Carmen Finley: Augusta County John Finleys
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Location: Augusta County, Virginia
Appendix I: Carmen Source Article: Biography of John Finley, Elder at Tinkling Spring
Note: This is the entire Carmen Finley article, with Wikitree style citations inserted into the text at the proper points.
[Editor's Note: The 75-page article Dr. Finley refers to, "The John Finleys of Augusta County, Virginia: Some Hypotheses," is due out soon in The Genealogist. Interested Finley researchers may wish to write to Dr. Neil D. Thompson, 225 North Second West, Salt Lake City, UT 84103-4545 to reserve a copy.]
Introduction
Tim Kessler recently asked me to write an article on the work I have been doing on the Augusta County John Finleys. I would like to preface this article with a few words of explanation.
My ancestors, like a number of other readers, trace back to the John Finley who married Mary Caldwell, and like many other readers I first used Albert Finley France and Herald F. Stout as basic references in the study of my family. It was in the mid-1980s I first recognized that at least some of their information did not agree with basic information I was finding about my third great grandfather, David Finley (Stout's 5-02-114)--and my information was coming from Bible and cemetery records. In June 1988, my article, "David Finley (1754-1848): Correcting the Record," was published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. A comparison between my findings, and the information presented by Stout on David and his children, showed deviations in year of birth of up to twenty-two years, as in the case of his son, Jefferson. Stout gives Jefferson's birth date as 1783, while Jefferson's cemetery records give his birth date as 1805. While this is the extreme, variations between Stout's information and that found in Bible and cemetery records commonly ranged from fourteen to eighteen years. Only in the case of David's daughter, Jane Ann, did the cemetery records agree with Stout.
This experience led me to be skeptical of other information presented by Stout, especially as I worked my way back to Augusta County to the John Finley who married Mary Caldwell. I began to question the relationship between this John Finley who lived on South River and the John Finley who married Thankful Doak and lived on Middle River. Scouring every Finley document in Augusta County from the late 1730s through 1800 led me to the inescapable conclusion that the John Finley who married Mary Caldwell was not the son of John and Thankful, as claimed by Stout. These two Johns were independent, contemporary persons living but fifteen miles apart and not related, at least not proven in that generation. It would not surprise me to learn by going back another generation they were cousins, although the proof of that has not yet been established.
I am not saying that Stout's information should be summarily disregarded. He does provide many good clues, and sometimes he is correct. However, it is up to the careful researcher to determine whether Stout's data on a specific Finley is correct or incorrect, and this can only be done by a careful study of the original documents concerning any Finley contained in Stout's material.
Readers who are not familiar with the preponderance of the evidence principle would do well to read Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr.'s, "What Proves a Lineage?: Acceptable Standards of Evidence," in the June 1987 issue of the NGS Quarterly. Sheppard says:
When direct evidence is lacking, but there is contemporary, primary evidence of a number of related matters all pointing in the same direction, and the evidence so accumulated leaves no doubt in the reader's mind that only one reasonable conclusion can be drawn from it, then it is appropriate to say that a fact can be established by the preponderance of the evidence. However, if there is found a single contemporary document that points in a different direction, and if it is not possible to show clearly that this document is in error, then the argued case has not been proved acceptably.
The NGS publication, Write Your Family History, adds, "This really says it all. If you must rely on this principle to establish relationships, it is important that you find every possible existing document without ignoring any that seem counter to your working hypothesis. If you do not, someone else will eventually find it, and it will come back to haunt you!"
With this clearly in mind, I examined and fit together the many primary Finley documents in Augusta County and wrote the paper, "The John Finleys of Augusta County, Virginia: Some Hypotheses." It was accepted for publication three years ago by The Genealogist. I had been warned about the publication lag, and it has been painful for me to watch the repetition of incorrect Finley folklore and not be able to dispute it. While it is still a no-no for me to publish substantial portions of this paper prior to its publication in The Genealogist, I can give you some of the results as they effect the two John Finleys of early Augusta County. The proof itself, based on the preponderance of evidence principle, must await publication in The Genealogist. When it does appear, I invite any serious Finley researcher to examine it and correspond with me if there are any questions.
In the meantime, I have been compiling a book on The Finleys of Early Sonoma County, California, which includes the ancestral history of the two John Finleys of Augusta County. From that source, I am happy to share with readers of Finley Findings these portions of my book.
