Margaret Maher
Encyclopedia
Margaret Maher was a long-term domestic worker
in the household of American poet Emily Dickinson
.
in a region of South Tipperary
known as the Golden Vale
of the River Suir.
Margaret's father, Michael Maher (circa 1780–1868), was a tenant farmer who married Mary Dunn (1798–1866), the daughter of Patrick Dunn and Margaret Lahea. Between 1826 and 1848 Margaret's mother gave birth to nine children of whom four survived to adulthood: Mary (1828–1910), Margaret (1841–1924), Michael (1843–1880), and Thomas (1848–1913).
Michael, Margaret's father, appears to have struggled financially before The Great Famine
, moving his family from townland to townland – babies were born in Boolagh, Killavally, and Cappadrummin – on the slopes of Slievenamon
or Sliabh na mBan: the Mountain of the Women. By 1850, Michael Maher was doing well enough, post-famine, to be able to lease 49 acres (198,296.1 m²) in Kiltinan from Robert Cooke, Esq. and sublease a house to someone else. Improved circumstances enabled Margaret's family to financed their emigration to America and/or they were was given a monetary incentive when, in 1854, landlord Robert Cooke, Esq. rationalized his holdings.
Margaret and her two brothers, Michael and Thomas, received rudimentary educations (Mary, the eldest, remained illiterate). Margaret spent sufficient time in a classroom to allow her to later exchange letters with her two primary American employers, the Boltwood and Dickinson families.
, Margaret's sister, Mary, married Thomas Kelley (1832–1920), another South Tipperary immigrant on December 1, 1855. In scripting her own funeral, Emily Dickinson chose Tom for the role of her chief pallbearer (she selected five other Irish Catholic laborers as bearers: Dennis Cashman, Tom or Dan Moynihan, Dennis Scannell, Stephen Sullivan, and Pat Ward).
Margaret's brother-in-law Tom Kelley, a laborer, bought property from Emily Dickinson's father, Edward
, in October 1864, that Tom had been leasing for his young family and Maher in-laws. This property included land with a dwelling house adjacent to the Dickinson Meadow and railroad depot off of Main Street in Amherst, about a quarter-mile from the Dickinson Homestead
. Although she slept under her employers’ roofs, Margaret called this home.
This Amherst property, known as "Kelley Square," eventually expanded to include a barn, three houses, and sheds, with gardens and fruit trees. The Maher siblings and their brother-in-law Tom Kelley expanded this multigenerational family compound through their combined wages, real estate investments, and boarding house business. Margaret's brothers sent funds from California and Nevada where they worked as miners and cattle ranchers.
Margaret's brother-in-law, Tom Kelley, worked as a laborer, railroad track walker, and later night watchman for Amherst College
. Tom's association with and employment by Edward Dickinson, Amherst College treasurer, may have first brought Margaret Maher to the attention of the Dickinson family.
, as Lucius Manlius Boltwood built his career as a librarian and genealogist.
Margaret left Hartford, Connecticut, where she was working for the Junior Boltwoods, in spring 1868 to help care for her terminally ill and recently widowed father in Amherst. Margaret's father died on June 8. Five days later, on June 13, her brother-in-law, Tom Kelley, had a near fatal fall on the job. Uncertain that he would survive, Margaret and her sister, by then a mother of seven children, nursed Tom around the clock and he eventually lost his arm.
Later that summer, when it was clear that Tom Kelley was out of danger, 27-year-old Margaret and her brother, Thomas Maher, make plans to leave for California to join their brother, Michael, in the gold fields of California.
Thomas Maher set sail for California, by way of Panama, on October 5, 1868. Beset by illness, Margaret remained in Amherst to be nursed by her sister Mary Kelley. When she was strong enough (strength is the key ingredient to a life in domestic service) Margaret took on a series of temporary jobs in Amherst. While working for a Mrs. Talcott, mother of three school-age children, Emily Dickinson's father, Edward, went to the Talcott house to ask Margaret when she would be free to work for his family. The Dickinson posting, expected to be another temporary assignment, turned into a 30 year job.
Emily Dickinson stored her finished poems in her maid's trunk. The poet apparently instructed Margaret to burn these poems after her death but Margaret later refused. It was Margaret Maher “whom Emily Dickinson judged capable of the disobedience necessary to bring her work to the world. Maher did not disappoint. Her act of insubordination worked the miracle for which posterity is in debt, turning the private genius of her mistress’s poetry into a universal legacy.”
The daguerreotype
of Emily Dickinson, disliked and discarded by her family, was saved by Margaret Maher. She made it available to Roberts Brothers publishers for the first book of her poems which appeared in November 1890.
, Emily's younger sister. Margaret's sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Tom Kelley, predeceased her in 1910 and 1920 respectively. Tom’s will made provisions for Margaret to live out her life in her own apartment at Kelley Square. She was cared for in her old age by her niece Ellen "Nell" Kelley. Margaret died at home on 3 May 1924 and is buried beside her parents and brother, Thomas, in St. Mary's Cemetery, Northampton, Massachusetts
.
