Allen line: John Finch 1694-1747

 We are now entering what I have learned to call the "Dark Ages", the ones where little has been learned or noted about an ancestor.  These folks are usually born from about 1690 to about 1790.  Although they may not have been the immigrant ancestor, and may not have left has many records as later ancestors, they are part of our family and need to have at least a few sentences written about their lives.  John Finch of (mostly) Stamford, Connecticut is one such ancestor.  I have learned very little about him,. and some of what I have found isn't documented very well.  So this will be a short post.

John Finch was born "about" 1694, to John and Hester Davis Finch.  Our John's grandfather, also John Finch, is noted as having died in Stamford, Connecticut, but his father is believed to have died in Westchester, New York.  I have seen both places listed as our John's place of birth but haven't found documentation for either location.  The two locations are actually less than 15 miles apart, perhaps only ten, so it may be a matter of boundary lines changing, or of the family living in one area but traveling the other direction for church or other activities.  

John was born shortly after his parents married.  He had a brother James who may have been as many as ten years younger than he, but I've not seen any mention of other siblings born to this couple.  Hester apparently died, perhaps in childbirth, and John's father remarried, with that marriage producing at least two half siblings.  Our John would therefore have been the older brother, probably looked up to, but also with heavy expectations on his shoulders.  

We don't know who John's wife was, although her name was Sarah.  The noted genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus thought that she was a Lockwood, but admitted he had no evidence to support his theory.  There were several Lockwood families in the area of Greenwich, Connecticut, which is where John and Sarah's first child was born, but I've not yet found an unidentified Sarah Lockwood. Stamford and Greenwich were quite close together also, so again, there may be boundary questions.  The jury is still out on that one.  John and Sarah had at least 10 children, based on church records and on the children named in estate papers.

I found one statement that John was a "merchant" by trade.  The area was known for its tanneries but we don't know if that's what John specialized in.  It's of course possible that he was involved in the West Indies trade, which would include slaves, but we don't know that.  I'd sure like to take a step back in time to walk into whatever shop he may have had and just look around for a few minutes!

John received land from his father, whether a purchase or a gift, in 1714 in Stamford.  He was, or became, an Episcopalian by 1738, when he asked to be excused from payment to support the local church, which was apparently closer to a Puritan belief and structure.   

And that's as much as I have been able to learn, to date, about John Finch. He died in Stamford, November 6, 1747, at about 53 years of age, leaving several children underage and others just getting started in their adult lives.  I've not found a will or inventory, although I've found that an inventory was ordered.  Having those documents would surely add to our understanding of this man.  

I'd like to know more, much more, about John Finch.  Was he always an "Episcopalian", or did he start out as part of the local Congregational church?  Did he serve in a military capacity, or in any civic positions?  What was the extent of his business as a merchant?  Did he also farm?  Questions, there are always questions!  

The line of descent is

John Finch-Sarah perhaps Lockwood

Nathaniel Finch-Hannah Scofield

Jesse Finch-Hannah

Hannah Finch-John Bell

Hannah Bell-Thomas J Knott

John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Their descendants