She was born in
Plattsburgh, New York, on September 27, 1808. Her father, Oliver Davidson, was a physician, and her mother,
Margaret Miller, was an author. She was sent at the age of four to
Plattsburgh Academy, where she learned to read, and wrote
Roman letters in the sand. Soon afterward her mother observed that her writing paper was disappearing strangely, and finally discovered a pile of little blank books, containing artfully sketched pictures, with descriptions in poetry, all printed in Roman letters, turned and twisted in a curious fashion. The child was so mortified at the discovery of what she had been doing that she burned all her work. Lucretia learned to write in her seventh year and developed a great fondness for reading. Before she was twelve she had read much history, and the dramatic works of
William Shakespeare,
Oliver Goldsmith and
August von Kotzebue, with many popular novels and romances. Davidson was an extremely precocious child, and she wrote the earliest remaining specimen of her verse, "Epitaph on a Robin", at the age of nine. She wrote poetry rapidly, when in the mood, but preferred to be alone while composing, often burning an unfinished piece that had been seen by others. She was fond of childish sports, but would often stop in the midst of them to write when struck with an idea for a poem. Davidson wrote prolifically in her short life, and her surviving poems, of various lengths, number 278, among these being five pieces of several cantos each. Davidson was praised, with varying levels of enthusiasm, by such notable figures as
Edgar Allan Poe,
Robert Southey,
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore and
Catharine Sedgwick. Sedgwick wrote a biographical sketch which was included with Davidson's
Poetical Remains, and Desbordes-Valmore wrote an ode to her. Southey's influential, romanticizing 1829 study of her, which compared Davidson to
Thomas Chatterton and
Henry Kirke White, greatly enhanced her reputation. Southey also remarked upon her personal beauty: "In person she was exceedingly beautiful. Her forehead was high, open, and fair as infancy; her eyes large, dark, and of that soft beaming expression which shews the soul in the glance." Poe was critical of Southey's role in the creation of the romantic "myth" of Davidson, noting the distinction in quality between her "poetic soul" and the actual quality of her output. ==Family==