The documentation on our Finney lineage only went back to 1831 Ohio when Isaac B. Finney was born and we could not locate any documentation containing the name of his parents, including a trip to Coshocton and Tuscarawas Counties in 2008.

I first took the YDNA Test and received a match with a Finney in Illinois who had his Finney lineage documented back to a Robert Finney (1668-1755) of Chester Co PA who lived on a farm called Thunder Hill. More Finney's joined the project and I now have 8 other matches with Finney's who also have documentation back to the same Robert Finney. This allowed us to identify which Finney lineage our Isaac B. Finney came from.

We then started the Family Finder test and tested 7 individuals in my family including myself, my father, three of his siblings, a second cousin of my father, and my first cousin. Our matches found a strong 3rd and 4th cousin matches with a father and a daughter with the Thompson surname who had great grandparents Leander Stocker of Tuscarawas County and Sarah Jane Finney of Harrison County Ohio. Several of us matched with them so we knew this was a sold DNA connection. Sarah Jane Finney was the daughter of Dr Thomas D. Finney born about 1820 in Harrison Co. Ohio. It is written that Thomas was the son of Robert Finney and Margaret Guthrie of Harrison Co. Ohio. This last week we got a new DNA match with a Guthrie descended from the Guthrie's of Harrison County Ohio. We now know that Robert Finney and Margaret Guthrie were either the parents or grandparents of Isaac B. Finney.

Now I have to try and locate documentation in Harrison or Tuscarawas County Ohio. DNA testing has narrowed the focus of my research for my brick wall ancestor. I suggest you take this approach if you have a brick wall in your research. Happy Hunting!!

Gerald Finney
Finney DNA Project
FTDNA