John Finley, Elder at Tinkling Spring
John Finley(22) [2]
(? - 1782) was, most likely, a first generation Scotch-Irish
who arrived in America as a child in the early part of the eighteenth
century. The earliest records that could be found for him were in Beverley
Manor, Augusta County, Virginia, in 1738.(23) [3]
Arrival in Virginia
He had come to Virginia from Pennsylvania with his two brothers, William and Robert, just a few years after the movement of Scotch-Irish to this area was started by John Lewis. (24) [4]
Birth Year Estimation
While we do not have a date of birth for him, we do know that he had five children born between 1740 and 1749 and an elder son born before 1740. From this one would assume that he was a fairly young man when he settled in Beverley Manor, born probably not later than 1710.
First Wife Thomson and Tinkling Spring
His first wife was a daughter of the Reverend John Thomson, her given name unknown. John took an active role in establishing Tinkling Spring Meeting House, a Presbyterian congregation for the Scotch-Irish settlement in and around Beverley Manor. In the first action recorded, John Finley was appointed one of five commissioners charged with purchasing property on which to build their meeting house and collecting money to pay a minister. His brother, William, was one of the signers of this act, dated "August ye 14th 1741." However, as early as 1737, the people of Beverley Manor had petitioned the Donegal Presbytery to establish a meeting house. As a result a Christian Society called "The Triple Forks of the Shenando Congregation," was formed. Interestingly, their first request was for the services of Reverend John Thomson:
The Christian Societies in the back part of Virginia on September 5, 1739, united in presenting a supplication to the Presbytery of Donegal for the ministerial services of Rev. John Thomson, Chestnut Level pastor, as an "Itinerant Preacher to Virginia."(25) [5]
However, the Donegal Presbytery refused Thomson's petition to release him from Chestnut Level, where he was stationed at that time, and the Reverend John Craig was assigned in his place.(26) [6]
A site to build the first log structure was selected about five miles southwest of where the Finleys were living:
A cool spring of water--issuing from beneath a rock, gathering into a pool from which man lives, overflowing into a stream by which the plains are made alive--is a delightful work of nature. The earliest pioneers in the Valley of Virginia found a bold spring, whose emerging waters made a musical sound upon the cavernous rocks, and they called it the tinkling spring. The church, located near this spring and named for it, is like "a spring of water willing up to eternal life" for multitudes who have passed this way.(27)[7]
The first sanctuary was twenty-four by fifty feet, with a simple interior. "The floor was the ground over which the sanctuary was constructed. The pews were backless hand-made benches, probably small logs split with the smooth- hewn surface up and supported by wooden legs driven into auger holes. . . [and it was] without heating facilities."(28) [8]
The Tinkling Spring Commissioners posted their first notice for payment on the log building on 12 November 1744, calling for twelve shillings per family. The congregation was divided into three quarters, with John Finley heading one quarter. This was an administrative device for organizing and collecting money from the parishioners. John's brothers, William and Robert, were both listed as members of his quarter at this time.(29) [9]
Public Office
Those must have been busy years in the settlement of Augusta County. Estimated population of the territory, authorized as Augusta County, was estimated at 2,500 in 1742, including about 500 in the bounds of the Tinkling Spring Congregation. The first court of law was established in late 1745 and John Finley [Finla in the records] was among those who took the oath of office on 30 October that year. The Augusta County Court was located at "Beverley's Mill Place," now Staunton, contrary to advice of local citizens who were ordered to view the land offered by William Beverley. Prior to that time, Augusta County citizens were served through the Orange County Court--and John Finley had been a justice there as well.(30) [10]
Operated a Mill
An early road order showed that the Finleys operated a mill, "A Road be cleared from Finley's Mill to the Tinkling spring and thence to McCords Mill That John Finley and Archibald Stewart, John Christy and Robert Cunningham oversee the Same."(31) [11]
John and his family had been living on property near South River adjacent to the property he bought in 1746, 892 acres purchased from George Robinson, directly on South River. By then John and his wife had at least two children and brother William had at least three.(32) [12]
Presumably the three brothers were living close together. Four years after the purchase of the Robinson property, formal deeds were drawn up in which John split his property into equal thirds and sold two of them to his brothers, William and Robert.(33) [13]
In 1748 John was made an elder of Tinkling Spring, a position he held until about 1764.(34) [14]
Children
Between 1740 and 1749, the only years for which Tinkling Spring baptismal records are available, John and his wife had at least four, and possibly five, children; Elisabeth, William, James, George, and possibly another James (christened 26 March 1749). These are the children listed by Wilson as belonging to one of the two John Finley families in the area (the other being the John Finley family on Middle River). However, John's first wife died prior to 22 May 1750 when he divided his 892 acres and deeded two portions to his brothers. At that time, John's wife was named Mary, and while we do not know the given name of his first wife, we do know it was not Mary, since the Reverend John Thomson had another daughter named Mary who was living at that time. Son George was baptized on 4 January 1748 by his grandfather, Reverend John Thomson. One might speculate that Reverend Thomson may have made the trip from Prince Edward County to Augusta County to baptize the last child of this daughter.
