James B. Finley

“Mr. Finley was born in North Carolina, 1781, died at Eaton, Ohio, 1857. He entered the Ohio M. E. conference in 1809; was missionary to the Wyandot Indians from 1821 to 1827; Chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary in 1845-9, and subsequently connected with the Methodist Church in Cincinnati. In this volume, the author recounts the principal events of his itinerant life, including, also, many of the tragical events of border warfare as narrated to him by the survivors.” - Peter G. Thomson, A Bibliography of the State of Ohio (1880)

“No living man probably saw or knew more of the Indians in the Northwest Territory than did Mr. Finley; during seventy years he was among them, and studied their history, character and manner of life. In this work he has gathered together the numerous interesting events, that, in his long experience and observation, were thought worthy of record; and has so connected the facts, as to give a very complete, though condensed view of Indian history in the Northwest. The first half of the work contains a large portion of the matter related in the History of the Wyandots, and Autobiography, by the same author.” – Peter G. Thomson, A Bibliography of the State of Ohio (1880)

“Mr. Finley was born in North Carolina, 1781, died at Eaton, Ohio, 1857. He entered the Ohio M. E. conference in 1809; was missionary to the Wyandot Indians from 1821 to 1827; Chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary in 1845-9, and subsequently connected with the Methodist Church in Cincinnati. In this volume, the author recounts the principal events of his itinerant life, including, also, many of the tragical events of border warfare as narrated to him by the survivors.” - Peter G. Thomson, A Bibliography of the State of Ohio (1880)

Reverend Finley's work at the Mission began in 1819. It has been generally overlooked as an important item of Afro-Americana. For five years, John Stewart, an African apostle struggled and wrought alone, until the Methodist authorities recognized his labors, and assumed their jurisdiction.