About Us

Benjamin Franklin Findley was born in 1826. He came to the Findley Oaks Elementary School area when he was ten years old to live with his sister. One of Benjamin Franklin Findley's in-laws owned a gold mine in Dahlonega where Benjamin caught gold fever.

In 1850, one year after getting married, Franklin Findley left his wife and newborn son to go to the gold fields of California. Reaching the Isthmus of Panama by boat, the gold hungry Findley traversed through the jungles of central America to the Pacific Ocean where he caught a steamer bound for California. After striking it rich, he started the return trek over land but became very ill along the way and stopped in St. Louis to request the aid of a doctor, to whom Benjamin Franklin Findley promised half of his wealth if his health would be returned to him. Benjamin Franklin Findley recovered and, even after splitting his wealth, he still had enough money to buy sizeable land holdings upon his return to Georgia.

Benjamin Franklin Findley settled in Old Milton County in the area of the present day school and lived there for the rest of his life. He raised nine children. He farmed cotton and also enlisted for a brief tour in the Civil War. He built a home, which his great, great, grandson Mr. Gene Findley, Jr., continued to live here until the Spring of 2007. Benjamin Franklin Findley died in 1913.

The Findley land holdings increased. Eventually, parts of land were sold off to Technology Park,Standard View; Carriage Park; Standard Club; Seven Oaks; Cambridge; and others. In 1985, a portion was purchased by the Fulton County board of Education for a future elementary school now known as Findley Oaks Elementary.

The Findleys have an extensive family tree. Their occupations covered all walks of life, but the majority of Findleys were farmers. A good many of the Findleys, especially the women,were involved in education as teachers and principals.

Ben Jefferson Findley, a son of Benjamin Franklin Findley, was always concerned about education. When Fulton County took over Old Milton County in 1932 and did not provide education to minorities, Mr. Findley provided a building and paid a teacher to teach many of his minority sharecroppers.

Today, Mr. Gene Findley, Jr., having sold the last part of what was once the Findley Farm, is a resident of Forsyth County, Georgia.