Elsie and her husband Edward take delight in their burgeoning family in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Elsie's Motherhood

The Elsie Dinsmore Novels, Martha Finley, in our opinion is the author of the best Series of novels that we have seen in our forty-three years of reviewing. Written by Martha Finley, an unmarried teacher of the last century, these novels proved to be a means of conveying her deep love for Christ Jesus. She loved her Lord, she loved His Word, and this love was passed on to His sheep through the writing of by far the best and most Biblical novels you will ever read or see. Altogether there are 28 of these novels, all built around Elsie Dinsmore, her immediate family, her extended family, and her neighbors.

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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.After the Civil War, Elsie and her family return to their home in the South, dealing with the upheaval that the Reconstruction Era brought during the years after the war.

As Elsie Dinsmore grows up and becomes a young woman, her family also experiences major changes when her father remarries.

Elsie felt in better spirits in the morning; her sleep had refreshed her, and she arose with a stronger confidence in the love of both her earthly and her heavenly Father. She found her papa ready, and waiting for her. He took her in his arms and kiss