Finley, Leonard M.

Submitted by Mike Miller

Leonard M. Finley. In this age it is admitted that fire insurance is a necessity, so that the only question is, where is the best medium to secure this method of protection for our families. The Sun Mutual Insurance company, with headquarters in New Orleans, offers advantages in this line that can not be found elsewhere. This company was founded in 1855, the first president being Thomas ------. Although the capital stock was small at the outset, the assets of the company are now over $1,000,000, and it is one of the safest and best insurance companies of the South. The efficient president of this company, Leonard M. Finley, is a native of New Orleans, born in September, 1848, and was reared and educated in his native city. He secured a good practical education in the public and high schools and subsequently entered the employment of the Sun Mutual Insurance company, when little over twenty-six years of age. Since that time he has filled all the desks up to the presidency, to which position he was elected in 1892. He graduated from the law department of Tulane university in 1873, and was admitted to all the courts to practice. Being thus well prepared for business life he returned to his position with the Sun Mutual Insurance company, and in 1892 he was elected president. He is a very popular business man and it is due to his energy and business acumen that this company has grown so vastly in recent years. Careful in his investigation of facts, possessed of a sound judgment, courteous and dignified in his demeanor, he is distinguished alike for his splendid ability, his eminent fairness and his sterling integrity. He is director of the Canal bank, one of the administrators of the Tulane educational fund, president of the Marine board of underwriters, president of the New Orleans Patrol association (resigned vice-president of the National Automatic Alarm company), director in the Mutual Loan & Building association, and for some time was secretary of Pickwick club (finally resigning). He is a contributor to the daily and insurance press. He was married in New Orleans in 1876 to Miss Eliza S. Davis, a native of that city, and the fruits of this union are six children. Mr. Finley is conservative in politics, and believes strongly in tariff reform. He is a member of the Episcopal church. The father of Mr. Finley, Louis Finley, was born in the Crescent City, and was the son of Lewis Finley Sr., who made a settlement in Louisiana about 1800. Louis Finley Jr. became a well-known banker of New Orleans of the firm of Matthews, Finley & Co., and was one of the prominent men of the city. He married Miss Lydia Matthews, a native of Maryland and of Scotch origin, as was also the Finley family.

Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 1), p. 414. Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.