Hattie M. Finlay was born on October 16, 1889 in Greenville, S.C. to James and Elizabeth Griffin Finlay.  Her father had emigrated to the U.S. in 1871 with his father John and her father’s five brothers. The family became prominent in business in Greenville and in Hendersonville, N.C.

Hattie’s father passed away in 1899. Hattie attended Chicora College for two years before she and her mother moved to Colorado Springs, Colo. for her mother’s health. Hattie entered the freshman class at Colorado College, graduating in 1910. After graduation, Hattie and her mother moved to Chattanooga, Tenn. where her two brothers were practicing law, and lived with her brother James F. “Jim” Finlay (1882-1955). She taught for a year and then attended Radcliffe College receiving an M.A. in Modern Languages. Hattie spent 14 years teaching in various colleges and private girl’s schools, including Greenville Woman’s College (1912-1916).  Hattie returned to Greenville to take care of her mother before she died in 1928. After her mother’s death, Hattie became involved with the local Red Cross and spent the next 18 years with them. She married Dr. Ben C. Jones, a local dentist, in 1947.

Hattie enjoyed writing and over the years contributed articles about local history to the local newspapers. She wrote several small books, including one book of poetry whose sales were contributed to Greenville’s new Art Museum in the Gassaway Mansion in the 1970s.

• The venomous captain, translated from the Spanish of D. Petro A. de Alarcon by Hattie M. Finlay, Greenville, S.C., Peace printing company [1915]
• Jones, H. F. (19--?). The town was theirs: Ten sketches. Greenville, S.C.
• Jones, H. F. (1959). Petals. Greenville, S.C: Hiatt Press.
• Jones, H. F. (1959). Stones that tell a city's story. Greenville, S.C: Hiott Press.
• Jones, H. F. (1966). Poems of preference. Greenville, S.C.: Martin Print. Co.

Hattie died on July 15, 1987 in Greenville.