Maria T. Daviess (, Thompson; also known as, Mrs. Maria Thompson Daviess; misspelled, Daveiss; pen names, unspecified; October 31, 1814 – December 19, 1896) was a 19th-century American author of Kentucky. Among her publications were Roger Sherman, a Tale of '76; Woman's Love; a volume of Poems; and History of Mercer and Boyle Counties. Early life and education Maria (sometimes "Marie") Thompson was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, October 31, 1814. Her parents were John B. Thompson, Sr., Harrodsburg, and Nancy (or Anne) Porter Robards (1790-1870); they married in 1807. Her brothers were John Burton Thompson (1810-1874); Henry Thompson (1812-1900); Charles Thompson (1818-1872); Philip B. Thompson (born 1820), who had twin sons Philip B. Thompson Jr. and John B. Thompson (who married Martha "Mattie" Anderson, a sister of the Harrodsburg-born writer Zoe Anderson Norris). Her sisters were Elizabeth Thompson (1822-1883); Ann Thompson (1826-1889); Susan Burton (Thompson) Massie (b. 1828); and Katherine (Thompson) Dun (1831-1894). Daviess' two grandfathers, Capt. George Robards and Col. John Thompson, fought in the American Revolutionary War, married women of The Old Dominion, of which all four were natives, and soon after removed to Kentucky, settling on adjoining plantations. Drawn together by the common memories of their service in the field, their acquaintance ripened into friendship, which had the result of an alliance by marriage between the two families. In 1807, Nancy Robards and John B. Thompson married, and, after a short residence on their farm, removed to Harrodsburg, where they resided thereafter, Mr. Thompson practicing his profession, the law, and occasionally serving in the Legislature of his State. He was a member of the State Senate when the cholera epidemic occurred in 1833, which claimed his life. The death of the father, Mr. Thompson seriously affected his family’s future. But the mother assured that her four sons received liberal educations, and her daughters had such educational opportunities as the village school in Harrodsburg afforded, which was then among the best in the West. Daviess had every opportunity to acquire social distinction. Residing in Harrodsburg, which every summer for many years was a resort of fashion and culture, she was brought in constant contact with the élite of Southern and Western society that for six months of the year thronged this town. Career Daviess’s writings, especially poetry, were not the result of her training in belles-lettres, but rather the overflow of feeling and fancy that would not be