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Late 1787  The new United States Constitution was completed in Philadelphia in September 1787 and gave Congress the power, among other rights, to raise and to support a Continental army without begging the states for troops.  As had happened so many times before, this power attenuated a debate about standing armies in a republic during times of peace.  Alexander Hamilton, the future Secretary of Treasury, supported a Continental Army and wrote a series of pamphlets called “The Federalist” to translate and defend the Constitution, calling for ratification, or acceptance, by all of the states in the union.  These pamphlets were published for all Americans to read and surely were read by frontiersmen in Kentucky.  Overwhelming support for the pamphlets was found in the west as Hamilton generally supported their needs for assistance.  In the publications, Hamilton wrote that “if the United States did not want to be exposed in a naked defenseless condition, it would find it expedient to increase frontier garrisons.”  Kentucky, as did all states, also read that “it is not wise to leave such posts in a situation to be at any instant seized by the British or Spanish.”  When it was time for Virginia to vote on ratification, or acceptance, of the Constitution, the total voting was 88 “for” and 78 “against.”  This total included votes from Kentucky County, which were three for and eleven against!  Kentucky representatives were not keen on allowing the government, as opposed to the states, to have so much authority. 

14 January 1788  The state of Virginia issued a 500-acre land grant in January 1788 to John Finney and Levi Lockhart (Appendix 48).[i]  This was only a small part of an original treasury warrant John Finney purchased for 19500 acres.  The description of this land was on the first creek emptying into the Great Kanawha (or “Cannaway” as it was pronounced) River below the mouth of the Elk River.[ii]  The best estimate of this site is near present day Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia.  From other deeds recorded in the area, Jacob Lockhart (the father of Levi Lockhart) lived at the head of the Elk River, as did Henry Banks, Matthew Arbuckle, Anthony Bowen, James McCordell, William Morris, William Hannah, and William Cavendish.  Many of these men were those with whom John Finney had been associated with over the last 15 years (e.g., Dunmore’s War in 1774, deeds, land descriptions).

Spring 1788  News of Indian atrocities continued to reach Woodford County residents.  In March 1788, Indians overtook three boats descending the Ohio River.  One passenger waved a white handkerchief as a token of peace and when extending his hand to the Indians he received a tomahawk through the skull.  At least 17 others were killed at the same time.  In May, near the Fayette County Finney farms, five Indians stole horses on Cane Run, a branch of the Elkhorn Creek.  They were immediately pursued by eight men, following them until the next night when they caught the culprits, killed one and wounded one.  They retrieved all the horses and all Indian belongings.  In June 1788, the Pittsburgh Gazette reported they had learned from a Kentucky visitor that scarcely 24 hours pass before some murder or other depredation is committed in Kentucky.

1788  Again, James and John Finney were taxed in Fayette County.  This year, James had two tithables in his household and of course, no mention of any other family members.  The only slaves listed were blacks over the age of 12, of which James had one.  “Carriage wheels” were also listed in this tax record; probably not wheels but axles.  James was taxed on three carriage wheels.  John paid taxes on three tithables, three blacks over 12 years old, and four carriage wheels.



25 August 1788 Edmond Randolph signed a land grant giving James Finney 5,740 acres of land in Kentucky County, Virginia.  The grant would be sealed and delivered to the land office in Kentucky.  James would have likely left information regarding delivery of the grant with the land office, or he may have just periodically visited the administrative center since he was expecting the grant to arrive at any time. 

September 1788  Due to continued violence from Indians, recommendations for new militia officers or rank promotions were given to men showing bravery in the face of danger.  In the early frontier days of Kentucky, having a good pedigree or being wealthy did not constitute earning higher positions in the military like it had in colonial Virginia, though it was not completely unheard of.  James Finney earned the recommendation of Lieutenant from the Fayette County court justices during the September county court meeting.  Court records note that James Finney had never been an ensign, the lowest officer rank in the Kentucky militia.  Finney would receive his official commission a month later on the 21 October 1788. 

