Martha Finley was an American teacher and author of various children's books, the most well-known of which was the 28-volume Elsie Dinsmore series, which was published over 38 years. Her works are typically emotional, with a significant emphasis on religious beliefs. She was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, on April 26, 1828, as the daughter of Presbyterian pastor Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and relative Maria Theresa Brown. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland. Martha Finley was born April 26, 1828, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her father, Dr. James B Finley, was the oldest son of General Samuel Finley, a Revolutionary commander, major in the Virginia line of cavalry, and later general of militia in Ohio, and Mary Brown, the daughter of an early Pennsylvania lawmaker. Her maternal grandmother was the daughter of Thomas Butler, a great-grandson of the Duke of Ormond, who was involved in the formation of the Treaty of Utrecht. The Finleys and Browns were Scotch-Irish and descended from martyrs. Their clan's name was Farquarharson, which is Finley's Gaelic, and Miss Finley used it as a pen name for many years.
