Finley Family History & Genealogy

THE COURIER JOURNAL - INDIANA

SUNDAY,OCTOBER 17, 1999

GROUP CLEARS BLACK FAMILY'S 19TH - CENTURY FLOYD CEMETERY

Pam Peters thinks the people buried in the Finley family cemetery in southern Floyd County may
have lived a life of crime. Specifically, she thinks the Finley's one of a handful of black families in Floyd County in the 1800's illegally helped escaped slaves who just crossed the metaphorical Jordan - River - the Ohio - from Kentucky to Indiana. Peters, who since 1996 has
been researching Floyd County's ties to the Underground Railroad, brought a youth group from
Concordia Lutheran Church in Louisville to the Finely family cemetery yesterday to help clear
the towering weeds that had obscured the tombstones and to get a close up look at the family's
history. Peters said the cemetery is unusual among old black cemeteries because it has elegantly engraved tombstones, an indication the Finley's were affluent. Peters said she heard
about the cemetery from her friend Albert Kaegi, a farmer who lives nearby. He led the church
group yesterday to the cemetery's remote location on farmland near Hopewell Road. I think if
people knew about the cemetery, they didn't know it was black, Peters said. Some people think
that a lot of black history is lost, but it's here; you just have to dig for it. The youths,
along with Peters and her husband, Curtis, Concordia's pastor, tackled the weeds with clippers
and rakes. It took them about and hour to clear most of the weeds from the 35-by-40-foot cemetery, and as they did, they uncovered tombstones that had fallen over time. The tombstones
mark the graves of the family of Josiah Finley, a farmer who bought the surrounding land a little at a time in the 1840's and 1850's. His wife, Malinda Finley, is buried in the cemetery, as are at least six of their children, ages 2 to 21, and one grandchild. All of thechildren and the grandchild died in 1861. I heard the flu went through and killed them all,
said Bill Hubert, who lives in the old Finley house and owns the land. That's what my dad told
me. The Finley's lived just a few miles from the river and had a large, remote tract of land,
two characteristics that support Peters theory that they were part of the Underground Railroad. While delving into census records and old newspaper articles, Peters, a former legal
secretary, has come across many reports of slaves escaping from Louisville into New Albany.
She said free blacks played a key role in the movement, and the Finley farm would have been a
logical place for fleeing slaves to go. I don't think of the Underground Railroad in Southern
Indiana as a big organization, she said. It was a spontaneous reaction from fellow members of
their race. Peters said the cemetery offers an important historical lesson:It shows that there
were black settlers in rural Floyd County as far back as the 1820's when Cesar Finley, a relative of Josiah's first bought some land. People just aren't aware that there were free
African Americans living here so early, she said. They were some of the founding fathers of
Floyd County. Hubert said he usually trimmed the weeds in the cemetery, but they grew out of
control from the spring rains. Peters said she is working with the cemetery's county trustee to ensure that it is properly maintained. Don Harshey, director of community corrections for
Floyd County, said he wants to start bringing work crews - people on probation or home incarceration - to the cemetery regularly. Members of the youth group said that despite encountering some thorns and scratchy weeds, the project was more exciting than other youth
group events. This is probably the best thing we've done, Simon Davies, 15, said. Peters said
it would be impossible to determine the exact activities of the Underground Railroad in Floyd
County because of the secrecy surrounding it. She is working on a book on the subject and has
identified a few houses in New Albany that were likely spots for hiding escaped slaves. Another mystery, she said, is what happened to Josiah Finley. He isn't buried in the cemetery.
I haven't seen a trace of him, so I'm guessing he left Floyd County, she said.

(postcard) Mr. Chas. G. Montgomery Co. I 142nd U. S. Inf. Camp Bowie, Ft. Worth Texas

Hello Chas:

How are you this morning? Fine I hope, we are all doing just fine this
morning. You know about how we feel after attending a wedding yesterday. I
guess you will be kindly surprised to hear about Iva and Jim being married.
They got married yesterday. Well answer soon, your sis, Virdia. Iva said
she would answer your letter in a few days as soon as she got use to her new
name.