“My father is a Congregational minister, and at the time of my birth was settled in the beautiful town of Claremont, N.H.... My mother was descended from the Moodys, somewhat famous in New England history. One of them was the eccentric Father Moody. Another [his son] was Handkerchief Moody, who wore so many years ‘the Minister’s Veil.’... My father was of the genuine New Hampshire stock, from a pious, industrious, agricultural people; his brothers being deacons, and some of his sisters married to deacons.... His grandmother was eminent for her medical knowledge and skill, and had as much practice as is usually given to a country doctor. His mother was a woman of fine character, who exerted herself and sacrificed much to secure his liberal education.... I was the sixth of ten children, and until fourteen had not that health which promises continued life.... At fourteen years of age I commenced exertions to assist in my own maintenance, and have at times followed the various avocations of New England girls. I have plaited palm-leaf straw, bound shoes, taught school, and worked at tailoring, besides my labors as a weaver in the factory, which suited me better than any other. After my father’s removal to the little town of Atkinson, N.H., he combined the labors of preceptor of one of the two oldest academies of the State with his parochial duties; and here, among a simple but intelligent people, I spent those years which give tone to the female character.... I learned something of French, drawing, ornamental needlework, and the usual accomplishments; for it was the design of my friends to make me a teacher,—a profession for which I had an instinctive dislike. But my own feelings were not consulted.... This was undoubtedly wholesome discipline; but it was carried to a degree that was painful, and drove me from my home. I came to Lowell, determined that, if I had my own living to obtain, I would get it in my own way; that I would read, think, and write when I could, without restraint; that if I did well I would have the credit of it, if ill, my friends should be relieved from the stigma. I endeavored to reconcile them to my lot by a devotion of all my spare earnings to them and their interests. I made good wages; I dressed economically; I assisted in the liberal education of one brother, and endeavored to be the guardian angel to a lovely sister.... It was something so new to me to be praised and encouraged to write that I was at first overwhelmed by it, ... and it was with great reluctance that I consented to edit [The Lowell Offering], and was quite as unwilling at first to assist in publishing. But circumstances seem to have compelled me forward as a business woman, and I have endeavored to do my duty. I am now the proprietor of The New England Offering. I do all the publishing, editing, canvassing; and as it is bound at my office, I can, in a hurry, help fold, cut covers, stitch, etc. I have a little girl to assist me in the folding, stitching, etc.; the rest, after it comes from the printer’s hand, is all my own work. I employ no agents, and depend upon no one for assistance. My edition is four thousand. These details, I trust, are not tedious. I have given them because I thought there was nothing remarkable about The Offering but its source and the mode in which it was conducted.”
Of her connection with Mr. Thomas’s Improvement Circle and The Lowell Offering, Miss Farley has said to a friend: “The Circle met in the Sunday-school rooms, and they were not only filled, but crowded. There was a box placed at the entrance, so that, if preferred, the writers could be anonymous; and sometimes topics were suggested. It seemed almost like an insult when Mr. Thomas first offered payment for these little mental efforts of our leisure hours.
‘I can understand this feeling,’ he said. ‘I was brought up a Quaker, and my grandfather never took pay for preaching. The first money that was ever placed in my hands for this service seemed to burn into my palms.’ There was a little pile, all in gold, left for our share of the profits of the first series.
“When I first took the editorial position, I left my regular place to be what is called a ‘spare hand.’ This gave leisure for what I had to do, and there never was any difficulty about contributions. A large bundle of manuscripts left by Mr. Thomas was never resorted to but when some short paper was wanted to fill out a vacant space.
“In the printing-office were Messrs. Hale, Stearns, Taylor, Brown, and others, always respectful, kind, and obliging. In the outer office was Mr. W. S. Robinson, afterwards known as ‘Warrington.’ These men would soon have discovered if there had been false pretences about the writers for the magazine.”
In 1847 Miss Farley published a selection from her writings in The Offering, with other material, entitled “Shells from the Strand of the Sea of Genius;” she is most fully represented in “Mind Among the Spindles.” In 1880 she published a volume of Christmas stories.
Miss Farley married Mr. Dunlevy, an inventor, and they had one child, Inez, who married Mr. George Kyle, a humorous writer and comedian, and died in 1890. Mrs. Dunlevy was living in New York in 1898.
MARGARET F. FOLEY.
That broad-browed delicate girl will carve at Rome
Faces in marble, classic as her own.