FINNEY FAMILY

John Finney was a native of Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky and came with his parents to Missouri in 1832. They settled in Warren County and he later moved to Franklin County in 1845.

On 23 October 1845, John Finney of Warren County, was married in Franklin County to Miss Louisa "Louisey" Elizabeth Roark, a daughter of John & Elizabeth (Napper) Roark of Berger.

John and Louisey Finney were the parents of nine children. Namely; William Roark, Nancy Jane, John M., James Harrison, Elige T., Zimri Carter, Timothy, Benjamin F. and Mary Finney.

The Finney family was well-to-do and highly respected in the community. They were very private people and kept close to home. That could explain why most of them died single.

By 1888, the land owned by John Finney consisted of 750 acres. A piece of the land had formerly been owned by the Cole Family and is the parcel where the cemetery is located. The Finney graves are located in a row in the back of the cemetery and two graves are located in the front of the cemetery. Down the middle there are approximately eight fieldstones believed to mark the graves of Cole family members.

However, James H. Finney, had an African-American hired hand named Howard Bland. It could be that some of his family is buried there.

John Finney was a Master Mason. He and his son, William R. Finney, was affiliated with the Robertsville Lodge #363, A.F. & A.M.

William Roark is the only one of the Finney children known to have married. On 04 Dec 1876, in Jefferson County, he married Virginia F. North, a daughter of Arthur C. and Pauline E. (Watkins) North. Virginia died in 1923 and was buried near House Springs, Missouri. They are known to have had one daughter, Elizabeth called "Bessie" and a son named Frederic. Elizabeth "Bessie" Finney married John M. Allee who was considerably older. They resided in St. Louis County, but he was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, near Eldon, Miller Co., Missouri. He had children by his first wife who died in 1899. Frederic Finney, age 19, was living in Jefferson County with his grandmother, Paulina North, in the 1900 census.

Elige Finney committed suicide by cutting his own throat with a razor. He was never married. His brother, John M. Finney also committed suicide. He shot himself in the heart.
Zimri Finney had grabbed his fiddle and started playing, then slumped over and died. When his body was found, the bow was still in his hand.

The Finney Cemetery was visited by members of our group in November 2006. At that time, the results of a previous windstorm had left cedar trees broken and mangled all over the cemetery. It was a horrible sight.

In the spring of 2007, our members began the laborious task of uncovering the tombstones. It took several long days of chainsaw work to view the cemetery lawn once more. The debris removed was burned next to the cemetery at the proper time allowed by law. Miraculously, none of the grave markers were damaged. One larger stone had been knocked off its base. The group is seeking outside help to get it back upright again.