Jonathan Finney
B:1758
D:1843
Revolutionary War Veteran, Private
Served in: Captain Joseph Palmer’s Company, Colonel Josiah Whitney’s Regiment and Captain Samuel Fish’s Company for 8 days, Capt. Moses Ashley's Company, Col. John Paterson's 15th Massachusetts Regt., 1776
Jonathan Finney applied for a pension in May 1820. He stated he owned no real estate but had use of part of an old house and a small spot for a garden. He owned 1 cow, 8 hens, 2 small tables, 1 old chest of drawers, 8 old chairs, 4 pewter plates and other modest household goods, including an old Bible and 1 copy of Milton’s Paradise Lost. He stated his occupation was farmer. His application to the War Department was denied.
Jonathan was born November 8, 1758 Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut and died August 10, 1843 Delhi, Delaware County, NY. He was the son of Jonathan, age 22, and Phebe (Phelps) Finney, age 24. His wife was Sarah Treadway. They married on June 15, 1789 and had 10 children - Mary, George, Mary “Polly”, Phebe, Seldon, Jonathan, Beri, Harriet, Amasa and William. The Finney’s moved to Delhi, NY around 1800.
Jonathan Finney died on 10 August 1843, in Delhi, NY at the age of 84. His wife, Sarah, died in 1857, age 93. Jonathan and Sarah Finney, and their son, Seldon, were originally buried in the Old Delhi Burial Ground. Jonathan’s and Sarah’s remains were removed to Woodland Cemetery but their gravestones remain in Old Delhi. Seldon’s remains are still interred in Old Delhi.
Jonathan Finney’s name was alternatively spelled Phinney, as it is spelled on his son, Seldon’s, gravestone, in the Old Delhi Burial Ground. From his obituary, “In Franklin (Delaware Co, NY) on 20th inst. Mr Seldon Finney of this town (Delhi, Delaware Co, NY {he married} Miss Annis Johnson of the former place. From the Delaware Gazette January 12, 1825. Seldon and Annis were married only 18 months before he died. I haven’t found a record of Annis being buried with him so she may have remarried. His funeral was held at the Delhi Courthouse, now the Delhi Village Hall.
His gravestone inscription reads, “In memory of Seldon Phinney who died July 9, 1826, AEt 30 yrs”. AEt stands for Aetate, Latin for “at the age of”. Jonathan and Sarah’s gravestones are nearly indecipherable.
