Samuel Finley

Alfred Webb

A Compendium of Irish Biography

1878

Finley, Samuel, D.D., a scholar and Presbyterian divine, was born in Armagh in 1715. He arrived in Philadelphia in September 1734, and was licensed to preach in 1740. He was ordained at New Brunswick in October 1742, and at once occupied himself in itinerant labours during the great revival of the day. Preaching in New Haven, contrary to a law of the colony forbidding unauthorized itinerant ministry, he was seized by the authorities, and carried as a vagrant beyond its limits. From 1744 to 1761 he was settled at Nottingham, Pennsylvania, and conducted an academy which acquired a high reputation. He was for some time principal of Princeton College — succeeding President Davies, whose sermons he edited. He was the author of some sermons and dissertations. Mr. Finley died in Philadelphia, 17th July 1766, aged about 51.

Sources

37a. Biographical Dictionary—American Biography: Francis S. Drake. Boston, 1876.

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