848,

married .ec. 13, 1871, George B. Faxon, and died June 13, 1914; Louise

Estelle, born NTov. 30, 1851, married *Tov. 6, 1893, Teal Youn

Bailey, living at MKephis, Tenn.; Serah dilliFms, born June 29,

1854, married June 28, 1,388, Benjamin Archer 'ills, :.nd died Jan.28

1919; Spence Poster Green, born Oct. 31, 1859, died SeOt. 1, 1%76,

.*mraarried.

6. Foster .ne: Finley, r:'ifth son of Col. Oj-diah .2-.ines

_nd Try Leris (:ohnson) Finley, w rs brn E:rch 22, 1o.2. -Ie ;-as

edc'-ciedi t Uamnpbell's Ac demy Leb non, -enn. He .oved to ArI: n3s-"s

in 1635, 'aut soon r-turned to '.il.3on CCunty,'enn. and t. k. up

arriin, to n:iich he devoted the re- of hit life. 'rried fir ;-

in 1-:2, Mary uckner, wbh died the same year,. He nr.rried. secondly

in June 1845, Almira 'Ta-:,r, bor Oct. 10, 1826, and aied iay 14,

1893, d:u;lhter of Isaac and ii.r -re- T.ylor: T eir chilien ere:

Is:-c rylor, o rn June 20, 1847, married Tov. 9, lool; Ma-gie

0-e. rn, of S3t. --u:-ustine, Fl1. ; ]MKry Lou, born Dec. 1, 1852, married

Joseph U.. Peyton, orn April 15, 1854, died Oct. 15, o87. (lrs.

.Peyton is living (1928) in Lebanon, Tenn., and to her indefatigable

efforts iflarc ely dre this genealogy of the Finley f.-mily). Marg.ret

.::ylor born June 15, 1356, died 1928, married -LMrch 27, 1879, August

-. Lampton, of Louisville, Ky,, died A,.ril 29, 18825; William M.-

born Nov. 10, 1857, married in 1686, Nannie J, Carns; Charles D.,

born nov. 11, 1880,drowned in Florida, Nov. 28, 1886; Obadiah


Gaines, born Oct.

ton; they live in
A .i
j Vj


1, 1866, married June

Tampa, Pla.


18, 1894, Margaret L. Hes-




SI 266.



S7. Sar h 'nn Finley, second daughter and seventh child

of' ol Obadiah Gaines and MWry Lewis (Johnson) Yinle-:, was born-Nov.
-4
15, 1323 (1623) married Nov. 4, 1845i Elisha Williams, born Aug.

20, 1624, and died May 21, 1699. She died July 5, 1668. Their

children were: Finley, born Feb. 25, died Feb. 27, 1346; 3ettie

77est, born Dec. 5, 1848, married Feb. 28, 1866, '. E. McCullock,

of olerksvil'le, tern. and -ied Aug. 25, 1920; Marg-aret Phillips,

born '.ov. 15, 1850, married 3e-t. 17, 1884 Dr. A. S. Cook,.

of ,onticello, Ty.., a nd died r rch 13, 36;l 01rar. Lewis, born

Jept. 3rd, 1852, n ver m-rried, living (1928) :t -Henderson, _..y.;

in, born Aug. 2, 1355, married June 6, 1894, Kate T7al.'r, who

die' Oct. 3, 1915; maried seccndly, Oct. .16, 1922, Lillian

Elam, of Henderso Xy. Mary, Finley, born Oct. 23 r359, married
70r -
Yov. 17, 1386, 7i liPn S. VTollowey; Sar.h Ii.!y brr-. Au2. 1WC,

1354, carried arch 17, 1391, E-rtin ". 'Ider, of Clarksville, Tenri.

3. Mary "liz: Fiiley, third d :-ughcer ,.nd eighth child

o: Col. Obr-di.h Gaines and Mrry Lewis (Johnson) i-.ey7, nwas born

*,t Leb non, '_'enn., Dec. 4, 1826, married April 1d47 James Horn'

willirs, and died Nov. 1850. Their children were: "illiam

-Winley, born 1348, married 1875, Christine Keiser, and died 1904;.

Sallie E. bron 1349, married IT. G. C.rtwright; .Alice Eartin, born-

1351, married 1876, Prank Moseley, -.nd died 1o96; Mlry Kate, .

bor; 1853, married 1871, Benjamin H. Bacchus, and died 1897.
A,
The above genealogy wwa. compiled by the undersigned.

(S) Clifton W. Bransford, of Owensboro, Ky




19 \8 -

Aug. 25, 1928 1 ...