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Samuel Finley, Field Notes for Bouquet's Expedition, 1764, 1846-1849 (majority within 1764)

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Summary

Creator:
Finley, Samuel
Abstract:
The Samuel Finley, Field Notes for Bouquet's Expedition (60 pages) contains detailed descriptions of the topography of Bouquet's route though Pennsylvania and Ohio during his march against the Ohio Indians (October 2-25, 1864). Finley, a field engineer, recorded minute descriptions of physical and environmental features of the landscape, such as the direction and speed of rivers and streams, characteristics of the terrain, soil, and timber quality, and tree and undergrowth density.
Extent:
1 volume
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Philip Heslip, May 2010

Background

Scope and Content:

The Samuel Finley, Field Notes for Bouquet's Expedition (60 pages) contains detailed descriptions of the topography of Bouquet's route though Pennsylvania and Ohio during his march against the Ohio Indians (October 2-25, 1764). Finley, a field engineer, recorded minute descriptions of physical and environmental features of the landscape, such as the direction and speed of rivers and streams, characteristics of the terrain, soil and timber quality, and tree and undergrowth density. Finley recorded these notes to serve as permanent records of the journey that the army could use for future map-making.

The volume begins: "The following Courses & Distances are the Roads that the Honourable Col. Henry Bouquet Marches the Army under His Honours, Command To wards the Lower Shannees Towns Down the Ohio River." He began to survey and measure the road on October 2, and kept distance totals for each page of notes. He also totaled the distance from the last camp and from Fort Pitt each morning (written under the date). He numbered each change of course and added 1-2 sentence remarks for each entry. The group traveled along numerous rivers, including the Allegheny River, Big Beaver River, Monongahela River, Muskingum River, and the Walhonding River (then called White Woman's Creek).

In addition to the survey, the volume also contains a short (incomplete) narrative of John Palmer's escape from the Indians on October 6, 1764 (page 76). Also, an unknown person later recorded payroll notes and food accounts on empty pages of the journal. These records, written on the inside of the front and back covers and on pages 50-51 and pages 73-76 (the 20 pages between these two sections were ripped out), are dated between 1846 and 1849. The entries include records of payments for wheat, oats, corn, rye, and hogs, and concern Michele Kruck, Michele Fogle, Cyrus Hower, and M. Marshall.

Biographical / Historical:

Samuel Finley was a British army surveyor in America who surveyed much of Pennsylvania. He accompanied Henry Bouquet on his 1764 expedition against the Indians of central Ohio. Though little is known about Finley's early life, he and many members of his family likely emigrated from Armagh County in Northern Ireland, and settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1734. In 1761, Finley became an assistant to Colonel (later General) John Armstrong, was next commissioned lieutenant in Captain William Piper's company, and by 1763 was a part of Lieutenant Colonel Asher Clayton's Second Battalion.

In September 1764, Bouquet appointed Captain Samuel Finley of the 2nd Pennsylvania Battalion and Ensign Thomas Hutchins of the 60th Royal American Regiment to be assistants to the chief engineer during his campaign. They accompanied Bouquet and his regiments of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland volunteers, under orders from Commander-in-Chief Major General Thomas Gage, from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, along the Tuscarawas and Muskingum rivers, into central Ohio. There they negotiated the return of over 300 white captives from the Indians and signed a peace treaty between English settlers and a number of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio tribes. Along the way, Hutchinson created numerous maps of the area and Finley kept detailed field notes of the journey.

After the expedition, Finley continued to practice surveying throughout Pennsylvania. He laid out many town plots and invested in several land ventures himself. During the Revolutionary War, Finley served as quartermaster in Colonel Samuel Culbertson's battalion of Pennsylvania militia, and fought in Philadelphia, Trenton, and Princeton (1776-1777).

Acquisition Information:
1980. M-1897 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the "We the People" project.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Samuel Finley, Field Notes for Bouquet's Expedition, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan