401 Spring2008 I{Orth Countryr Notes
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Clinton County Historical Association lssue #401 Spring2008 I{orth Countryr Notes ,lulian O. Davidson, Marine Artist Joy A. Demarse, Ph. D On June 21, 1912, the Platts- paint the historic naval battle at be the best painting of this impor- burgh Sentinel reported that the Plattsburgh reflects not only an tant American naval bat- Honorable Smith M. Weed had acknowledgement of Davidson's tle" (Beman 45). invited "the Tercentenary Com- artistic skill but also Davidson's Was Julian Davidson's depic- mission and the rest of its distin- Plattsburgh connection: the artist tion of the naval battle at Platts- guished party" to his house on was a nephew of the Honorable burgh influenced by his visits to July 6 to view the Battle of Smith M. Weed. Davidson's his parents'family home? Did the Plattsburgh. The painting to mother, Harriet Standish David- reminiscences of his grandmother, which the Honorable Mr. Weed son, and Weeci's u'rfe, Caroline "Events of a Few Eventful Days in referred also rvas knou'n as the Standish \\ eed. were sisters. 1814" (Davidson 17-88) about the Battle o.f Lake Champlain and Julian Dar.idson's mother. Har- September 1 1 battle spark his cu- had been commrssioned by'Weed riet Standish Dar.rdson, was the riosity? Did the descriotions of in 188-l lrom American marine daughter of the Honorable Mat- Lake Champlain from his aunts' artist Julian Oliver Davidson. thew Miles Standish and Catherine writings spur his imagination? No It uould not have been un- Phebe Miiler Standish. Davidson's one knows. What is known is that usual for a man of Smith \\-eed's father, Matthias Oliver Davidson, Julian Davidson considered the promrnence or lortune to com- *'as the son of Dr" Oliver David- Battle of Lake Champlain his most mission a g.ork of art. nor would son and Margaret Miller Davidson. successful painting (Beman 32). it have been unusual for Weed to Matthias Davidson was brother to request a depiction of the naval Lucretia Maria Davidson and Mar- The Battle of Lake Champlain battle at Plattsburgh on Septem- garet Miller Davidson, both of is on permanent display at the Key ber I l. 1814. the most importanr rvhom gained international fame as Bank Gallery, Battle of Platts- battle in the War of 1812, from poets. Lucretia Maria Davidson's burgh Association Museum. someone as renowned as David- poetry w'as reviewed by Southey in son. Davidson, whose studio was the London Quarterly Review located in New York City, was (Sedgwick 13) and Margaret Works Cited: well-respected for his work and Miller Davidson's poetry was col- Beman, Lynn S. Julian O. David- "of all the marine artists that lected and published by Washing- son, 1853-1894, American Marine worked during this era, only ton Irving. Artist. New York: Historical So- Julian O. Davidson would Julian Davidson's childhood ciety of Rockland County, 1986 throughout his career specialize included visits to Plattsburgh, the in historical naval paint- home of his parents and his fa- Davidson, Margaret M. Selections ings" (Beman l1). And as Be- mous aunts, and at least one photo- from the Writings of Mrs. Marga- man notes, "The residents of the graph, taken in Plattsburgh in ret M. Davidson, The Mother of small upstate New York village 1862, of Julian and his sister Kate, Lucretia Maria and Margaret M. \ave always been justifiably survives (Beman i3). Although Davidson. Philadelphia: Lea & of their contribution to the Julian Oliver Davidson never lived -proud Blanchard, 1843. American cause" (24). in Plattsburgh, New York, his But Smith Weed's selection depiction of the naval battle at (continued page three) of Julian Oliver Davidson to Plattsburgh "is still considered to U NORTH COUNTRY NOTES Lucretia Maria & Margaret Miller Davidson On our very own shores of Lake Champlain 25, 1838, just four months shy of turning sixteen. emerged two well-respected and talented poets - Both Lucretia and Margaret died of tubercu- their fame earned by their considered and accom- losis, commonly referred to at that time as con- plished writings during their short lifetimes of sumption. It was widely believed that contracting less than seventeen years each. consumption caused an individual to achieve a Lucretia Maria Davidson and Margaret Miller higher level of thought, ability, or beauty. As a Davidson were both born in Piattsburgh, and al- result, the poetry emanating from these two though often cited together in written works young women was romanticized as the result of about their lives, only shared two years of their their sickness. lives together. Lucretia Davidson died on August Lucretia's rvorks lvere published after her 2l , 1825 - just one month shy of her seventeenth