He is listed in New York in the American Revolution as Ward Finney of Westchester Company, 4th Regiment under Colonel Thaddeus Crane. Ward Finney was also later in the 5th Regiment, 3rd Company.

He was living in Rensselaer County, New York at the death of his grandfather, Ebenezer Ward, when he inherited the land in Hamilton County, Ohio (later to be known as "Finneytown") to the total of approximately 10,000 acres. He set aside a half-acre (across the road from his house) for a public burial ground known as “Old Wesleyan Cemetery”, then later as “Finneytown Cemetery”. Towards the northeast section, there exists an old Indian burial mound either of the Adena or Hopewell cultures. It was customary in those days by the pioneers to bury the deceased near Indian burial grounds.

In 1800, he, his wife, Rachel, daughters Betsy (Elizabeth) and Abbey (Abigail), son John, daughter Lois and her husband, David Sprong with their (3) children: James, Solomon and Ward, and Rachel's brother, Samuel Raymond and his wife Jane and their (2) children left New York in covered wagons drawn by oxen. The journey took them across the Allegheny Mountains and to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they built flatboats and started down the Ohio River into Cincinnati, Ohio. When the party arrived in the area, they found a wilderness.