Martha Finley

Mildred and Elsie (1861). By Martha Finley

Mildred Keith is a children's novel series written by Martha Finley (1828-1909) between 1876 and 1894. Mrs. Finley was also the author of the Elsie Dinsmore series. Mildred Keith is the oldest child in the Keith family, who move to Pleasant Plains from Landsdale. She has many brothers and sisters: Rupert, Zillah, Ada, Zillah, Eva (who died at age five, before the first book begins) Don, Cyril, Fan, and Annis. Mildred and her family are strong abolitionists, so in book one when Mildred's cousin Horace visits Pleasant Plains, Mildred tries to persuade him that slavery is wrong, but he just laughs. However, Horace does have some heart. He tells Marcia (Mildred's mother) and Mildred about his daughter and dead wife. Later, after recuperating from an illness, Mildred visits Roselands. She is appalled at some of the conditions that the slaves living at Meadshead, a nearby plantation, live and die in. Although her aunt Isabelle is shocked at her appearance, her Uncle Horace is hospitable. When Elsie's guardian dies, her uncle is forced to take her in, and Mildred befriends little Elsie, Cousin Horace's daughter. Mildred also falls in love with Charlie Landreth, despite the fact that he is not a Christian. The book Mildred's New Daughter has been criticized for having nothing to do with Mildred. Martha Finley (April 26, 1828 - January 30, 1909)[1] was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. 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. Finley wrote many of her books under the pseudonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.