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
in the household of American poet Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
.
Early life in Ireland
Margaret was born on 25 February 1841 in Killusty, a townlandTownland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
in a region of South Tipperary
South Tipperary
South Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 52% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...
known as the Golden Vale
Golden Vale
The Golden Vale is an area of rolling pastureland in the civil province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. Covering parts of three counties, Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, it is the best land in Ireland for dairy farming....
of the River Suir.
Margaret's father, Michael Maher (circa 1780–1868), was a tenant farmer who married Mary Dunn (1798–1866), the daughter of Patrick Dunn and Margaret Lahea. Between 1826 and 1848 Margaret's mother gave birth to nine children of whom four survived to adulthood: Mary (1828–1910), Margaret (1841–1924), Michael (1843–1880), and Thomas (1848–1913).
Michael, Margaret's father, appears to have struggled financially before The Great Famine
Great Famine
Great Famine may refer to any of several historical famines:* The Great Famine of 1315–1317 in northern Europe* The Great India Famine of 1344-1345...
, moving his family from townland to townland – babies were born in Boolagh, Killavally, and Cappadrummin – on the slopes of Slievenamon
Slievenamon
Slievenamon is a mountain in County Tipperary in the province of Munster in Ireland. It stands at 721 m . It is located in the south of the county, near the town of Clonmel...
or Sliabh na mBan: the Mountain of the Women. By 1850, Michael Maher was doing well enough, post-famine, to be able to lease 49 acres (198,296.1 m²) in Kiltinan from Robert Cooke, Esq. and sublease a house to someone else. Improved circumstances enabled Margaret's family to financed their emigration to America and/or they were was given a monetary incentive when, in 1854, landlord Robert Cooke, Esq. rationalized his holdings.
Margaret and her two brothers, Michael and Thomas, received rudimentary educations (Mary, the eldest, remained illiterate). Margaret spent sufficient time in a classroom to allow her to later exchange letters with her two primary American employers, the Boltwood and Dickinson families.
Arrival in America
Soon after the Maher family emigrated to Amherst, MassachusettsAmherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, Margaret's sister, Mary, married Thomas Kelley (1832–1920), another South Tipperary immigrant on December 1, 1855. In scripting her own funeral, Emily Dickinson chose Tom for the role of her chief pallbearer (she selected five other Irish Catholic laborers as bearers: Dennis Cashman, Tom or Dan Moynihan, Dennis Scannell, Stephen Sullivan, and Pat Ward).
Margaret's brother-in-law Tom Kelley, a laborer, bought property from Emily Dickinson's father, Edward
Edward Dickinson
Edward Dickinson was an American politician from Massachusetts. He is best known as the father of the poet Emily Dickinson; their family home in Amherst, the Dickinson Homestead, is now a museum dedicated to her....
, in October 1864, that Tom had been leasing for his young family and Maher in-laws. This property included land with a dwelling house adjacent to the Dickinson Meadow and railroad depot off of Main Street in Amherst, about a quarter-mile from the Dickinson Homestead
Emily Dickinson Museum
The Emily Dickinson Museum is a historic house museum consisting of two houses: the Dickinson Homestead and the Evergreens...
. Although she slept under her employers’ roofs, Margaret called this home.
This Amherst property, known as "Kelley Square," eventually expanded to include a barn, three houses, and sheds, with gardens and fruit trees. The Maher siblings and their brother-in-law Tom Kelley expanded this multigenerational family compound through their combined wages, real estate investments, and boarding house business. Margaret's brothers sent funds from California and Nevada where they worked as miners and cattle ranchers.
Margaret's brother-in-law, Tom Kelley, worked as a laborer, railroad track walker, and later night watchman for Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
. Tom's association with and employment by Edward Dickinson, Amherst College treasurer, may have first brought Margaret Maher to the attention of the Dickinson family.
Meeting with Emily Dickinson
By her mid to late teens Margaret was employed as a maid-of-all-work by Fanny and Lucius Boltwood, peers of Emily Dickinson's parents. When their oldest son, Lucius Manlius Boltwood married Clarinda Boardman Williams in 1860 and they were expecting their first child, in 1861, Margaret appears to have been re-assigned to care for that family. Margaret moved with the "Junior Boltwoods," from Amherst to Washington, DC to Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, as Lucius Manlius Boltwood built his career as a librarian and genealogist.
Margaret left Hartford, Connecticut, where she was working for the Junior Boltwoods, in spring 1868 to help care for her terminally ill and recently widowed father in Amherst. Margaret's father died on June 8. Five days later, on June 13, her brother-in-law, Tom Kelley, had a near fatal fall on the job. Uncertain that he would survive, Margaret and her sister, by then a mother of seven children, nursed Tom around the clock and he eventually lost his arm.
