Person:Berry Finley (2)

She (Bernice Garlington) also told me about Berry's house getting burned down. She said Berry's son John was living in the house. Bernice's mother Mae, John's sister, called him a "grand rascal." He would borrow from people and never paid them back. Apparently he borrowed some corn or something from a white man and didn't pay it back. A lynch mob was formed, but the white man who owned the store in Madden Station warned John and told him to go talk to the man. Johnmanaged to talk to the man and get out of the lynching. But the mob was so upset about not being able to lynch him that they burned down the house instead. Bernice remembers this happening. The family lived in the schoolhouse on Berry's land for a while. John eventually lost the land for not paying the taxes. He then moved to North Carolina. I believe that Jeff and Dollie moved to Arkansas abou t the time of the lynching incident. email to Marilyn Finley from Annette Madden based on oral conversation with Bernice Garlington, 8/18/05, copy in possession of Annette MNadden

Berry Simpson wrote in his bible that Berry Finley was blind untilsurgery in the early 1900s. He then visited his daughter Laura inArkansas(oral history DeeDee Lonon)

When Berry went to Arkansas, it was by train. He traveled as a white man(oral history)

Berry was head deacon of his church. First black school in Laurens wasgiven by Berry (oral history Sadie Johnson). See deeds.

Bernice grew up hearing Berry was half Cherokee.

Berry was the son of the slavemaster, Hampton Finley. Hampton left Berryhis house and 300 acres. After Berry died, the land was divided up amonghis children and Chesley. John and his family lived there. In the 1910sor 1920s, white people ran them out and burned the house down. (oralhistory Sadie Johnson). Requires documentation.

From Laurens Advertiser 5/15/1901: Berry Finley, colored, about sixty-five years old, died suddenly at his home, five miles south of the city on Monday last. By industry and economy, he had acquired a comfortable home, where he farmed successfully. He had the respect of all his neighbors and especially his white neighbors.

From Laurensville Herald, 5/17/01: Berry Finley, a highly respected colored man, died suddenly at his home, five miles south of this city, some time during last Sunday night. He was found dead in his bed Monday morning, heart failure the probable cause. he was an honest, industrious man, had the respect and confidence of all who knew him, and had accumulated a comfortable home.

From biography of Calvin Conway Pitts, History of the American Negro, South Carolina Edition, Vol. III by A.B. Caldwell, A.B. Caldwell Publishing Co., Atlanta, 1919:

Berry Finley was a remarkable man for his day. He began after the war as a renter, but bought land to the value of $4,000. He raised large crops of cotton, running at times to nearly 100 bales a year. He was prominent in the work of the Baptist church, in which he was a deacon. For nearly twenty years of his life he was blind.

1. ↑ 1870 Census, Laurens County, SC.
2. ↑ 1880 Census, Laurens County, SC.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} 1900 Census, Laurens, Laurens, SC (1).
4. ↑ 1869 State Census, Laurens County, SC.
5. ↑ Last will and testament.
6. ↑ Headstone, Salem Baptist Church cemetery, Conway, AR.
7. ↑ Headstone, Rocky Springs Bpt. Ch.
8. ↑ 1869 South Carolina State Census, Laurens
   Berry Finley, 4 females 6-16, 1 male over 21, 1 male total, 5 females total
   (Cora, Laura, Dollie, Maggie)
9. ↑ Laurens, Laurens, SC, Page 175B
   
   Finley, Berry, 26, M, Mu
   Finley, Amanda, 24, F, Mu
   Finley, Laura, 12, F, Mu
   Finley, Cora, 10, F, Mu
   Finley, Dolley, 8, F, Mu
   Finley, Margret, 6, F, Mu
   finley, Pickens, 1/12, M, Mu
10. ↑ Berry Finley loaned $200 to Jacob Fowler, possibly a worker on his land, against crops. Witnessed by Harrison Finley.
11. ↑ Laurens, SC, E.D. 99, Sheet 41B
    Finly, Berry, mulatto, male,38, head
    Finly, Amanda, black, female, 39, wife
    Finly, Dollie, mulatto, female, 16, daughter,
    Finly, Maggie, mulatto, female, 14, daughter
    Finly, John, mulatto, male, ?, son
    Finly, Thos Pickens, mulatto, male, ?, son
    Finly, Samuel, mulatto, male, 2, son
    Finly, Rose, black, female, 87, mother
12. ↑ Mortgage to E.F. Gaines (Emily F. Gaines, daughter of Elihu Madden) purchasing homestead of Elihu Madden for $1300. Mortgage paid in full Dec. 14, 1885. 343 acres. Bordered land of John R. Finley.
13. ↑ P.S. Suber, D. McDaniel, Berry Finley, and D. Franks sellf 2.5 acres to Henry Jones. Not sure what this land was or when it was purchased.
14. ↑ Chesley Finley and Berry Finley sell two acres of land for $20 to School District #2 of Laurens township for free public school for colored people.
15. ↑ Farmer
16. ↑ Laurens, Laurens, SC, E.D. 56, Sheet 14B
    Finley, Berry, head, B, M, july 1836, 63, married 40 years
    Finley, Amanda, wife, B, F, Aug 1835, 64, Married 40 years, 10 children, 9 living
    Finley, Cisala, daughter, B, F, Dec 1872, 17
    Finley, Jessie, daughter, B, F, Nov 1884, 15
    Finley, May, daughter, B, F, Jan 1887, 13
    Finley, William, nephew, B, M, Mar 1879, 21(whose child? Berry's outside child?)
17. ↑ Berry's last will and testament