CHAPTER 11 JAMES AND JOHN FINNIE: LIFE ON COLE'S BRANCH

August 1795 After spending the last year negotiating with Indian tribes, General Wayne met with the assembled Indians at Fort Greenville on 3 August 1795 in the hope of maintaining the Ohio River boundary, increasingly becoming a blur. The natives in attendance agreed to General Waynes’ terms and gave up, once and for all, two-thirds of Ohio and part of Indiana. There was relief from all corners of Kentucky. As Kentucky enjoyed their new since of safety, new issues began to make themselves known. One-time debates over harvesting deer, slaughtering buffalo, contesting survey titles, and haggling over shingled land claims were a thing of the past. Buffalo were all but gone and deer were hard to locate. The hunters that had founded Kentucky were no more. Survey title and land claim court issues were declining. Common problems existing around the state included government concerns, slavery, toll roads, taxes, and church.

James Finnie’s farm had progressed to adjust to the new markets and soil, diversifying the use of his land. Hemp became popular since cotton in the south needed to be roped and bagged and slaves need to be clothed; increasing demand for the fibrous plant. High prices were paid for hemp raised from the rich and loamy soil found copiously in the inner Bluegrass areas. Tobacco was still a good crop but was now found in greater abundance, resulting in lower sales prices. Hemp made many large scale Kentucky farmers more money and was better suited to slaves. It was often called a slave crop because the Negroes understood and learned the entire process of growth, unlike tobacco, and made farming much easier for the plantation owner. It was said that no county in the state of Kentucky produced more hemp per acre and of a better variety of crop than in Woodford County. These crops included corn, wheat, barley, hemp and tobacco, the latter two being the most profitable.

The Finnie men were frequent visitors to Lexington, 15 miles east of their homes down the Leesburg-Lexington Pike, normally shortened to the Leesburg Pike. Lexington was the industrial and commercial capital in the frontier, known informally as the Philadelphia of the West. By the mid-1790s, there were over 12 general stores in town. Lexington prospered even though it lacked the ability to export goods via a seaport or on a major waterway. Visitors to Lexington could expect to pay dearly for European goods. Prices for these types of goods in Lexington were 50 to 100 percent greater than in Philadelphia. In addition to expensive and unique goods, horse races were a normal occurrence through wider streets. Letters began to arrive and leave from the new post office in 1794.

Closer to the Finnie’s home, Woodford village within a few miles north of the South Elkhorn was also frequently visited. The J. Russell map of 1794 shows the village of Woodford. There were other maps showing other Woodford County villages or towns, like Versailles to the south. At some point, Woodford village would become officially known as Fisher’s Mill, though many people simply called it “Little Sodom” for its swarthy character. A few hundred yards east of the small shipping port were 20 or more log cabins, flour and grist mills, cotton and hemp factories, a tannery, shoe shop, carding machine, and a storehouse.

The mouth of Cole's Branch on the south bank of South Elkhorn Creek

Cole’s Bad Inn, Richard Cole’s home and inn on the Leestown Pike, continued to live up to its dubious reputation. Many arguments and killings are said to have occurred by men who waited to take advantage of weary travelers. The men who built and operated the flat boats had to be tough fighting men, having good knowledge of river boating and a bit of intelligence. They had to protect the farmers merchandise at all costs, including unseen mishaps, robbery attempts by river pirates, boat wrecks, running aground caused by river floods, boat repairs needs, and others. After the sale of the farmer’s merchandise, the men took their cut, which ranged from 10 to 25 percent, the balance deposited in banks by previous arrangement of letter to the bank in New Orleans, then transferred to the merchants’ local bank. The flat boat operators returned north by foot, horseback, or any means back to Woodford County and to Cole’s Bad Inn, often to drink whiskey and tell stories about their trips spent traveling down the Mississippi during days and dark nights. The stories went on and on, telling tales to amuse the old and frighten the young.

Cole’s Bad Inn was located on the main thoroughfare from Lexington to Frankfurt and Louisville, known locally as Cole’s Road. It housed his family as well as a tavern and inn to accommodate the traveling public. All gatherings of politicians met at either Cole’s Bad Inn or Dailey’s Tavern in Leesburg. The rough reputation was described by an English journalist returning to Lexington from Frankfort along the Leestown-Lexington Turnpike, or Coles Road. He had visited both taverns on his trip to Frankfort from Lexington and compared the two. He states “Quitting Frankfort, we took Coles Road, a different route to that by which we had come, which brought us after riding ten miles mostly through the woods, to Coles who keeps an Inn on this road in opposition to Dailey, on the Old Frankfort-Lexington Turnpike. But any traveler who has once contrasted the rough vulgarity and the badness of his table and accommodations, with the taste, order, plenty and good attendance of his mulatto competitor will never trouble Mr. Cole a second time, especially as there is no sensible difference in the length of goodness of the roads, and that Mr. Dailey’s is through a generally much better settled country.” Dailey’s Tavern was in Leesburg, which was at this time a small hamlet consisting of three or four houses just a few miles southeast of the Finnies. It was previously a structure that was built by Major John Lee, who ran an inn, tavern, stable, and carriage house there from 1781 to 1799. Lee’s family rented to Mr. Dailey after Major Lee’s death, who himself ran the inn until 1812. The tavern still stands and is considered to be the oldest existing log building in Kentucky.

