Martha Finley

Martha Finley was born in April 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. She lived in Circleville, Ohio and later her family moved to South Bend, Indiana. After the death of her parents in 1853, Martha settled in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania where she stayed until about 1874. Shortly after settling in Phoenixville, Martha started work on Elsie Dinsmore. 

Martha had started her writing career during her mid-twenties by writing short stories for various Sunday school papers. Sometime after writing a Sunday school book, the idea of Elsie Dinsmore was given to her in answer to a prayer for a means of support. Martha had suffered a debilitating injury or illness and was an invalid for a number of years.

Her publisher decided that the new book that they were given to publish was much too big. So, the first book was then split into 2 books. These first 2 books were extremely popular, creating a demand for further books. Even though there had been no thought to a series of books, the Elsie series continued to grow. The popularity of the each new book created a demand for another new Elsie book. The series finally culminated in the 28th book. The Elsie series had finally came to an end.

In addition to the Elsie Dinsmore series, Martha Finley also wrote the Mildred Keith series. This series only consisted of 7 volumes, but it does interact directly with the Elsie series. Martha also wrote over 50 short books and pamphlets and numerous short stories and articles. Martha Finley's long and popular writing career finally came to end when she passed on in 1909.

Elsie Books by Martha Finley

Elsie Dinsmore book 1
Elsie's Holiday book 2
Elsie's Girlhood book 3
Elsie's Womanhood book 4
Elsie's Motherhood book 5
Elsie's Children book 6
Elsie's Widowhood book 7
Grandmother Elsie book 8
Elsie's New Relations book 9
Elsie at Nantucket book 10
The Two Elsies book 11
Elsie's Kith and Kin book 12
Elsie's Friends book 13
Elsie's Christmas book 14
Elsie and the Raymonds book 15
Elsie Yachting book 16
Elsie's Vacation and After Events book 17
Elsie at Viamede book 18
Elsie at Ion book 19
Elsie at World's Fair book 20
Elsie's Journey book 21
Elsie at Home book 22
Elsie on the Hudson book 23
Elsie in the South book 24
Elsie's Young Folks book 25
Elsie's Winter Trip book 26
Elsie's Loved Ones book 27
Elsie's Namesakes book 28