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THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST

Volume 35, Number 2          Whole Number 138
April-June, 1991

CONTENTS

Editor’s Page    82

Descendants of Thomas Love of Lynchburg and Amherst County, Virginia
    By Philip Wayne Rhodes    83

The Henry (Hal) Williams Family of Hanover and Charlotte Counties, Virginia
    By Bernice Williams Yoder    92

Local Notices from The Virginia Gazette, Richmond, 1786 (continued)    101

Progenitors and Kinfolk of Abraham Childers III (continued)
    By Alberta Marjorie Dennstedt    109

Joseph Tucker Randolph’s Family Bible
    Contributed by Mrs. Glorianne E. Fabs    120

John and Mary Finley of Montgomery (Wythe) County, Virginia (continued)
    By Carmen J. Finley    123

Fredericksburg District Court Deed Book A, 1789-1793    137

Book Reviews    140

Queries    155

The Virginia Genealogist (ISSN 0040-645X)
Editor: John Frederick Dorman

Published quarterly by John Frederick Dorman
Business address: Box 5860, Falmouth, Va. 22403-5860

Copyright 1991, by John Frederick Dorman

Subscription rate: $20.00 per year; single issue, $5.00
All subscriptions begin with first issue of year

Postmaster: Send changes of address to
The Virginia Genealogist
Box 5860, Falmouth, Va. 22403-5860
Second-class postage paid at Fredericksburg, Va.

JOHN AND MARY FINLEY
OF MONTGOMERY (WYTHE) COUNTY, VIRGINIA

By Carmen J. Finley, C.G., Ph.D.
Santa Rosa, California

(Continued from V. 35, p. 33)

13. Elizabeth³ Finley (David², John¹) was born 8 Feb. 1802, Garrard Co., Ky., and died 25 Sept. 1889 in Bloomington, McLean Co., Ill.⁸ She married John Holland Sneed, son of John and Sarah (Johnson) Sneed, 2 Sept. 1817, in Lancaster, Garrard Co., Ky.⁹

Apparently, the Sneeds remained for a while in Garrard County after the Finleys had moved on to Indiana, for they are found there in the 1820 census.¹⁰ However, on 28 June 1830, Elizabeth’s parents deeded to the Sneeds 20 acres of the land they (David and Elizabeth) were living on in Orange Co., Ind.¹¹ The Sneeds are also listed in the 1830 census of Orange County living near David and Elizabeth.¹²

The known children of Elizabeth (Finley) and John Sneed are:¹³

71    i.    John A.⁴, born 1818, died 1818.
72    ii.    Harvey F. Sneed, born 26 Sept. 1819, married Clarissa Kersey, died 15 April 1872.
73    iii.    Rufus Sneed, married Mlle. Lebene.
74    iv.    Almira Sneed, born 8 Jan. 1822, married S. Haley, died 4 Nov. 1854.
75    v.    Henry C. Sneed, born 26 May 1824, died 1863, buried at Ft. Snelling, Minneapolis, Minn.
76    vi.    Benjamin Sneed, born 2 May 1826, married Elizabeth Boyd, died 27

8. Information provided by Robert Morton, Torrance, Calif., who has pictures of tombstone marker, verified by author.
9. Garrard Co., Ky., General Index to Marriages, 1797-1858, Box 5, Bond 1097, LDS film #0135235.
10. Garrard Co., Ky., 1820 census, p. 109.
11. Orange Co., Ind., Deed Bk. D, p. 235.
12. Orange Co., Ind., 1830 census, p. 13.
13. Information provided by Robert Morton.

JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

June 1859.

77  vii.  Isabella H. Sneed, born 29 Oct. 1828, married John Dunks, died April 1871.
78  viii.  John A. Sneed, born 10 Dec. 1830, married Elizabeth Day, died 4 June 1877.
79  ix.  Sarah E. Sneed, born 10 Jan. 1833, married F. Wilson, died 3 Oct. 1854.
80  x.  James B. Sneed, born 10 March 1835, married Julia Taylor in 1864, died 30 May 1894.
81  xi.  Mary J. Sneed, born 5 April 1837, married William McCoy, died 3 Jan. 1899.
82  xii.  David F. Sneed, born 10 Aug. 1839, married Alice Hetden, died 18 Aug. 1891.
83  xiii.  Nathan Sneed, born 1842, married Adelaide Cannon.

14. Jefferson³ Finley (David², John¹) was born 16 May 1805 in Garrard Co., Ky., and died 19 Nov. 1829, probably in Orange Co., Ind.⁵⁰ He married Miriam Brooks, 27 Dec. 1825 in Orange Co., Ind.⁵¹ She was born 15 Nov. 1803 in Kentucky, the daughter of John Clark and Hannah (Sharrow) Brooks and died 12 Dec. 1848, probably in Orange County.⁵² After the death of Jefferson, Miriam remarried Andrew Tegarden in Sept. 1832. He was born 15 March 1802, the son of Basil and Annie (Todd) Tegarden of Shelby Co., Ky.⁵³

Jefferson, David and Elizabeth’s youngest child, died at the age of 24 leaving three young children. David made these three grandchildren his major beneficiaries. Jefferson was the first person to be buried in the Finley Cemetery in Orleans. Although Miriam Brooks remarried after his death, she is buried beside Jefferson in the Finley Cemetery.

The children of Jefferson and Miriam (Brooks) Finley are:

+85  i.  Josephine⁴ Finley, born 7 Jan. 1827, probably in Orange County,
+86  ii.  Samuel Finley, born 10 July 1828 in Orange County.

⁵⁰ Gaveston, Finley Cemetery, Orleans, Ind., in Lost River Chapter DAR, Orange County, Indiana, Cemetery Records (Paoli, Ind., 1942), v. 3, p. 224. Also some biographical material in History of Orange County, p. 607, under sons Samuel.

⁵¹ Orange Co., Ind., Marriage Record Index 1816-1920.

⁵² Gaveston, Finley Cemetery, loc. cit.

⁵³ History of Orange County, p. 638.

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+86  ii.  Elizabeth F. Finley, born 10 April 1830, probably in Orange County.

15. Reuben Jefferson³ Finley (Thomas², John¹) was born 31 March 1783 in Montgomery (now Wythe) Co., Va., the son of Thomas Finley and Catherine Kinder.⁵⁴ He died on 9 Aug. 1837 in Overton Co., Tenn.⁵⁵ Reuben married Nancy (McColly) King in Hawkins Co., Tenn., on 7 May 1807.⁵⁶

Reuben was reared by his mother and Andrew Swallow whom she married in the Spring of 1785. Swallow saw Revolutionary War service in Pennsylvania, where he was born, and in North Carolina and Virginia after his move to Montgomery County (later Wythe) around 1780. After his marriage, the family moved to North Carolina and then to Overton Co., Tenn. He was living in Overton County in Sept. 1832 when he made application for a pension. In those papers Reuben is listed as the oldest child. They stated his birth date as 2 March 1783, somewhat at variance with existing Bible records.⁵⁷

In Nov. 1814 Reuben was drafted in Hawkins County for service in the War of 1812 and was discharged at Knoxville 14 May 1815. He was a sergeant under Capt. Staten in a regiment commanded by Col. Dailey in Gen. Colter’s brigade.⁵⁸ Sometime between Sept. 1818 (birth of daughter Rhoda) and Jan. 1821 (birth of daughter Polly), the family moved to Overton County. Reuben obtained land grants in Overton County between 1825 and 1839 totaling 250 acres.⁵⁹

After the death of Reuben’s father, Thomas, in Dec. 1831, Alexander Hunter, executor of the estate, apparently tried to locate Reuben. A letter written by Hunter, dated 19 June 1833, explained he had made inquiries of the deceased’s brother in Kentucky, to no avail. However, word apparently did reach Reuben, for he wrote to the Ordinary at Abbeville Courthouse to make his whereabouts known. Hunter invited Reuben to visit his stepmother,

54. Andrew Swallow pension papers, W.61, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C.; Bible record in possession of Bonnie F. Sells, Livingston, Texas; will of Thomas Finley, Abbeville, S.C., Will Bk. 2, p. 301.
55. Bible record in possession of Sally (Finley) Moore, Dunlap, Tenn.
56. Bible record in possession of James D. Finley, Modesto, Calif.
57. Andrew Swallow Pension papers, loc. cit.
58. Information provided by James D. Finley.
59. Overton Co., Tenn., Deed Bk. 1, pp. 731, 180; Deed Bk. C, p. 241; Deed Bk. R, p. 82.

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JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

Jane (Clark) Finley, in Abbeville and expressed the opinion she might be willing to give him some of her property before her death. “She has more property than is really useful to her at present. She sometimes addressed a desire that you move here & live near her.”⁶⁰ Whether Reuben made this visit is not known. However, Reuben never saw any of the property his father left him for he died soon after, on 9 Aug. 1837 at the age of 54,⁶¹ and Thomas’ widow, Jane (Clark) Finley, was still living at that time. The confusion that ensued is continued in the section on Reuben’s son Thomas Milton Finley below. Nancy lived for some years after Reuben’s death and on 16 Aug. 1852 she made a deposition for the purpose of claiming bounty land, to which she was entitled for his service in the War of 1812.⁶² She received a warrant for 80 acres. When a new act of Congress was passed in March 1855 she reapplied for additional bounty land to which she might be entitled.⁶³ Thus she was still alive and still a widow on that date, 23 June 1855.

The children of Reuben Jefferson and Nancy (McCulley, King) Finley were:⁶⁴

+87  i.  Thomas Milton⁴ Finley, born 10 Nov. 1808, Hawkins Co., Tenn.
88  ii.  Isaac Newton Finley, born 6 June 1811, Hawkins Co., Tenn.; married Elizabeth Cozarter, 25 Dec. 1835, Overton Co., Tenn.; died 30 Aug. 1899, Overton Co., Tenn.
89  iii.  William Orville Finley, born 16 Jan. 1814, Hawkins County, died 1 Nov. 1832, Overton County.
90  iv.  Granville Huston Finley, born 16 June 1816, Hawkins Co., Tenn.⁶⁵ On 3 April 1851 he married Mary Maxey in Jackson Co., Tenn.⁶⁶ At some time after the death of his brother Thomas Milton he continued the quest for the family legacy and just prior to his marriage, 4 March 1851, he received a letter from Alexander Hunter urging him to get everything in order so that the estate could be

⁶⁰ Letter addressed to Reubin Finley from Alexr. Hunter Acting Executor of Thos Finley, dec’d., dated 19 June 1833. Originals in possession of Sally (Finley) Moore.

⁶¹ Bible record in possession of Sally (Finley) Moore.

⁶² Information provided by James D. Finley.

⁶³ Ibid.

⁶⁴ Vital dates came from a Bible record in possession of James D. Finley.

⁶⁵ Bible record in possession of Sally (Finley) Moore.

⁶⁶ Ibid.

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settled.⁶⁷ Finally, on 15 May 1851, Granville received a letter from Hunter instructing him to bring papers with him and plan to meet with the Court of Equity the second Monday in June.⁶⁸ Final settlement is not apparent from the existing records. Granville was a doctor and served in the Confederate cause during the Civil War.⁶⁹ He died Sept. 1862.⁷⁰

91  v.  Rhoda Finley, born 15 Sept. 1818, Hawkins Co., Tenn.; married Robert Oakley, 4 Jan. 1838, Overton County; died 2 Feb. 1890, Overton County.

92  vi.  Mary Ann (Polly) Finley, born 29 Jan. 1821, Overton County; married Abi Dock, 2 April 1846, Overton County.