September 1788  A petition to divide Fayette County was circulated to the inhabitants of Fayette County during 1788.  “Convenience, safety and public interest” was being questioned by many Fayette County citizens.  Fayette County was so large, county citizens could not easily travel to court in Lexington if necessary.  New militia battalions were being created as the population escalated and these militia units were becoming more scattered and further separated from each other.  The county also contained three times the population of other Kentucky district counties.  John Finney signed his name to the petition.  James Finney did not sign the petition but also was not a signer on a smaller counter-petition to stop Fayette County from splitting.  He may not have seen the petition or just wanted to stay out of politics, which seems to fit the pattern for James Finney.  A William Finney also signed the petition to divide, possibly the brother of James and John, or possibly it was William Finnell.  Another Finney, Robert Finney, signed the petition to stop the division.  The petition to split Fayette County passed and the James and John Finney families became citizens of the newly formed Woodford County by September 1788. 

Who were these other Finneys?
Other Finneys lived in Fayette County at this time.  No clear connection can be made to these other men, but there are some possibilities. A William Finney lived in Fayette County in 1790 and was in Woodford County until 1792 but soon after disappeared from County records.  He appears to have moved to Barren County.  As discussed earlier, it was very possible that James and John had an unknown sibling born after their father’s will was written in 1764.  It could have been Benjamin but another possibility could have been Robert.  A Robert Finney definitely lived in Fayette County and may have been the Robert Finney who settled with William Finney in Barren County. Descendants are not sure of their ancestry but believe they may be the brothers of James and John Finney of Fayette/Woodford County, or even cousins.  It is believed Robert Finney and William Finney were brothers, from descendants' assumptions, but such a relationship is yet unknown.[iii] 

Winter 1788  The December date for the Kentucky district to separate from Virginia came and went.  The Virginia Assembly ordered a convention to be held at Danville in July 1789 to once again consider the separation of Kentucky from Virginia. In the meantime, the agreement of 1785 for terms of separation was altered.  Virginia decided that, upon separation from Virginia and in addition to previous requirements,  Kentucky would have to give up their right to unappropriated lands (or lands that had simply not been taken into possession) and assume part of the Virginia domestic debt.  It would be an understatement to say that Kentucky, still referred to as a district of Virginia, was highly angered.  Kentucky delegates would be elected in 1789 and at the Danville convention in July 1789, the chosen delegates adopted a resolution stating that the new terms for separation were inadmissible.  Also included in this resolution was a letter the governor of Virginia had written to the Kentucky District County Lieutenants.  He ordered that in the future case of Indian depredations, officials should communicate to the continental officer on the Ohio River stationed at the nearest place of attack.  The reason - the defense of the country was now solely in the hands of the general government.  Delegates interpreted this to mean that citizens must now “wait until the tomahawk and scalping knife were actually in their heads,” then give this information to the county Lieutenant, who then would make a formal communication to an officer between 60 and 150 miles distant, who as soon as convenient, would send a party of men to their relief.  Kentucky was flabbergasted at the lack of concern for their safety.

A 1788 map showed the first outline of the newly created Woodford County, which at that time included present day Woodford, Scott, and part of Franklin Counties.  On this map, only three villages are shown; Lee’s Town, Lebanon, and Woodford.  Historically, it is believed that David Humphries, and  farmers adjoining his land, built a port on the South Elkhorn River at the mouth of Cole’s Branch before 1780 and called it Woodford.  Log houses were built as a settlement for farm workers, slaves, and the men who made and operated large flat boats.  The boats traveled by way of the South Elkhorn River to the Kentucky River, then to the Ohio River and the Mississippi River, and finally to New Orleans where products would be sold quickly and the flat boats abandoned.  The village of Woodford, which included Richard Cole’s tavern a short walk to the south along Cole's Branch, would become known far and wide as “Little Sodom” because “Cole’s Bad Inn” (the most commonly known name of Richard Cole's Tavern) was the gathering place for cutthroats and river ruffians who fought over card games, women, and any other trivial issue until the next boat was ready for shipment.

30 April 1789  George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States near New York City’s Wall Street at Federal Hall.  He entered the office with the full support of the national and state leadership.  He surrounded himself with a strong team of statesmen, appointing John Adams as Vice President, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury (probably the most powerful position in the executive office at this time).  Some of Washington’s first acts created the judiciary system of courts, commonly referred to as the Supreme Courts.

