Speakeasies and flappers were just gaining popularity when Billy Finlay joined the church choir. It was 1920 and Billy, a 30-year-old U.S. Army sergeant, stood out in the group in his neatly pressed 15^th Service Company Band uniform and freshly-barbered, curly, brown hair. A versatile musician,¹ he had recently been assigned to the band of the 15^th Signal Corps at Camp Alfred Vail (now Fort Monmouth), New Jersey.² But the camp was still primitive as far as amenities for servicemen,³ so he began attending the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church in North Long Branch, a town east of the camp, shortly after his arrival from recruit training at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

May, a 30-year-old life-long resident of Long Branch and also a member of the church choir, was a typical spinster teacher with waist-long brown hair always braided and wrapped around her head, and a stern look that seemed permanently engraved on her face. The youngest of seven children, May had been nurtured and guided by over-protective siblings and a widowed mother. In turn-of-the-century puritanical Long Branch, May was encouraged to pursue a career rather than a husband.

Romance was far from Billy’s mind following the miserable divorce proceedings his ex-wife had dragged him through only months before.⁴ Any attempt at a relationship would be approached with caution. May had little interest in romance either. Not only was she preoccupied by her teaching responsibilities, she was also overshadowed by her domineering older sister, Dell, who was unmarried and determined to see that her younger sister remain that way also. Dell was very vocal in her disapproval of any young men that May dated. Additionally, the Presley family was devoutly religious and certain parameters were "understood" for potential mates, including the fact that Catholic and/or divorced men were taboo.

Choir practice was held on Wednesdays. On these occasions, Billy and May frequently exchanged shy glances before Billy gathered enough nerve to speak to May. He had noticed that she was always in a cluster of people, so finding an opportunity for conversation was not easy. May was hesitant also, but her reluctance stemmed from a natural distrust of strangers. When May discovered how kind and gentle Billy was, she let down her guard and slowly got to know him. Through casual conversation, they shared basic information about their lives.⁵

May learned that William Albert Finlay was born 24 January 1890, in a pioneer settlement of Turner County, South Dakota, called Centerville.⁶ The state had achieved statehood the year before Billy was born and was still rugged and sparsely populated. Billy’s father Richard was the first physician in the area, opening his practice in 1882 in Centerville.⁷ Billy’s mother, Grace Mabel Hatch Finlay, was Centerville’s first schoolteacher,⁸ but Billy never knew her as she died four months after he was born.⁹ His only sibling, Mabel Louise, also died the next year.¹⁰ Richard Finlay found himself with a motherless infant and a thriving medical practice, and had to make a difficult choice. Being the only physician for hundreds of miles, the choice was obvious, and Richard asked Grace’s family for assistance with raising Billy.

Apparently Billy moved between families, as he lived with his uncle Albert Hatch in 1900 in Riverside Township, Clay County, South Dakota,¹¹ and with his grandparents, John and Abigail P. Butler Hatch, in 1910 in Pawnee County, Nebraska.¹² In 1915 Billy was again living in Clay County in the small town of Wakonda.¹³ One evening in February of that year he received word that his father had died suddenly at the opera house in Centerville.¹⁴ Richard Finlay died without leaving a will, but as his father’s only heir, Billy was the recipient of all of the real and personal property left by his father, including a lot in the town of Centerville.¹⁵

In conversations with May, Billy was decidedly vague when describing his life during this time period, other than to say he worked at various carpentry jobs in South Dakota and Kansas before enlisting in the Army during the war. He chose this approach because, as the relationship progressed, May indicated on several occasions that as far as she was concerned, Billy’s past didn’t matter (a stance that would come back to haunt her later).

