Background
Martha Farquharson Finley was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, the daughter of Dr. James Brown and Maria Theresa (Brown) Finley, who were first cousins. Both Finleys and Browns were of Scotch-Irish descent, natives of Pennsylvania. Martha Finley’s grandfather, General Samuel Finley, was a personal friend of Washington, a major in the Revolutionary army, and a general in the War of 1812, in which his son, her father, also fought. Farquharson, Gaelic for Finley, was sometimes used by Miss Finley as a pen name.