For many years Mr. Finley was known as "The Hoosier Poet," an
appellation since transferred to James Whitcomb Riley, who wrote of him:
"The voice that sang the Hoosier's Nest--
Of Western singers first and best--"
Readers are always interested in the development of an author. They
naturally inquire of his ancestry, early environment and education: how
much was due to native talent, how much acquired by association with
kindred spirits.
Mr. Finley's ancestors were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians; the family was
driven from Scotland to Ireland by religious persecution, and failing to
find the religious and political freedom they sought the seven brothers
emigrated to America, in 1724. Samuel Finley became president of
Princeton College; John explored the western wilds with Daniel Boone,
and the youngest brother, William, settled on a farm in Western
Pennsylvania. His son, Andrew, married and removed to Brownsburg,
Rockridge county, Virginia, where John Finley was born, January 11,
1797.
Andrew Finley was a merchant in the village, but the family occupied a
farm in a beautiful valley near the Blue Ridge Mountains. This mountain
range could not fail to impress a child of poetic temperament--the blue
haze veiling its summit, the drifting clouds that clung to its side, the
rising sun dispersing the mists in the valley, or, the shadows creeping
over valley and mountain as the setting sun disappeared beyond the
western horizon, all left lasting pictures in his memory and influenced
his after life.
His school days were cut short by his father's financial reverses,
following the capture of a cargo of flour by the British during the war
of 1812. This misfortune threw the boy of sixteen on his own resources,
and, as nothing better offered he accepted a position with a relative
who was conducting a tanning and currying business in Greenbrier county.
This was a most humiliating alternative for a young Virginian whose
surroundings led him to look upon manual labor as only fit for slaves,
but it was part of the discipline of life which resulted in marked
regard for all practical workmen, and an abhorence of the institution of
slavery.
In 1816 he joined an emigrant company and with fifty dollars in his
pocket, a saddle-horse and rifle and a pair of saddle-bags, turned his
face towards the "Eldorado of the West." His first stopping place was
Cincinnati, Ohio, but in 1820, we find him in Richmond, Ind., where he
lived to see a small village develop into a thriving city.
Taking an active part in its growth, he was rewarded by the confidence
and esteem of his fellow citizens who elected him to various offices of
trust and responsibility. His official career began in 1822, as Justice
of the Peace. He represented Wayne county in the Legislature, 1828-31,
and then was Enrolling Clerk of the Senate for three years. During this
time he met the leading men of the State and formed many lasting
friendships. 1833-37, he edited and held a controlling interest in the
principal newspaper of the county, the Richmond Palladium, and in 1837,
was elected clerk of the Wayne County Courts, with a term of seven
years; this necessitated a removal to the county seat, Centerville, but
on the expiration of the terns (1845) he returned to Richmond, having
always considered it his home. Elected mayor of the city in the spring
of 1852, he retained the office, by re-election, until his death,
December 23, 1866, having almost continuous public service for more than
forty years.
He was a man of sterling integrity; none who knew him ever doubted his
word; an oath could not make it more binding. As a member of the Masonic
fraternity he was active in the relief of the poor and needy; his
sympathy and assistance were freely given to the ignorant negroes
seeking refuge in Indiana: he looked upon them as children that had
been deprived of their birthright.
A self-educated man, his reading covered a wide field; he was familiar
with standard English authors and was a constant reader of the best
current periodicals and newspapers, especially those containing the
opinions of leading statesmen on political questions and internal
improvements.
He was twice married, and had six children, one son, Maj. John H.
Finley, gave his life for his country in the war for the Union--from
this blow the father never recovered. A widow and three daughters
survived him. Robert Burns was his favorite poet, the humor convulsed
him with silent laughter, and "Highland Mary," or "The Cotter's Saturday
Night" brought the quick tears to his eyes.