93  vii.  Jane (King or Katherine) Finley, born 18 Feb. 1823, Overton County; married William Walker, died 19 Sept. 1891, possibly in Arkansas.

94  viii.  Reuben Jefferson Finley, born 2 May 1826, Overton County; married Henrietta Lara Walker, 2 July 1846. He was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. He was shot by three Yankee Bushwackers and died 26 Jan. 1865, Overton County.

95  ix.  Nancy Ann Finley, born 5 March 1833, Overton County; died 29 Sept. 1949, Overton County.

GENERATION FOUR

27. John⁴ Fin(d)ley (Edmund³, David², John¹) was probably the eldest son of Edmund and Catherine Finley, he was born about 1810 in Tennessee.⁷¹ He married his first cousin, Mahala Finley, daughter of Samuel, on 25 Dec. 1831,⁷² probably in Orange Co., Ind. He married second Sarah Masters,

67. Letter from A. Hunter to Granville H. Finley, 4 March 1851, in possession of Sally (Finley) Moore.
68. Letter from A. Hunter to Granville H. Finley, 15 May 1851, in possession of Sally (Finley) Moore.
69. Diary kept by Mary Ann Hulsey, granddaughter of Reuben J. Finley, Jr., copy in possession of Rex Hulsey, Walnut Creek, Calif.
70. Bible record in possession of James D. Finley.
71. Hunt Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 416, family 163-169; Los Angeles Co., Calif., 1860 census, p. 537, family 515-504; Tulare Co., Calif., 1870 census, p. 276, family 65-66.
72. Bible record in possession of author.
73. Also Ethel Work Blalock, “Garold’s Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother,” written about 1916, in possession of writer. She was a granddaughter of John Finley through Sarah Masters.

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on 22 March 1840 in Jackson Co., Mo.⁸¹ He married, third, Elizabeth Finley, youngest sister of Mahala, his first wife.⁸² John died 7 Aug. 1871 in Tulare Co., Calif., the result of a shotgun wound.⁸³ (See section 8. on Samuel Finley for information on Mahala; section 37. on Elizabeth.)

John and Mahala moved on to Decatur, Macon Co., Ill., about the time Mahala’s father, Samuel, and his young family went there, or shortly after. Allens, John and Mahala are prominent in the court cases of Macon County when it came time to settle Samuel’s estate in 1836. On 29 Aug. 1836 John and Mahala petitioned the court for the division of Samuel’s property.⁸⁴ There was also a John Finley who was an administrator of the estate of Daniel Porter with inventory made 17 March 1836,⁸⁵ as well as a number of court cases involving a John Finley during this general time period.⁸⁶ However, they were gone before March 1840, since Jacob Black made a statement to the effect that “John Finley and Mahala his wife (formerly Mahala Finley), Jefferson Finley and James Finley, heirs of Samuel Finley, dec’d, of the County of Macon are not residents of this state but reside in the State of Missouri.”⁸⁷ Mahala disappeared from the records about this time when John married Sarah Masters.

An exhaustive search was made to try to determine what happened to Mahala, to no avail. Ethel Work Blalock, granddaughter of John, claims Mahala died and that John and Mahala had nine children.⁸⁸ Since John and Mahala were married in Dec. 1831, nine children would have been pushing the limits, unless there was at least one set of twins.⁸⁹ However, no supporting documents have, as yet, been found concerning Mahala’s disappearance or any indication of children they may have had.

While there were eight John Fin(d)leys in the 1840 Missouri census index, there was only one whose profile seemed to satisfy what was known

81. Jackson Co., Mo., Marriage Bk. 1-2, p. 153.
82. Tulare Co., Calif., Probate Court, estate #119. Also Ethel Work Blalock, loc. cit.
83. Alta A. Frost, Tulare County Killings, v. 3 (n.p., 1943), pp. 353A-b-392.
84. Macon Co., Ill., Probate Bk. A, p. 76.
85. Jean Purks Ruffin, Abstracts of Macon County, Illinois, Probate Court Records, 1831-1847 (n.p., 1983), p. 14.
86. Macon Co., Ill., Abstracts of Circuit Court Records, pp. 21-24, 30.
87. Macon Co., Ill., Probate Box #1, case #17, LDS film #983231.
88. Ethel Work Blalock, granddaughter of John Finley by Sarah Masters, was born 16 June 1894, died 12 Nov. 1978.
89. Mahala’s brother John did have a set of twins.

