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| Silas Jordan Fincher, son of William |
I've created posts on my fifth Great Grandfather, Rev. William Fincher, before, so there will be a little repetition and this post will be brief, as I will reference two of my earlier posts and not have much else to add.
The link below is my first post concerning Rev. William Fincher.
While I was working on my original 30 Days Posts, involving the 'Mothers' in my family tree, when I was out of work on medical leave one time, I also posted on his daughter, Sarah Fincher Starnes, called 'Sally', which included mention of him. Link below.
The stern looking gentleman at the top of the page, is not Rev. William Fincher, but his son, Rev. Silas Jordan Fincher. At least two sons, John and Silas, followed their father into the ministry. I included this picture, because a son might bear a resemblance to the father, so we can get an idea of what he may have been similar to.
Rev. William Fincher was born on March 30, 1765, in Rowan County, NC to Benjamin Fincher (1730-1795) and wife Shirley Marie Wilcox. (1734-1795), which sounds more like a woman born in 1934 than 1734 to me, but she was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, as was I, and she died in Orange County, North Carolina, the daughter of John Wilcox and Sarah John Boone Wilcox. Her parents originated in Connecticut. Benjamin Fincher was the son of Jonathan Fincher and Deborah Dicks or Dix. Jonathan was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, as well, and his parents, John and Martha, were immigrants who migrated from England to Pennsylvania, his father from Wolverly, Wire Forest District, Worcestershire, England, and his mother from Clatterwick, Little Leigh, Great Budworth, Cheshire, England. While his in-laws, Peter and Esther Maddock Dix were from Chester, Cheshire West, Cheshire, England. So, Rev. William Fincher was solidly British and primarily from Cheshire. They were Quakers.
Since I've posted so much on Rev. William Fincher already, this post will focus a little more on his Quaker predecessors.
The surname, Fincher is an English occupational name, referring to someone who caught, bred and sold the little birds, called finches. Such a simple and unexpected origin.
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| Marriage Record of Francis Fincher III and second wife, Mary Achelly, in Worcestershire, England |
As seen in the above document, Francis remarried to Mary Achelly on June 3, 1678.
Francis is a Colonial Dames ancestor, as he arrived at Pennsylvania around 1683, with his wife, Mary and his four children: John, Mary, Francis IV and Samuel. The younger three were born between 1679 and 1682.
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| The above Getty Image is of a Quaker Meeting House in Chester County, PA. |
Francis was a Quaker and like the rest, had left England for America for religious persecution purposes. He arrived aboard the Ship, Bristol Comfort, on July 28th, 1783, with his young family and servants. His profession was given as that of a glover, or someone who made gloves of leather and other materials. In an ancient book by "Besse" called "The Collection of The Suffering of the People Called Quakers", there are several mentions of Francis's name.
The book recounts an event that took place on January 12, 1662, in Worcester, when Francis was among a group of Quakers who met at the house of Robert Smith. A group of 18 men, called Musketeers, or 'muquetiers', led by a Marshall, and arrested the men at the meeting, forcefully, and without a warrant, and led them through the streets to the house of their Captain, who ordered the soldiers to take them to the Marshall's house instead. They were treated in a criminal and hostile manner. They were kept for three days and nights, against their will, during the time a General Sessions of Court was taking place. They were never called to appear, or were able to speak for themselves, nor a representative. Yet, an Indictment was found against them, from the testimony of only one person, a discreditable man who had already been arraigned for murder and later found to be insane. They were later removed from the Marshalls residence and taken to the town jail, or 'gaol'. Francis Fincher was in the list. With his other detainees, he eventually faced trial, was convicted of being at a meeting, was fined 5 pounds and three months in prison at the 'House of Correction'.
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| Altar at the church where Francis was baptized |
Some years later, another event is retold, where in 1670 at a town called Grafton-Flyford, the authorities came with a warrant, this time, took all of his "goods" and fined him 20 pounds. Francis had been found on his knees in prayer.
"having heard that he was fined 20 pounds went to Justice Packington at Bowling Green to expostulate the case with him, whether he thought Prayer to God a Breach of the Law." The Justice told him that he could pray at home, and that he had been convicted by the Oath of informers, who had ratted him out for praying outside of his home. Francis became emotional and upset and questioned the court about justice and equity. A Justice Sands heard him and told him to hold his tongue, or he would be sent to "where he would be loth to go.' Sometime afterwards, the police of the day showed up at his house with three carts, loaded up the best of all of his possessions, claimed ownership of the rest, and sold it within a few weeks. He was taken from his wife and small children, left penniless and vulnerable, and was placed in the Worcester jail, where he wasted away for months.
