Margaret Lavens Gregg Pennington

Description

Large oval pastel on canvas portrait of Margaret Lavens Gregg Pennington (1860-1952) (Mrs. William Clapham Pennington) (later Mrs. Randolph Mordecai), by brother-in-law from her first marriage, and known Baltimore artist, Robert Goodloe Harper Pennington (1854-1920). She wears a gold dress, revealing her shoulders. Margaret was born in Baltimore in 1860. Her father John Gregg was an early director of the B&O Railroad and her mother was also named Margaret Lavens Gregg. In 1883, she married Dr. William Clapham Pennington (1858-1932) and the couple had three children: Charles Carroll Harper Pennington (1884-1945), James Andrew Gregg Pennington (1886-1968), and Margaret Mary Pennington von Luttichau (1894-1971) (Mrs. William D. Marbury after 1948). As the couple built their family, they lived abroad, splitting their time between Paris, France; Vienna, Austria; Baltimore, Maryland. Margaret and Clapham (he went by his middle name) divorced in 1903. Both ultimately remarried. He, to a Miss Olive Forsythe and she to Randolph Mordecai (1872-1949). She left Baltimore in 1903 "for health and economy," and initially lived in England. After a brief period there she moved to Paris, France in 1915, with her husband, who was General Secretary of the American Red Cross in France during World War I (WWI). In 1916, she first traveled alone to Switzerland, and her husband joined her after the war. Margaret often traveled to other European countries for vacation periods to visit with her daughter in Germany or Italy. She and her husband were married for the rest of their lives, but often went long periods living apart in separate countries and homes. Over a twenty year period, she published several books, including: "A Key to the Orient" (1897), "The Flower of Destiny: Old Days of the Serail" (1910), "Phases of Progress: A Study of the Evolution of Religion, Education and Woman" (1910), "Indian Dream Lands" (1925). These were typically novels with historic, foreign, or exotic themes. They sold well in U.S. markets and made it to best seller lists. She is buried in Lugano, Switzerland.