Rev. William Finley Wamsley
Rev. William Finley Wamsley, was born May 21, 1839, on Turkey Creek, Adams County, Ohio. He was a son of Rev. Jesse Wamsley, and Mary McCormick. Rev. Jesse Wamsley was a minister in the Methodist Church for thirty years, but when dissensions arose over questions growing out of the Civil War, he joined the Christian Union, and served as a minister in that church for over thirty years.
Our subject was reared on a farm and also worked at the tanning business when a young man. He also taught school, and at the age of twenty-one years went into the general merchandising business, which he carried on at Wamsleyville until his death, May 5, 1889.
October 19, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss Jane Collins, daughter of D. S. and Maria Moore Collins. This union was a very happy one. and there were born to them two daughters, Mary Maria, who died March 8. 1868, and Julia Ellen, who married Hiram V. Jones.
Mr. Wamsley became a wealthy and prominent citizen of Adams County. He was a minister in the Christian Union Church, and a Justice of the Peace for years in Jefferson Township. He was one of the most prominent Democrats of the region in which he resided.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900