5 May 1789  Woodford County court held its first official meeting at the house of Caleb Wallace.  At Wallace’s home, about two miles east of Midway, court actually met in a large room near his house that Wallace had erected to be used as a law office, file room, and library. A commission from Virginia appointed 12 justices of the peace, who would preside over county court in the newly created county. Thomas Marshall, John Craig and Richard Young were justices and leaders of the court proceedings.  They swore in the other nine justices in order of seniority: Robert Johnson, James Wilkinson, John Watkins, William Cave, George Blackburn, John Finney, John Fowler, William Trotter and William Steele.  During the court proceedings, John Finney, with his kinsman and neighbor, George Blackburn, were assigned to “attend the meeting house at the sinking spring and appoint some person to make such preparations as they think necessary for holding the court of this county therein.”  Many other items were discussed, including task and assignments for each justice and various county citizens.


The Caleb Wallace office at his home within five miles east of the Finney farms

Who was Caleb Wallace?
Caleb Wallace was born in Charlotte County, Virginia in 1742 and during his young adult life, he was a preacher.  Later, Wallace changed professions and became a lawyer.  In Kentucky before 1783 and until 1792, he was a member of the Danville Conventions that created Kentucky and the state constitutions.  Wallace was not found in county courts very often because he was more involved with the state government.  In 1783, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the District and then in 1792 he was appointed judge of the Kentucky Appellate Court.  He would serve the latter post until he retired in 1806.

Who was Thomas Marshall?
Thomas Marshall was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia in 1730.  He served with George Washington, fought in the Revolution, was a major in the Culpeper County Minutemen, and was a member of the 1775 Constitutional Convention  that declared independence from Britain.  He settled in Fayette County, later Woodford County, in 1785 and then moved to Mason County in 1800.  He corresponded with his friend George Washington in 1789 regarding British and Spanish interests in Kentucky, was a member of many state conventions, and was a senior county court judge.

Summer 1789  During all of the early Woodford County political operations, Indians continued to harass the district.  In May 1789, two boys were killed on the northwest side of the Ohio River and at the same time, a woman and her child were killed at their spring on Bluegrass River.  In June, three Indians stole Captain Jacob Stuckers’ horses.  Stucker immediately pursued the Indians with 15 men.  His posse came upon the trail of the horse thieves, followed them and killed two, wounded one, and returned all the horses.  The next day a party of about 12 Indians killed a boy near Captain Thomas Herndon’s home on the Elkhorn Creek.   Also in June, two men and three boys were fishing on Floyd’s Fork and were attacked by Indians.  Two men were killed and the boys were taken prisoner.

2 June 1789  John Finney was in attendance at the second Woodford County court.  He had successfully arranged the meetinghouse, or Shannon’s meetinghouse (Reverend Samuel Shannon), for court usage, located near “Lewis’s Big Sinking Spring” (Charles Lewis).  At this court meeting, John Finney and George Blackburn received recommendations for captain in the Woodford County militia. Later in the court proceedings, Finney and Blackburn produced a commission that they had received from Virginia already appointing them captains of the militia for this county.  They took the Oath of Fidelity and the Oath of Office. James Finney was also rewarded for accomplishments in the defense of his country and received a recommendation for Lieutenant.  This was an odd recommendation as he had previously been commissioned a Lieutenant in the Fayette County militia.  Robert Johnson, as colonel of the county militia, was responsible for sending a letter to Beverly Randolph, governor of Virginia, recommending the new officers.  Johnson’s letter stated that he was recommending the men “due to the large amount of Indian raids and horse thefts occurring, and they had conducted themselves bravely and often in the line of protecting the residents.”

Who was Samuel Shannon?
Samuel Shannon was a Presbyterian preacher at a church located near a spring on a branch of Beal’s Run.  The church was later called Woodford Church or Woodford Presbyterian Church.  The church began operation at some time before 1789 and served many of the local citizens. Those known traditionally as early members of the congregation were the Kinkeads, Alexanders, Shipps, and Wallaces.  Judge Caleb Wallace was a presiding elder in the church.  It is said that Reverend Shannon was a good-natured man who could not be provoked or ruffled.  He was a man of great physical strength and had a rough, awkward, untidy appearance and a slow stammer.  These traits were overlooked as he petrified everyone that listened to him.

