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THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST

Volume 35, Number 3          Whole Number 139
July-September, 1991

CONTENTS

Editor’s Page    162

The Maternal Ancestry of Henry Spane
    By John Anderson Brayton    163

John and Mary Finley of Montgomery (Wythe) County, Virginia
(continued)
    By Carmen J. Finley    173

Loudoun County, Virginia, 1800 Tax List    186

Descendants of Thomas Love of Lynchburg and Amherst County, Virginia (continued)
    By Philip Wayne Rhodes    190

Progenitors and Kinfolk of Abraham Childers III (concluded)
    By Alberta Marjorie Dennstedt    199

Will of Alice Catlin of King and Queen County, Virginia, 1791
    Contributed by Minor Weisiger    208

Fredericksburg District Court Deed Book A, 1789-1793 (continued)
Mills Families of Virginia
    By Joan Davis Hacker and Kathryn Dickerson Shannon    215

The Maiden Name of John Wilkins’ First Wife
    By John B. Bell    229

Book Reviews    231

Queries    238

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
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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. 135)

31.  Alvin⁴ Finley (Samuel³, David², John¹) was born 9 Oct. 1811 in Orange Co., Ind.¹³⁹ and married Hannah Black, 12 Nov. 1835 in Macon Co., Ill.¹⁴⁰ He died in 1838 at the age of about 26.¹⁴¹ Alvin was the eldest son when his father died in Sept. 1835. As related above in his father’s probate records, he had a somewhat stormy time settling his father’s estate and providing for his underage siblings before his own premature death. Further information on Alvin is fragmentary. Correspondence with the Macon County Circuit Clerk indicates a probate file exists for Alvin but the file appears as missing.¹⁴² Court abstracts also list, in June 1839, the case of the President, Directors and Company of the State Bank of Illinois vs. Jacob Black, Jr.,¹⁴³ and Hannah Finley, administrators for Hannah Finley and Mary Elizabeth Finley, heirs at law of Alvin Finley, deceased.¹⁴⁴ From this one would conclude that Alvin and Hannah (Black) Finley had one child:

118    i.    Mary Elizabeth⁵ Finley, probably born between 1836 and 1838, probably in Macon Co., Ill.

32.  Nancy J.⁴ Finley (Samuel³, David², John¹) was born 25 Feb. 1816 in

139. Bible record in possession of author.
140. Macon Co., Ill., Marriage Records, p. 10.
141. Macon Co., Ill., Abstracts of Circuit Court Records, p. 26.
142. Paul M. Hogan, Circuit Clerk of Macon County, Ill., 20 April 1981, stating estate file #43 for Alvin states but there are no file papers.
143. Assignee record in favor for Jacob Black, 12 Nov. 1835, the same day Alvin Finley and Hannah Black were married.
144. Macon Co., Ill., Abstracts of Circuit Court Records, p. 32.

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Orange Co., Ind.¹⁴⁵ She married George Marbern Braden, son of Irish immigrant Samuel and Nancy (Young) Braden,¹⁴⁶ 26 Dec. 1833 in Decatur, Ill.¹⁴⁷ Nancy and George appear in the 1840 census of Macon County with one son and one daughter under 5 years of age.¹⁴⁸ George died 15 Nov. 1852.¹⁴⁹ Nancy moved to Sonoma Co., Calif., near her younger brothers John and Samuel, for she married George O. Gage there 25 March 1860.¹⁵⁰ Nancy and George are found in the 1860 and 1870 censuses of Sonoma County living near Nancy’s brothers John and Samuel.¹⁵¹ Nancy died 15 Sept. 1886 at The Dalles, Wasco Co., Ore.

Known children of Nancy J. Finley and George Braden include:¹⁵²

119    i.    William Braden, born about 1842.
120    ii.    Elizabeth Braden, born about 1845.
121    iii.    Julia Ann Braden, born about 1848.
122    iv.    Almyra J. Braden, born about 1852.

35.  John⁴ Finley (Samuel³, David², John¹) was born 5 June 1823 in Orange Co., Ind.¹⁵³ He married Keziah Head, 5 Sept. 1854; she was born 14 Jan. 1828 in Tennessee.¹⁵⁴ Keziah died of tuberculosis 8 Nov. 1903 in Graton, Sonoma County.¹⁵⁵ John died 29 Nov. 1910 in Bodega, Sonoma County.¹⁵⁶ They are buried at Spring Hill Cemetery, Sebastopol, Sonoma County.

