Daviess, Maria Thompson: Over Paradise Ridge. V1. 14 Dec 2010
 

MARIA THOMPSON DAVIESS, 1872-1924
Maria Thompson Daviess, artist and author, was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in 1872 to an upper-middle-class family. Before she was eight years old, her sister and her father died, and her mother moved the family to Nashville. Daviess became active in Nashville society and studied art at Peabody College. After graduation she traveled to Europe and continued her artistic endeavors, visiting museums and meeting famous people including Pope Leo XIII, Auguste Rodin, and French Empress Eugenie. Michelangelo's magnificent art so overwhelmed Daviess that she resigned herself to photography and miniatures. She excelled at both and displayed her miniatures at a Paris salon.
Tennessee Encyclopedia

Excerpt
Nobody knows what starts the sap along the twigs of a very young, tender, and green woman's nature. In my case it was Samuel Foster Crittenden, though how could he have counted on the amount of Grandmother Nelson that was planted deep in my disposition, ready to spring up and bear fruit as soon as I was brought in direct acquaintance with a seed-basket and a garden hoe? Also why should Sam's return to a primitive state have forced my ancestry up to the point of flowering on the surface? I do hope Sam will not have to suffer consequences, but I can't help it if he does. What's born in us is not our fault.