May was more forthcoming with her background. She was born 17 July 1890 in Long Branch, the youngest child of William and Hannah Mariah Cook Presley.¹⁶ Like Billy, May was raised with only one parent, as her father, a prominent contractor on the New Jersey shore, died after falling from a horse when she was only three.¹⁷ She grew up in a large house on Hoyt Street¹⁸ that she affectionately called the "Presley Mansion."¹⁹ She graduated from Chattel High School in 1908 in a small class of students.²⁰ The state of New Jersey offered free tuition to students who attended the State Normal School in Trenton, as long as the graduates agreed to teach within the state for a minimum of two years.²¹ May attended the two-year curriculum for high school graduates and received her teaching credentials in 1910.²² She started teaching at Middletown high school and moved over to Oakhurst grammar school a short time later.²³ May had a wanderlust spirit and satisfied her travel needs by making vacation trips to Washington, D.C., Gettysburg, and New York with groups of friends.²⁴

The relationship between May and Billy intensified as the months went by. Billy left the Army later that year and went to work for Central Railroad of New Jersey.²⁵ May traveled occasionally, which gave the couple an opportunity to share their daily experiences through letter writing. There are no known surviving letters from May to Billy, but two letters that Billy wrote to May during their courtship are indicative of the passion in their relationship.²⁶

Long Branch, NJ
Aug. 11, 1921 12:30 a.m.


Maizie Doll:

Just a few lines to let you know that I got your letter from N.Y. So you walked three miles for a soda. Wish that I were with you for I know that I would enjoy it for more reasons than one but you know the main reason.

Well girlie I was in R.B. [Red Bank] twice tonight; went over with Jimmie and the last time back to L.B. [Long Branch]. I like to froze to death. I am still shivering. I guess that in order to warm up I’ll have to go to bed. And what good will that do? No one to warm me up. How would you like the job? Want it?

Broadway [in Long Branch, not New York] was lighted up tonight for the first time with the new lights and they are certainly fine. They make the street look like a different place. Well I’ve got to close as I am about out of ink and squeezing this pen now till I expect to hear the barrel snap, to get ink enough to finish this so By bye. Lots of love for the sweetest and dearest woman on earth from her own sweetheart and lover and (-------). And tho I darest put it on the outside I sent this and all letters with a kiss.

Billy²⁷

Long Branch, NJ
Aug. 16, 1920 [sic]


Darling Mazie:

I received your daily this evening as I came in from work and would like very much to know where in the United States of America this place called Bethlehem, N.H., is if it takes a letter written Saturday three days to get here. They must have some railroad facilities. No wonder you picked it out as an ideal spot for a honeymoon, for if it takes anyone as long to get there as it does a letter they never would find us this side of the crack of doom. Wish that I had been there just the same. Tonight was over town, got [skared?] and bought a bottle of ink so that I will not have to write this with pencil as I did the one to the Bellevue Hotel at Boston. By the way did you get that one? I ask this because of your saying that you had to cancel your room reservation there and I had mailed one there Sunday a.m.

I did not write to you oftener on account of the remark that you made that "Dell would be along." So far have written four (including this one). However don’t think for a moment that I have not missed you or been lonesome as I’ve missed you more than I can tell.

What was the occasion of the "Mrs." dreaming or what. I wish that it was that instead of Miss. So you have had an attack of cold feet already, eh? Well perhaps later in life’s journey I’ll be able to warm them up for you. You tell Helen S. for me that I’m not afraid of your cold feet as long as your heart is warm and as to the feet I will be more than willing to take the chance.

Mazie sweetheart there is something that I wish to ask you but I don’t exactly know how to go about it. It has had me puzzled and worried and has almost caused me to go distracted, try as I will I can see no solution to the question and at the same time it has caused me to loose [sic] all desire to sleep tonight. I realize that it is a personal question but I really wish to be informed as to the solution of this perplexing, enigmatical (ouch) question. But before I state this question I must warn you to prepare for the worst, if you are not prepared to answer it in plain English and as one who knows that what ever she says will be thoroughly understood by me. Darling, if I don’t find out what the answer to this question is soon they will be taking me, I fear, to that little red house at Trenton and placing me in a padded cell where I can not injure myself. However I might as well get this out of my system once and for all so prepare yourself for it is only after greatest concentration on the possible answer to my question and with fearful thots [sic] as to the answer I wish to know "Where did the golf ball strike Addie?" You say it struck you on the finger, but not a word as to the possibly fatal effects on poor Addie. Why don’t you say it! ("Sometimes I wonder.") I know that you are thinking it. Wait a moment. I’ve got to smoke upon that for that was hard work. Think I am crazy? Ha Ha. I can almost see you as you read that. Well turn about is fair play. You asked me if I’d walk a mile for a Camel so I guess we are even now. However I am sorry for your finger. Wish that I could have been there to kiss it.