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about this John Finley. He was in Boone Township, Van Buren County, in the general neighborhood of Edinard and his son David.⁹⁰ However, the oldest female in the household was 15-20, and Sarah would have been about 24 years old. Also living in the household were three males 20-30, one female under 5 and one female 5-10. The males could easily be accounted for as John himself (born about 1810), and Mahala’s two younger brothers, Jefferson (born 1818) and James (born 1821). Jefferson had married Frances Poe on 1 Feb. 1838 in Macon Co., Ill.⁹¹ While her birth date is not known, she would need to be only two or three years younger than Jefferson to be in the age category 15-20. It is, of course, possible this is not the John Finley of interest.

John and Sarah were found in Hunt Co., Texas, in 1850, not far from Jesse and Rachel (Colglazure) Finley.⁹² They had five children ranging in age from 2 to 9. Birth place of the three oldest children was given as Arkansas, placing the family there for about the period 1841 to 1846. However, a part of North Texas extending to the Sabine River and the headwaters of the Trinity River was once claimed by Arkansas. This area of Texas was Miller Co., Ark. The boundary in dispute was not settled until 1838 when the lands south of the Red River were assigned to Texas.⁹³ According to a published biography of William J. Finley, son of John and Sarah, he was born along the Sabine River 22 Feb. 1851.⁹⁴ In addition, John’s uncle, Jesse Finley, was also placed on Lake Fork Creek of the Sabine River by a survey done in June 1850.⁹⁵ That, coupled with the fact that Hunt County was formed in 1846 from Fannin and Nacogdoches counties, makes one wonder if John and Sarah really moved or whether they were just living within the disputed area.

Also living in their household in 1850 was Elizabeth Finley, age 21, Mahala’s youngest sister, who was destined to be John’s third wife. It is not known precisely when John and Sarah parted, nor when John and Elizabeth

⁹⁰ Van Buren Co., Mo., 1840 census, p. 129.

⁹¹ Macon Co., Ill., Marriages, p. 13.

⁹² Hunt Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 416, family 163-169.

⁹³ William Thorndale and William Dollarhide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 (Baltimore, 1987), p. 34.

⁹⁴ Eugene L. Menefee and Fred A. Dodge, History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California (Los Angeles, 1913), p. 844.

⁹⁵ Hunt Co., Texas, Surveyors Record A, p. 468.

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married. However, John and Sarah’s son, William, was born 22 Feb. 1851 and a daughter, Mary, was born about 1852,⁹⁶ while John and Elizabeth’s first son, David, was born about 1855-56. According to the 1860 census David was born in Texas, but the 1870 census gives his place of birth as Arkansas.⁹⁷ This also lends credence to the theory that the Finleys were living within the disputed area. By 1860, both John and his new family and Sarah and her family were living near each other in Los Angeles Co., Calif.⁹⁸ John’s daughter Julia Ann, by Sarah, then about 16, had married Moses Hart and they were also living close to John and Elizabeth.⁹⁹ On 6 April 1865 John bought 700 acres in Drum Valley, Tulare Co., Calif.¹⁰⁰ It was about this time that John’s surname consistently took on the spelling “Findley.” By 1870 John and Elizabeth had five children ranging in age from 1 to 14.¹⁰¹ The next year, on 7 Aug. 1871, John was shot and killed. There are extensive records in Tulare County for John Fin(d)ley both in Probate Court and in a local history.¹⁰² A synopsis follows:

