EWING, FINIS: One of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; b. in Bedford County, Va., June 10, 1773; d. at Lexington, Mo., July 4, 1841. He early removed to Davidson County, Tenn., and subsequently to Logan County, Ky. His education was limited, but under the influence of revivalist preachers he offered himself as a candidate for the Presbyterian ministry. About 1800 he was licensed as a probationer and in Nov., 1803, was ordained by the Cumberland presbytery. The Kentucky synod did not recognize this ordination and in 1806 dissolved the Cumberland presbytery. As a result, Ewing, with two others, organized on Feb. 4, 1810, the first presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (see PRESBYTERIANS). In 1820 he removed to Missouri, settling first in what is now Cooper County. He soon built up a large congregation at New Lebanon, which still flourishes. In 1836 he went to Lexington, Lafayette County, Mo., where he labored till his death. He published Lectures on Important Subjects in Divinity (Nashville, 1824).