William Finley (1755 ca - 1815) was domiciled at the beginning of the Revolutionary War at Baltimore, Maryland, when two William Finley's pledged an Oath of Allegiance in Baltimore. William, who married Nancy Treadway, no doubt was one of these, as William Finley of Baltimore County subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance in the State of Maryland on February 3, 1778 before Judge James Calhoun, as reported by him on April 13, 1778. It is known that Judge Calhoun was domiciled in Baltimore Town, and it is accepted that this William Finley was a resident of the town. The second William Finley took the Oath of Allegiance before Hon. John Moale.
         The age requirement for the Revolutionary War was 16 and William was born about 1755, so he was about 21 when he entered service. He was a wagon maker and wheel right by trade, and so stated, that he was pulled off the line of the common soldiers to make wagons. William Finley is listed in the Revolutionary War Records of Virginia as a soldier in the infantry. From Maryland Revolutionary Records by Harry Wright Newman, William Finley was listed as a cannon maker, and it is noted that his wife, Nancy, testified in Court, under oath, that William was a Revolutionary War soldier. Nancy Treadway was born in Virginia on October 5, 1773, and migrated with her father William Treadway into North Carolina and Tennessee. He had received a land grant from the State of North Carolina for 450 acres on both sides of the Holston River where it joins the Virginia line. At this time, this area was undecided to be in Virginia, North Carolina, or Tennessee, not yet a state.
         Nancy was born in 1773 being very young during the Revolution, only a child, and too young to remember the details and names of officers. At this time in history, it may have been weeks or months before news relayed to the citizens, and she likely could not remember the details of the battles that were asked.
         On August 15, 1789, William married Nancy Treadway. She was not quite 16 years old, born August 5, 1773, and was living on the Holston River near the Tennessee and Virginia line. According to the 1790 Census in Baltimore County, no Finley's were listed, so they must have all left by this time, however, the Finley's and Treadway's were enumerated in the Morgan District of Burke County, North Carolina. Buncombe County was formed in 1791, and some members of the Britain and Treadway family including William Finley were located there. Those Britain's present were the half-brothers of William Finley. His father, Thomas Finley died and his mother married Nicholas Britain in Baltimore County, Maryland. William Finley, Nancy Treadway his wife, William Byrd, Isham Treadway and John Gilbert made their way from Buncombe County, North Carolina to Robertson County, Tennessee.
         The 1790 Census of Buncombe County, North Carolina by Kenneth D. Israel, PhD, show that many of my family names are located there: Jas Britain in the Fourteenth Company, Rutherford County, North Carolina [this would be the half brother of William Finley who married Nancy Treadway, daughter of William Treadway; John Gilbert and William Britain were in the Eleventh Company, Burke County; Aron Treadaway, Wm. Treadaway, Robt. Treadaway and Wm. Finley, all listed together, in the Twelfth Company, Burke County. William Finley was Thomas G. Gilbert, Jr.'s 3rd great-grandfather and William Treadway was his 4th great-grandfather.
         William Byrd on January 22, 1799, along with John Webster, Samuel Webster, Edward Webster, Isom Treadway, Sr. and John Gilbert, signed a petition concerning the boundary lines and difficulty in traveling to the court house in the counties of Hawkins and Grainger. On August 22, 1799 in Sevier County, Tennessee, William Bird signed a petition as one of the Sundry Inhabitants South of French Broad. John Gilbert was the son of Daniel Gilbert of Bedford County Virginia who died in Spartanburg, South Carolina. John had a 640 acre land grant in 1787 in Sullivan County, Tennessee and it was assigned to Anthony Bledsoe.
         Nancy Treadway Finley last applied for a Revolutionary War Pension while living at her daughter's home of Priscilla and McCane Delaney in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1853. Living adjacent to her was her grandson, William Cummins Gilbert, who owned the 60 acre adjacent farm. William C. Gilbert was the son of William Gilbert, born 1800, and Elizabeth Finley, born 1801, all of Robertson County, Tennessee. William Gilbert, (1800 - 1837) was the son of Webster Gilbert (1780 - aft 1840) and Susanna Byrd, both of them born in North Carolina.

