Andrew Ramsey Finley was born in 1818 in Shelbyville, KY. He later moved to Lincoln Co. Missouri where he married Caroline Gibson.

They had a farm of 200 acres, which he inherited from his father. In addition to normal farm crops and animals, he operated a wool-carding machine powered by oxen. He was also a surveyor in the winter. The surveying allowed him to find and accumulate additional property at good prices.
In 1869 they moved to Mississippi for the health of Caroline who had chronic bronchial infections. The weather in Mississippi did not help, so they went back to Missouri, and then to California, by train in 1870. The train trip took about 10 days; The train was so slow they could get off and walk for exercise.

They went to Salinas, because it had one of three United Presbyterian Churches in California at the time. Another Missouri family, the Gladneys, had also moved to Salinas. They felt they were not doing well at Salinas, so held a family prayer meeting to get guidance. It was decided that Richard Gladney was to take $100 and start to find a better location. They were to locate where he ran out of money. He spent the last of his money in Antelope, CA, just southwest of Roseville, so bought a section of land there in 1871 for $6/acre.

Andrew Ramsey Finley followed and bought a section for $8/acre. In the winter of 1872-73 he built a house in the center of a 640 acre plot of land he bought there. He gave a portion of the land for a school, so his children could have a local school. The Dry Creek School, built in 1876, stands on that spot now.

After trying to organize a Presbyterian Church for 7 years they gave up, "seeing the hopelessness of continuing the work among the people there, who were of the old California type, 49ers almost entirely".

They moved again to Santa Ana, where there was an active United Presbyterian Church. Finley also donated property for a park in Tustin.

In a 1894 letter, A.R. Finley stated "After spending 76 years in various parts of the United States, I am satisfied to spend the remainder of my allotted time here, knowing of no other place where the moral and physical conditions are more pleasant."

His daughter, Emma Finley, married Thomas McBride in 1879 and they moved back into the Finley house in Antelope which had been rented after the family moved to Santa Ana.

See also: Listing for Andrew Ramsey Finley at RootsWeb World Connect pages and the Andrew Ramsey Finley & Caroline Gibson Page at FamilySearch.org
A 1894 letter from Andrew to the Mount Zion church in Lincoln Co. Missouri.
"The Finley Family" as told by Emma Finley.