Margaret Miller Davidson (March 26, 1823November 25, 1838) was an American poet. Following in the footsteps of her sister Lucretia Maria Davidson, Margaret wrote from a young age, producing a body of poems and a diary. Her work was edited by

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

after her death by

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

at age fifteen. Professor

Walter Harding Walter Harding (1917–1996) was a distinguished professor of English at the State University of New York at Geneseo and internationally recognized scholar of the life and work of Henry David Thoreau. Harding was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts ...

wrote in the mid-twentieth century that Davidson "was once of the best-known poets in America."

Biography

Margaret Miller Davidson was born March 26, 1823, in

Plattsburg, New York Plattsburgh is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 11,886 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Zephaniah Platt, an early land owner, and it surrounds the separate and more populous city of the same name. ...

. She was the youngest daughter of Oliver and Margaret Davidson. Her sister Lucretia died at age sixteen when Margaret was two years old, and her mother encouraged Margaret's literary development; her mother wrote of Lucretia's death that "on ascending to the skies, it seemed as if her poetic mantle fell like a robe of light on her infant sister." Margaret was tutored by her mother and never sent to school. At age six, she was reading the works of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

, and

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

. Like her mother and sister Lucretia, Margaret was in frail health from birth. She spent the winter of 1832/1833 visiting a sister in Canada, where she fell ill to

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

. The family moved frequently within New York in search of a healthier environment for the afflictions of the mother and daughter; between 1833 and 1838 they moved to Ballston, to the rural outskirts of New York City, back to Ballston, and then to Saratoga. Throughout her life, Davidson cared for her frequently ill mother and studied languages, philosophy, and history, in addition to writing poems and a diary. Davidson died November 25, 1838, in Saratoga.

Legacy

Washington Irving wrote ''Biography and poetical remains of the late Margaret Miller Davidson'' in 1841; by 1864 the book had twenty editions. Irving described meeting her at age eleven: "There was an intellectual beauty about this child that struck me."

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

reviewed Davidson's work favorably, describing her longest poem, ''Lenore'', "As the work of so mere a child, it is unquestionably wonderful." In the 1971 biographical dictionary ''Notable American Women'', scholar Carlin T. Kindilien wrote about the Davidson sisters' contemporary success:

References

External links

''Biography and Poetical Remains of the Late Margaret Miller Davidson''
(1841) at Google Books

(1850)
"Young Davidson sisters famed as poets"
(1975 biographical article) {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Margaret Miller 1823 births 1838 deaths People from Plattsburgh, New York American women poets American child writers 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state) Burials at Greenridge Cemetery