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m. 26 Jun 1734
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] Superintendent of father's woolen mills. Friend of Dr.Witherspoon whom he followed to America, when former became president of Princeton; landed in New York City. Weaver and Uniform maker for New Jersey troops in the Revolution.Source: Stout, H.F. 1679 landed in New York City. Weaver and Uniform maker for New Jersey Troops in the Rev."..... Source: Stout, H.F. "Modified Story of the Clan Finley" San Diego, CA 1963 (Additonal information re Dr. Witherspoon) "«i»Rev. John Witherspoon, the only active clergyman among the signers, achieved a greater reputation as a religious leader and educator than as a politician. Emigrating from Scotland to America in the midst of the controversy between the Colonies and the Crown, he took part in the Revolution, lost a son during the war, and signed the Articles of Confederation as well as the Declaration. He is better known, however, for his role in the growth of the Presbyterian Church and for his distinguished presidency of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University). The son of a Calvinist minister, Witherspoon was born in 1723 at the village of Gifford, near Edinburgh. He attended grammar school at the neighboring town of Haddington and won master of arts (1739) and divinity (1743) degrees from the University of Edinburgh. In 1743 the Haddington Presbytery licensed him to preach. He was ordained 2 years later at Beith, where he occupied a pulpit until 1757. He then transferred to Paisley, not far from Glasgow. Meantime, in 1748, he had married; only five of his ten children survived childhood. Over the years, Witherspoon attained leadership of a group of conservative clergymen who were engaged in a prolonged struggle with a group of their colleagues to maintain the "purity" of orthodox Church doctrine. Witherspoon penned a stream of sermons and tracts attacking the opposition and denouncing moral decay in Scotland. He also defended the traditional prerogative of the people to choose their own ministers, a right ecclesiastical authorities had taken from them. The College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1764. Rev. John Witherspoon served as its president from 1768 until 1794.... In 1768 Witherspoon channeled his energies in a new direction. He gave up his post at Paisley and accepted the presidency of the College of New Jersey, after two representatives of the college had visited him and finally at the end of 2 years of effort overcome the objections of his wife. He sailed to America with his family. The college bloomed under his direction. He increased the endowment, instituted new methods of instruction, and broadened and revitalized the curriculum. Continuing also as a minister and church leader, he patched up a major schism in the Presbyterian Church; stimulated its expansion, especially in the Middle Colonies; and worked closely with the Congregationalists. The Revolution fanned Witherspoon's hatred of the English, which had originated in Scotland. By 1770 his students were openly demonstrating in favor of the patriot cause. In a commencement oration he advocated resistance to the Crown, which became his favorite theme in sermons and essays. In 1774-76 he represented his county in the New Jersey provincial assemblies, and sat on local committees of correspondence. In the latter year he figured prominently in the agitations that led to the removal from office and imprisonment of the Royal Governor, and then received an appointment to the Continental Congress. On July 2, 1776, in a congressional speech urging independence, Witherspoon declared that the Colonies were "not only ripe for the measure but in danger of rotting for the want of it." In November, when the British invaded New Jersey, he closed the College of New Jersey. The redcoats occupied its major building, Nassau Hall, burned the library, and committed other acts of destruction. The next year, Witherspoon's son James lost his life at the Battle of Germantown, Pa. Witherspoon stayed in Congress until 1782. His main committee assignments dealt with military and foreign affairs. He also participated in the debates on the Articles of Confederation, aided in setting up the executive departments, and argued for financial stability. Meantime, in 1779, he had moved from the President's House at Princeton to Tusculum, a country home he had earlier built nearby. He left the Rev. Samuel S. Smith, his son-in-law and the college vice president, in charge of the nearly defunct