Martha Finley (

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

: Martha Farquharson; April 26, 1828 – January 30, 1909) was an American teacher and author of numerous works for children, the best known being the 28-volume ''

Elsie Dinsmore Elsie Dinsmore is a children's book series written by Martha Finley (1828–1909) between 1867 and 1905. Of Finley's two girls' fiction series, the Mildred Keith books were more realistic and autobiographical in nature, while the 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 Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...

. She died in 1909 in

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,443 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of na ...

Early years

Martha Finley was born on April 26, 1828, in

. Her father. Dr. James B Finley, was the oldest son of General Samuel Finley, a

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

officer, major in the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

line of cavalry, afterward general of militia in Ohio, and of Mary Brown, daughter of one of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

'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 Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

. 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 George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's staff. One of her great-uncles, Dr.

Samuel Finley Samuel Finley (July 2, 1715 – July 17, 1766) was an Irish-born American Presbyterian minister and academic. He founded the West Nottingham Academy and was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later ren ...

, was one of the early presidents of

Princeton College Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

. 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 Newville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The borough is located west of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle. The population was 1,376 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Har ...

. Some of his land was in Ohio, and he finally removed to that State. Finley attended private schools in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

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. Many of her early works were short stories contributed to the children's sections of Sunday-school papers. Originally written anonymously, the stories’ success led her publishers to ask her to include her name. At the time her family objected to her the publishing under her own name, so she chose "Martha Farquharson" as her pen name. Between 1856 and 1870, she wrote more than twenty

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

books and several series of juveniles, one series containing twelve books. These were followed by ''Casella'' (

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 1869), ''Peddler of LaGrave'', ''Old Fashioned Boy'' (Philadelphia, 1871), and ''Our Fred'' (

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 1874). 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'' (Philadelphia, 1879), ''Signing the Contract'' (New York, 1879), and ''Thorn in the Nest'' (New York. 1886).

Personal life

Finley resided in Elkton,

Cecil County, Maryland Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was n ...

, 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, yet she was the only woman listed on the rolls of the Elkton fire department until the mid-1970s

List of publications

* ''Ella Clinton; or, By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1856 – online a
Project Gutenberg
* ''Aunt Ruth'', Philadelphia, 1857 * ''Marion Harvie'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1857 * ''Annandale: A story of the times of the Covenanters'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1858 * ''Lame Letty'', Philadelphia, 1859 * ''Try: Better Do It, Than Wish It Done'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1863 * ''Little Joe Carter, The Cripple'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1864 * ''Mysie's Work'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1864 * ''Willie Elton, The Little Boy Who Loved Jesus'', Philadelphia, 1864 * ''Black Steve; or The Strange Warning'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1865 * ''Brookside Farm-House, Presbyterian Publications Board, 1865 * ''Hugo and Franz'', Philadelphia, 1865 * ''Robert and Daisy'', Philadelphia, 1865 * ''Allan's Fault'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1866 * ''Anna Hand, the Meddlesome Girl'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Casella'', Dodd, 1868 * ''Grandma Foster's Sunbeam'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Little Dick Positive'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''The Little Helper'', 1868 * ''Little Patience'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Loitering Linus'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Maude's Two Homes'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Millie, or The Little Girl Who Tried To Help Others and Do Them Good'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Stupid Sally, the Poor-House Girl'', Philadelphia, 1868 * ''Amy and Her Kitten'', Philadelphia, 1870 * ''Betty Page'', Philadelphia, 1870 * ''The Broken Basket'', Philadelphia, 1870 * ''Jamie by the Lake'', Philadelphia, 1870 * ''Rufus the Unready'', Philadelphia, 1870 * ''The White Dress'', Philadelphia, 1870 * ''An Old-Fashioned Boy'', Evans, 1871 * ''Lilian; or, Did She Do It Right?'', Evans, 1871 * ''Wanted—A Pedigree'', Dodd, 1871 * ''Contented Jim'', Philadelphia, 1872 * ''Honest Jim'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1872 * ''How He Did It'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1872 * ''Noll in the Country'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1872 * ''The Twin Babies'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1872 * ''Our Fred'', Donohue, 1874 * ''The Peddler of La Grave'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1875 * ''Aunt Hetty's Fowls'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry and His Chickens'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry and His Cousins'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry At Aunt Jane's'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry's Christmas in the City'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry's Fourth of July'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry's Grandma'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry's Little Sister'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry's Ride With Papa'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Harry's Walk With Grandma'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''The Pewit's Nest'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Rosa and Robbie'', Presbyterian Publications Board, 1876 * ''Signing the Contract'', Dodd, 1879 – online a
Project Gutenberg
* ''The Thorn in the Nest'', Dodd, 1886 – online a
Project Gutenberg
* ''The Tragedy of Wild River Valley'', Dodd, 1893 – online a
Project Gutenberg
* ''Twiddledetwit, A Fairytale'', Dodd, 1898

Elsie Dinsmore series

#''Elsie Dinsmore'' (1867) – online a
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#''Elsie's Holidays at Roselands'' (1868) – online a
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#''Elsie's Girlhood'' (1872) – online a
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#''Elsie's Womanhood'' (1875) – online a
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#''Elsie's Motherhood'' (1876) – online a
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#''Elsie's Children'' (1877) – online a
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#''Elsie's Widowhood'' (1880) #''Grandmother Elsie'' (1882) – online a
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#''Elsie's New Relations'' (1883) – online a
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#''Elsie at Nantucket'' (1884) – online a
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#''The Two Elsies'' (1885) – online a
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#''Elsie's Kith and Kin'' (1886) – online a
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#''Elsie's Friends at Woodburn'' (1887) #''Christmas with Grandma Elsie'' (1888) – online a
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#''Elsie and the Raymonds'' (1889) #''Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds'' (1890) #''Elsie's Vacation'' (1891) – online a
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#''Elsie at Viamede'' (1892) #''Elsie at Ion'' (1893) #''Elsie at the World's Fair'' (1894) – online a
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#''Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters'' (1895) #''Elsie at Home'' (1897) – online a
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#''Elsie on the Hudson'' (1898) #''Elsie in the South'' (1899) #''Elsie's Young Folks in Peace and War'' (1900) #''Elsie's Winter Trip'' (1902) #''Elsie and Her Loved Ones'' (1903) #''Elsie and Her Namesakes'' (1905)

Mildred Keith series

#''Mildred Keith'' (1876) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Mildred at Roselands'' (1880) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Mildred and Elsie'' (1881) #''Mildred's Married Life, and a Winter with Elsie Dinsmore'' (1882) #''Mildred at Home: With Something about her Relatives and Friends'' (1884) #''Mildred's Boys and Girls'' (1886) #''Mildred's New Daughter'' (1894)

References

Attribution

External links

* * * *

The Literature Network biography of Martha Finley
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, Martha 1828 births 1909 deaths American children's writers 19th-century American novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 19th-century American women writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers American women novelists Novelists from Maryland Novelists from Ohio American women children's writers People from Elkton, Maryland Pseudonymous women writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century