John was 9 years old when his mother died and the family moved to

145. Bible record in possession of author.
146. John W. Smith, History of Macon County, Illinois, from its Organization to 1876 (Springfield, 1876), p. 81.
147. Macon Co., Ill., Marriage Records, p. 7.
148. Macon Co., Ill., 1840 census, p. 6.
149. Nancy Braden family Bible, in possession of Sela Gook, Medford, Ore.
150. Ibid.
151. Sonoma Co., Calif., 1860 census, Analy Township, p. 491, family 87-88; 1870 census, Bodega, p. 259, family 167-168.
152. Estimated from 1860 and 1870 census records, loc. cit.
153. Bible record in possession of author. His death certificate gives birth date as 6 June 1823, the photograph of tombstone is consistent with Bible record.
154. Bible record in possession of author.
155. Sonoma Co., Calif., Death Records, Bk. 43, p. 44. Also tombstone picture in possession of author.
156. Death certificate for John Finley, Sonoma Co., Calif., State Index 503.

174

JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

Decatur, Macon Co., Ill. His father, Samuel, died about three years later. The details of at least three guardians, including his brother, Alvin, who also died when John was but 15 in 1838 are given in the preceding section on his parents. John’s two older brothers, Jefferson and James, went to Missouri with the oldest sister, Mahala, and her husband John Findley sometime prior to 1840.¹⁵⁷ But the whereabouts of John and his younger siblings at that time has not been determined, possibly they remained in Decatur.

There is also some confusion as to where he and Keziah were married and lived between 1844 and 1850. Family records say the marriage took place in Pine Ridge, Ark., and their first four children were born there (with the possible exception of James William whose birth place is given as Buffalo Springs, Mo., or Pine Ridge, 17 Jan. 1848). However, this is contrary to census record information found in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900. John and Keziah are found in Bates Co., Mo., in 1850. Only sons Samuel, 5, and John, 4, were living with them (James William had died 17 July 1850). Their birth places were both given as Missouri.¹⁵⁸ Successive census records in California all give the birth place of Samuel, born 1846, John, born 1850, and Henry, born 1852, as Missouri.¹⁵⁹ All other children were born in California.

In 1852 the young family joined a wagon train heading west from St. Joseph, arriving in Sonoma Co., Calif., late that year. At first they leased farming land in the Tomales-Bloomfield (also Valley Ford and Irish Hill) area and raised potatoes. It was not until Feb. 1863 that they made their first land purchase, 486.12 acres in Bodega at the head of Salmon Creek.¹⁶⁰ This was part of the original Bodega Rancho which had been granted to Capt. Stephen Smith in 1843 by the Mexican government before California was ceded to the United States. John and Keziah bought this property from Tyler Curtis, guardian and stepfather of Stephen, Manuel and James Smith, heirs of Capt. Stephen Smith.¹⁶¹ Here they settled, continued farming, established a dairy,

157. Macon Co., Ill., Probate Records, case #7, box #1, LDS film #983231.
158. Bates Co., Mo., 1850 census, p. 265, family 512-512.
159. Sonoma Co., Calif., 1860 census, Bodega, p. 531, family 381-381; 1870 census, p. 257, family 151-148; 1880 census, p. 255, family 187-187.
160. Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 13, pp. 627-29.
161. Nellie McDonald, “John and Keziah (Head) Finley, Sonoma County, California” (Santa Rosa, Calif., 1981), p. 4, on file in special collections, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, Calif. Nellie McDonald is a great-granddaughter of John and Keziah. Born 11 April 1906,

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raised their family and bought more land. John left a great many legal and other documents which are still in possession of family members.¹⁶² From these it has been possible to reconstruct a fairly detailed history of the family.

John became the patriarch of this branch of the Finley family in Sonoma County. The Finley “clan” in Bodega included John’s younger brother, Samuel Joseph, who came with him (or possibly a bit earlier) from Missouri; nephew Joseph Jefferson, son of Jesse and Rachel (Colglazure) Finley, who arrived prior to the 1860 census; youngest sister Elizabeth for a brief period in the early 1870s; and John’s children as they became of age. From 1873 through 1894 there were from five to seven adult male Finley registered voters in Bodega.¹⁶³ In 1892 physical descriptions, including height, complexion, eye and hair color were given. The Finleys were not tall; John was 5'8" and his sons ranged from 5'3" to 5'10". John’s complexion was described as “fair,” but all sons except Henry were described as “dark.” John’s eyes were “blue”; all sons were “brown” or “dark.” John’s nephew, Joseph Jefferson, was the only other blue-eyed Finley. John’s hair was “gray”; all sons were either “brown” or “black.” Family tradition that Keziah was part Cherokee may well have some foundation.