On 10 Aug. 1871 the Visalia Weekly Delta carried the following:¹⁰³
HORRIBLE MURDER:—We understand that Mr. John Findley, an old resident and a well known citizen, was murdered at his residence on Monday evening last. The old man was at home, in bed, when, just as the moon was rising, he heard someone call for him in the direction of the dooryard fence. He arose and went to the fence, some three rods from the door, when two men came up out of the creek bed, from the other side, and when within a few feet, one of them discharged what seems to have been a double-barreled shotgun in Mr. Findley’s forehead, carrying away the whole top part of the head, and leaving the brains scattered about the dooryard. Whatever of the clues there may be to this fiendish act, it is a matter that we feel bound to forebear discussing for the present.

⁹⁶ Los Angeles Co., Calif., 1860 census, loc. cit.

⁹⁷ Ibid.; 1870 census, p. 538, family 65-64.

⁹⁸ Los Angeles Co., Calif., 1860 census, p. 537, family 515-504; p. 538, family 523-512.

⁹⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰⁰ Tulare Co., Calif., Deed Bk. F, pp. 494-95.

¹⁰¹ Tulare Co., Calif., 1870 census, loc. cit.

¹⁰² Frost, loc. cit.

¹⁰³ On 12 Aug. 1871 the Tulare Times carried a similar item.

129

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The County Coroner moved very quickly. A jury of six persons¹⁰⁶ was assembled on 9 August and statements were obtained from John’s widow, Elizabeth, and their oldest daughter, Catherine.¹⁰⁵ Elizabeth testified that on the night her husband was killed she heard him talking to someone about a sick horse. She asked who it was, to which he replied that he talked like Thomas Woody. Elizabeth heard the voice and stated she believed it to be Tom Woody. She heard her husband ask who else was present to which the answer was “a boy.” She heard two gunshots and ran out to find her deceased husband. Catherine’s testimony included the following:

That on the night of the 7th inst. I work up and heard mother inquiring of father who he was talking to; he said the person talked mighty like Tom Woody. I heard father say, you talk mighty like Tom Woody. You are not allow, over here. The man said yes sir, I saw two person, on horseback close up to the fence; they looked like well-grown men; father asked them where they come from; one of them said from the Old Mill Road; father asked them how they got off the Old Mill Road in here; the man did not answer this last question … Immediately after the last question and answer, there were two gunshots fired, and father fell dead. I believe that I could tell whose voice it was that was talking with father. I am almost certain that it was Tom Woody.”¹⁰⁶

The coroner’s jury stated:

We, the undersigned jurors impaneled to hold an inquest upon the body of a man killed at John Findley’s residence, find that the deceased is John Findley; that he is a native of the State of Tennessee and that he is 61 years old, and that he came to his death on the night of the 7th inst. at his own residence by a gunshot or gunshots in the head of some person or persons unknown to this jury. We find the homicide was done with criminal intent.

A grand jury investigation followed and in the County Court of Tulare on 11 Nov. 1871, Thomas Woody and George Reeves were accused and indicted for the murder of John Findley. The trial took place during 1872 and 1873.

¹⁰⁵ Three of the six included R. M. Work, J. Work, Wm. Work. John Findley’s daughter, Nancy Caroline, had married Will Work in 1864.

¹⁰⁶ Tulare Co., Calif., Coroner’s Inquest pg. 11.

¹⁰⁷ Tom Woody’s sister Ellen had married John’s son William; hence he was a brother to John’s daughter-in-law.

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appointed guardian to Elizabeth’s minor children. This included, in addition to himself, his brother William and his sister, Mrs. William Work. On 23 November Elizabeth petitioned the court as executrix, saying:

That said deceased and family at the time of his death resided in the foothills in Tulare County and so removed from School facilities that the education of said minor children had been greatly neglected. That in order to get said children to some place convenient to School she had been obliged to remove from her said home in the foothills and establish a residence elsewhere.

