Phineas Camp Headley was born in Walton, New York on June 24, 1819. By the age of twenty–eight he had received a law degree and it was after this that he began studying theology. He graduated from the seminary at Auburn, New York, where Pastor Headley ministered in both Presbyterian and Congregational churches.

As a writer, Headley contributed to the “Christian Parlor Magazine,” “The New York Observer,” “The New York Tribune,”and “The Boston Traveler,”to name a few. His first book, published in 1850, was titled: Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Women of the Bible. Over the next thirty years of his life many biographical works were added to his list of publications. Phineas Headley died in 1903 at the age of eighty–four.