Shipping down the South Elkhorn continued until just a few years after the Lexington and Ohio Railroad was built through Midway. The railroad gradually took over, as they were faster and more dependable and so, Woodford Village just faded away. The village disappeared from all maps by 1839. In 1939, only one log house of this old settlement existed, and at present, there is none. A few sections of old rock walls exist where the launching area was located, pinpointing the exact location of the village. A workhouse and spring house still exist at the site of Cole’s Bad Inn. Some say the buildings are from Cole’s home and inn while others say it was part of Wait’s place, built after Cole’s Bad Inn burned in winter of 1811.

Looking south at Cole’s Branch from Cole’s Pike with the two Richard Cole buildings on the bank

The rifle was not kept so prominently in the home now. The Indians were no longer a threat to sneak up at any time. The feel of constant imminent danger was now gone and finally Kentucky was able to relax and enjoy life to a greater degree. Livestock and corn were now abundant and could easily supply food for families. For most of the year, rifles were only needed to rid their cornfields of pesky squirrels and other pests. Most of the time young boys were left to this chore with shotguns and dogs. In 1795, Kentucky legislature passed an act requiring all white males above 16 to kill a certain number of squirrels and crows every year. In April or May after planting, neighbors would come together for day-long squirrel shooting contests. Teams were made and the most total kills was the winner. Sometimes the total number of squirrels killed would amount to over 5,000. A large squirrel barbecue always followed the festivity.

James Finney, John Finney, and their neighbors would also create shooting contests for an excuse to pull down their old friend the rifle. Oddly, a man now could gain prominence in the community by his level of marksmanship shooting at targets, not Indians. Men would drive nails into trees with shot, snuff out candles and bark squirrels (shoot near the squirrel to knock it off its perch). A big bear or multi-point buck was actually still a larger thrill. Again, times had changed. What was once “easy pickings” in a land dominated by wild game, hunting for prey was now nearly impossible. Shooting a bear or buck involved keen senses, patience and knowledge and was a greater challenge than ever now.

James and John Finney anxiously awaited the completion of the harvest in the fall like they had in Culpeper County, Virginia. This was the time for a big hunting trip, to find those uninhabited places where creatures had not been overhunted. They and probably several neighbors packed their horses with supplies and traveled to open country, where land was not all fenced in. Surely, the Finnies would go east toward the more mountainous and less populated regions of Kentucky. James still owned over 6,000 acres in Fleming County where bear and deer remained more plentiful.

The location of one tract of land James owned on the Licking River

June 1795 Religion, which had been so important back at home in the east, took a back seat to other issues during the settlement years in Kentucky. Worshipping and thanking God had been neglected while families worried more about their own safety and stabilizing new farms and crops. As times changed, so did priorities. Congregations began to sprout up; they were small and meetings formed wherever they could find the space. Ministers were uncommon and those that were available traveled far and near in circuits, preaching at four or more churches, one every week. Back in July 1789, a committee of men from a Baptist congregation called The Church of South Elkhorn decided to build a 24- by 32-foot meetinghouse near the crossroads of the Steele’s Ferry and the Lexington-Leestown roads. With members living near the fork of the Elkhorn Creek, the church had been meeting regularly now for two years, led by the preaching of William Hickman, and had recently created a larger church body called the Elkhorn Association to govern all the churches in the area. By June 1795, land had been purchased on which a regular Baptist church was built with plans shortly afterwards to build, under direction of Nathaniel Sanders, a new meetinghouse, or William Hickman’s meetinghouse. It was known as the first house of worship of any kind north of the Kentucky River and the “Mother Church” of the Elkhorn Association.

There were other Baptist congregations meeting in the area just after the formation of Hickman’s church and many were officially organized and later joined the Elkhorn Association. Mount Gomer Baptist Church, later named Mount Pleasant, was organized in 1790 and a meetinghouse was built in 1791 overlooking the Elkhorn River just below the fork of Elkhorn Creek. Grassy Spring Church, also called Hopewell, was organized well before 1800, probably by Isaac Crutcher, its first pastor. It was located on the Frankfurt to Versailles road. Glen’s Creek Church was organized later in 1801 and met at McCracken’s sawmill until a meetinghouse was built in 1805. This church was about three miles north of Versailles.

