My Genealogy Hound

Joseph Finley (deceased) was one of the oldest settlers in Lawrence County. He had recorded in the county clerk’s office the first deed for land east of Black River, in this section of country. His native State was Kentucky, where he was born January 18, 1814. He came to Arkansas at a very early day, and located west of the river, on Strawberry Creek, and, in 1846, came over on the east side of the Black River. Mr. Finley was considered to be one of the best farmers in that portion of Arkansas, and when his death occurred had two splendid farms of 160 acres each. He was noted far and wide for his generosity and goodheartedness, and, at the time of his death, was mourned by not a few. Stock-raising was also part of his business, and his knowledge as a breeder of cattle enabled him to make considerable money in that line. Mr. Finley’s grave is on the home farm, three miles west of Walnut Ridge, a place selected by himself for the repose of his ashes. In politics he was a Democrat, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Nancy (Childers) Stuart became his wife. Her parents were also among the earliest settlers of Arkansas, and had nine children besides herself, four of whom are living: Elizabeth (wife of William Shelton), living in Southern Texas; Amanda (wife of Rev. B. A. Morris, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church), residing three miles west of Walnut Ridge; Joseph B., in Walnut Ridge, and L. D., residing near Portia. The mother died about the year 1854, and is buried near what is now “Ponder’s Chapel,” three miles west of Walnut Ridge. Elizabeth, the wife of William Shelton, a resident of Southern Texas, is the youngest of the four children living. Joseph B. Finley was born in this county December 13, 1848. He has received but very little schooling, and has been farming all of his life, excepting at odd times when he clerked during the dull agricultural season. On January 12, 1871, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Montgomery, of Tennessee, and this couple have been the parents of five children, of whom three are living: Ida, George and Orto. The wife and daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In spite of the disadvantages he labored under, Joseph B. is now the owner of a farm four miles from Walnut Ridge. He is a stanch Democrat in politics, forty years of age, and hopes to live to see another Democratic president in power.