Later that summer, when it was clear that Tom Kelley was out of danger, 27-year-old Margaret and her brother, Thomas Maher, make plans to leave for California to join their brother, Michael, in the gold fields of California.
Thomas Maher set sail for California, by way of Panama, on October 5, 1868. Beset by illness, Margaret remained in Amherst to be nursed by her sister Mary Kelley. When she was strong enough (strength is the key ingredient to a life in domestic service) Margaret took on a series of temporary jobs in Amherst. While working for a Mrs. Talcott, mother of three school-age children, Emily Dickinson's father, Edward, went to the Talcott house to ask Margaret when she would be free to work for his family. The Dickinson posting, expected to be another temporary assignment, turned into a 30 year job.
Aspects of the relationship
Margaret arrived by March 1869 to work in the Dickinson household. She was initially uncomfortable in that household and, weeks into the job, wrote “I am as strange here as if I came here [to] work yester[day]." Margaret still intended to move to California, and the Dickinson family responded by working hard to keep her. They liked the butter Margaret made – it was “the best the[y] ever had” – and they liked her. Emily described Margaret as "courageous" (JL 668), "warm and wild and mighty" (JL 827), and "good and noisy, the North Wind of the Family.” (JL689) Margaret shared the kitchen with Emily Dickinson – who often baked and wrote there – for the last 17 years of the poet's life.Emily Dickinson stored her finished poems in her maid's trunk. The poet apparently instructed Margaret to burn these poems after her death but Margaret later refused. It was Margaret Maher “whom Emily Dickinson judged capable of the disobedience necessary to bring her work to the world. Maher did not disappoint. Her act of insubordination worked the miracle for which posterity is in debt, turning the private genius of her mistress’s poetry into a universal legacy.”
The daguerreotype
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
of Emily Dickinson, disliked and discarded by her family, was saved by Margaret Maher. She made it available to Roberts Brothers publishers for the first book of her poems which appeared in November 1890.
Later life
Margaret, at 58 years old, is believed to have moved back to Kelley Square upon the 1899 death of her remaining Dickinson employer, LaviniaLavinia Norcross Dickinson
Lavinia Norcross Dickinson was the younger sister of famed American poet, Emily Dickinson.Lavinia, "Vinnie", Dickinson was instrumental in achieving the posthumous publication of her sister's poems after having discovered the forty-odd manuscripts in which Emily had collected her work...
, Emily's younger sister. Margaret's sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Tom Kelley, predeceased her in 1910 and 1920 respectively. Tom’s will made provisions for Margaret to live out her life in her own apartment at Kelley Square. She was cared for in her old age by her niece Ellen "Nell" Kelley. Margaret died at home on 3 May 1924 and is buried beside her parents and brother, Thomas, in St. Mary's Cemetery, Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
.
Further reading
- Grennan, Eamon. "'Identity to Seek'": The Selves of Emily Dickinson," Green Mountains Review, 19:1, Spring/Summer 2006: 14–34
- Kirk, Connie. "'I will sone be home': Margaret Maher, Emily Dickinson, and an Irish Trunk Full of Poems." In Editors David Valone and Christine Kinealy, Ireland's Great Hunger: Silence, Memory, And Commemoration. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002: 257–268. ISBN 0-7618-2345-X
- Lebow, Lori. "Emily Dickinson: 'she don't go nowhere', or a nineteenth-century recluse's guide to cross-culturalism," Women's Writing. 8:3, 2001: 441–456
- Leyda, Jay. “Miss Emily’s Maggie.” New World Writing.(n.e.) New York: New American Library (Mentor), 1953: 255–67.
- Leyda, Jay. The Years and Hours of Emily Dickinson. Two volumes. New Haven CT: Yale University Press. 1960. ISBN 978-0208008176
- Longsworth, Polly. Austin and Mabel: The Amherst Affair and Love Letters of Austin Dickinson and Mabel Loomis Todd. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1984. ISBN 0374107165.
- Maher, Margaret. Letters, Boltwood Family Papers: Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Free Public Library, Michigan.
- Murray, Aífe. Maid as Muse: How Domestic Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language, University Press of New England, 2010. ISBN 978-1-58465-674-6
- Murray, Aífe. "Architecture of the Unseen,” Companion to Emily Dickinson, Mary Loeffelholz & Martha Nell Smith, Blackwell Publishing, 2008: 11–36. ISBN 978-1-4051-2280-1
- Murray, Aífe. “Miss Margaret's Emily Dickinson,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society, 24:3, Spring 1999: 697–732
- Murray, Aífe. “Kitchen Table Poetics: Maid Margaret Maher and Her Poet Emily Dickinson,” The Emily Dickinson Journal, 5:2, Fall 1996: 285–296
- Quinn, Peter “In Service: Emily Dickinson, Helen Keller & the Irish Help” Commonweal, June 18, 2010