Marguerite Merington

For several years, she taught in Greek and Latin at the Normal College in New York before pursuing a career as an author.

Marguerite Merington
Newspaper drawing of Merington
Born	1857 Stoke Newington, England
Died	May 20, 1951 (aged 94) New York City
Occupation	Author
Language	English

Marguerite Merington was born in Stoke Newington, England, in 1857, the daughter of Elizabeth and Richard Whiskin Crawford Merington (1827-1901), a clerk in the Bank of England. Her aunt was Martha Merington, a British politician, notable as the first woman to serve as a Poor Law Guardian.

In January 1869 she came with her parents to Buffalo, New York where she was educated at a convent. Even as a girl, she displayed dramatic talent, and often wrote and acted little parlor plays.

For several years, she was instructor in Greek and Latin in the Normal College in New York. After resigning from this position, Merington pursued the career of a dramatic author. About 1889, E. H. Sothern proposed that Merington should write him a play, the leading character of which should be a captivating Irish gentleman. With a few suggestions from him, the play, Captain Lettarblair was written. Before it was performed, Joseph Jefferson, saw the manuscript and praised it highly. The play had a trial run at an authors' matinee in New York City, and was first presented August 16, 1892, at the Lyceum Theatre. Captain Lettarblair, produced by Daniel Frohman, brought in large audiences, was financially successful, and held a place in Sothern's repertoire.

Merington wrote other dramas, including Good-Bye, A Lover's Knot, and the libretto of a comic opera, Daphne, or the Pipes of Arcadia. Set to music by Arthur Bird, of London, it gained the prize of US$500 from the New York Conservatory of Music. After having served as the private secretary of Elizabeth Bacon Custer, Merington became the editor of The Custer Story: The Life and Intimate Letters of General George A. Custer and His Wife Elizabeth.

Merington died on May 20, 1951, in her Manhattan home. Of her life she said: "There is absolutely nothing about me to be told, and that I never tell."