How is Ann? Deeply engrossed in her affair with Lehman? When is it coming off? Or are we going to beat her to it? Well it is almost 10:30 so will say good night to my sweetheart and send her all the kisses love and hugs that she wants and can get off from a sheet of paper but when she comes back Oh Boy that will be some loving time with her sweetheart lover and ______.

Billy.

Look under the stamp.²⁸

According to family recollections of other letters written by Billy to May, he occasionally would mention that if she ever heard anything about him that she would like explained, she just needed to let him know. But May remained adamant that their lives really began the moment they met.²⁹

May and Billy planned the details of their wedding while Dell was vacationing, so they would encounter no resistance. The couple was married 2 November 1922 in the church where they met.³⁰ The Long Branch Daily Record ran a lengthy, descriptive front-page account of the wedding under the headline "Miss Presley Now Mrs. W. A. Finlay:"

One of the prettiest nuptial celebrations ever held in the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, this city, took place last night at 7 o’clock, when Miss May E. Presley, daughter of Mrs. Hannah M. Presley, became the bride of William A. Finlay. Both Miss Presley and Mr. Finlay are members of the choir of the Asbury Church, and the members of that organization and their friends filled the church to overflowing, the Sunday school room being opened also to hold the crowdº. The bride was beautifully attired in a gown of white canton crepe, hand-embroidered and she wore a veil decorated with natural orange blossoms and carried a shower bouquet of white chrysanthemums.³¹

As the couple drove away to their honeymoon destination in Niagara Falls–not New Hampshire, as Billy had alluded to in his letter, they had a musical accompaniment:

Attached to the bridal automobile was a string of old tin cans, wash boilers and other musical instruments; also white cloth streamers and a sign, "Just Married."³²

The Finlays settled into married life. May continued to teach and Billy worked as a mechanic for the railroad and later in an ice plant.³³ The couple’s first daughter, Shirley May, was born in 1926 and their second daughter, Phyllis Adele, was born in 1928,³⁴ both in Long Branch. Phyllis remembers her father as quiet and kind, someone who loved to garden and to mingle with the "boys" at Presley’s Garage down the street. She remembers little specific detail about her father’s background; whenever she would ask him for information, he would answer evasively.³⁵

In 1936 the Finlay family headed west on a family vacation to visit Billy’s family. Billy’s veteran’s association printed a report of the trip in its newsletter:

On Sunday evening, Sept. 27, 1936, who should drop in on us at Plymouth, Neb., but Mr. and Mrs. Wm. A. Finley and daughters, Shirley and Phyllis, from far-away Long Branch, N. J.

It was a great surprise, on an evening when we didn’t attend church (!) to see a Chevrolet car with orange and black New Jersey license drive up, and Bill Finlay stepped out, as alert as when we used to "Fall in" at Fort Leavenworth. They had been in South Dakota, visiting Bill’s relatives in his home town, Centerville, about 50 miles northwest of Sioux City.

It was Mrs. Finlay’s first trip to the West, and she now knows more about graveled roads, dust storms, cornless cornfields, and the farm problem.

Shirley Finlay is in the fifth grade, and Phyllis in the fourth, in the North Long Branch school, and we venture they were eagerly questioned by their classmates after their long trip.

Bill has an ideal job. He is an ice man in the summer and a coal man in the winter–that is, engineer for an ice company which also sells coal. So he catches ’em coming and going.³⁶

It must have been a nerve-wracking trip for Billy, who was known as "Bert" by family members in South Dakota. After almost fourteen years of marriage, he still had not told May about his previous marriage. He must have fretted when she was interacting with family, wondering if they would inadvertently disclose this tidbit of information. Apparently they did not.

Near the end of World War II, Billy suffered a heart attack at work and was brought home to rest. The following Sunday he was still not feeling well, so May and Phyllis convinced him to go to Monmouth Memorial Hospital as they would not be home on weekdays to care for him. May was still teaching, Shirley was away in nursing school, and Phyllis was in high school. Billy was admitted to the hospital that afternoon and died at 9:45 p.m. that evening, 4 February 1945.³⁸

Phyllis was still a minor at the time of her father’s death and was entitled to support from the Veterans Administration based on Billy’s service. May wrote to the VA to request this support and must have been utterly shocked to receive the following reply:

Veteran Administration
Lyons, N.J.
24 July 1945

Finlay, William A.
XC-3 825 253

Dear Sir [sic]:

This office in reviewing the case file of the above named deceased veteran in order that a decision might be made as to the entitlement of your minor child, Phyllis Adele, finds that the records show the veteran was previously married and giving the name of the wife as Hazel Laura Finlay with an address in the state of Nebraska. The files do not contain any evidence as to the termination of this marriage.

It is requested by this administration that all marital matters concerning the deceased veteran be cleared before any action may be taken.

It is requested that you inform this office in what manner the dissolution of this marriage occurred either by death or divorce and if you have or can obtain certified copies of the manner in which the dissolution was effected kindly furnish this office with copies thereof.

Upon receipt of the above information, further consideration will be given the claim.³⁹

Apparently May wrote to her husband’s family in South Dakota whom she had met in 1936. Her letters do not survive, but two responses from Billy’s Aunt Dora Hatch do.

Aug. 9^th [1945]
Dear Mae:

Well at last I am taking time to ans. your letter the best I know how. Yes I wish I could talk to you as I think I could explain things in a more satisfactory way. But hope you may understand and think of Bert as in the days gone by. I will tell you the truth. Yes Bert was married. He married a girl from Neb. His father died and left him some property and they built a home here in Wakonda. 2 daughters were borne to them. Well they lived here for a few years. But their married life wasn’t as happy as it should of been. She was the type of woman that couldn’t leave Mamma. So they sold their home here and went to Neb. where her folks lived. And Bert went into Kansas looking for a job. He said he got a good job in a garage and sent for Hazel but she couldn’t leave Mamma. Well he stayed there until the World War and went into the service. But he had no use for her and she lost all trace of him but she got her alotment from the Gov. while he was in the service. But she got her divorce: she divorced him. It must of been thru the government because the papers were sent to him to sign. Bert told me himself that the papers came to him to sign. He said he signed them and wrote on the back "go it old girl." So I know you are legally his widow. When you were here visiting Bert came to me secretly and said not to mention Hazel, as you didn’t know about his past marriage. And you may recall his words before you were married. He said to you, "perhaps you would like to know something of my past life." And you said no. You didn’t want to know anything of his past. You was taking him as he was. So he said if that was the way you wanted it OK. But I sincerely wish he had told you the truth. It would of saved a lot of heartaches. And at the time it would of made no difference with you, would it? Hazel married after she got her divorce. So Bert was free to marry and I am sure you made his last few years very happy. And I hope you may cherish his memory. Now I have tryed to explain the best I can covering up nothing. And I hope you will see things in the right way. I can imagine how you must of felt. But I am sure Bert thot what he did was right, not thinking that it would turn out so serious. Honesty is the best policy every time, isn’t it? If there is anything else you would like to know, write me and I will try to ans. in the best way I can. Now please write and let us know about yourself. I sincerely hope I have written to make things alrite between you and Bert and our father above. Lots of love to you all.

