Martha Finley (

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's 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'' 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 Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

. She died in 1909 in

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,776 at the 2020 census, up from 15,443 in 2010. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk R ...

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 for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

officer, major in the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

'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 treaty, 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 vac ...

. 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 (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

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

Samuel Finley Samuel Finley (July 2, 1715 – July 17, 1766) was an Irish-born 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 renamed as ...

, 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. Finley attended private schools in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

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, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

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

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 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 United States census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The ...

, 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
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Holidays at Roselands'' (1868) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Girlhood'' (1872) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Womanhood'' (1875) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Motherhood'' (1876) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Children'' (1877) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Widowhood'' (1880) #''Grandmother Elsie'' (1882) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's New Relations'' (1883) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie at Nantucket'' (1884) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''The Two Elsies'' (1885) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Kith and Kin'' (1886) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Friends at Woodburn'' (1887) #''Christmas with Grandma Elsie'' (1888) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie and the Raymonds'' (1889) #''Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds'' (1890) #''Elsie's Vacation'' (1891) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie at Viamede'' (1892) #''Elsie at Ion'' (1893) #''Elsie at the World's Fair'' (1894) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters'' (1895) #''Elsie at Home'' (1897) – online a
Project Gutenberg
#''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 People from Chillicothe, Ohio