Mr. Finley's reputation as a poet was established when the Indiana
Journal published "The Hoosier's Nest," January 1, 1833. It was the
first "Carrier's Address" written by the author, and was followed by an
"address" to the Journal for eight or nine years in succession. The
Palladium also had an annual "address." These were rhyming reviews of
State and National questions or humorous references to peculiarities of
candidates for public office. They were of local interest but did not
arrest general attention as the graphic description of Hoosier life had
done. After a lapse of seventy-five years "The Hoosier's Nest" is still
in demand at Old Settlers' Picnics, and at the reunions of the many
"Hoosier Clubs" springing up wherever Indiana's sons have become
prominent in the Great West. The following extract is conceded to be the
best description of pioneer life to be found in print:
"I'm told in riding somewhere West
A stranger found a _Hoosier's Nest_--
In other words a Buckeye cabin,
Just big enough to hold Queen _Mab_ in;
Its situation, low but airy,
Was on the borders of a prairie;
And fearing he might be benighted,
He hailed the house, and then alighted.
The Hoosier met him at the door--
Their salutations soon were o'er.
He took the stranger's horse aside,
And to a sturdy sapling tied;
Then having stripped the saddle off,
He fed him in a sugar trough.
The stranger stooped to enter in--
The entrance closing with a pin
And manifested strong desire
To seat him by the log-heap fire,
Where half a dozen _Hoosieroons_,
With mush and milk, tin cups and spoons,
White heads, bare feet, and dirty faces,
Seemed much inclined to keep their places,
But Madame, anxious to display
Her rough but undisputed sway,
Her offsprings to the ladder led,
And cuffed the youngsters up to bed.
Invited shortly to partake
Of venison, milk, and _johnny cake_,
The stranger made a hearty meal,
And glances round the room would steal.
One side was lined with divers' garments,
The other spread with skins of _varmints_;
Dried pumpkins overhead were strung,
Where venison hams in plenty hung;
Two rifles placed above the door;
Three dogs lay stretched upon the floor--
In short, the domicile was rife
With specimens of Hoosier life."
The word _Hoosieroon_ was coined for the poem, and "_Hoosier_" no longer
designated a rough, uncouth backwoodsman but a self-reliant man who was
able to subdue the wilderness, defend his home, and command the respect
of his neighbors:
"He is, (and not the little-great)
The bone and sinew of the State."
"Bachelor's Hall" was published anonymously, and was immediately
credited to the Irish poet, Thomas Moore; it was reproduced in England
and Ireland many times before the authorship was established. It was set
to music for "Miss Leslie's Magazine," and was sung at a banquet given
for the members of the Indiana Legislature:
"Bachelor's Hall! What a quare-looking place it is!
Kape me from sich all the days of my life!
Sure, but I think what a burnin' disgrace it is,
Niver at all to be gettin' a wife.
See the ould bachelor, gloomy and sad enough,
Placing his tay-kittle over the fire;
Soon it tips over--St. Patrick! he's mad enough
(If he were present) to fight with the Squire.
Pots, dishes, pans, and sich grasy commodities,
Ashes and praty-skins kiver the floor;
His cupboard's a storehouse of comical oddities,
Things that had niver been neighbors before.
Late in the night then he goes to bed shiverin';
Niver the bit is the bed made at all;
He crapes like a terrapin under the kiverin':
Bad luck to the picture of Bachelor's Hall!"
His poem entitled, Our Home's Fireside, expresses his appreciation of
domestic life. He felt that the homes of a country are the fountain of
all true happiness, and the bulwark of civil and religious liberty:
"There's not a place on earth so dear
As our Home's Fireside,
When parents, children all draw near
To our Home's Fireside;
When the toil-spent day is past,
And loud roars the wintry blast,
Then how sweet to get at last
By our Home's Fireside!
'Tis wedded love's peculiar seat,
At our Home's Fireside,
Where happiness and virtue meet
At our Home's Fireside;
When each prattler, loth to miss,
Climbs to claim the wonted kiss,
'Tis the sum of human bliss,
At our Home's Fireside."
He was ambitious to write a National Hymn which should voice the
patriotism of the people, but this wish was never gratified. The "Ode
for the Fourth of July" was an effort in that direction--constant
attention to business prevented the cultivation of his poetical talent:
"ODE FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY."