Martha Finley


Martha Finley was an American teacher and author of numerous works for children, the best known being the 28-volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. Her books tend to be sentimental, with a strong emphasis on religious belief. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26, 1828, in Chillicothe, Ohio. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland.

Early years

Marya Finley was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, April 26, 1828. Her father. Dr. James B Finley, was the oldest son of General Samuel Finley, a Revolutionary officer, major in the Virginia line of cavalry, afterward general of militia in Ohio, and of Mary Brown, daughter of one of Pennsylvania's early legislators. Her maternal grandmother was the daughter of Thomas Butler, who was a great-grandson of that Duke of Ormond who was influential in making the treaty of Utrecht. The Finleys and Browns were of Scotch-Irish descent and had martyr blood in their ancestry. The name of their clan was Farquarharson, the Gaelic of Finley, and for many years Miss Finley used that name as her pen-name.
The Butlers were military men. Five of Miss Finley's great-uncles of that name were in the war of the Revolution, two of them on George Washington's staff. One of her great-uncles, Dr. Samuel Finley, was one of the early presidents of Princeton College. Her grandfathers, both on her father's and mother's side, were wealthy. Her grandfather Finley received large tracts of land from the Government in acknowledgment of his services to his country during the Revolution. He laid out and owned the town of Newville, Pennsylvania. Some of his land was in Ohio, and he finally removed to that State.

Career

In the winter of 1853, Finley began her literary career by writing a newspaper story and a little book published by the Baptist Board of Publication. Between 1856 and 1870, she wrote more than twenty Sunday school books and several series of juveniles, one series containing twelve books. These were followed by Casella, Peddler of LaGrave, Old Fashioned Boy, and Our Fred. It is through her "Elsie" and "Mildred" series that she became popular as a writer for the young. Finley did not write exclusively for the young. She wrote three novels, Wanted—A Pedigree, Signing the Contract, and Thorn in the Nest.

Personal life

Finley resided in Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland, in a cottage which she built. On March 3, 1892, she became a member of the Singerly Fire Company, the town's fire department, when she was issued stock certificate 33, which granted her full privileges of membership. There is no evidence to indicate other types of participation in the organization, as most likely Singerly generously benefited from financial contributions from the civic-minded, progressive writer. But she was the only women listed on the rolls of the Elkton fire department until the mid-1970s

List of publications

  1. Elsie Dinsmore – online at
  2. Elsie's Holidays at Roselands – online at
  3. Elsie's Girlhood – online at
  4. Elsie's Womanhood – online at
  5. Elsie's Motherhood – online at
  6. Elsie's Children – online at
  7. Elsie's Widowhood
  8. Grandmother Elsie – online at
  9. Elsie's New Relations – online at
  10. Elsie at Nantucket – online at
  11. The Two Elsies – online at
  12. Elsie's Kith and Kin – online at
  13. Elsie's Friends at Woodburn
  14. Christmas with Grandma Elsie – online at
  15. Elsie and the Raymonds
  16. Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds
  17. Elsie's Vacation – online at
  18. Elsie at Viamede
  19. Elsie at Ion
  20. Elsie at the World's Fair – online at
  21. Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters
  22. Elsie at Home – online at
  23. Elsie on the Hudson
  24. Elsie in the South
  25. Elsie's Young Folks in Peace and War
  26. Elsie's Winter Trip
  27. Elsie and Her Loved Ones
  28. Elsie and Her Namesakes

    Mildred Keith series

  29. Mildred Keith – online at
  30. Mildred at Roselands – online at
  31. Mildred and Elsie
  32. Mildred's Married Life, and a Winter with Elsie Dinsmore
  33. Mildred at Home: With Something about her Relatives and Friends
  34. Mildred's Boys and Girls
  35. Mildred's New Daughter

    Attribution

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