He was sent to jail for a third time in 1681, again for praying in the streets, as the Constables had blocked off he Meeting House, guarding it so no one could enter and pray.
It breaks my heart to read about the persecution these ancestors faced and suffered through. They really had no other options before them, but to escape to the New World. Records show that Francis bought 1250 acres in Pennsylvania in May of 1682, from William Penn. I don't know where he had gotten the money, with the Constables constant persecution and confiscation of his property.
Francis was considered a First Purchaser; this entitled him to land both in the country and within the town of Philadelphia. The location of his land in town is found in the book called, The Welsh Settlements of Pennsylvania by Charles Browning, on page 438. It was on the Schuylkill River and bordered a road that led to the ferry. He also had 35 acres on the upper side of Market Street and across the street from the Haverford Friends Burying Ground, or cemetery.
Francis Fincher was very busy that first year he arrived in America. He was elected as a Philadelphia member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1684. At the session held in New Castle, on March 10, 1684, he was elected as Speaker of the Assembly but declined to accept. His suffering was turning into blessings, and he was probably looking ahead toward a glorious future for himself, his family and his fellow Quakers.
"Francis Fincher, a member of the House, being chosen Speaker by major votes of the House, he in modest manner was pleased to refuse that Choice, with the humble acknowledgement of his own insufficiency for so great an undertaking" Pennsylvania Archives. Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Provence of Philadelphia, page 46, Vol. One.
Francis died in June of 1684, only one year of arriving in America. He was drowned while trying to cross the river in on ferry. He was 58 years old. Francis Fincher was a skinner and glover who lived in the village of Kingston in Worcester and had grown up in a Puritan family who lived in Shell and Himbleton. He was born on an estate called "Tomes" in Himbleton. His father, also a Francis, died in 1649 and his mother was Alice, maybe Hart.
John
John Fincherwas baptized in 1675 in Tomes, Himbleton, Worcestershire. He was the firstborn child and would have been just five years old when the Bristol Comfort arrived in Pennsylvania. He grew up in Chester County, PA. As is revealed in the news clipping above, source unknown, John married at age 21 to Martha Taylor. She was the daughter of Robert Taylor, originally of Springfield, who lived in Newton. John and Martha had seven children; Elizabeth Fincher Cox, Jonathan Fincher, John Fincher, Jr., Rebecca Fincher Bennett, Sarah Fincher Swayne, Mary Fincher and Francis Fincher IV.
After Martha Taylor Fincher passed away in 1713, John married a widow, Elinor Norman Cook, on July 27, 1714. Elinor was the widow of Peter Cook, who had died at sea during their voyage to America. Elinor brought with her 9 children of her own, which gave the couple a total of 16 combined. They were married in Goshen, Chester County, PA and John was now 39.
He would outlive a second wife and on October 4, 1735, he married Susanna Watson Parks in Kennett Square. He was now 60 years old. The couple spent their final years in London Grove, Chester County, PA.
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| 300-year-old London Grove Meeting House. |
The Will of John Fincher was written in a scrolling, magnificently refined script. Above, after 'Fourthly' he wrote, ' I give & bequeath to my eldest son Jonathan Fincher the sum of Five Shillings to be paid to him his heirs'.
Jonathan is my line.
The next one in line is my 7th Great Grandfather, Jonathan Fincher, son of John, Sr. Jonathan was born around 1704 in Newton, Chester County, Pennsylvania. At the age of 21, he married 20-year -old Deborah Dick or Dix. Deborah was the daughter of Peter Dicks Sr. and wife, Esther Maddock. They were married on April 29, 1726, in Chester County. I don't have any sign of them being related to my ancestor, Jarvis Dix/Dicks, from Viginia.
Jonathan was the one who brought the Fincher family to North Carolina from Pennsylvania. He did not live long after the trip, however, and passed away in March of 1757, in Orange County, NC. His will is found in Orange County North Carolina Will Extracts Book A Page 7.
Indian Attack
As an aside, before moving on to the next generation, a tragic event happened in 1763 that involved the family of Jonathan's brother, John Fincher Jr. Trouble had been brewing for a number of years, at least as far back as the Penn Creek Massacre in 1752, in which a band of the Delaware tribe attack settlers along Penn Creek, a tributary of the Susquahanna River. Out of 26 settlers, 14 were killed, one escaped and the rest were taken hostage. Five survived to make it back to the Colony.
