As a child she was passionately fond of fairy stories, dolls and flowers. Up to her eleventh year the book that influenced her most was “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Mrs. Madison’s father had a large library filled with general literature, and she read whatever she thought interesting. In this way she became acquainted with the poets, ancient history and the novelists, Dickens and Scott. It was not until she was twelve that she came in contact with Miss Alcott’s works, but after that Joe, Meg, Amy and Beth were her constant companions. At this time she was also devoted to “Scottish Chiefs,” “Thaddeus of Warsaw” and “Ivanhoe,” and always poetry.
She doesn’t remember a time when she did not write. From her earliest childhood she made up little stories. In school she wrote poems, stories and essays. When she became a teacher she wrote her own stories and entertainments for the children’s work.
Mrs. Madison’s stories for girls are:
Peggy Owen
Peggy Owen, Patriot
Peggy Owen at Yorktown
Peggy Owen and Liberty
A Colonial Maid of Old Virginia
A Daughter of the Union
In Doublet and Hose
A Maid of King Alfred’s Court
A Maid of the First Century