Rosa Peckham Danielson (1842-1922) was born in Killingly, Connecticut October 28, 1842. She made her mark in Providence as an artist, specializing in landscapes and portraits. She was an original founder of the Providence Art Club, as well as the first female board member. In 1881, she married the editor of The Providence Journal, George Whitman Danielson. Her reputation as a fierce and successful female figure in Providence leaves us without wonder why she befriended the fierce, female Providence resident, Sarah Helen Whitman. The two ladies made a mutual friend in the early Poe biographer from England, John Henry Ingram.

Ingram made Whitman’s acquaintance through letter correspondence in late 1873 after he appealed for her aid in his writing the first, definitive biography of Edgar Allan Poe. Ingram never met Whitman in person; however, he did meet Danielson during her visit to Europe to study art in 1874. Ingram wrote to Whitman on September 13, 1874: “Miss P[eckham] is very nice. I never met a girl I liked better & am grateful for your introduction—her opinion of me you will doubtless receive earlier than this.” Danielson sketched a portrait of Whitman from memory for Ingram.

Danielson wrote to Ingram with “neither time nor heart” on July 3, 1878, to inform him “of the death of our dear friend, Mrs. Whitman.”

Danielson requested that all her artwork be burned after her death, and when she passed away on August 22, 1922, many of her paintings were destroyed. Only a few examples of her work exist today. She is buried in Swan Point Cemetery with her husband and two children.

Grave of Rosa Peckham Danielson and her family at Swan Point Cemetery. Photos by Levi L. Leland.