27 June 1789  Living in Kentucky had been a blessing in many different ways for the James Finney family.  One of the greatest blessings was that this fresh and beautiful land had allowed his children to be healthy, and alive.  His family was graced by a fifth child on 27 June 1789; a third son (actually their fifth son but the first two had died young).  James and Elizabeth Finney named this child James Finney.  One would assume that the name was a tribute to the child’s father James, but the naming pattern the Finney family used was erratic and name James could have been adopted for various other reason(s).

July 1789  James and John Finney both mounted horses and headed southward to Shannon’s meetinghouse for the third Woodford County court meeting.  During the court proceedings, only a few miles distant from their farms, the justices assigned James Finney, among others, to be a “valuer of property” for Woodford County.  The men who would work with him in this capacity included Tolliver Craig, Simeon Buford, William Henry, Turner Richardson, Robert Moffett, Henry Fields, Elisha Wooldridge and Sowel Woolfork.

July 1789  Taxes were assessed for the first time in Woodford County but the county had not assigned the job of tax assessor to a citizen yet.  Accordingly, the Fayette County tax assessor gathered taxes for Woodford County during this year until an assessor could be named.  James and John Finney were among those taxed, as was a William Finney.

August 1789  Due to the infancy of Woodford County, important responsibilities and procedures could not all be done at the first meetings.  The justices also had homes and families to take care of and protect, and they had farms to run and oversee.  In an attempt to complete the docket, court proceedings normally lasted several days.  Sadly, some important issues had to wait until the following month because time was so precious.  Those men who did travel to the court meetings would arrive early to read important postings on the courthouse (or in this case Shannon’s meetinghouse) door or wall, talk, gossip, imbibe, and smoke before court officially began.  Once court had begun, it was common for those in attendance, and even justices themselves, to take short breaks.  These breaks may have been taken to discuss issues more openly outside the courthouse, smoke, imbibe, or relieve themselves behind a nearby tree.  During the August 1789 court meeting, the oath to support the Constitution of the United States (created several years before in 1787) was administered to the Woodford County Justices of the Peace, including John Finney. 

September 1789  John Finney was recommended at county court to become Lieutenant Colonel in the Woodford County militia with James Finney as the Captain in his battalion.  George Gray was to become Lieutenant under James Finney.  James received his official commission from Virginia (as Kentucky counties were still part of the state of Virginia) nine months later.  The new commissions were largely due to increased population in Woodford County which resulted in larger militia participation.  One cannot overlook that the Finneys must have been very responsive and regular active participants in Indian raid retaliations.  This was even more probable considering George Gray was a hardened Kentucky settler with vast experience with Indians.  Gray was a very early settler of Kentucky and had been in many of the sieges of the early forts before 1780.   Also at the September court meeting, John Finney and George Blackburn were again ordered by the justices this month to “confer with the proprietors of Shannon’s meetinghouse to know upon what terms they may be admitted to continue holding the court of this county therein…”  There must have been a problem using the Shannon’s meetinghouse as in only four short months, court would be held at the house of Captain George Moffett within a mile or two south of the Shannon's meetinghouse.

October 1789  The Virginia Assembly met, threw out the new terms for Kentucky separation, and reconsidered the new clauses.  Due to the resolutions sent from Kentucky revealing their unhappiness with Virginia’s offer, the Virginia assembly authorized a re-election of delegates to meet a fifth time in July 1790 to again talk of separation.

November 1789  Woodford County, while having recently split from Fayette County, had remained quite large.  The general mood of the county was that there existed an impossibility “to fix any place for holding courts which will not be extremely inconvenient to many of the inhabitants.”  Therefore, another petition for a county split was passed among the inhabitants of Woodford County in November 1789.  Four petitions were sent to different parts of the county.  Nearly 200 men signed the petitions, including John Finney and Julius Gibbs.  The result of the petition:  a new county would be carved from the northern portion of Woodford County.  In short time, Scott County would begin holding their own court sessions for the northern Woodford County citizens. 

It was reported that during 1789 and 1790 there were a greater number of murders and more horses stolen during those two years than in any other two year period in Kentucky history.  It was also reported to Henry Knox that in years previous to 1790, about 1,500 persons in the Kentucky district had been murdered and over 20,000 horses had been stolen on the Wilderness Road and on the Ohio River.  President George Washington attempted to help the situation.  He empowered the authorization of County Lieutenants to call forth scouts to search the countryside and to alert citizens to any Indian movements.  Kentucky found this as a good gesture but they still had no authority to pursue Indians by the Virginia mandate.  But, they often did so anyways.