Aunt Dora Hatch⁴⁰

While this information explained the predicament she was now in, May still needed to find proof that Hazel and Billy had been divorced before his subsequent marriage. May wrote Dora again for assistance in contacting Hazel. A month later Dora responded:

Sun P.M.


Dear Mae and girls,

I guess you will think me not very prompt in ans. your letter. But I have been waiting to get a little more information, but as I have no more will write anyway. Louise Hatch said she would write Hazel at her old address and see if she could get any more information regarding the divorce proceedings but I haven’t heard from her so will not wait. But I am sure it was not in Neb. as she had gone to Cal. with her folks soon after Bert went into service. They lived at Sacramento, but I can’t remember her no. Her name after she married was Hazel Tyrrell. They had no children by her 2^nd husband but 2 by the 1^st: Louise, and Gladys. But Gladys died while quite young. And Louise is married and has a family but I don’t know what her name is. But I think she is still living in Cal. Hazel and husband had moved up into Wash. the last I heard anything about them. Uncle Bert Hatch always wrote her I guess he felt sorry for her. But since he died we haven’t heard from her. But if Louise gets any information I will let you know.... Well must close. Write when you can and if I hear anything will let you know. Love to all.

Aunt Dora.⁴¹

Although Dora addressed the preceding letter to "Mae and girls," May never shared any of this information with her daughters. They were to learn about their father’s first wife and their half sisters while sorting May’s papers after her death in 1960. It is unknown whether May ever received any money from the VA, although a copy of the full divorce decree awarded to Hazel Laura Finlay was in her papers.⁴²

While Billy and May were tightlipped about Billy’s prior life, it has been possible over the years to reconstruct the rest of the story that occurred before the fateful day he joined the Methodist Church choir. While living with his grandparents in Pawnee County, Nebraska, Billy met Hazel Laura Mapes. They were married 26 September 1913 in Hiawatha, Kansas, not far from Pawnee County over the Kansas border.⁴³

Despite Dora Hatch’s recollection that the house that Billy built in Wakonda, South Dakota, was on the land that his father left him, it is believed that the land that was left to him in Wakonda was purchased by his mother. Richard Finlay left his son Lot 4 in Block 9 of the original plat of the city of Centerville.⁴⁴ Billy and Hazel sold this land 6 June 1916, a month after the settlement of his father’s estate.⁴⁵ Grace M. Hatch paid $200 on 9 June 1885 for 160 acres in the southwest quarter of Section 5, Township 95, Range 52⁴⁶ (twenty-one days before she married Richard Finlay⁴⁷). She was able to obtain this land through the right of pre-emption, which allowed unoffered lands to be purchased with cash and proof of settlement. It was the same land that was originally purchased 21 February 1874 for $18 by her father, John Hatch, as Timber Culture land which required that trees be planted on the property; in 1881 he relinquished the land to the government.⁴⁸ By that time, he had acquired another 160 acres under the Homestead Act in the section adjacent to his previous settlement.⁴⁹ He later sold this land when he moved with his wife Abigail and Billy to Nebraska in approximately 1905.⁵⁰

Hazel and Billy’s daughters were born in Wakonda, South Dakota; Anna Louise was born in 1914⁵¹ and Gladys Alberta in 1916.⁵² In September 1917, Billy went to Kansas in search of employment, not knowing that when he kissed his young daughters goodbye, he would never see them again. It was this action that set in motion the resulting divorce. The report of divorce states the cause as desertion and non-support. Billy was served with the divorce papers at Camp Vail, the petition having been filed 19 June 1919.⁵³ It is unknown whether Billy ever knew that his daughter Gladys drowned at age 9 in the American River in Sacramento, California, on 1 August 1926.⁵⁴

He would have been pleased to know, however, that after corresponding for years, Phyllis and Anna Louise arranged to meet at a Hatch family reunion in Wakonda in 1981⁵⁵–100 years after their great-grandfather relinquished his timber culture land there. Shirley met Louise later and the three sisters were able to catch up on lost time. The younger sisters shared memories of their father with Louise so she could get a sense of the father she hardly remembered. Thankfully, Louise was able to get fully acquainted with her newly discovered kin before she died 27 May 1992.⁵⁶

Billy carried a heavy burden for most of his adult life. May shouldered that burden when learning of Billy’s prior life and the children he never saw again, knowing it was at her insistence that he not disclose his past to her.

"Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these...it might have been." —John Greenleaf Whittier⁵⁷

Endnotes
¹Wakonda History Committee, Wakonda, S.D., Centennial 1885–1985 (Freeman, S.D.: Pine Hill Press, 1985), 264. The Wakonda Band had been in existence on and off since the founding of Wakonda. According to this history, the Wakonda Monitor reported in 1915 that the band had been reorganized as the Wakonda Cornet Band. Finlay and his uncle, Lucius Hatch, are listed as members of the band; Finlay played bass (tuba) and Hatch played tenor saxophone. Finlay also played the bass in the 15th Service Company Band.

²Statement of Service, GSA Form 6851, National Personnel Records Center (9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132) to Phyllis Finlay Kelley, 1 December 1983; held in 1998 by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens (P.O. Box 1457; Woodbridge, VA 22193-1457). William Albert Finlay’s military service record was destroyed in a fire in July 1973. NPRC did, however, state that Finlay was in the Regular Army, serial number 3310754, and served 25 September 1919 to 24 September 1920, receiving an Honorable Discharge. The beginning date of his military service is disputable based on other contemporary documents.

³Fort Monmouth Tradition Committee, Fort Monmouth History and Place Names 1917-1958 (Fort Monmouth, N.J.: no publisher, 1958). The area that became Camp Vail had formerly been the Monmouth Park race track; the government leased the property in 1917 for use as a training area for the Signal Corps. In 1925, Camp Vail was officially designated Fort Monmouth— still an active Army base.

⁴Finley-Finley, report of divorce no. 9390 (1919), Nebraska Department of Health—Bureau of Vital Statistics, Lincoln.

⁵Much of the information in the preceding paragraphs was derived from conversations through the years between the author and her mother, Phyllis Adele Finlay Kelley, daughter of May and Billy. Telephone conversations held 12-15 November 1998 confirmed many of the details.

⁶William Albert Finlay, birth record no. 60-1474 (1942), Turner County Births, Register of Deeds Office, Parker, South Dakota.

⁷Centerville Centennial Book Committee, Centerville, Dakota Territory—Sunshine State, Our Home Town (Freeman, S.D.: Pine Hill Press, 1983), 9. Richard Finlay was an 1880 graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, according to the Sixtieth Annual Catalogue and Announcement, Session of 1880–81 (Cincinnati: Medical College of Ohio, 1881), 13.

⁸Centerville Centennial Book Committee, Centerville, Dakota Territory, 129.

⁹Grace Hatch obituary, The Centerville Journal, Centerville, South Dakota, 5 June 1890, hand copied by May Elizabeth Finlay Presley, date unknown. Attempts to get a photocopy of this obituary have so far been unsuccessful; Grace Finlay tombstone, Riverside Cemetery, Clay County, South Dakota; photographed by Elizabeth Ann Kelley, June 1981.

¹⁰Mabel Louise Finlay tombstone, Riverside Cemetery, Clay County, South Dakota; photographed by Elizabeth Ann Kelley, June 1981.

¹¹Albert Hatch household, 1900 U.S. Census, Clay County, South Dakota, population schedule, Riverside Township, enumeration district 96, supervisor’s district 2, sheet 11, dwelling 199, family 200; National Archives Microfilm Publication T623, roll 1548.

¹²John Hatch household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pawnee County, Nebraska, population schedule, Pawnee City Precinct, ED 152, SD 1, sheet 3B, dwelling 56, family 55; National Archives Microfilm Publication T624, roll 852.

