Ebenezer Ward Finney was born in 1755 in Norton, Massachusetts and died on December 27th, 1822 in Finneytown, Ohio. He was the son of Solomon Finney and Mary Ward. He was named for his maternal grandfather with whom he lived. His mother Mary Ward, died when Ebenezer and his sister Mary, were young. They were raised by their maternal grandfather, a Baptist minister who moved from Attleboro, Massachusetts to Horseneck (now known as Greenwich), Connecticut and later to New Salem, Westchester, County, New York. Ebenezer served in the Revolutionary War as Ward Finney. He enlisted in 1775 and fought for 8 years until the end of the American Revolution in 1783.
He married Rachael Raymond between 1775 and 1777 and they had (4) children: Lois, John, Abigail and Elizabeth. His eldest daughter Lois, married David Sprong. The Finney name has its roots in royalty tracing back to Lord Baron, John Fenis (born in 1066) who was a kinsman of King William the Conqueror. The name, Finney is derived from an old place in Staffordshire, England spelled, “Fynney”; which originated from the Baron.
“He was called Ward Finney so as not to confuse him with his grandfather. He is listed in New York in the American Revolution as Ward Finney of Westchester Company, 4th Regiment under Colonel Thadeus Crane. Ward Finney was also later in the 5th Regiment, 3rd Company.” (Burdge 1953).
He was living in Rensselaer County, New York at the death of his grandfather, Ebenezer Ward, when he inherited the land in Hamilton County, Ohio (later to be known as "Finneytown") to the total of approximately 10,000 acres.
“In the summer of 1800, he, his wife, Rachel, daughters Betsy (Elizabeth) and Abbey (Abigail), son John, daughter Lois and her husband, David Sprong with their (3) children: James, Solomon and Ward, and Rachel's brother, Samuel Raymond and his wife Jane and their (2) children left New York in covered wagons drawn by oxen. The journey started in Rensselaer County, New York.
Following the Mohawk Trail to western New York, took them across the Allegheny Mountains and to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they built flatboats and started down the Ohio River into Cincinnati, Ohio.” (Burdge 1953). When the party arrived in the fall of that same year, they found a wilderness.
What is now Winton Ridge Lane was an Indian trail up into the hills. The families used this trail to reach their new home. When Winton Road and the road to Carthage (North Bend Road) were completed, that intersection became the heart of Finneytown.
Ebenezer and his wife Rachel established their farm adjacent to the intersection of Winton and North Bend Road and the new road to Winton's Plantation. At that intersection, a church, a blacksmith shop, and a tavern were built and a cemetery dedicated. The small brick church was built on Ebenezer's land, but was later torn down and the brick used to build a combination grocery store and saloon. It later became the Finneytown Inn. (F.L.S. Website)
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