SURNAMES: BLOUNT, CAMPBELL, STEELE, LOPER, WHISMAN, HASTINGS, EULAR, PASCOE, JAMES
A very highly learned California pioneer,
now eighty-one years of age, is Asa William Finley, who is at present
making his home at Hotel Stevinson with his daughter, Mrs. G. H. Blount
of Stevinson, Cal. He is one of the oldest, if not indeed the
oldest living settler in California, in point of time of residence,
having been a boy baby of two years of age in his mother's arms when
his father, mother and grandfather, Capt.. William Campbell, crossed the
plains to California in 1846. They landed at Santa Clara ,Cal.,
in October, 1846, settling there when every able -bodied male person,
over fifteen years of age, enlisted and served under John C.
Fremont. He was born in Saline County, Mo., July 23, 1844, a son
of Asa Wallace and Sarah (Campbell) Finley, both born in Kentucky,
where grandfather Campbell was a tanner, though they later moved to
Missouri.
The train started from Marshall, Saline County, Mo, in April,
1846. They were all ordered to rendezvous at St. Joseph,
Mo. After traveling some days, there being a train of 100 wagons,
it was found that the train was too large; so they decided to
divide up the train. This was done and WIlliam Campbell was duly
elected captain of his division or train. Campbell's company
elected Kit Carson as their guide to take them over the Sierras.
The other company, which was a part of the original train and known as
the Donner party, ill-fated in history, selected Hastings as their
guide. Kit Carson hurried his train through, while Hastings'
dilatoriness led to being caught in the snows and the sad fate of the
Donner party.
A son of Capt. William Campbell, namely Benjamin Campbell, took up 160
acres of government land located between two Spanish grants in
Santa Clara County; and when the railroad from San Jose to Santa
Cruz went through, Benjamin Campbell donated the depot site, and the
town of Campbell, Santa Clara County, was named after him. The
Finley family originally came from Ireland. The Campbell's were of
Scotch origin. The father and William Campbell and his two sons,
Benjamin and David, all served under Fremont. Asa Wallace Finley
became a farmer and raised wheat two miles south of Santa Clara.
Capt. William Campbell, together with Asa Wallace Finley, built the
first sawmill in Santa Clara County. It was built near what is now
Saratoga, back in the mountains, and was operated by them. They
manufactured fir and redwood lumber, which at that time was worth $300
per thousand. Capt. William Campbell then built the first
American Store building in San Jose and was San Jose's first American
merchant. There the Finley children grew up. The parents had
seven children, of whom our subject is the second, and the youngest
born in Missouri. The mother died in Kern County, when forty-five
years of age. The father married a second time, to Miss Jane
Steele, who also died, leaving one child. He was married a third
time to Mrs. Bessie Loper. He died at Stevinson on February, 4,
1910, and was the first person buried in the Stevinson Cemetery.
Asa William Finley was educated in the early public schools of Santa
Clara and San Jose and grew up on his father's farm. He was
married the first time in Watsonville, Cal., in 1866, to Miss Frances
Whisman, born in California. The Whismans, and Moodys were
members of the Campbell train crossing the plains. She died
within three years after the marriage, leaving no children. He
was married a second time at Hollister, San Benito County, On October
9, 1872, to Miss Elmira Hastings, a daughter of John Hastings, who died
in Missouri. Elmira Hastings came out to California in 1871 with
her mother and stepfather and settled that year at Hollister. By this
union there were seven children. The first two children, Rufus and
Charles, both died in infancy. The others are: Lelia, the wife of
G. H. Blount, of Stevinson; Edgar, who died at the age of twenty-three
years; LeRoy, who married Mrs. Carrie (Eular) Pascoe, and is employed
by the Standard Oil Company at Richmond; Ella, the wife of William
James of Kernville, Kern County, an extensive stockman; and Nannie L.,
who passed away at the age of ten years. The wife and mother died
on July 30, 1915.
Mr. Finley was engaged in farming and stock-raising for the greater
part of his life. He bought twenty acres in the Stevinson Colony
in 1907, and in 1912 he traded his land for the Hotel Stevinson
property. This property he sold to his daughter, Mrs. G.H.
Blount, in May, 1925, and she is now conducting the hotel. Mr.
Finley is still in the real estate business, having been licensed
realtor for the past five years, and is considered an expert on land
values. He has been a consistent and lifelong Democrat and is one
of the best-preserved men of his years in California. He helped
to organize and build the Christian Church at Stevinson, and was called
the "father of the Christian Church in Stevinson."
History of Merced County,
California : with a biographical review of the leading men and women of
the county who have been identified with its growth and development
from the early days to the present
- page 711 Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic Record Co., 1925, 903 pgs. transcribed by Carolyn Feroben