¹³Richard Finlay letters of administration, Turner County probate file 956, County Clerk’s Office, Parker, South Dakota.

¹⁴Richard Finlay death record, Turner County Deaths, no. 1284, Register of Deed’s Office, Parker, South Dakota; “Sudden Death of a Pioneer,” Richard Finlay obituary, The Centerville Journal, Centerville, South Dakota, 25 February 1915, page 1, column 4.

¹⁵Richard Finlay letters of administration.

¹⁶May E. Finlay death certificate no. 23236 (1960), New Jersey State Department of Health, Trenton; Book 2, Baptisms: line 23, page 242, Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, Long Branch, New Jersey. No birth certificate has yet been found; family tradition says that May was called “Baby” until age five when she was allowed to choose her name.

¹⁷William Presley funeral card, original, inscribed “Died Dec. 10, 1893, Aged 47 Years.” Card is 4¼" x 6½", card stock, black with gold ink. Owned 1998 by author.

¹⁸Hannah Presley household, 1900 U.S. Census, Monmouth County, New Jersey, population schedule, town of Long Branch, ED 124, SD 5, sheet 43, dwelling 887, family 967; National Archives Microfilm Publication T623, roll 986.

¹⁹May Presley photo album, covering the years 1908–14. Owned 1998 by author.

²⁰“Two Anniversary Dinners,” undated clipping from unidentified newspaper, in family papers of J. Adele Presley of North Long Branch, New Jersey; owned 1998 by author. The date of the clipping is circa 1938, since it discusses the 30th anniversary of the class of 1908 and lists Mae Presley Finley as present at the dinner.

²¹Fifty-sixth Annual Report and Catalogue of the State Normal School at Trenton and the Accompanying Documents, For the Year Ending June 30th, 1910 (Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley, 1910), 29.

²²Fifty-fifth Annual Report and Catalogue of the State Normal School at Trenton and the Accompanying Documents, For the Year Ending June 30th, 1909 (Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley, 1909), 40; Fifty-sixth Annual Report, 63. In both publications, May is listed under the heading “A II,” meaning she was classified as a second-year student.

²³“Miss Presley Now Mrs. W. A. Finlay,” Long Branch Daily Record, Long Branch, New Jersey, 3 November 1922, page 1, column 3.

²⁴May Presley photo album, in possession of author.

²⁵“15th Service Company, S.C., Camp Alfred Vail, N.J., September 20th, 1920 [Monthly Report],” box 536, Signal Corps; Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Record Group 391; National Archives, Washington; “Bill Finlay Happily Married to a Popular Schoolma’am,” Snap It Up, Official Publication of the “Fighting 15th” Service Band, Signal Corps, 6 (1 January 1923): 1.

²⁶In a telephone conversation on 12 November 1998 between May and Billy’s youngest daughter, Phyllis Adele Finlay Kelley, and the author (Phyllis’ youngest daughter), Phyllis disclosed that a large collection of letters exchanged between May and Billy were destroyed after May’s death in 1960. Phyllis kept the two letters discussed here for sentimental reasons, but was unable at the time to ship a lot of family memorabilia back to her home in Illinois.

²⁷Letter from William A. Finlay (131 Union Avenue, Long Branch, N.J.) to May E. Presley (Upland Terrace, Bethlehem, N.H.), 11 August 1921; held in 1998 by author.

²⁸Letter from William A. Finlay (131 Union Avenue, Long Branch, NJ) to May E. Presley (U.S. Marine Hospital, Stapelton, Staten Island, NY), 16 August 1920; held in 1998 by author. The envelope is postmarked 17 August 1921, which makes more sense than 1920. Under the stamp, on the inside of the envelope, it reads “I love you.”

²⁹Telephone conversation between Phyllis Adele Finlay Kelley and the author, 12 November 1998.