Because of the necessary expenses incurred she further asked for $125 per month out of the proceeds of the estate due her and her children until the final settlement of the estate. Her request was approved. Elizabeth filed the final account of her administration on 3 March 1873. At that time the total value of the estate was $23,291.18. She also stated that while she had been appointed both executrix and guardian of her minor children, more recently and at her request her brother John, of Sonoma County, had been duly appointed guardian by the Probate Court of Sonoma County on 10 Feb. 1873. Meanwhile, in Jan. 1872, Elizabeth bought 160 acres in Sonoma County near her brothers John and Samuel.¹⁰⁹ On 23 March 1873 Elizabeth married Franklin Hutchinson in Tulare County.¹¹⁰

Known children of John and Sarah (Masters) Finley include:

96. i. John⁵ Finley, born about 1841 in Arkansas.¹¹¹ As eldest son of this family, it was he who tried to protect the interests of his full brothers and sisters in the petition mentioned in the preceding section.

97. ii. Julia Ann Finley, born 18 Dec. 1843¹¹² in Arkansas; married Moses Hart 15 July 1859;¹¹³ died 21 Jan. 1908, Kern Co., Calif.¹¹⁴ Moses Hart was born 1 Dec. 1833 in Conway Co., Ark., the son of

¹⁰⁹ Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 39, pp. 302-03, which gives the date of the deed as 15 June 1872; however, papers in possession of the family indicate a mortgage was taken on 5 Jan. 1872.

¹¹⁰ Tulare Co., Calif., Marriage Bk. A, p. 329.

¹¹¹ Hart Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 416, family 163-169.

¹¹² Death certificates for Julia Ann Hart, local registrar no. 10, Kern Co., Calif., County Recorder, Bakersfield, Calif. Certified copy in possession of author.

¹¹³ Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California (Chicago, n.d.), p. 777.

¹¹⁴ Death certificate, loc. cit.

JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

133

Josiah Hart.¹¹⁵

98. iii. Edmund Finley, born about 1846 in Arkansas.¹¹⁶ Edmund is not listed as a heir of his father so probably preceded him in death. In fact, he is not living with his mother in the 1860 census, so possibly died before that time.

99. iv. Nancy Caroline Finley, born 13 May 1849 in Texas, died Nov. 1923 in Mt. View, Fresno Co., Calif.¹¹⁷ She married Will Work in 1864.¹¹⁸

100. v. Martha Finley, born about 1848 in Texas.¹¹⁹ She is said to have died on the way from Texas to California, about 1857.¹²⁰

101. vi. William J. Finley, born 22 Feb. 1851, Sabine, Texas.¹²¹ He married Ellen L. Woody, 24 Feb. 1869, at Sand Creek, Tulare Co., Calif.¹²² It was his brother-in-law, Thomas Woody, who was convicted of killing his father, John Findley. William died 15 Nov. 1917¹²³ in Dinuba, Tulare County.

102. vii. Mary Finley, born about 1852.¹²⁴

Children of John and Elizabeth (Finley) Finley include:¹²⁵

103. i. David Finley, born about 1855-56.

104. ii. Catherine M. Finley, born 1 Oct. 1859, San Bernardino, Calif. She married William Alvurtus Akers, 12 Sept. 1874 at Squaw Valley, Fresno Co., Calif.; died 4 Dec. 1942 in Coalinga, Fresno County.¹²⁶

¹¹⁵ Memorial and Biographical History …, loc. cit.

¹¹⁶ Hart Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 416, family 163-169.

¹¹⁷ Death certificate for Nancy Caroline Work, local registered no. 94, Tulare Co., Calif., County Recorder, Visalia, Calif. Certified copy in possession of author.

¹¹⁸ Sequoia Genealogical Society, Tulare County, California, Marriage Records, Index 1851-1982 (Visalia, Calif., n.d.), p. 53.

¹¹⁹ Hart Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 416, family 163-169.

¹²⁰ Memorial and Biog., loc. cit.

¹²¹ Read from tombstone marker, Smith Mountain Cemetery, Dinuba, Tulare Co., Calif., by Michelle Yohnson, Visalia, Calif.

