aaa-0523.html
Albert Finley France, Untitled manuscript on Finley Family (Annapolis, MD, 1940), section
of Finleys of Virginia, pp. 1-4.
Critique - January 1993
by
Carmen J. Finley, Ph.D., C.G.
Extracts
1. "John Finley Jr. oldest son of John and Thankful Doak Finley ....died Middle River Augusta
County Virginia between April 17, 1791 date of Will and Sept. 20, 2791 proved." Not true, it
was John Finley, Sr. husband of Thankful (Doak) who died in 1791. They did, in fact, live on
Middle River.(1)
2. "On May 13, 1748 John Finley Jr. bought of George Robinson for 100 pounds 892 acres part
of Beverly Manor granted to George Robertson (sic), Feb. 21, 1738." Not true, the John Finley
who bought the Robinson property was a different John Finley, contemporary to the John who
married Thankful Doak. This John Finley lived on South River from the late 1730s to 1765.(2)
3. "Appointed Commissioner to build a meeting house May 18, 1768..." Not true, this was the
John Finley who lived on South River.(3)
4. "Married by the Rev. John Craig on April 24, 1741 Mary Caldwell..." Not true, the John Finley
living on South River was the one who married Mary Caldwell.(4)
5. Issue of John, Jr. according to France... John, George, Jean (m. Trimble), Robert, Margaret (m.
Shields), David, Thomas, Thankful. Not true. These were the children named in the will of John,
Sr. of Middle River who left will of 1791, with the exception of Thomas. Thomas was a mis-transcription of James.(5)
6. "John Finley born 1742 ... died Lincoln County North Carolina 1818, age 76 yrs, 2 months,
married April 10, 1762 Ann Miller." This is the John Finley named in the will of 1791. This is the
question under investigation, more to come later.
7. "George Finley born 1743 ... died Wayne County Ky. 1809, married Virginia, Dec. 18, 1761
Ann Newland, 2d married Ky. Jan. 29, 1786 Mary Gaines." Not true. This is a mixture of two
different George Finleys. George, son of John and Thankful moved south to Washington County,
VA. Ann Newland could have been his first wife; Newlands did live in the neighborhood.
However, the wife named in deeds with him was Jean. (France claims George, son of John and
Thankful, baptised 4 January 1747, married Jean Lyle and died in Logan County, KY in 1812.
The George who lived in Washington County, VA did have wife, Jean and did moved to Logan
County, KY). A second George, son of John of South River who married Mary Caldwell is most
likely the one who married Mary Gains. A more likely interpretation of the facts is that George,
son of John and Thankful married 1) Ann Newland and 2) Jean Lyle. The George who married
Mary Gaines is the son of John and Mary (Caldwell) Finley of South River.(6)
8. "David Finley born Jan. 10, 1748, Baptised Jan 21, 1748 Died Orange County, Ind. 1843,
married Virginia 1768 Elizabeth Mounts." This David Finley was the son of John and Mary
Caldwell, originally of South River ... not directly related to John and Thankful of Middle River.(7)
9. "Thomas Finley born 1749, Baptised April 21, 1750, died South Carolina 1821, married North
Carolina 1769 Elizabeth Ann Austin." John who left the 1791 will did not have a son named
Thomas; he had a son, James, whose name was mis-transcribed from the original will.(8) David,
son of John and Mary Caldwell, had a brother Thomas, who died in South Carolina in 1831, but
he was not married to Elizabeth Ann Austin.(9)
10. "On fly leaf of old bible of Jane (Finley) Smith appears following: Your grandfather was
David Finley, born Jan. 10, 1748 who married Elizabeth Mounts. His father was John Finley and
he married Mary Caldwell, daughter of Thomas Caldwell and a cousin to Martha Caldwell who
was the Mother of the famous statesman, John C. Calhoun." This is the David whose parents
were John and Mary Caldwell, not directly related to John and Thankful of South River.(10)
11. "John Finley III oldest son of John and Mary (Caldwell) Finley, ... died Lincoln County, North
Carolina 1818, age 76 yrs., 2 months, lies buried Bethel Church graveyard. With his brothers,
Robert and Thomas moved from Virginia to North Carolina prior to 1766, as on June 7, 1766
enlisted in Captain Adam's Alexander company of North Carolina militia. (N.C. State records
Vol. XII, page 396) Served with Lincoln men under Captain Evans Shelby in the battle of King's
Mountain Oct. 7, 1780, married April 1762 Ann Miller, daughter of David, who died 1805, age
60 yrs. 3 months, 5 days." This John Finley is not the son of John and Mary (Caldwell) Finley.
Their son, John, lived most of his life in Augusta County and left a will there dated 1807.(11)
Could this be John, son of John and Thankful (Doak) Finley of South River ... the one named in
the 1791 will? Some of France's allegations have already been disproved. Other elements need to
be verified or refuted.
a. There is no Bethel Church graveyard in Lincoln County, NC; however, there is one in York
County, SC just across the county and state line. However, there is no record of burial for a John
Finley this early. But there are Finley burials at a later date.(12)
b. While there was a Robert Finley living in Lincoln County at the time of the 1790 census, he was
too young to be brother of this John Finley.(13)
c. At least one researcher of this Robert Finley believes he, b. c1745 in Augusta County, married
Sarah Breckenridge in 1777 and lived for a while in Southwest Virginia near her parents
(Montgomery, later Wythe County). Soon after, it is said, they moved down the valley of the
Holston River to the western border of NC. They moved on to Blount County, TN where Robert
owned land on Nail's Creek (verified that a Robert Finley did receive a grant for 271+ acres on
Nails Creek in 1807,(14); verified that a Robert Finley appeared on Blount County tax list in 1800,
1801 and 1805).(15) (A Robert Finley also appeared in Blount County Court records as early as 12
September 1796. Blount was formed 1795 from Knox).(16) This same researcher also says
Robert's son, James was born in Blount County in 1796, and Robert sold his Nail's Creek property
in 1818 (verified Blount County DB 2:53).(17) The Robert Finley christened 21 April 1745 was
the son of John and Thankful of Middle River.(18)
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aaa0523
Endnotes
1. Carmen J. Finley, "The John Finleys of Augusta County, Virginia: Some Hypotheses," The Genealogist, in press.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Carmen J. Finley, "The George Finleys of Augusta County, VA," The American Genealogist 64 (October 1989), 216-225.
7. Carmen J. FInley, "David Finley (1754-1848): Correcting the Record," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 76 (June 1988), 112-120.
8. Finley, "The John Finleys of Augusta County, Virginia."
9. Carmen J. Finley, "John and Mary Finley of Montgomery (Wythe) County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist 34 (October-December, 1990), 243-255; 35 (January-March, 1991), 18-33: 35 (April-June, 1991), 123-135; 35 (July-September, 1991), 173-185; 35 (October-December, 1991), 251-262.
10. Finley, "The John Finleys of Augusta County, Virginia."
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. East Tennessee Land Grants, Book 1:349.
15. Byron & Barbara Sistler, Early Tennessee Tax Lists (Evanston, IL: authors, 1977), p. 67.
16. LDS film #888867, A-33.
17. Alverta Brown Martin, Findley Family History: Our Grandfathers (Inglewood, CA: author, 1968).
18. Finley, "The John Finleys of Augusta County, Virginia."