Biography of John M. Finley, Saline Co, AR

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        Date: 25 May 2002
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SOURCE: Goodspeed's History of Saline County

John M. Finley, well known as a farmer and leading citizen of Saline County,
was born in Blount County, East Tenn., in 1820, and is the son of William and
Sarah (Weldon ) Finley.  The father was a native of Virginia who moved to
Tennessee at an early period and settled in Bradley County, where he spent the
remainder of his days.  He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and before the
Civil War was a successful farmer, but during that event his property was
almost entirely swept away.  The mother was a daughter of Joseph Weldon, a
native of Ireland, who came to this country before the Revolution and settled
in Tennessee, where he resided until his death at the age of one hundred and
three years. She was a member of the Methodist Church during life and a devout
Christian woman.  John M., the seventh of seven sons and three daughters born
to the parents was reared on his father's farm and educated in the log cabin
schools of that period.  In February, 1840, he was married to Miss Eliza Jane
Delaney, of Tennessee, whose father was an old Revolutionary soldier, and this
union gave them nine children, of whom one son and one daughter are yet living:
James Henry (residing at Little Rock), and Louisa (wife of John McLean).  In
1850 Mr. Finley came with his family to what is now Lonoke County, but nine
years later moved to Saline County and settled in the woods of Hurricane
Township, where he opened up a good farm.  His success as a planter has been
encouraging, and by proper management and energy he has now accumulated about
175 acres of the best land in that section, comprised of three tracts, and has
placed some seventy acres under cultivation, besides owning a good house and
lot in Bryant, where he has resided since 1888.  In 1861 he enlisted in the
Third Arkansas Cavalry, and operated in Missouri until the spring of the
following year, when he was discharged on account of ill health.  In the fall
of 1863 he had fully recovered and again enlisted, joining the Eleventh
Arkansas Infantry, in which he remained until the close of the war.  He took
part in many hard battles and skirmishes, and distinguished himself on more
than one occasion by his gallant actions in the field.  In politics he is a
Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Van Buren in 1840.  In
religious faith he has been a member of the Methodist Church for a great number
of years, and is always prompt to aid any religious and educational
enterprises, as well as taking an active interest in the development of his
county.