Mobile-Statewide County AlArchives Biographies.....Fincher, Michael March 1859 - July 3 1893
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Jabe Fincher jabef@bellsouth.net September 3, 2004, 4:24 pm

Author: Jabe Fincher
Michael "Mike" Fincher


	Michael was born in March 1859 to Frederick Fincher and Sarah Collins. 
He was born in Wheelerville, Alabama, which is located about 10 miles west of 
Mobile, on Old Shell Road. "Downtown" Wheelerville was located approximately 
where Hillcrest Road and Old Shell Road intersect. Michael was a twin to John 
Fincher. John married Lula Benson in Mobile County (Book 31/page 311) on 26 
Jan.1888.  Michael is listed on the 1870 Mobile Census, Beat 5, page 50 (375B) 
house # 419 in the household of Sarah Fincher. His age is listed as 7; also in 
the household are John,7; Henry, 21; Jabez,17; Richard,12; and Fred,5. Michael 
Fincher married Emma E. Tanner on 9 May 1888 (Mobile Co., Book 31/ Page 385). 
Emma was the daughter of Isaac Tanner and Missouri S. Collins. 
	On July 11, 1891, Mike Fincher was tried and convicted of assault to 
ravish against Lula Taylor, daughter of Calvin Taylor. Calvin Taylor had been 
assassinated about a month earlier as he sat eating supper about midnight in 
his home. He was shot with buckshot through a window. Calvin Taylor was to be 
a leading witness in the case for his daughter, but the jury convicted Fincher 
without Calvin Taylor's presence. Fincher was sentenced to imprisonment for 
twenty years. He started serving his time in the coal mines (near Montgomery) 
and another indictment was brought to him for killing Mr. Calvin Taylor. He 
had two charges for a total of 119 years imprisonment.  His State Convict 
Record and a newspaper article described Mike Fincher as, " 170 lbs, light 
(blonde) hair, blue eyes,married with 2 children." One newspaper article 
stated he  wore a number seven shoe. His prison history had "bad conduct" 
written on it, probably due to the fact that he escaped by tunneling out of 
the coal mine when it was near the surface. He is listed as escaping on June 
28, 1892. He escaped with eight other convicts from the Pratt Mines in 
Jefferson county. Seven of these convicts were negroes and soon recaptured. 
Fincher went home without being caught. His relatives kept him out of sight 
for a while, but he got bold and began to build a house.  Judge Joseph Wittner 
came upon him while going to the home of Henry Baker. Fincher put a scare in 
Wittner without even trying. There was a $400 reward for Fincher. The 
Tennessee Coal and Iron Compant offered a reward of $200 for the capture of 
Mike Fincher. Governor Jones supplemented this with the offer of a reward upon 
like terms. Later the reward offered by the state was raised to $400, and the 
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Company's offer was withdrawn. John Wesley 
Thomas, a one-armed deputy sheriff, determined to capture Mike Fincher. He 
camped out in the woods where he was sure Mike Fincher would pass by.  On July 
3, 1893 Mike, and his brother Fred, went near the Thomas camp. Thomas shot 
Mike (killing him) with a shotgun. Fred rode off quickly. Mike's half-brother 
Henry Baker brought him to the Wheelerville cemetery the next day. Henry Baker 
was a Justice of the Peace for the Wheelerville area. A newspaper article ( 
July 6, 1893) describing the killing of Mike Fincher stated that he had three 
children, the oldest being four. This same newspaper article stated that Mike 
Fincher was buried in the Wheelerville Cemetery near the Wheeler place.
	Michael Fincher was granted a land patent on 23 February 1895-
Homestead Certificate # 12162; Application #  17994/-374, signed by President 
Grover Cleveland. Description of land: west half of the South west quarter of 
section twenty-four in township four south of Range three west, of St. 
Stephens meridian in Alabama containing eighty acres and twenty five hundreths 
of an acre.


Resources:
1. 1870 Census of Mobile, Beat 5, page 50 (375B) House # 419.
2.  Probate Court records, Marriages, Book 31/page 385
3.  Daily Register, 12 July, 1891, page 5 "Mike Fincher Convicted."
4.  Daily Register, 4 July, 1893, page 6 "Justifiable Homicide"
5.  Mobile Register, 25 June, 1891, page 3 "Killing at Wheelerville"
6. Judge Jos. A. Wittner's Thirty-three Years Trials and Tribulations in 
Wheelerville, reprinted 1990. Bienville Historical Society: Prichard, Al.
7. Mobile Register, 12 oct. 1905, front, "Bill" Young Feud Victim"
8. Daily Register, 2 April 1892, page 1, "Terrible Testimony"
9. Daily Register, 3 April 1892, page 5 "Guilty As Charged"
10. Daily Register, 22 July 1891, page 4 "Day Of Reckoning"
11. Daily Register, 6 July 1893, page 1 "Mike Fincher Killed"
12. Alabama Dept. of Corrections State Convict Record, Vol.3 (1889-1895), 
p.269, Mike Fincher (No.807)
13.Bureau of Land Management, Homestead Certificate # 12162; Application #  
17994/-374

Additional Comments:
Michael Fincher is the 2nd great grand uncle of Jabe Joseph Fincher Jr..  
Their common ancestors are Frederick Fincher and Sarah Collins.

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