Eliza and Amos’ Children

According to their youngest daughter, Elizabeth E. Finch Gilmore (known as Eliza in the family) Amos and Eliza Smith Finch had a total of eight children between 1850 and 1868. I have two letters she wrote to her nieces Vesta Vonau Morrison and Minerva Vonau Knight from 1941 and 1943 that list the children:

(Undated) From context – November/December 1941; Elizabeth E. Finch to “Dear Nieces and All” (Vesta Vonau Morrison and Minerva Vonau Knight), minor punctuation added.

“Your Uncle Luther had a stroke. The Dr says nothing can be done. He is so old he may live five or six month and he may go most any time. Luther and I have always seemed very near togeather altho he is sixteen years older than I. There were Minerva, Alice, Keren, (Orin Scott), and your mother between us.”

(Undated) From context – June 1943; Elizabeth E. Finch to “Dear Nieces and All” (Vesta Vonau Morrison and Minerva Vonau Knight), minor punctuation added.

“Your Uncle Luther has been sick for a long time. He has gone down slowly. He fell and broke two ribs. Shortly after that they took him to a hospital in Frankfort. Arthur sent me a telegrahm that he had passed away. I have not seen him for over two years. We had a good talk then. I wanted to remember him as was then. I did not go to his funeral. Your Uncle was an old man. There were eight children in our family. The first little one died when he was only a day old. Then Luther came Minerva, Alice, Keren, (Orin Scott), Tatha your mother and I. Most of them were two and a half years apart. Your know, Keren and Orin Scott died when they were children.”

*”Orin Scott” has parenthesis or lines around it in the letters to indicate the two words are one name. It may be the child’s name was  “Orange Scott”. Amos and Eliza Smith Finch named their second son “Luther Lee” Finch after a minister who was instrumental in forming the antislavery Wesleyan Methodist Connection. Another founding leader was Orange Scott. Elizabeth E. Finch may have only heard about the child who died before or near the time she was born.

Children of Amos Finch (1820-1879) and Eliza Smith Finch (1827-1914)

Unnamed Infant           Male             Michigan          ca.  1850-1850
Luther Lee                      Male            Michigan                1852-1943
Minerva                           Female       Iowa                        1854-1910
Alice Eliza                       Female        Kansas                   1857-1945
Keren                               Female        Kansas             ca. 1860-1865?
Orin (Orange?) Scott    Male            Kansas/Iowa ca. 1862-1965?
Taphath                           Female        Iowa                      1863-1924
Eliza Elizabeth               Female        Iowa                      1866-1956