death in 1829 by Samuel F. B. Morse in a book birthday - when her younger sister Margaret was entitled Amir Khan, and Other Poems. (Morse only two years old. Margaret's memory of Lu- was actually a third cousin on the girls' father's cretia was largely based upon reports from oth- side.) Margaret was admired by well-known ers, but she took on a passion for poetry upon writer Washington Irving, who was introduced to hearing of her sister's considered abilities. It is her by her mother. He often wrote about her and reported that within a year of Lucretia's death her close relationship with her mother. After that Margaret beseeched her mother to "teach rne Margaret's death, Washington Irving contacted to be like her!" Margaret began writing and made her mother Margaret and encouraged her to print know'n that she did so to follo*' in the fbotsteps her daughter's poems. Her u.orks \\'ere published of her sister. Each sister wrote prose about the by her mother and edited Uy Waitrington-lrving other illustrating the literary impact that the sis- in a book entitled Biography and Poetical Re- ters had on each other's writings - albeit the post- mains o.f the Late Margaret Miller Davidson in humous effect Lucretia had on Margaret. 1841. Margaret and Lucretia were two of nine chil- Soon after, their mother sought to publish a dren of Margaret M. Davidson and Dr. Oliver larger volume of Lucretia's work entitled Poeti- Davidson. The Davidson family u,as generally cal Remains of the Late Lucretia Maria David- known as being sickly - seven of their children son, 7843, which she dedicated to Washington died at or before the age of thirty. The mother Irving in thanks for his encouragement of her two Margaret, who spent much of her own life suffer- gifted daughters. ing from various ailments, became a poet in her own right. However, she is best known for her Lucretia Maria Davidson dedication to her children and educating them. Lucretia attended the Troy Female Seminary (Willard School) and Miss Gilberl's School in Albany with the financial support of Moss Kent who learned of her abilities and offered to fund her education. She was unable to complete her studies there due to her illness, and ending up returning home within months to die. Margaret was taught by her mother Margaret, and lived with her family in Plattsburgh until they relo- cated to Ballston in Saratoga County not long .x ra: ",**..e f"*i *{,.+*i+sr;u after Lucretia's death. Margaret died November i- \- NORTH COUNTRY NOTES Swetland Collection Letter Yields Po em The museum is in the midst of an ongoing pro- The outcome of our research is that Margaret ject regarding the William Swetland letters collec- Davidson wrote this very letter to Henrietta, and tion Edward English donated in the falI of 2005. both the poem and the letter itself are quoted in Tr,vo dedicated volunteers, Ken and Ada Bills, Washington Irving's 1841 work, Biography and have been spending every Saturday morning read- Poetical Remains of the Late Margaret Miller ing these letters, sleeving each one and creating an Davidson. Most of our letter, but not all, and the index regarding their dates and contents. poem it contains are quoted in the Irving book. No The collection covers most of the nineteenth other identifiable letters from Margaret to Henri- century and is a mixed grouping of affectionate etta have turned up yet in this collection although personal letters, business correspondence, genea- many are cited in the Irving book. logical notes and other writings, some from Wil- liam Swetland, some from his wife Henrietta, and "Should the first glance at my well-filled sheet many others. be follorved by an impatient yawn. or its last word In the midst of this was a letter dated April 2, be welcomed with a smile, you must blame your 1837 fondly written from one teenager to another. o\\'n imprudence in bringing down upon your The letter is addressed to \Iiss Hennetta Srr etland luckless head the accumulated nothings of a scrib- (daughter of \\'i11iam Srretland) Plattsburgh. NY bler like ml'self. It is indeed true that "we shall not and is signed just "Nlargaret". The postmark is return" , my dear Henrietta, and as much as I long New York, Apnl 14. to revisit the home of my infancy, & the friends of my earliest remembrance, I shall be obliged to re- \larearet lvli11er Davidson linquish the pleasure in reaiity, though Fancy, un- shackled by earthly barriers, shall direct her pin- ions to the North, and linger, delighted, on the banks of our beautiful Champlain." The following page contains the entire text of the poem from Margaret's letter. Continued from page one- "Hon. S. M. Weed's Cordial Invitation." Platts- burgh Sentinel 21 June 1912.5. *{r*, n*** r{i.}*} Irving, Washington.