Martha Finley
Martha Finley was an American author born on April 26, 1828, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Growing up in a large family, she faced personal loss early on with the death of her mother and later moved to South Bend, Indiana, after her father remarried. Finley pursued her education through private schools and briefly taught before committing to writing following her father’s death in 1854. She initially published anonymously, using the pseudonym Martha Farquharson to avoid drawing attention to her family. Finley's notable work, *Elsie Dinsmore* (1867), became a best-seller and launched a series that spanned twenty-eight volumes, captivating readers with the adventures of its protagonist, Elsie. Despite being criticized for its simplistic writing style and outdated societal views, the series achieved significant commercial success, selling over five million copies. Finley continued to write until her health declined and moved to Elkton, Maryland, in 1876. She passed away on January 30, 1909, with her contributions largely forgotten today, though her work remains a reflection of 19th-century American literature and culture.
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Martha Finley
Author
- Born: April 26, 1828
- Birthplace: Chillicothe, Ohio
- Died: January 30, 1909
Biography
Martha Finley was born on April 26, 1828, in Chillicothe, Ohio, into a large family. Her mother, Maria Theresa Brown Finley, died when Finley was a child, and her father, Dr. James Brown Finley, moved to Philadelphia and remarried. When Finley was eight, the family, which by now included fourteen children, moved to South Bend, Indiana. Finley attended private schools in Philadelphia and South Bend, and for a few years taught school herself. After her father died in 1854, she moved back to Philadelphia, determined to become a writer.
Her first publications were stories to be used in Sunday school, with titles such as Ella Clinton: Or, By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them(1856), and they were published anonymously. When her publisher finally persuaded her to sign her work, she used the pseudonym Martha Farquharson because her family did not want to attract attention by having its name appear in public. Between 1856 and 1875, Finley published more than thirty of these Sunday school books. Her most important novel, Elsie Dinsmore (1867), was a different type of book. With Elsie Dinsmore, Finley intentionally aimed for commercial success, attempting to become financially independent from her family. Its main character, Elsie, is a young pretty child whose aim in life is to meet her father, win his love, and covert him to Christianity. Because the story was very long, Finley’s publishers divided it into two novels, and published the second half, Holidays at Roselands (1868), as a sequel.
Within a few years, the two novels became best-sellers, and the public clamored for more stories about Elsie. Over four decades, the series grew to twenty-eight volumes as readers watched Elsie grow up, marry, have children and then grandchildren, and never lose her even temper or sunny disposition. Finley was not a talented writer, and her books seem by modern standards to be flat, plotless, and wooden. The books’ condescending attitudes toward women and African Americans would not be acceptable to most twenty-first century readers. Nevertheless, nineteenth century readers in the United States and Great Britain eagerly awaited the next installment of the Elsie Dinsmore series, and Finley achieved the financial success she sought.
Finley left Philadelphia and moved to Elkton, Maryland, in 1876. She was again near her family, and she bought a beautiful home with balconies overlooking the Elk River. She completely avoided publicity, living quietly and writing as long as her health permitted. In 1878, Finley began another series featuring Mildred Keith, a cousin of the Dinsmore clan. When she died on January 30, 1909, at the age of eighty, little attention was paid to her passing. During a long career, Finley published more than one hundred books, several of which remained in print for fifty or more years, but almost none of which are still in print. However, Elsie Dinsmore was a true sensation, selling more than five million copies and earning Finley one of the highest incomes of any nineteenth century author.