Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1934-02-22

! the law and their church. A high
, land family of the county, in th
vicinity of Inverss, Scotland, origil
of the clan is derived from th
grandfather of Shakespeare here
Macbeth, or Finley his sur name
and in his downfall and assassina
ton whichever, brought about by ;
mere party combination after which
some time after the 18th century
the clan began to migrate south
ward. Certain members stopped il
the lowlands, others on the western
coast of Scotland; others crossed
over into the north of Ireland
i From the Irish branch the an.
cestors of the American Finleys de.
rived descent; they tarried for a
while in the lowlands. A John
Finley rented a twelfth part of a
tract of land in Penticost, by the
! Cupar Angus Cesterciae Abbey
( 1853. | could trace several of the
early Finleys from records, but my
article | see would be too long and
1 tedious, so will write briefly of \
few OF the more prominent ones.
Many of these early Finleys settled
! In Pennsylvania, and later found
their way to the Carolinas, Ken
lucky and Ohio.
The Rev. DR.. Samuel Finley,
president Of Princeton college, and
i ancestor of Prof. Samuel Finley
Breeze Morse, the inventor of the
/ electric telegraph, was a native of
Armagh county, Ireland, to which
his parents fled from Scotland on
account of persecution, and emf
grated in 1874 at the age of 19 to
Pennsylvania. He was one of sew
en- brothers, some of whom settled
| in Cumberland county.
Another, John Finley, a relative
of the F'inleys of Cumberland, is
known as the pilot of Daniel Boone
to Kentucky. 1t is said that of all
the pioneers, the least justice has
been done to Finley.
The truth seems to be that such
was the wandering character of his
life, that but little comparatively
can be learned of him at this re-
mote period. He appears to be
native of the north of Ireland and
early emigrated to the region Of
Carlisle, Cumberland county, Penn
sylvania. As early as 1852 we find
Finley engaged as an Indian trader
in Kentucky. He met Daniel Boone
In Gen. Braddock's campaign in
1855. During the winter of 1868
1863 Boone was agreeably surpris-
ed by the arrival of his old COM
rade Finley at his rustic home on
the Upper Yadkin. 1t was from
this home in May, 1863, that Fin
ley and Boone accompanied by
three other men started out on
their long and toilsome journey to
Kentucky.
Another, William P. Finley, was
the third son of Rev. Robert w.
Finley, of Kentucky He was born
in South Carolina in 1885 and emf
grated with his parents to Ken
lucky From childhood he was
quite companionable and lad a ma
ture full of wit and humor. He
entered the itinerancy at the con-
ference held in Cincinnati in 1914
He served the Paint Creek, Brush
Creek, Miami and Scioto circuits of
the Methodist church faithfully for
many years. His last appointment
was Strait Greek circuit in 1900.
After serving this circuit for one
year, he was returning from trip
when his horse became frightened
and he was injured on a bridge
which he was crossing. AS a re-
suit of this injury he was forced to
give up his preaching.
From the Cumberland Finleys,
or Findleys as it is sometimes spell
ed, descended the late General
Thomas Finley of Chillicothe and
the Rev. J. B. Finley of Columbus.
He was the son of Robert w. Fin
ley, Presbyterian missionary in
North Carolina. In 1888 the fam
lily moved to Kentucky, in the
neighborhood of Maysville, where
they were neighbors of the ia
nous Indian fighter Simon Kenton
In 1896 they came to Ohio and aid
ed in the founding of Chillicothe.
On visit to Kentucky a few years
later James Finley attended
Methodist revival, became convert
ed, and was made circuit rider on
the Wills Creek circuit, a distance
which extended as far south as
Morgan county and north to Can
ton. Then there were other Finleys
in Pennsylvania. A distinct fam
lily settled in Franklin county from
whom descended Governor William
Finley of Pennsylvania, Gen. James
Finley of Cincinnati, and Thomas
Finley, late postmaster at Balti-
more. William Finley who served
in the Revolutionary war and SUBJ
sequently settled in Westmoreland
county, and was member of the
Pennsylvania convention in 1889
and afterwards of congress, came
directly from Ireland to this coun-
try.
/ have in my possession a copy of
will of Robert Finley, my great great
grandfather, dated Oct. 27, 1906.
wonder if many readers of your pa
per can give any older will: / give
and bequeath to my beloved wife
Sarah the full command and benefit
of the room that we now live in,
during her natural life, together
with all the household furniture
that I may die possessed of. and she
shall have the privilege of choosing
milk cows and six sheep immed-