institution. Witherspoon devoted most of his effort during the postwar years to rebuilding the college, which never fully recovered its prewar prosperity during his lifetime. In addition, during the years 1783-89 he sat for two terms in the State legislature, attended the New Jersey (1787) convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, participated in the reorganization of the Presbyterian Church, and moderated its first general assembly (1789). In 1791, at the age of 68, Witherspoon took a second wife, a 24-year-old widow, who bore him two daughters. Blind his last 2 years, he died in 1794, aged 71, at Tusculum. His remains rest in the Presidents' Lot at Princeton Cemetery." «/i» Source: National Park Service - "Signers of the Declaration - Biographical Sketches - John Witherspoon, New Jersey. Downloaded 20 June 2009 http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/bio54.htm . ----------------------------- A James Finnely is listed as one of the American wagoners under the command of Rochambeau, commander of the French expeditionary army in America (contributed to the success at Yorktown) James Finnely was driving a wagon owned by Ed M. Guine...... Source: ROCHAMBEAU'S AMERICAN WAGONERS, 1780-1783 - by Kenneth Scott. (from papers of Commissary-General Jeremiah Wadsworth) - papers presented to New York Historical Society "James Finley of Trenton, N.J."..."This is family who settled in New Jersey, James Finley, son of James and Ann (McDonald) Finley, born Glasgow, June 8, 1737, died Basking Ridge, married in Scotland, Ann Angrest, immigrated to America, landing, New York, 1769, moved and settled Priceton, N.J.....Issue: I. James Finley, born Princeton, 1770, moved to Western N.Y.; Alexander Finley, born 1771, died Basking Ridge (?), married Susan Whitaker, 12 children; III Rev Robert Finley, born Princeton, N.J., 1772, died Athens, Ga, Oct 3, 1817, married May 16, 1768, Esther Flynt Caldwell, daughter of Rev James and Hannah (Ogden) Caldwell; IV. Anne, who m. Charles Morford of Basking Ridge, N.J".... Source: History of Huntingdon and Somerset Counties, . p. 738; ... ------------------------ Rev. Finley's father, James Finley, was born 1737 in Glasgow, Scotland, where he was trained as a yarn merchant and where he became acquainted with Rev. John Witherspoon who was then a pastor in the town of Paisley about six miles from Glasgow. James Finley "frequently left the church to which he was attached in his native city, and walked to Paisley on Sabbath days, to attend the ministrations of his admired friend."...... "he rejoiced at his efforts to restore pure Presbyerian government in the Church of Scotland " and supported Witherspoon's opposition to the4 patronage system. After accepting the Presidency of of Princeton College and emigrating to America in 1763, Witherspoon invited James Finley to come over and settle in the same place. James Finley did so "and with his wife whose maiden name was Angres, landed at New York in 1769. At Princeton James Finley pursued weaving and was for many years a ruling elder in the Presbyerian church.... "He was a warm and decided advocate and supporter of the American Revolution. He was employed as clothier to a brigade of American troops. " Economically he suffered because his compensation was largely "in the currency of the provinces when it had sunk to almost nothing." At Princeton James Finley corresponded for many years with David Dale Esq, "th honorable Bailiff of the district he had inhabited in Scotland" ......Source: Brown, Rev. Isaac V. "Biograpy of the Rev. Robert Finley" Philadelphia 1857, pages 1-19 An obituary from ", relates that David Dale "Died at Glasgow on the 17th current in the 68th year of his age, David Dale, Esq, of Rosebank, late one of the magistrates of that city." ......Source: Assembly's Missionary magazine, 1806, page 341 (This suggests that James Finley may have come from this same area) ----------------------------------------- Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s about James Finley Name: James Finley Year: 1769 Place: America Source Publication Code: 9760 Primary Immigrant: Finley, James Annotation: Covers era prior to 1855. Compiled from correspondence and monument inscriptions, 17th and, mainly, 18th century. Prepared for the Scottish Genealogical Society. 6,470 emigrants.......... Source: Whyte, Donald., A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the USA. Vol. 1. Baltimore: Magna Carta Book Co., 1972. 504p. 2nd pr., 1981. Page: 116 ------------------- References
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