At least two family crises can be surmised from existing documents. In 1871, John’s youngest sister, Elizabeth, was abruptly widowed when her husband, John, was killed in Tulare Co., Calif. Brother Samuel was named in the probate records as according to Elizabeth’s stepson, John, was taking charge of the assets of the heirs.¹⁶⁴ About a year before Elizabeth remarried in March 1873,¹⁶⁵ she had purchased property in Sonoma County¹⁶⁶ and had asked her brother John to become guardian of her five children.¹⁶⁷ An extensive file of guardianship papers shows John served in this capacity until 1891 when the youngest child came of age.¹⁶⁸

In July 1876 brother Samuel was shot to death in the streets of

¹⁶² Originals held by Nettie McDonald; copies are in the possession of the author.

¹⁶³ Sonoma Co., Calif., Great Registers, 1873, p. 20; 1875, 1876, p. 18; 1880, p. 199; 1884, p. 27; 1888, #2256-2262; 1890, p. 29; 1892, p. 45; 1894, p. 50.

¹⁶⁴ Tulare Co., Calif., Probate Court, Estate #118.

¹⁶⁵ Tulare Co., Calif., Marriage Bk. A, p. 328.

¹⁶⁶ Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 39, pp. 302-03. Also papers in possession of the author.

¹⁶⁷ Sonoma Co., Calif., Probate file #584.

¹⁶⁸ Ibid.

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JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

Greenville (a small community near Bodega). Details of this event are given in the section on Samuel Joseph Finley following. Samuel’s oldest daughter, Martha, had married James F. Oliver about two years earlier and Oliver figured quite prominently among the protesters in the handling of Samuel’s estate. Oliver also had a history of mortgages and unpaid promissory notes, in which John Finley became a cosigner on at least one occasion in Nov. 1876.¹⁶⁹ In April 1879 John was named jointly with the Olivers in a complaint of foreclosure.¹⁷⁰ Eventually, the Olivers deeded their property to John,¹⁷¹ and gave John’s son Henry their power-of-attorney from Madison Co., Mont.¹⁷²

By 1899, Keziah’s health required a drier climate, so John bought “the fruit ranch,” near Graton, where the weather was warmer.¹⁷³ Keziah lived there with her youngest son, Alvin, and granddaughter Clara Keithley until her death in 1903.¹⁷⁴ John remained on the Bodega property and when he died seven years later he had an estate of 1000 acres.¹⁷⁵

Children of John and Keziah (Head) Finley include:¹⁷⁶

123    i.    Samuel Emanuel⁵ Finley, born 20 Feb. 1846, Arkansas or Missouri; he married Mary Jane Stanley, 2 Aug. 1875, Gualala, Mendocino Co., Calif. He died 9 Aug. 1917, Petaluma, Sonoma Co., Calif.
124    ii.    James William Finley, born 17 Jan. 1848, Arkansas or Missouri. Died 17 July 1850, probably in Bates Co., Mo.
125    iii.    John Jay Finley, born 30 May 1850, probably Bates Co., Mo.; died 19 March 1931, Bodega, Sonoma Co., Calif.
126    iv.    Henry Head Finley, born 17 April 1852, probably Bates Co., Mo.; died 18 April 1918, Bodega, Sonoma Co., Calif.
127    v.    Nancy Caroline Finley, born 4 May 1854, Irish Hill, Sonoma Co., Calif.; married Calvin Harrison Keithley, 3 Feb. 1875, Bodega, Sonoma County; died 5 March 1953, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., Calif.

¹⁶⁹ Sonoma Co., Calif., Civil Court file #345.

¹⁷⁰ Ibid.

¹⁷¹ Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 75, p. 13.

¹⁷² Sonoma Co., Calif., Powers of Attorney Bk. B, p. 309.

¹⁷³ Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 168, p. 201.

¹⁷⁴ McDonald, op. cit., p. 11.