This structure is rumored to be the remains of the Big Spring Meetinghouse, built

about 1811, and appears this way today looking from Spring Station

Another church close to the Finnie families was operational at this time. Woodford Presbyterian Church was organized by 1795. Before a proper church building was completed, the church congregation met at Shannon’s Meetinghouse. Reverend Samuel Shannon led services as the pastor and Judge Caleb Wallace was a presiding elder.

James and Elizabeth Finney were members of the Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church, according to the Forks of Elkhorn Church business meeting minutes.[i] The Forks Church was about seven miles west of the James Finnie farm along the Leestown-Lexington Pike. Woodford Church was about five miles south. The Finnies attended the church that offered them what they needed from God, regardless of convenience. Though James Finnie’s name shows up in the Forks Church business records, his brother John Finnie nor his wife Rachel were ever mentioned. Considering how close the brothers were, the possibility that they attended different churches seems unlikely, but possible. There was also the possibility that John Finnie did not partake in what the church offered in the form of salvation.

The John Major home near the Forks of Elkhorn Church

As news of governmental treaties and movements reached Kentucky, the Finnies and their neighbors felt more and more relieved. Westward expansion continued to the west and Kentucky was hardly able to be considered west anymore. The Kentucky Gazette reported many of these monumental occasions and would for the most part be the most accurate and consistent mode of information. James and John Finnie talked to those they saw on the along the roads, at taverns, at mills, and in towns; both neighbors nearby and travelers from afar gave information about the actions of the government. The Finnies sat at taverns to have a pint of beer, whiskey, or rum while talking, or even more likely argue, over politics. Some would support the Federalist Party and would completely back President Washington and his right hand man, secretary of treasury Alexander Hamilton and their continued support of and diplomacy with the British. Others would stand fast with the Republican Party led by newly elected vice president Thomas Jefferson and his advocacy of the French. History tells us that Kentucky citizens were generally split of which candidate they supported. During the 1793 presidential election, four Kentucky electors, including Charles Scott from Woodford County, gave their vote for George Washington for president and Thomas Jefferson for vice president, both winning those seats in office. George Washington was the obvious choice for president and many Americans even would have liked to have their national hero become king. However, Washington’s support for the British was hard to stomach for some Kentuckians; the British cruelties in the west during the Revolution were still fresh in westerner’s minds. The British had paid the northern Indian tribes for American scalps during the war and truthfully still encouraged Indian atrocities against the westward expanding American emigrants. As the decade would progress, the supporters of these two parties became more and more divided and Kentucky citizens, not unlike all frontiersmen living in the west, began to voice their support of the Republican party.

A mill

22 December 1795 John Finnie’s name was found in the Kentucky Court of Appeals-Deeds as a grantee for something that was classified as no acreage and no watercourse. A Court of Appeals trial was necessary when an issue, normally related to state land, could not be settled in county court. During this trial, he was listed as a citizen of Woodford County.

By the end of 1795, the Finnie families were still relatively young. James and Elizabeth Finnie were surrounded by seven children in their household. Nancy, the oldest child, was now 16 and was growing into a fine woman. Soon she would be ready for marriage and was learning to take care of a kitchen and home. Elijah and John were 14 and 11, and having a grand time on the farm. Any schooling that they may have received was probably coming to an end by about 15 years of age, and during their teen years they were learning more about how to take care of the crops, tend the animals, and clean the barn. Fishing and horse riding were likely grand sources of escape for the two youths. Elizabeth was eight years old and was probably receiving some schooling at various times during the year. Young James was only six and spent a lot of time with his mother and older sisters in and around the house while chores were being taken care of. The baby girls, three year old Judith and seven-month-old Milley were a handful getting into their older siblings things. The family had a large herd of cattle, between 35 and 40 head, about six horses, and nine slaves.

The young Finney boys spent time fishing on the South Elkhorn Creek

John Finnie and his second wife Rachel were raising at least four children. Mary and Nancy, who were about 11 and 10 years old, were too young to remember their mother and were well adapted to their new step-mother, Rachel, a young woman of 27 years. They were likely either going to school or had finished recently. John Gibson Finnie, known as John G., and Eleanor were three and one and spent most of their time with their mother. There were between 25 and 30 head of cattle in the fields, two horses, and six slaves.

[i] http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/forks.of.elkhorn.records.html and the Forks off the Elkhorn book

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