Margaret Cockburn Conkling, wife of Albert Steele, was the author of Memoirs of the Mother and Wife of Washington, published at Auburn by Derby, Miller and Company in 1850. That volume was dedicated to Frances Miller Seward, wife of William H. Seward. (The author's dedicatory poem, dated at Melrose, the family's home near Auburn, is presented below.) She was also the author of The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion.
Mrs. Steele born in 1814, the daughter of Judge Alfred Conkling and Eliza Cockburn. She was the sister of Auburn mayor Aurelian Conkling, Congressman Frederick Augustus Conkling and United States Senator Roscoe Conkling. Mrs. Steele died in 1890.
To Mrs. William H. Seward, a slight tribute to her many virtues
Thanks for the picture of thy daily life--Thy bright example, Daughter, Mother, Wife!
Thy watchful care that cheers thy sire's decline,
As a lone shaft's long shielded by a vine,
A gentle, holy lesson, graven deep,
Thy daughter, cherished in her heart will keep;
Thy couch of suffering she'll bend above,
And soothe thee, ever, with devoted love.
Constant to thee, thy sons will crown thy days
With reverence, heart-felt blessings, fondest praise;
And he, still proving the truest of friends,
The homage of whose faith on thee attends,
Wherever tossed 'mid life's tumuluous jar
E'er turn to thee, his fixed, his guiding star,
And in thy smile benign, confiding seek
The peace, the happiness, thy prayers bespeak!--
When thou in Heaven dost fold thy spirit-wing,
Around thy name will sweetest memories cling,
Soft as the balmy breath of fragrance cast
On earthly bowers, where Peri's wing has pass'd,
Or radiance ling'ring round the glowing West,
When day serene has gently sunk to rest!
Long may Columbia's Daughters thus portray
The lofty virtue of her earlier day!--
And may the blessings of thy heart and hearth
Change but for those of bright, empyreal birth!
M.C.G.
Melrose, January 1st, 1850
