Pioneers of Ellis County Olin Anthony Finley and Allied Lines   Olin A. Finley, successful farmer of Ellis County, was a son of John J. Finley (b.Georgia in 1806). In 1847, John Finley moved to Alabama, and in 1850, to Texas, settling in Harrison County and Rusk County where he died in 1873. He was a farmer, a Whig (later a Democrat), and from his early days a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.. John Finley married Eliza Lane (daughter of Henry Lane, who was born in 1814 and died in 1847.) Henry Lane, a Major in the CSA, was in command of a battalion under Jackson at Mobile, and was, at one time, a Probate Judge of Newton County, Georgia. John and Eliza Lane had five children: John H., (d. at Hopkinsville, Ky. while in CSA service); Wilber F., ( killed at Battle of New Hope, near Marietta, Ga.); Olin Anthony, Mattie L., (married C. C. Doyle, Rusk County, Tex.); and a child who died in infancy. John Finley's second wife was Teresa Shaw, a native of Georgia, who died in 1889. There were three children by this marriage: Lucius, William and Eloise. Matthew Finley, paternal grandfather of Olin Finley, and native of Belfast, Ireland, came to America in 1775 and served throughout the RW. He married Mary McCord, a native of Georgia, and they had nine children: Annie, Mary, Parker, Malinda, Harriet, John J., James, Madison, and one who died in infancy. Olin Anthony Finley was born in Georgia in 1843, moved with his parents to Alabama. and to Texas, first to Harrison County. and then to Rusk County, living at home until 1873 when he began farming on his own. From 1879-1883, he rented a farm four miles east of Waxahachie then moved to his present farm of over 100 acres.. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. A., Lane's Regiment, CSA, and served until the close of the war, participating in several principal engagements and a number of skirmishes. Oliin Finley married Miss Mattie E. Massie in 1871. She was born in 1849 in Rusk County,Texas, a daughter of Dr. J. W. and Jane Hester Massie. After graduating from Marshall Masonic Institute, she taught school for a number of years - four in Ellis County. The Finleys had one child, Wilber, born August 24, 1881. Mattie Finley died in 1886 - "much beloved for her womanly qualities, and willingness to help others whenever possible.". Olin. Finley was a Democrat and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church.   Copyright © 2005-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:29:55 MDT