Second Marriage to Mary Caldwell
John's second wife was Mary Caldwell, whose cousin Martha Caldwell was the mother of John Caldwell Calhoun. What is known about the Caldwells is discussed in the previous chapter.
French and Indian War
The people of Augusta County lived in relative harmony until the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1755. Augusta County men were then called upon to strengthen the lines at the frontier, but were reluctant to leave their families without protection against the Indians. When George Washington made a tour of inspection in 1756, in and around Staunton, Augusta County, his evaluation was that, "the militia are under such bad order and discipline, that they will go and come when and where they please, without regarding time, their officers, or the safety of inhabitants, but consulting solely their own inclinations."(35) [15]
Through all this John Finley, as a representative of Tinkling Spring, continued actively in the cause of the church, attending special meetings of the presbytery at Rockfish Meeting House beyond the Blue Ridge in 1759 and in Prince Edward County in 1760.(36) [16]
At the next meeting of the presbytery, held at Tinkling Spring on 1 April 1761, the Reverend Richard Sankey of Buffalo, in Prince Edward County, son- in-law of Reverend John Thomson, was "continued" as moderator of the group. (37) [17]
Tinkling Spring continued to be a favored meeting place and the Reverend John Craig also often served as the moderator. However, problems mounted after the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. Craig's original mission included serving the Stone House just north of Beverly Manor, as well as Tinkling Spring, with the understanding that he would become a full time pastor for whichever could first afford his services. At the spring meeting held 5 May 1763 at Tinkling Spring, the Stone Meeting House asked for a separation from Tinkling Spring, with a decision deferred until the next meeting.
At the fall meeting of the presbytery in Cumberland County, 3 October 1764, the first item of business, following "Suplications for Supplies," was that:
Mr Craig is dismissed from the Tinkling Spring, and sustains the pastoral relation as to the Congregation of Stone meeting House only.
The elder representing Tinkling Spring at this meeting was John Finley. He put in a request for a supply assignment at Tinkling Spring but none was made except, ". . .ministers in Augusta County, are left to their own discretion, in supplying." . . . Mr. Craig preached his farewell sermon at Tinkling Spring in November 1764.(38) [18]
Wilson, in discussing post war problems of the French and Indian War, summarized the situation succinctly:
Tinkling Spring people, with Rev. John Craig as their pastor, pioneered in the practice of religious freedom in the Colony of Virginia . . . Her men, though reluctant in aggression, were invaluable in defense against Indian cruelty. They were among the stalwart leaders that turned the tide in the frontier phase of the French-British struggle out of which grew the short- lived English rule over America. Tinkling Spring's first quarter of a century of service left her a changed and weakened meeting house group. Alexander Breckenridge, James Patton, John Preston, Archibald Stuart and John Lewis were dead by this time; John Finley, an active elder, disappears from the record, probably transferring his efforts to Brown's Meeting House; and families now removed entirely, or in part, were the Breckenridges, Lewises, Prestons, Campbells, Bells, Thompsons and others.(39) [19]
Wilson, who published his book in 1954, probably made the same assumptions that earlier Finley researchers made and did not realize there were two distinct contemporary John Finleys in the area. The John Finley who showed up in the records of Brown's Meeting House was the John Finley who lived on Middle River.