¹⁷⁵ Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 207, p. 116.

¹⁷⁶ Bible records in possession of author.

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128  vi.  Elizabeth Finena Finley, born 11 Jan. 1858, English Hill, Sonoma Co., Calif.; married Albert Pike Head, 12 Dec. 1880, Bodega; died 23 Nov. 1887, Santa Rosa.

129  vii.  James Preston Finley, born 18 Jan. 1860, Bodega; died 24 March 1934, Bodega.

130  viii.  Marcella A. Finley, born 18 Jan. 1860; died 18 Jan. 1860, Bodega.

131  ix.  Jefferson Davis Finley, born 10 July 1862, Bodega; married Carrie Ann McCready, 30 July 1892, Santa Rosa; died 26 Jan. 1918, Sonoma County.

132  x.  Andrew Jackson Finley, born 21 July 1863, Bodega; married Alfaretta Isadore Stemple, 27 April 1887, Santa Rosa; died 28 May 1929, Oakland, Alameda Co., Calif.

133  xi.  William David Finley, born 30 Oct. 1866, Bodega; died 17 Dec. 1890.

134  xii.  Martha E. Finley, born 31 Oct. 1868, Bodega; died 11 Nov. 1868, Bodega.

135  xiii.  Alvin Wesley Finley, born 18 Aug. 1870, Bodega; married Frances Gertrude Head, 5 Sept. 1901, Santa Rosa; died 27 Nov. 1950, Palo Alto, Santa Clara Co., Calif.

36.  Samuel Joseph⁴ Finley (Samuel³, David², John¹) was born 6 March 1826 in Orange Co., Ind.¹⁷⁷ He married Prudence Brians, daughter of Jackson Brians,¹⁷⁸ probably in the late 1840’s.¹⁷⁹ He most likely remarried, after Prudence’s death, Mrs. Maria Wilkes of Tulare County, 14 Dec. 1871.¹⁸⁰ Samuel died 22 July 1876 in Greenville, Sonoma County, the result of a gunshot wound.¹⁸¹

Samuel was about 6 years old when his mother died and the family moved to Decatur, Ill., and but 9 when his father died. After a series of adoptive parents in Decatur, as reported above, he was adopted by his brother James in Cass Co., Mo., in 1845.¹⁸² As soon as Samuel was of age, in

¹⁷⁷ Ibid.

¹⁷⁸ Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona (Chicago, 1901), pp. 214-15.

¹⁷⁹ Their oldest child, Martha, was born about 1850, according to Sonoma Co., Calif., 1860 census, Bodega, p. 532, family 382-382.

¹⁸⁰ Tulare Co., Calif., Marriage Record Index, p. 16.

¹⁸¹ The Sonoma Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif., 29 July 1876.

¹⁸² Cass Co., Mo., Circuit Court Bk. A, p. 49.

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1847, he entered 33.25 acres (Range 22, Township 39, Section 11) in Bates County, for which he paid $41.¹⁸³ It was probably about this time or soon afterwards he married Prudence Brians. At least the first census in which they are found (1860, Sonoma Co., Calif.) gives the birth place of their two oldest children, Martha, 10, and Washington, 8, as Missouri.¹⁸⁴ On 4 April 1850 they sold their property to Samuel’s brother James for $100.¹⁸⁵ According to a biographical sketch of their son, the Honorable James Buchannan Finley, Samuel Joseph was attracted by the California gold rush of 1849. He traveled via the Panama Canal and engaged in mining for a short while. In 1851 he returned for his family and brought them across the plains via the Platte River.¹⁸⁶ They settled in Bodega, Sonoma County, in 1852, where they were found in both the 1860 and 1870 censuses living near brother John and his family.¹⁸⁷ There they raised their family, farmed and raised stock until Samuel met his untimely death 22 July 1876 in the streets of Greenville at the hands of H. Epperly.

Local newspapers carried a number of conflicting reports. One of the two most popular beliefs was that one of Sam’s sons owed money to Hi Epperly. Sam’s assailant; that Epperly “threatened to have notices printed all over the county about the young man not paying his bill.”¹⁸⁸ The other theory was that the two men had had hard words about a horse trade several days before the shooting.¹⁸⁹ The account of the shooting also varied from one report to another. The Sonoma Democrat printed the following:

Sam Finley accused him [Epperly] with high words for spoiling the reputation of his young boy, and told him as soon as he was able he would pay him. On the evening of the killing, Epperly, while under the influence of liquor, hunted Finley all over town, and finally called him out of Rube Williams’ saloon. Finley said he would be out as soon as he had finished his game of cards. Epperly then dared him to come out. He stepped out

¹⁸³ Bates Co., Mo., Deed Bk. B, p. 178.