February 1790  Woodford County continued to assign tasks to her citizens.  Many of the more important jobs went to county justices while other tasks of less importance would be assigned to men of the next social order.  John Finney was ordered by the court to furnish a standard of weights and measures for the county as agreeable to law.  Each county was responsible for developing their own standards of weights and measures since so many different forms were known to exist in the early post-revolution days. 

April 1790  Roads in the county and also elsewhere in the Kentucky district existed but were not well maintained, very narrow, and very sparse.  There was definitely a need for new routes to be created that would provide easier and quicker for travel from place to place as the county grew more populated and as businesses and commerce grew and flourished.  Often, the courts would assign individuals to create or maintain roads in the county.  There were no county employees to do the work so citizens were obliged to do what the court assigned them to do.  In April 1790, a new road going from Frankfurt in Franklin County to the Woodford County line and then toward Lexington had been viewed and confirmed.  The court appointed four men to survey the different sections of the road, presumably in the vicinity of their home or land.  John Finney and George Blackburn, who lived near the road, were requested to allot hands to assist in opening and keeping this road in repair.

In addition to the road assignment in April, John Finney also received his commission as Lieutenant Colonel and would also accept the recommendation from the county to become a colonel, the highest militia officer assignment in the county militia (he received his commission from Virginia eight months later in December).  Others of interest who received recommendations include George Blackburn for the rank of major and George’s brother Julius Blackburn as a lieutenant.  George Blackburn was officially qualified to become commissioner of the tax of Woodford County.  John Finney had returned a certificate to the court stating that Blackburn had been duly qualified as the law directs.  They must have gone someplace in the Kentucky district to obtain the proper qualifications for Blackburn to become tax assessor. 

Summer 1790  George Blackburn performed his first duty as tax collector, collecting and recording tithable and taxable property in Woodford County during the summer.  On July 5, James and John Finney were taxed for the first time in Woodford County.  James owned three slaves and eight horses while John owned four slaves and five horses.

Spring 1790  The Woodford County courthouse in Versailles, at the headwaters of Glen’s Creek, was completed between April and June 1790 and began its first session on 1 June 1790.  Roads were created in the next few months to make the courthouse as accessible as possible to all Woodford County inhabitants.  It was ordered in July that James Finney, William Davis, Simeon Buford and William Kinkead view and mark the most direct route for a road leading from Shannon’s mill to the courthouse.  These men were all neighbors of James Finney and all lived in the vicinity of Shannon’s mill.  A few months later in December 1790, another road, certainly near the Finney home, was asked to be marked leading from where “Peart’s east line crosses the Leestown road running to intersect the road leading from Lexington to Frankfurt.”  John Finney was the man who initiated the petition and George Blackburn, Richard Cole, Sr., John Barlow, and Simeon Buford were ordered to view and mark the route.  The following month, the course for this road was introduced to the court as:

“beginning where Peart’s east line crosses the Leestown Road, thence with said line to the road leading John Finneys to George Blackburns, thence 72 ½ degrees west with the said road passing through the said belonging to the heirs of Griffin Peart deceased, and through the land of Robert Alexander to his west line, thence with the said line to the road leading from Lexington to Frankfurt.”

Tavern rates and prices were controlled by the county court of Woodford.  The courts would increase rates as time went by.  The following rates were normal for Woodford County in the first years of existence: breakfast – one shilling, supper – one shilling, dinner – one shilling and six pence, lodging with clean sheets per night – six pence, “stablage” and hay per night – six pence, oats by gallon – six pence, corn by gallon – six pence, wine by gallon – 24 shillings, rum by gallon – 24 shillings, peach brandy by gallon – 12 shillings, whiskey by gallon – 8 shillings.

Kentuckians continued to be angered by the failures of United States federal troops.  Though they did handle their own small party Indian depredations with immediate and impromptu posses, they had refrained from large organized attacks.  But now, militia units began to again retaliate on their own (and without guidance from the US) with expeditions into the valley of the Wabash River across the Miami River.  These attacks aroused the Indian tribes and subsequently, the tempo of Indian raids increased.  Depredations became so abundant in 1790 that war was actually considered by Congress.  Upon further deliberation, the difference in the cost of war and the cost of peace treating were quite different.  Since the United States still had high war debts, Congress chose to continue with the cheaper scheme, -attempting to make peace treaties.  Congress may have had other reasons for being so hesitant to contribute aid to the frontier region.  It had become customary for the Kentucky frontiersmen, like their counterparts, to scalp dead Indians, which of course had made Congress a little less liable to help "such dastardly" people.

