Martha Finley (1828–1909)

Author of Elsie Dinsmore

133 Works 8,003 Members 37 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Martha Finley was born in 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. She lived in Circleville, Ohio South Bend, Indiana and finally Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She began her writing career by writing short stories for Sunday School papers. Her most popular works are the Elsie Dinsmore series which consisted of 28 show more titles. In addition, she wrote the Mildred Keith series which consisted of 7 titles. She also wrote over 50 short books and pamphlets and numerous short stories and articles. Finley died in 1909. show less

Includes the names: Marha Finley, Marth Finley, Martha Finley, The Martha Finley, Mantle Ministries, Elsi Martha Finley, Martha Farquharson, Gran Martha Finley, Chri Martha Finley, Martha Finley farquharson, Martha based on books by Finley, formerly Farquharson Martha Finley, Illustrated by frontis Martha Finley, Martha Based on the beloved books by Finley, Martha Finley/Mission City Press Martha Finley

Image credit: Martha Finley [aka Martha Farquharson] (1828-1909) Buffalo Electrotype and Engraving Co., Buffalo, N.Y.

Series

Elsie Dinsmore

A Life of Faith: Millie Keith

A Life of Faith: Violet Travilla

Mildred Keith

Works by Martha Finley

Popular Recent

Elsie Dinsmore (1867) 744 copies

Elsie's Holidays at Roselands (1868) 439 copies

Elsie's Girlhood (1872) 409 copies

Elsie's Womanhood (1875) 357 copies

Elsie's Motherhood (1876) 292 copies

Elsie's Children (1877) 249 copies

Elsie's Widowhood, Book 7 (The Original Elsie Classics, Book 7) (1880) 248 copies

Millie's Unsettled Season (1876) 242 copies

Grandmother Elsie (1882) 220 copies

Elsie's New Relations (1883) 204 copies

Elsie at Nantucket (1884) 198 copies

Millie's Courageous Days, Book 2 (1876) 189 copies

Elsie's Kith and Kin (1886) 187 copies

Elsie's Troubled Times, Book 6 (2000) 181 copies

Elsie's True Love (2000) 181 copies

The Two Elsies (1885) 180 copies

Elsie's Tender Mercies, Book 7 (2001) 172 copies

Elsie's Great Hope (2001) 155 copies

Millie's Remarkable Journey, Book 3 (2002) 153 copies

Millie's Faithful Heart (2002) 138 copies

Christmas with Grandma Elsie (1888) 120 copies

Millie's Steadfast Love, Book 5 (2002) 115 copies

Violet's Hidden Doubts, Book #1 (2004) 115 copies

Millie's Grand Adventure (2002) 107 copies

Elsie's Vacation (1891) 101 copies

Elsie's Friends At Woodburn (1887) 99 copies

Millie's Reluctant Sacrifice (2003) 98 copies

Elsie At The World's Fair (1894) 94 copies

Elsie And The Raymonds (1889) 93 copies

Violet's Amazing Summer (2004) 89 copies

Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds (1890) 89 copies

Elsie At Viamede (1892) 88 copies

Elsie At Home (1897) 88 copies

Elsie At Ion (1893) 84 copies

Elsie In The South (1899) 80 copies

Elsie on the Hudson (1898) 79 copies

Elsie's Journey On Inland Waters (1895) 77 copies

Violet's Turning Point, Book 3 (Life of Faith, A: Violet Travilla Series) (2004) 76 copies

Elsie and Her Namesakes (1905) 75 copies

Violet's Bold Mission (2004) 72 copies

Elsie's Young Folks In Peace And War (1900) 72 copies

Mildred Keith (1996) 72 copies

Elsie's Winter Trip (1902) 69 copies

Elsie And Her Loved Ones (1903) 69 copies

Violet's Defiant Daughter (2006) 69 copies

Violet's Foreign Intrigue (2006) 63 copies

Violet's Bumpy Ride (Life of Faith, A: Violet Travilla Series) (1822) 62 copies

Violet's Perplexing Puzzles: Book 5 (A Life of Faith) (2005) 60 copies

Mildred at Roselands (1880) 60 copies

Mildred and Elsie (1881) 55 copies

Mildred's New Daughter (1894) 48 copies

Mildred's Married Life (1882) 47 copies

Mildred At Home (2001) 44 copies

Mildred's Boys and Girls (1914) 41 copies

The A Life of Faith Collection: Elsie's Endless Wait / Millie's Unsettled Season / Violet's Hidden Doubts / Laylie's… (2006) 31 copies

Elsie Dinsmore Collection (Volumes 1-12) (1993) 20 copies

Elsie Dinsmore Vols. 1-4 (Bks. 1-4) (1997) 18 copies

The Elsie Dinsmore Series (2012) 11 copies

Elsie Dinsmore Boxed Set, Books 5-8 (Life of Faith, A: Elsie Dinsmore Series) (2003) 10 copies

An Old Fashioned Boy (1874) 9 copies

Millie Keith Boxed Set, Books 5-8 (Life of Faith, A: Millie Keith Series) (2003) 7 copies

Our Fred or Seminary Life at Thurston a Sequel to an Old Fashioned Boy (1874) 4 copies

The thorn in the nest (1886) 3 copies

A Life of Faith: Elsie Dinsmore Set (2006) 3 copies

MARTHA FINLEY Ultimate Collection – 35 Novels in One Volume (Including The Complete Elsie Dinsmore Series &… (2016) 3 copies