         On September 30, 1833, Robertson County, John Gilbert, husband of Mary Finley, daughter of William, in an indenture made March 11, 1832, purchased of William Finley, Jr., and others, 140 acres of land for $245.00. The deed listed the heirs as Elizabeth Gilbert and husband William Gilbert; William Finley [Jr.], Thomas Finley, Britain Finley, John Finley, Susannah Fields and Reden Fields, Priscilla Finley. Mary Gilbert, married to John Gilbert, was not named in the settlement of the estate; however, the date of her birth corresponds written in the family records and with that on her tombstone, located at Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Robertson County. (Tennessee State Archives, Nashville, Robertson County, MF Roll #10, Book X, p. 131).
           William Gilbert and wife Elizabeth Finley were the parents of William Cummins Gilbert, Webster Gilbert, Isaac Gilbert, John Gilbert, Britton Gilbert, Elizabeth Gilbert and Nancy Gilbert. (from the Bible of Elizabeth Finley Gilbert Thomas of Graves County, Kentucky.)  The Bible records of the grandson of William Cummins Gilbert, Graves Gilbert, (1888 - 1986), recorded that William Cummins Gilbert, (1828 - 1910), told him that Webster Gilbert was the "old man" in Robertson County, and that he was his (Wm. Cummins) grandfather. His nickname was "Wep" as he so recorded this with an insert in the Bible. Rev. William C. Gilbert was born in Robertson County in 1828 as was his father and mother, William Gilbert and Elizabeth Finley Gilbert.
         Elizabeth was born June 12, 1801 in Robertson County, Tennessee, daughter of William Finley, Revolutionary War soldier, and his wife, Nancy Treadway, daughter of William Treadway. Both William Treadway and William Finley were Revolutionary War soldiers where they are listed as wheel rights and cannon makers. William Treadway died before 1815 most likely in Robertson County where he was living at that time. William Gilbert’s birth was about 1800, child of Webster and Susanna Byrd Gilbert. It is also determined that Webster Gilbert was born about 1780 as he first appeared in the jury duty of Robertson County, Tennessee in 1801, being 21 years old. Comparison of the census records of Robertson County confirm his age.

Mr. Marshall Kennedy Gilbert, Jr.
c/o Florida Power & Light Co.,
Miami, Fla.

Dear Mr. Gilbert:
As my nephew, John H. Gilbert, to whom you addressed letter on October 20, is a very busy man, I will write you all I know about the Gilberts.
         We appreciate your interest in the Gilberts. I have for a long time regretted not finding out more about my father’s people while he was living. I do not think you are related to my father’s people. We have never thought we were related to Mr. Ben Gilbert. I knew him. He has three grand-children living here: Miss Lou McDonald, Mrs. Roach Thomas, and Mary Lou Granade; two great grand-children: Mary Granade and Gilbert Dinwiddie.
         I knew Mrs. Ada Harris Collier, to whom you referred in your letter. She has been dead about three years. I also knew Moray Kyle; she married a Mr. Henderson. I think he is dead.
         Mrs. C. M. Wrinkle, Magnolia St., of this city, said she knew your father. Mrs. Wrinkle was Miss Minnie Newsome before she married. She knew so many of the ones you mentioned and whom they married.
         Miss Lou McDonald sent your address to her niece, Mrs. Robert G. Grady, 108 Nun St., Wilmington, N. C. She has a record of all the relatives and will write you.
           I will now tell you about my Gilbert relatives: My father, William Commins Gilbert, was born in Robertson County, Tenn., in 1828. His people moved to Graves County, Ky., when he was small. I think his father’s name was William, and after his father’s death, his mother married a Mr. Thomas.
         My father left home when about seventeen years of age, came to Tennessee, and married Marye Gwinn. They had nine children, some died in infancy and seven lived to be grown. The boys were: Thomas E., James B., Robert L., and Sam G; the girls: Mattie, Mollie and Dena. There are only two living, Sam and myself. The grand-children are: Will, Graves and John Gilbert; Lela, Mary and Gilbert Simmons; Mary, Henry and James Gilbert; Claude Gallimore, and Gilbert Yarbrough. My father died in 1910; he was a Baptist Minister. He was in the Confederate war.  We lived in McKenzie in 1883. My brother, J. B. Gilbert, published a paper here, I believe it was called the Try-County News. He later moved to Huntingdon, Tenn., and was owner and publisher of the Carroll County Democrat until his health failed two years ago. He died in May 1941.
         I believe this is all I know about the Gilberts.
         If you know anything about my relatives, I would be so glad to know about them. I have never seen abut one of my father’s people. He often spoke of his brother Wep [Webster]. He had a sister named Nancy, and she married a Mr. Williams. She came to see father a short while before he died. They had not seen each other in sixty years.

Very Respectfully
Mrs. Dena Yarbrough, Main St.