¹⁸⁴ Sonoma Co., Calif., 1860 census, Bodega, p. 532, family 382-382.

¹⁸⁵ Bates Co., Mo., Deed Bk. B, p. 178.

¹⁸⁶ Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona, loc. cit.

¹⁸⁷ Sonoma Co., Calif., 1860 census, p. 532, family 382-382; 1870 census, p. 254, family 99-97.

¹⁸⁸ Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona also claims he was a sheriff of Sonoma County but no record has been found to substantiate this claim.

¹⁸⁹ The Sonoma Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif., 29 July 1876.

¹⁹⁰ The Santa Rosa Times, Santa Rosa, Calif., July 1876.

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and told Epperly that he did not have anything but he Epperly could shoot if he wanted to. He called out I have no pistol, and slipped up and fired the fatal shot which sent one of his fellow creatures to his grave. On demand of a citizen or brave constable, Tom Pippin, was afraid to arrest the guilty party, and only after repeated demands was prevailed upon to do so. After being shot, Finley pulled out a small pocket knife and ran after his assailant and cut him slightly in one or two places upon the breast.

Another account from parties who claim to have witnessed the difficulty is that the parties had had sharp words through the day about the matter in controversy, and that Finley dared Epperly to meet him half way in the street; that Epperly advanced half way and Finley then dared him to come across, which he did, with a pistol in his hands. It is said that Finley then jumped at Epperly and attempted to knock his arm up in which was the pistol and at the same time cut him with his pocket knife; about this time the pistol fired. That Finley stood a few seconds and fell dead on his face, shot through the heart.¹⁹¹

James F. Oliver, Samuel’s son-in-law, apparently was one of the concerned citizens who sought the arrest of Epperly and, not being satisfied with the local constabulary, sent for the County Sheriff. This clearly added more fuel to the fire, for Sheriff Joseph Wright was called upon to justify his interference in what some considered de jurisdiction of the local Greenville law enforcement group.¹⁹² In the same issue came a response from T. U. Pippin, the Greenville constable.¹⁹³ Before the matter was over, there appeared two more articles by James F. Oliver and an editorial that was signed simply “JUSTICE.”¹⁹⁴

It is difficult to reconstruct the family of Samuel Joseph Finley. One article states “Finley will be buried today at Pleasant Hill cemetery by the side of his wife.¹⁹⁵ He leaves a family of 7 children. Five days ago word came that the eldest son S. W. Finley has been found by the roadside in Tehama Co. with his neck broken by a fall from his horse.”¹⁹⁶ In a biography of his son James Buchanan Finley, the following is stated: “Mrs. Finley, who died in Santa Rosa, was the mother of ten children, seven of

191. Sonoma Democrat, 29 July 1876.
192. Ibid.
193. Ibid.
194. Ibid., 5, 12, 19 Aug. 1876.
195. Pleasant Hill Cemetery has no record of the burial of either Samuel or Prudence.
196. Petaluma Argus, Petaluma, Calif., 28 July 1876.

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whom are living. Those besides James B., are: Alvira, who is now Mrs. C. F. Richardson, of Tucson; Samuel W., who is engaged in freighting at Naco, Ariz.; George T., who is living at Lordsburg, N.M.; Alice, who is married to Arthur Oman, of Palestine, Tex.; John L., who is a mining engineer in Sonora, Mexico; and Martha, who is now the wife of James F. Oliver, of Helena, Mont.¹⁹⁷ The census records of 1860 and 1870 show the following:

Prudence preceded Samuel in death, if the newspaper account is correct. In addition, a marriage record was found in Tulare County for S. J. Finley of Sonoma County and Mrs. Maria Wilkes, 14 Dec. 1871.¹⁹⁸ This was during the period when Samuel’s youngest sister, Elizabeth, was settling her husband’s estate after his death. Samuel was named in those probate records (see section on John⁴ Finley [Edmond³, David², John¹]). In the census records note that none of the birth dates are what might be expected ten years later. In support of this obvious problem, Elvira was found living in Pima Co., Ariz., in 1900, the wife of Charles F. Richardson, and her birth date is given there as Aug. 1862.¹⁹⁹ Also it would appear middle names may have been used for either 1860 or 1870. Is the George T. in the biography Thomas in the census? Is the Alice in the biography Prudence in the census? Clearly, there is a lot of disinformation in these various records. Considering these problems, the probable children of Samuel Joseph and

¹⁹⁷ Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona, loc. cit.

¹⁹⁸ Tulare Co., Calif., Marriage Record Index, p. 16.

¹⁹⁹ Pima Co., Ariz., 1900 census, Precinct 31, Enumeration Dist. 46, sheet 11, family 196-204.

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Prudence (Brians) Finley are:²⁰⁰

136  i.    Martha⁵ Finley, born about 1850 in Missouri. She married James F. Oliver about 1866.²⁰¹ The Olivers appear in various mortgage records and promissory notes between Sept. 1874 and May 1879, including foreclosures.²⁰² On 26 March 1880 James F. Oliver of Meadows Creek, Madison Co., Mont., gave power of attorney to Henry Finley of Sonoma County, his uncle by marriage.²⁰³ Known children of Martha (Finley) and James F. Oliver include:²⁰⁴
(a) Charles F. Oliver, born about 1868 in California.
(b) Mary E. Oliver, born about 1870 in Nevada.
(c) John Oliver, born about 1872 in Missouri.
(d) James Oliver, born about 1872 in Missouri.
(e) Nellie Oliver, born about 1874 in Missouri.
(f) William Oliver, born about 1876 in California.
(g) Eva Oliver, born about 1878 in California.

137  ii.    Washington Finley, born about 1852; died July 1876 in Tehama Co., Calif., in a fall from a horse.

138  iii.    Samuel Washington Finley, born about 1855 in California.

139  iv.    James Buchanan Finley, born 22 Nov. 1856 in Sonoma Co., Calif.²⁰⁵ From 1877 until Oct. 1882 he raised cattle and mined near Winnemucca, Nev., then moved to Deming, Grant Co., N. Mex. For several years he was a contractor and builder. Then he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Deming, as manager of the Pullman repair shop. He advanced through the company’s Tucson repair division and eventually became Vice President and General Manager of Southern Pacific

²⁰⁰ Birth dates are estimated from the 1860 and 1870 censuses, except as otherwise noted.

²⁰¹ Sonoma Co., Calif., 1870 census, Bodega, p. 258, family 164-163.

²⁰² Sonoma Co., Calif., Mortgages Bk. 2, p. 513; Mortgages Bk. 13, p. 36; Mortgages Bk. 22, p. 216; papers in possession of author.

²⁰³ Sonoma Co., Calif., Powers of Attorney Bk. B, p. 309.

²⁰⁴ Birth dates estimated from Madison Co., Mont., 1880 census, Dist. #27, Enumeration Dist. 27, sheet 4, family 4-5.

²⁰⁵ Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona, loc. cit. Most of the following is also from this reference, except as otherwise noted.

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de Mexico. He retired 1 Dec. 1925.²⁰⁶ While in Tucson he married, about 1895, Clara Letts, born March 1873 in Burlington, Iowa.²⁰⁷ In 1896 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the nineteenth legislative assembly and in 1898 and 1900 to the territorial council. During this time his opposition is said to have been largely responsible for the defeat of the women’s suffrage bill. He also helped secure passage of the poll tax law. His only known child is a daughter Clara Eva Finley. James Buchanan died 25 Oct. 1930 and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, Calif.²⁰⁸

140  v.  Victoria Finley, born about 1856 in Sonoma County, probably died before 1870.

141  vi.  Elvira Finley, born Aug. 1862 in Sonoma Co., Calif.²⁰⁹ She married Charles F. Richardson of Tucson, probably before 1880. Living with them in the 1900 census in Tucson are a daughter, Beryl, born Jan. 1881 in California, and a son, Charles F., born 1883 in New Mexico.

142  vii.  Nancy V. Finley, born about 1864 in Sonoma Co., Calif. She is not mentioned as a living sibling to James Buchanan in his 1901 biographical sketch.

143  viii.  John Lee Finley, born about 1865 in Sonoma Co., Calif. Listed in biography of brother James as a mining engineer in Sonora, Mexico, in 1901.

