Finley, John P., a Methodist Episcopal minister and professor of languages in Augusta College, Ken- tucky, was born in South Carolina in June, 1783, and, though earlj' removed liy his parents to the West, "through their exertions and his own he obtained ix classical education." From 1810 to 1822 he taught in schools and academies in Ohio, and preached also with zeal and success. In 1822 he was elected to the ciiair of languages in Augusta College, and the same j'ear entered the itinerancy, and in lioth labored zeal- ously and usefully until his death in May, 1825. — Min- utes of Conferences, i, 505. (G. L. T.)
Finley, Robert, D.D., a Presbyterian minister, and president of tlie University of Georgia, was born at Princeton, N. J., in 1772, and graduated at Prince- ton College in 1787. From 1793 to 1795 he was a tu- tor in the college, and a trustee from 1807 to 1817, when he resigned. He was the minister of a Presby- terian church atBaskingridge,N. J., from June, 1797, till 1817. In 1810 he became greatl}' interested in the welfare of the free blacks, and formed a plan of send- ing them to Africa. He was thus the founder of the American Colonization Society. Ho v/as chosen pres- ident of Athens College, Ga., and went there in 1817, but died Oct. 3d of that year. — Sprague, Annals, iv, 12G.
Finley, Robert Smith, a Presbyterian minister, was born at Basking Riilge, New Jersey, Jlay 9, 1804, and was educated at Princeton College. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Cincinnati; but in 1833 he determined to enter the ministry, and spent
a short time at Lane Seminary. In 1835 he was li- censed by the Presbytery of Mississippi, and was or- dained in 1842. His first charge was Pine Grove, La. ; and fur some time he was missionary among the slaves near Natchez. For six years he edited, at St. Louis, the IJberian Advocate, devoted to African colonization, in which cause he was greatly interested through life. In 1850 he became pastor of the Presbj'terian church at Metuchin, N. J., and in 1858 principal of the Pres- byterian Female Institute at Talladega, Ala., where he died Jul}' 2, 1860. — Wilson, Presbyterian A Imanac, 1861^ p. 85.
Finley, Robert "W., a distinguished Methodist Episcopal minister, was born in Bucks County, Pa., June 9, 1750. He was converted at seventeen. Soon af- ter he entered Princeton College, N. J., where he spent seven years in general and theological studies. In 1774 he was licensed to preach in the Presbyterian Church, and was sent as a missionarj' to Georgia and the Carolinas. Here he was a patriot as well as a preacher, and was often with general Marion in his expeditions, and incurred much enmity and risk of life from the Tories. In 1784 he went to Hampshire County, then in New Virginia, where he preached two 3'ears. In 1788 he emigrated to Kentucky, and event- ually opened a school for students in divinity, and a number of his pupils were distinguished in subsecpient life. In 1795 he went with general Massie to explore the Scioto country, then in the Northwest Territory, and in IMay, 1796, he settled on the Scioto, below Chil- licothe. In 1808 he connected himself with the Meth- odist Church, and in 1811 or 1812 joined the Ohio Con- ference as a travelling preacher. For many j'ears he labored with great success, and received hundreds into the Church. When almost eight}' and superannuated, he mounted his horse, with his books and clothes, and set off as a missionary to Saut St. Marie, and there formed a circuit and appointed a camp-meeting. He died at Germantown, Ohio, Dec. 8, 1840. — Minutes of Conferences, iii, 239. (G. L. T.)
Finley, Samuel, D.D., a Presbyterian minister and president of New Jersey College, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, and came to America in 1734. On his arrival at Philadelphia he renewed his studies preparatory to the ministry, and was licensed in 1740. He labored long and successfully in West Jersey, in Deerfield, Greenwich, and Cape May, and supplied the church in Philadelphia for a time. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1742, and in 1744 he accepted a call from Nottingham, Maryland, where he continued for nearly seventeen years, and where he kept an academy of great reputa- tion. In 1761 he was called to the presidency of New Jersey Ctdlege, and removed to Princeton, and soon after was honored with the degree of D.D. from Glas- gow. He died July 17, 1766. He published a sermon entitled Christ triumphing and Satan rarjinrj, 1741 : — A Refutation of a Sermon on the Doctrine of Convictions, 1743: — Satan stripped of his angelic Poles, 1743: — A charitable Plea for the Speechless, 1747: — A Vindica- tion of the preceding, 1748: — A Sermon — 77*6 Curse of Meroz, etc., 1757 : — A Sermon on the Death of President Davies, 1761. — Sprague, Annals, iii, 96.
Finnan, an Irish ecclesiastic whom Oswin, king of Northumberland, called to the abbacy of Lindis- fame, and to superintend the churches in his king- dom. The Venerable Bede says, " He was a man of fierce and rough nature, but very successful in minis- terial labors. He baptized Peada, king of the ISIiddle Angles, and sent four priests to instruct his subjects in Christianity." He also consecrated Ceadmon, who afterwards became a ver}' prominent liishop among the East Angles, and baptized Sigebert their king, together with great numliei-s of tiie common people. He was very active in promoting the temporal as well as the spiritual interest of the Church. During his