One can imagine the feelings of dismay which probably overcame John after devoting a good twenty-five years of his life to the building of Tinkling Spring. He sold his remaining interest in the Robinson property, 297 acres, to his brother William in March 1765.(40) [20]
To Prince Edward County
It is not surprising that he chose to go to Prince Edward County. This was another Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlement adjacent to that developed by John Caldwell and the Reverend John Thomson contributed to the Buffalo settlement in Prince Edward County for a while in the late 1740s. John Finley was related by marriage to both the Thomsons and the Caldwells, and while neither were living at the time, his first wife's brother-in-law, Reverend Richard Sankey, was still actively engaged in church work there. In fact, his daughter, Elisabeth, had been living with the Sankeys before John made the move and until her marriage in January of 1764.(41) [21]
John purchased 400 acres on Vaughan's Creek on 15 June 1765 from Jacob and Honour Garrett,(42)[22]
and his son William bought 430 acres on Vaughan's Creek from John Caldwell on 19 August 1765.(43) [23]
Just where this John Caldwell fits into the family in unknown, but he was most likely related to John Finley's second wife, Mary Caldwell.
Move to Reed Creek in Montgomery (now Wythe) County
John and his family lived in Prince Edward County for only about seven years and then moved on to Reed Creek area in Montgomery County (now Wythe), Virginia. It is unknown what prompted this move, but again he was moving into territory where other family and friends had located. There were two James Finleys already living there and it is strongly suspected that the elder James was a younger brother of John.
Reverend Thomson's oldest daughter, Sarah, was living there with her second husband, William Sayers, who was also active in the affairs of the local Presbyterian Church at Reed Creek. George Breckenridge, son of Alexander, who had also been one of the original commissioners of Tinkling Spring, was nearby. John settled on a 327 acre parcel on Sally Run, waters of Reed Creek, which he bought from John McFarland in November 1773.(44) [24]
Agreement for Life Care
Six years later, John and "Meary", his wife, drew up articles of agreement giving their property to sons, David and Samuel, in exchange for life care. John died sometime prior to 19 August 1782, when the court ordered a deposition be taken of Mary to testify the document they drew up in 1773 was done according to his wishes.(45) [25]
All of the children of John Finley by either marriage have most likely not been identified.
Children of John and (Thomson) Finley include, so far as they are known:
+2 i. John2 Finley, born about 1738/39, most likely in Augusta County, Virginia. +3 ii. Elizabeth Finley, baptized by Rev. John Craig 18 January 1740/41, Tinkling Spring, Augusta County, Virginia. +4 iii. William Finley, baptized by Rev. John Craig 30 January 1743, Tinkling Spring, Augusta County, Virginia. 5 iv. James Finley, baptized by Rev. John Craig 8 March 1747, Tinkling Spring, Augusta County, Virginia.(46) [26]
+6 v. George Finley, baptized by Rev. John Thomson 4 January 1748, Tinkling Spring, Augusta County, Virginia.
A second James Finley said to have been born to this John Finley, cannot be definitely identified as the son of Thomson or of Mary Caldwell (and it is assumed Wilson was correct in his grouping of the children into separate John Finley families).
7 vi. James Finley, baptized by Rev. John Craig 26 March 1749, Tinkling Spring, Augusta County, Virginia.
John and Mary Caldwell had at least three children, and quite possibly others:
+8 i. David2 Finley, born 1 June 1754,(47) [27]probably in Augusta County, Virginia.
9 ii. Samuel Finley, named heir with his brother David to his parent's plantation in Montgomery County in 1779, which they jointly sold in 1792. At that time both David and Samuel were "of Mercer County, Kentucky."(48) [28]
In 1785 a Samuel Finley signed a petition for the grant of land for a town site in Lincoln County.(49) [29]
In 1789 a Samuel Finley signed a petition for the repeal of the Act of Separation. David Finley also signed this petition. (50) [30]
In 1795 and 1796, Samuel Findley appeared on the Madison County tax list.(51) [31]
In 1796 a Samuel Finley was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in Madison County.(52) [32]
He appeared on the Lincoln County tax list from 1797, at least through 1811.(53) [33]
In 1801 he bought 100 acres in Lincoln County.(54) [34]
Evidence of his presence in Lincoln County continues at least through 1822, when the Rev. Samuel Finley served as President pro tem of Centre College in Danville.(55) [35]
It is tempting to believe this Samuel Finley is David's
brother, and perhaps he is. The one disquieting fact is that in the 1810
census of Lincoln County he is placed in the twenty-six to forty-five age
group, too young to have inherited property in 1779.(56) [36]
Perhaps the above records include more that one Samuel Finley.
+10 iii. Thomas Finley, born 11 February 1757, probably in Augusta County, Virginia.(57) [37]
Note: These two John Finleys most certainly came from Pennsylvania. There are extensive records of Finleys in early Lancaster and later Franklin County that are probably related.
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