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The Call
Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania • Page 9 |
John Jr. had received a warrant from the Penn family for around 250 acres in 1750, on the Schuylkill River north of the Blue Mountains in Berks County, before Schuylkill County was founded. He built a small home and barn along the river and started a small community known as "Fincher's Ford". Pennsylvania was filling up with Quaker, Dutch and German settlers, who with their growing families were pushing ever westward, into the territories of the Indigenous tribes. By this time, many of John's children were adults, and not in the home. He and his wife, Jane McNabb an Irish girl, daughter of William and Dorothy, had eight children. John III was already an adult and would administer his father's estate. Sarah had married Thomas Starr and Rebecca had married a Bennett. There were also a Benjamin, Jesse, Margaret, Jonathan, Betty and Rachel. On September 8, 1763, eight Delaware/Lenape warriors attacked the family farm, killing John, Jane and two sons who were at home, taking Rachel, a teenager, captive. She was held for almost a year but was recovered during a prisoner exchange by Col. Henry Bouquet.
Benjamin had still been in Orange County as late as 1767, when he witnessed a transaction for a neighbor.
And gave witness to the signature with his Oath.
In 1783, he entered 50 acres east of his own Plantation on the waters of Caraway, on the west side of his improvements.
1789, William King was appointed Overseer of a road from Hoovers Mill to Caraway Creek in the "Room" of Benjamin Fincher.
In 1795, he had even moved into Montgomery County, North Carolina, with an odd-looking grant on Little River, bordering the lands of Joseph Taylor and Richard Braswell. Chain Carriers were Reuben Hall and Henry Humble.
Benjamin Fincher died intestate, but his estate was probate in August of 1808, with his son, John, as the administrator.
The file lists an Inventory of his estate, several pages worth, revealing the trappings of a typical early 19th century farm where the family made nearly all of their own implements and tools, clothing and grew or raised their own food.
The Controvery
Some researchers believe Rev. William Fincher was the son of Jonathan Jr., instead of his brother, Benjamin, because Jonathan Jr. did move to Mecklenburg County, NC. Jonathan is found in a 1765 tax list of Rowan County, and then later in the 1790 census of Mecklenburg. The fact is that they both named a son William, and the fact of the repetition of these common names could be very confusing.
Rev. William Fincher
We have now made our way back to Rev. William Fincher, my 5th Great Grandfather. He married Mary Jane Grace, daughter of James Grace and wife, Sarah Deare, in Salisbury, Rowan County, in 1783. She was from Everleigh, Wiltshire, England. If ever there was a Preacher's wife perfectly named! Together, they had ten children. Mary Grace Fincher died in 1815 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
There are normal records in Olde Mecklenburg of the existence there of William Fincher. In 1798, he served on a Grand Jury.
He wasn't always on the positive side of the law however. I'd like to know more details on the above case, where William Fincher and his compadres, John B. Peacock, Andrew Stinson, William M. Matthews, and Francis McKee all plead not guilty. While Francis McKee was found not guilty, the rest, including William Fincher were found 'guilty in a manner & form as charged in the bill of indictment and fined $5.00. However, it ended with William Fincher 'not prayed into the Custody of the Sheriff by direction of the court'. What was he a part of and why had he escaped confinement? There are many more instances of this sort.
It told of how he was born in Rowan County on March 30, 1765, and was converted into the Methodist Episcopal Church, and appointed classleader by the minister. He was licensed to "exhort" in 1792 and to preach the next year. The article told how he was 'instrumental' in the establishment, or 'raising' of several Carolna area churches, Liberty Chapel, Prospect, Rehobeth, Bethlehem, Pleasant Grove, New Hope, Lazarus and Buck Hill, among other. It also told of how he had visited Monticello, Georgia in 1824, the year his grandson, my Third Great Grandfather, Frederick Fincher Starnes was born, and explained how F. F. Starnes was born in Georgia.
His children were Rev. John Fincher, Mary Grace Fincher married cousin Josiah Fincher, Elijah Fincher, Benjamin Fincher, Jane Fincher, an unknown son who had married Nancy Winchester Fincher, Levi Nelson Fincher, William Fincher Jr., Sarah "Sallie" Fincher who married Frederick Starnes (Jr. or IV, depending on how you look at it), Rev. Silas Jordan Fincher, Hillard Judge Fincher, Leroy Burton Fincher. By a seconed late marriage to Nancy Hinson Skipper, he had one son, Wilson Fincher.