Wanted--a Pedigree (2019) 2 copies

Elsie Dinsmore 28 Volume Collection, Martha Finley, Hard Cover, 28 Vols. (Elsie Dinsmore Collection) (2005) 2 copies

The Tragedy of Wild River Valley 2 copies

A Life of Faith: Violet Travilla Set 2 copies

Signing the contract, and what it cost (2018) 2 copies

Mildred Keith Collection (2001) 2 copies

Annandale : a story of the times of the Covenanters 2 copies

Elsie Dinsmore, Elsie’s Holidays at Roselands, and Elsie’s Girlhood (2011) 2 copies

Elsie's Loved Ones 1 copy

Harry and his Cousins 1 copy

Stupid Sally, the Poor House Girl 1 copy

Harry's Christmas 1 copy

Harry at Aunt Jane's 1 copy

Harry and His Chickens 1 copy

Harry's Little Sister 1 copy

Harry's Ride 1 copy

Harry's Grandma 1 copy

Harry's Walks 1 copy

Harry's Fourth of July 1 copy

Pewit's Nest 1 copy

Rose and Robbie 1 copy

Elsie Densmore 1 copy

Elsie's Young Folk 1 copy

Our Fred, or, Seminary life at Thurston : a sequel to an Old-fashioned boy 1 copy

Allan's Fault 1 copy

Amy and Her Kitten 1 copy

Bertie Page and Tom Cross 1 copy

Black Steve, or The strange warning 1 copy

Broken Basket 1 copy

Brookside Farm House from January to December 1 copy

Elsie*s Holidays at Roselands 1 copy

Brookside Farm-house, From January to December For the Little Folks (2006) 1 copy

Loitering Linus 1 copy

Rich and humble 1 copy

Maud's Two Homes 1 copy

Milly, the Little Girl Who Tried to Help Others 1 copy

Elsie Dinsmore 1-19 & Mildred Keith 1-3(Elsie Dinsmore,Elsie's… (1994) 1 copy

Loitering Linus 1 copy

Elsie's friends at Woodburn. By: Martha Finley (Children's book) (Elsie Dinsmore) 1 copy

Ella Clinton, or, By their fruits ye shall know them 1 copy

Marion Harvie, : a tale of persecution in the seventeenth century 1 copy

Aunt Ruth, : or, Persecuted not forsaken 1 copy

The Elsie Dinsmore Series #5-28 1 copy

A Life of Faith: Millie Keith Set 1 copy

Brand New Full and Complete Elsie Dinsmore Book Series Collection by Martha Finley. Set of 28 softcover classics (2012) 1 copy

ELSIE DINSMORE Original Elsie Classics(Annotated) (2021) 1 copy

A Life of Faith 8: Violet's Foreign Intrigue 1 copy

A Life of Faith 8: Millie's Fiery Trial 1 copy

A Life of Faith Laylie's Daring Quest 1 copy

A Life of Faith 1: Elsie's Endless Wait 1 copy

A Life of Faith 2: Elsie's Impossible Choice 1 copy

A Life Of Faith 1 copy

elisie Dinsmore 1 copy

Little Patience 1 copy

Elsie Dinsmore (Elsie Dinsmore Collection) Vol 1 1 copy

Elsie's Motherhood (Elsie Dinsmore Collection) Vol 5 1 copy

Elsie's Relations (Elsie Dinsmore Collection) Vol 9 1 copy

Elsie Dinsmore 1 1 copy

Christmas with Grandma Elsie. By: Martha Finley (Children's book) (2016) 1 copy

Elsie on the Hudson and elsewhere. By: Martha Finley (Elsie Dinsmore Collection) (2016) 1 copy

Elsie's winter trip. By: Martha Finley (Original Elsie Classics): Children's stories (2016) 1 copy

Elsie and her loved ones. By: Martha Finley (Elsie Dinsmore Collection) (2016) 1 copy

Mildred's married life, and a winter with Elsie Dinsmore.: A sequel to Mildred and Elsie.By: Martha Finley… (2016) 1 copy

Anna Hand, the Meddlesome Girl 1 copy

Grandma Foster's Sunbeam 1 copy

Little Dick Positive 1 copy

Little Helper 1 copy

Work and Win 1 copy

Work Explorer

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$ (33) 19th century (82) A Life of Faith (65) American (29) best books (24) children (95) children's (89) children's books (27) children's fiction (74) children's literature (28) Christian (89) Christian fiction (148) didactic (26) ebook (55) Elsie (35) Elsie Dinsmore (43) Elsie Dinsmore Series (80) FIC FIN (28) fiction (607) from my childhood (23) girlhood (66) girls (48) historical (27) historical fiction (138) Junior Fiction (37) juvenile fiction (25) Kindle (38) middle grade (34) novel (33) part-of-a-series (25) Project Gutenberg (40) read (30) religious (35) series (51) to-read (58) women (37) YA (28) young adult (47) youth (25) Youth Fiction (128)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Finley, Martha
Other names: Farquharson, Martha
Birthdate: 1828-04-26
Date of death: 1909-01-30
Burial location: Elkton Cemetery, Cecil County, Maryland, USA
Gender: female
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Chillicothe, Ohio, USA
Place of death: Elkton, Maryland, USA
Occupations: children's book author
teacher
Short biography: Martha Finley was the daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley. Martha was raised in Ohio and became a teacher before publishing her work under the pen name "Martha Farquharson." Although she was a prolific writer, she is best remembered as the author of the popular children’s novel, Elsie Dinsmore (1867) and the subsequent Elsie series, which consisted of 28 volumes published over a span of 38 years.