¹²² Sequoia Genealogical Society, op. cit., p. 16.

¹²³ Read from tombstone marker by Michelle Yohnson.

¹²⁴ Los Angeles Co., Calif., 1860 census, p. 538. However, this census also says her half-brother David, who is three years younger, was born in Texas.

¹²⁵ Birth information obtained from Los Angeles Co., Calif., 1860 census, p. 537, and Tulare Co., Calif., 1870 census, p. 274, except for Catherine and Elizabeth.

¹²⁶ Donna M. Hull, And Then There Were Three Thousand (Fresno, 1975), p. 236, which contains several pages of biographical information.

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105. iii. Elizabeth Finley, born about 1862 in California; married (1) Seaborn N. (Zeb) Lashley, 25 April 1876 in Centerville, Fresno Co., Calif.; (2) Frank Hupperty after March 1883.¹²⁷

106. iv. Samuel F. Finley, born about 1864 in California; married Emma Chambers.¹²⁸

107. v. Harvey Finley, born about 1869, probably in Drum Valley, Tulare Co., Calif. He married Mamie Huassaker, daughter of George and Nancy Ann Huassaker.¹²⁹

108. vi. Jefferson Finley, born June 1871, was but 2 months old when his father died.

28. David⁴ Finley (Edmund³, David², John¹) was born about 1815 in Missouri.¹³⁰ David is first found in the 1840 census in Van Buren Co., Mo., living next door to his parents. At that time there was one female 20-30 and one female under 5 years living in his household.¹³¹ David and Margaret A., his wife, sold property in Cass County in 1845 and 1848.¹³² In 1850 they were found in Hopkins Co., Texas, living near Lewis and Letecia Findley.¹³³ David and Margaret were founding members of the Harmony Presbyterian Church at Mt. Zion in 1849.¹³⁴ From the 1850 and 1860 censuses¹³⁵ it is possible partially to construct their family:

109. i. Rachel⁵ Finley, born about 1838 in Missouri.

110. ii. John Finley, born about 1842 in Missouri.

111. iii. Katherine Finley, born about 1846 in Missouri.

112. iv. Marlena Finley, born about 1851 in Texas, married John N. Harris in Hopkins County, 11 Sept. 1868.

113. v. Harvey Finley, born about 1853 in Texas.

114. vi. Thomas Finley, born about 1855 in Texas.

¹²⁷ Ibid., p. 448.

¹²⁸ Ibid., p. 449.

¹²⁹ Ibid., p. 447.

¹³⁰ Calculated from Hopkins Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 22, family 156-156.

¹³¹ Van Buren Co., Mo., 1840 census, p. 138.

¹³² Cass Co., Mo., Deed Bk. C, p. 389; Deed Bk. F, pp. 10, 148.

¹³³ Hopkins Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 20, family 156-156.

¹³⁴ Information supplied by Jeanne Branson.

¹³⁵ Hopkins Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 20, family 156-156; 1860 census, p. 602, family 721-716.

JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

135

29. Lewis⁴ Finley (Edmund³, David², John¹) was born about 1825 in Missouri.¹³⁶ He married Leticia Wade, 13 April 1849 in Hopkins Co., Texas. They were also founding members of the Harmony Presbyterian Church at Mt. Zion.¹³⁷ They were found in both the 1850 census of Hopkins County and the 1860 census in Hunt County.¹³⁸ Known children include:

115 i. Edmund⁵ Finley, born 1850 in Hopkins Co., Texas.

116 ii. Nancy Finley.

117 iii. Mary Ann Finley.

(To be continued)

¹³⁶ Calculated from Hopkins Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 22, family 165-165.

¹³⁷ Information supplied by Jeanne Branson.

¹³⁸ Hopkins Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 22, family 165-165; Lamar Dodson Stacy, 1860 Census of Hunt County, Texas (Farmersville, Texas, 1979), family 50-50.