Monday, January 11, 2021

Fanny Murdaugh Downing

Rosiestep: Frank Dashmore


'''Fanny Murdaugh Downing''' ([[pen name]]s, '''Viola''' and '''Frank Dashmore'''; October 19, 1831 - May 6, 1894) was an American author and poet.<ref name="cbw.iath.virginia.edu"></ref> The following is a list of her principal publications: ''Nameless, a novel'', 1865; ''Perfect though Suffering, a Tale'', 1867 ; ''Florida, a Tale of the Land of Flowers''; ''Pluto, or he Origin of Mint Julep, a story in verse''. Most of her poems described her love and devotion for [[Confederate States Army|Confederate soldiers]]. Her best known poems were "Pluto"; "The Origin of Mint Julep"; "The Legend of Catawba"; and "Dixie".

==Biography==
Frances ("Fanny") Murdaugh was born in [[Portsmouth, Virginia]], October 19, 1831. }} She was the daughter of the Hon. John W. Murdaugh, a distinguished name in [[Virginia]].

She was married, in 1851, to [[Charles W. Downing Jr. ]], Esq., of [[Florida]], and at that time its [[Secretary of State of Florida|Secretary of State]]. They had four children. She lived for many years at [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].

Her literary life commenced in [[North Carolina]], in 1863. Her health was not robust. Many of her works are composed while too weak to leave her bed. A comedy of three acts, called ''Nobody Hurt'', was thus dashed off in ten hours. When she began to write for the public, which she did with the pen name of "Viola", she announced her intention in a letter to a friend: "I shall write first to see if I can write; then for money, and then for fame!"

Downing's first publication was a poem entitled "Folia Autumni", and its success was so great that it was rapidly followed by numerous other poetical effusions, most of which have a religious tinge, and seem subdued. They are all remarkable for musical rhythm, and an easy and graceful flow of feelings. Among the best of these are her "Egomet Ipse", a terrible heartsearcher; "Faithful unto Death", full of a wild and nameless pathos; and "Desolate", an elegiac poem.

These poems were followed by the novel, ''Nameless''. It is said to have been hastily written in ten days, as a proof whether or not she could write prose. She had already written good poetry which was appreciated and applauded, and her next venture was in prose fiction. Her writing improved, developed, and matured in her next novels, ''Perfect through Suffering'' and ''Florida''.

Then came a series of poems of a sterner sort, which were deemed by some to be rebellious. Of this style are "Confederate Gray", "Holly and Cypress", "Prometheus Vinctus", "Memorial Flowers", "Our President", "Two Years Ago", "Sic Semper Tyrannis", and "Dixie". She also wrote some love poems.


She died in Portsmouth, May 7, 1894.

==References==


===Attribution===
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===Bibliography===
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==External links==
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[[Category:1831 births]]
[[Category:1894 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:19th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century American poets]]
[[Category:People from Portsmouth, Virginia]]
[[Category:Writers from Virginia]]
[[Category:19th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous women writers]]


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