³⁰Finlay-Presley, marriage certificate no. 61 (1922), New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, Trenton. The marriage certificate indicates this was the first marriage for William Albert Finlay.

³¹Long Branch Daily Record, 3 November 1922.

³²Snap It Up, 1 January 1923, 3.

³³Finlay-Presley, New Jersey marriage certificate, no. 61 (1922).

³⁴Phyllis Adele Finlay, birth certificate no. 13 (1928), New Jersey State Department of Health, Trenton.

³⁵Telephone conversation between Phyllis Adele Finlay Kelley and the author, 15 November 1998.

³⁶“Bill Finlay and Family on Big Western Motor Trip,” Snap It Up (no date): 4.

³⁷Telephone conversation between Phyllis Adele Finlay Kelley and the author, 12 November 1998.

³⁸William Finlay, death certificate no. 42 (1945), New Jersey State Bureau of Vital Statistics, Trenton, amended to William A. Finlay 2 September 1947.

³⁹Wm. Keller, Adjudication Officer, Veterans Administration (Lyons, NJ) to May E. Finlay (77 Atlantic Avenue, Long Branch, NJ), 24 July 1945; held in 1998 by author.

⁴⁰Dora Hatch (Wakonda, South Dakota) to May Finlay (Long Branch, NJ), 9 August 1945; held in 1998 by author.

⁴¹Dora Hatch (Wakonda, South Dakota) to May Finlay (Long Branch, NJ), postmarked 24 September 1945; held in 1998 by author. Louise Hatch mentioned in the letter was Billy’s cousin, daughter of the Uncle Bert Hatch also mentioned. Billy lived with this family at the time of the 1900 census.

⁴²Finlay-Finlay, divorce decree, 30 July1919, District Court, Otoe County, Nebraska; held in 1998 by author.

⁴³Finlay-Mapes, marriage license no. 14256 (1913), Kansas Central Division of Vital Statistics, Topeka. The marriage license states that the couple were residents of Horton, Kansas, at the time of their marriage.

⁴⁴Richard Finlay letters of administration.

⁴⁵Telephone conversation between the Turner County Register of Deeds Office and author, 13 November 1998.

⁴⁶Grace M. Hatch Cash Entry certificate no. 4195, Yankton, Dakota Land Office, Cash Entries; Records of the Bureau of Land Management Land Entry Files South Dakota, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington.

⁴⁷The Centerville Journal, 25 February 1915.

⁴⁸John Hatch Timber Culture application no. 58, Yankton, Dakota Land Office, box 1492, Canceled Timber-Culture Entries; Records of the Bureau of Land Management Land Entry Files South Dakota, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington.

⁴⁹John Hatch Homestead final certificate no. 3532, Yankton, Dakota Land Office, box 2537, Homestead Final Certificates; Records of the Bureau of Land Management Land Entry Files South Dakota, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington.

⁵⁰John Hatch obituary, Wakonda Monitor, Wakonda, South Dakota, 15 May 1913, page 4, column 3.

⁵¹Anna Louise Finlay, delayed certificate of birth no. 618348 (1942), South Dakota Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Pierre, SD.

⁵²Gladys Alberta Finlay, record of birth no 140990 (1916), South Dakota Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Pierre, SD.

⁵³Finley-Finley, Nebraska report of divorce, no. 9390 (1919). Note the date of filing is three months before the date of enlistment as reported by the National Personnel Records Center, which is why it is believed he enlisted before 25 September 1919.

⁵⁴Gladys A. Finlay, death certificate no. 26-039425 (1926), California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.

⁵⁵Elizabeth Kelley, “Wakonda Reunion Unites Sisters for First Time,” The Observer, Gayville, South Dakota, 3 July 1981, page 3, column 3.

⁵⁶Louise Carlson, death certificate no. 39234 (1992), Sacramento County Department of Health, Sacramento, California.

⁵⁷“The Land of Quotes,” http://www.quoteland.com/quotes/author/480.html, viewed 17 November 1998.