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 Sat.u.r.day 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 st.u.r.dy 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 c.r.a.pes like a terrapin under the kiverin": Bad luck to the picture of Bachelor"s Hall!"
His poem ent.i.tled, 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."
Tune--"Hail to the Chief."
Hail to the day that gave birth to a nation!
And hail each remembrance it annu"lly brings!
Hail Independence! Thy stern declaration Gave Freedom a home in defiance of Kings.
Britain"s despotic sway Trammeled thy early day.
Infant America, "child of the skies."
Till with a daring hand Freedom"s immortal band Severed thy shakles and bid thee arise!
Then was the standard of Liberty planted-- The star-spangled banner proud floated on high; Columbia"s sons met the foeman undaunted, With firm resolution to conquer or die.
Precious the prize they sought, Dearly that prize they bought: Freedom and peace cost the blood of the brave.
Heaven befriended them, Fortune attended them-- Liberty triumphed o"er tyranny"s grave!
Peace to those patriots, heroes, and sages, Whose glorious legacy now we enjoy!
May it descend to the world"s latest ages, Like primitive gold, without any alloy!
Then let our motto be, "Union and Liberty,"
High on our national banner enshrined, Like a bright morning star, Glittering from afar, Casting its beams o"er the world of mankind.
When urged by friends to make a collection of poems for publication; he found, (in 1866), that many had been lost beyond recovery, his hope of writing something more worthy of preservation made him careless of that which had been published; there is, however, considerable variety in the collection, ranging from "grave to gay." These are some of the t.i.tles; "Lines," written on opening a mound on the bank of Whitewater near Richmond, Ind. containing a human skeleton. "What is Life," "What is Faith," "A Prayer," "My Loves and Hates." This was the first poem written for publication. "Valedictory, on closing my term as Clerk of the Wayne County Courts."
In lighter vein are, "Advertisment for a Wife," "The Last of the Family," "To My Old Coat," and "The Miller."
Mr. Finley was not a church member but his creed is embraced in the following sentence--"The Fatherhood of G.o.d and the Brotherhood of Man."
An unpublished fragment, found after death in the pocket-book he carried, shows his truly devotional spirit:--
"My Heav"nly Father! deign to hear The supplications of a child, Who would before thy throne appear, With spirit meek, and undefiled.
Let not the vanities of earth Forbid that I should come to Thee, Of such as I, (by Heav"nly birth) Thy Kingdom, Thou hast said, shall be."
TO JOHN FINLEY.
By Benjamin S. Parker.
"Hail thou poet occidental, First in Indiana"s Clime-- Whose true pa.s.sions sentimental, Outward flowed in living rhyme.
Let no more thy harp, forsaken, Hang upon the willow tree, But again its chords awaken To thy songs blithe melody,
As thou didst in time now olden, When our Hoosier state was young, "Ere the praises of these golden Days of progress yet were sung."
Strickland W. Gillilan, wrote a "Versified Tribute."
"He nursed the Infant Hoosier muse When she could scarcely lisp her name; Forerunner of the world"s great lights That since have added to her fame, He blazed the way to greater things, With "Hoosier"s Nest," and "Bachelor"s Hall;"
And, while the grand world-chorus rings With songs our Hoosier choir sings, Let not the stream forget the springs,-- Let Finley"s name before them all."
Footnotes:
[1] "The Hoosiers," pp. 20-30.
[2] History of Indianapolis and Marion County, p. 72.
[3] "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," p. 211.
[4] Coggeshall"s "The Poets and Poetry of the West," and Finley"s "The Hoosier"s Nest and Other Poems" published in 1860.
[5] Indiana Democrat, Jan. 12, 1833.