September 1790  Finally, the atrocities became so overwhelming, Secretary of War Knox, now head of the newly formed War Department, ordered General Harmar to launch a punitive attack against Miami towns to “extirpate banditti who were wreaking havoc on the frontier.”  Word also came from President Washington directly to Harmar, saying “Exhibit to the Wabash Indians our power to punish them for their positive depredations, for their conniving at the depredations of others, and for their refusing to treat with the United States when invited to.”  In September, 1,453 men (320 regular troops and the rest militia mostly from Kentucky) marched north from Fort Washington.  They found the Indian towns deserted but took satisfaction in destroying and burning everything there.  Upon the troops return to Fort Washington and with little accomplished, Harmar sent small detachments of men to locate Indians in order to achieve some level of success for their trouble.  This turned into disaster, and the resulting loss of American troops lives was mainly blamed on the undisciplined and unequipped militia retreating and acting impulsively.  By their time they returned to Fort Washington, 75 regular troops and 108 militiamen were killed.  The worst part of this embarrassment was that the Indians were greatly encouraged and motivated by their own success.  The Indians referred to Harmar’s Defeat as the “Battle of the Pumpkin Fields” because the steam rising off the scalped skulls left on the riverbank reminded them of squash steaming in the autumn air.

9 April 1791  John Finney and George Blackburn performed a privy examination of Isabel Hamilton.  Andrew and Isabel Hamilton, of Woodford County, had sold land in Augusta County, Virginia in December 1790 and needed the Woodford County Justices of the Peace to perform the examination to facilitate completion of the deed.  Isabel Hamilton needed to waiver her dower right for the sale to be completed.  Andrew Hamilton was the son of Andrew Hamilton, an Irish immigrant who settled in Augusta County, Virginia, and had received this Augusta County land at the Calfpasture River upon his father's death about 1790.  The elder Andrew Hamilton was associated with the Kinkade/Kincaid family, who were themselves connected to the Finney land in western Virginia Kanawha River country. [iv]

May 1791  After Kentucky’s application for statehood was passed by Congress in February 1791, President Washington ordered a corps of volunteers from the district of Kentucky to march in the form of an expedition against the Indians northwest of the Ohio.  The troops were to be commanded by Brigadier General Charles Scott.  These troops marched against the Wabash Indians and killed 32 warriors, took 58 prisoners, burnt many Indian towns, and destroyed all of their corn.  This army, consisting of all Kentucky volunteers, managed to avoid the loss of a single life with only four wounded.  More surprisingly, no acts of inhumanity were reported, even after a March 1791 Ohio River massacre by Indians, said to be the last big Ohio River massacre of Indians upon Americans.  The Ohio River Massacre involved an Indian attack on two flatboats resulting in almost all passengers being killed.  Of those dead, two were found later on the riverbank wrapped in their own intestines, a gruesome torturous slow death the Indians often used. 

Who was Charles Scott?
Charles Scott was born in Goochland County, Virginia in 1738.  His long military career began with George Washington in 1755 and continued in 1776 while leading forces in many of the important Revolutionary War battles.  He settled in Fayette (later Woodford) County in 1785.  Scott led many excursions against Indians, including St Clair’s 1791 disaster and Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers.  He served as the Kentucky governor from 1803 to 1812 and died the next year.  Charles Scott was said to be illiterate and unpolished in manners, very eccentric, but a faithful and constant friend.

Summer 1791  Woodford County court had undergone significant changes and progress during its first few years of existence.  Every month, more and more cases were being brought before the justices to be heard and judged upon.  Kentucky was fast losing its simplicity and novelty.  Because of the increased court activity, the Finneys were often witnesses during court cases and on deeds, while John Finney also was directly associated with many cases in his role as a justice.  In March 1791, James Finney was a witness for Paul Taught against George Bratton.  For the two days James spent in court, Paul Taught was ordered to pay James 50 pounds of tobacco.  Tobacco, as in Virginia, was a common mode of payment in Kentucky. 