144  ix.  George (Thomas?) Finley, born about 1867 in Sonoma Co., Calif. Listed in biography of brother James as living in Lordsburg, N. Mex., in 1901.

145  x.  Prudence (Alice?) Finley, born about 1869. Married Arthur Oman, listed in biography of brother James as living in Palestine, Texas, in 1901.

²⁰⁶ T. P. Cox, Personnel Division, Southern Pacific Transportation Company, San Francisco, Calif., to author, 28 Aug. 1980.

²⁰⁷ Pima Co., Ariz., 1900 census, Precinct 31, Enumeration Dist. 47, sheet 7, family 139-150, 341 S. 3rd Avenue.

²⁰⁸ Obituary provided by Department of Library Archives and Public Records, Phoenix, Arizona Historical Review, Jan. 1951.

²⁰⁹ Pima Co., Ariz., 1900 census, Precinct 31, Enumeration Dist. 46, sheet 11, family 196-204.

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37.  Elizabeth⁴ Finley (Samuel³, David², John¹) was born 13 April 1829 in Orange Co., Ind.²¹⁰ She married her first cousin, John Fin(d)ley, son of Edmond and Catherine Finley, in the early 1850s.²¹¹ After John’s death in 1871 she remarried Franklin Hutchinson, 23 March 1873 in Tulare County.²¹² Elizabeth died 17 March 1883 near Centerville, Fresno Co., Calif.²¹³ The youngest member of the family, Elizabeth was only 3 when her mother died and 6 when her father died. Her succession of adoptive parents after Decatur is less clear than that of her older brothers. Whether she ever lived in Missouri cannot be documented, however, it seems likely she did. Her first appearance is in the 1850 census of Hunt Co., Texas, living in the home of her cousin, John Finley, who had first been married to Elizabeth’s oldest sister Mahala.²¹⁴ John and his second wife, Sarah (Masters), then 34, had five children ranging in age from 2 to 9 years. Elizabeth was 21. Some time between 1851 and 1856, cousin John and his second wife, Sarah, reached a parting of the ways, and John married Elizabeth. In 1860 John and Elizabeth are found living in Los Angeles Co., Calif., with two children aged 5 and 1 year, wife number 3, Sarah (Masters) Finley, was living nearby.²¹⁵ In 1870 John and Elizabeth were found living in Tulare Co., Calif.²¹⁶ John was shot and killed 7 Aug. 1871 by Tom Woody, details are treated more extensively in the section on John Finley (#27) above. In Jan. 1872 Elizabeth bought 160 acres in Sonoma County on Estero Americano near her brothers John and Samuel.²¹⁷ In November her brother John made application for the guardianship of her children and he was appointed guardian in Feb. 1873.²¹⁸ Shortly thereafter Elizabeth married Franklin Hutchinson and less than three months later Elizabeth and her new husband sold their Sonoma County property to John Finley.²¹⁹ Brother John officially continued as guardian for her children through Feb.

210. Bible record in possession of author.
211. Their first child was born about 1855-56.
212. Tulare Co., Calif., Marriage Bk. A, p. 328.
213. Dona M. Hitt, And Then There Were Three Thousand (Fresno, Calif., 1975), p. 447.
214. Hunt Co., Texas, 1850 census, p. 416, family 163-169.
215. Los Angeles Co., Calif., 1860 census, p. 537, family 515-504; p. 538, family 523-512.
216. Tulare Co., Calif., 1870 census, p. 276, family 65-66.
217. Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 39, pp. 302-03.
218. Sonoma Co., Calif., Probate file #584.
219. Sonoma Co., Calif., Deed Bk. 42, p. 257.

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JOHN AND MARY FINLEY

1891 when the last entry was made in a large probate file. The Hutchinsons lived in Squaw Valley, Fresno County.²²⁰ Elizabeth died in 1883 shortly before her 54th birthday at the home of her daughter Elizabeth Lashley on her ranch near Centerville in Fresno County. She was buried at the Kings River Cemetery and Centerville Cemetery in Fresno County.²²¹ Children of Elizabeth and John Findley are listed above under his entry (#27).

(To be continued)

220. Hitt, op. cit., p. 236.
221. Also Centerville, also known as Kings River Cemetery and Centerville Cemetery, on Timsor Spahn Road, Fresno Co., Calif., listing provided by Dona M. Hitt, Fresno Park, Calif.

185