A special session of court was called at the end of June 1791 for the trial of a twelve-year-old slave named Bill.  The young slave Bill, considered property of Ann James, was charged with having killed a white female child, the daughter of Benjamin French.  Bill admitted to the crime and the six justices presiding over the trial, including John Finney and George Blackburn, decided that “he be hanged by the neck until he be dead."  They commanded the sheriff to execute Bill on 30 July 1791 near the courthouse. This trial was only one of many which John Finney presided over.  John Finney was even involved in Virginia Supreme court cases.  Later in October 1791, John Finney brought a case against Abner Field to court, upon which Field plead not guilty and a jury trial was set.

July 1791  Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkinson, an original and former justice of the peace in Woodford County, led a successful expedition against the Wabash Indians in July 1791.  Congress actually supported this venture and had appropriated $313,000 to pay for an additional regiment of 912 infantry and 2,000 militia cavalry.  For the purpose of continued pressure against the renewed motivation of the Indians following Harmar’s defeat in late 1790, Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, was made general and was to carry out another expedition in August 1791. This army, called the northwest army, consisted of 1,400 troops, which would include a large Kentucky militia representation.  On the heels of the recent success of northern expeditions across the Ohio River, they marched toward the Maumee village.  But on November 4, the army was ambushed and defeated by a combined Indian force of 2,000 to 3,000 Indian warriors.  Nearly half of this northwest army was killed and among those few who lived, 233 were wounded.  The Kentucky militia again bore much of the blame for the route.  The undertrained and often youthful Kentucky militia privates reportedly fled when the Indians attacked.  The Finneys were both less than 40 years old and still were looked upon and fought like highly skilled soldiers.  Therefore could have been militia participants though no militia lists are known to exist.

Who was James Wilkinson?
James Wilkinson was born in Maryland in 1757, and by the age of 20 was a major general under George Washington in the Revolutionary War.  After moving to Kentucky in 1784, he became active in movements to separate Kentucky from Virginia.  The land he settled was the future location of Frankfort, where he drew up the town plan and named many of the roads.  Wilkinson was interested in gaining navigation rights of the Mississippi River for Kentucky in 1787.  In the hopes of securing those rights, he dealt closely with the Spanish government for years.  As the first Governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1805, Wilkinson continued his active military career, which later included action in the War of 1812.  In the Woodford County Court records, John Finney actually examined a “relinquishing of dowry” while a Woodford County Justice of the Peace in December 1791.  The dowry examination was associated with land that was conveyed from William Haydon of Frankfort to James Wilkinson.

1792  Indian atrocities continued throughout the winter and into the spring of 1792.  In March 1792, Indians stole 10 to 12 horses from Grant’s Station on North Elkhorn Creek.  The following night, the same Indians burnt two homes and all furniture in the homes.  The owners had left these homes earlier in the evening after the report of Indians in their neighborhood.  In April 1792, three women and three Negroes were killed while two other women held off nine Indians from entering their cabins to kill the remaining family members.

March 1792  Congress passed most of the action plan that Secretary of War Knox drew up after St. Clair’s defeat.  Knox strongly felt that a more adequate military force was needed to defend the frontier in order to avoid a losing war with the Indians.  His plan argued that a mounted militia was useful for sudden surprises but the militia in general was unsuited for longer warfare.  He believed that militiamen should not be kept away from home for long periods of time, as it would upset their farming operations.  This was probably just a polite way to say they were a bother during official excursions.  Three regiments of nearly 1,000 US Army men were ordered and the existing two regiments would be increased to full strength.  Congress also chose Anthony Wayne as the new commanding officer of the United States troops after St. Clair’s resignation the previous April 1791.



[i] 17 November 1784 survey date
[ii] This land was surveyed and granted under the county of Greenbrier but by 1788 this land was in Kanawha County and if the location is correct, it remained in this county.  This land is likely the land John Finnie mentioned in his will of 1811, referring to it as “Connaway” River or the “Cannaway” River. 
[iii] John Cliburn, JohnCliburn@msn.com in 2001
[iv] (Augusta Co VA Deed Book No 27 p 176-177) (also found in The Chronicles of Scotch Irish Settlements Augusta County Virginia Vol 3 p 593)