A painting of Hotel Superior by Margaret Conklin Burrall.

MARQUETTE — Margaret Elizabeth Conklin Burrall was an accomplished musician and artist who attended conservatories in New York City and Paris. This tempera painting done in 1927 shows the Hotel Superior, which formerly stood in south Marquette. She clearly studied art and was influenced by impressionists such as Monet. The second painting, done in oil, shows a view of Lake Superior from the top of a hill. This image echoes the style of Van Gogh.

Margaret used color and quick brush strokes, giving energy and movement to her work. This third painting, also in oil, is a very skilled painting that shows the mastery of form, with a very balanced proportionate figure. It uses a technique of creating a mood or feeling with the use of light and shadow.

There are gaps in our knowledge of Margaret’s life. She would disappear for long periods either “travelling,” or “visiting friends.” On several occasions she was hospitalized while suffering from bipolar depression. During periods of depression, she would rock, hugging herself and murmuring, “I am doomed for eternity, I am doomed for eternity.” But during her happier times, she was remembered as an animated, carefree, charming woman.

Margaret was born in Marquette on February 28, 1889, to George and Emily (Bailey) Conklin. George was a successful Marquette businessman who owned the Conklin Jewelry and Music House for 58 years (it was sold in 1929 and became Jean’s Jewelry). Emily came to Marquette in 1878, the daughter of the engineer in charge of the construction of the Stannard Rock Lighthouse. She was also a painter and taught U.S History at Marquette High School before her marriage in 1887.

According to friends, Margaret had a difficult relationship with her mother. Friends reported that Emily was a strict, formal person who required her daughter to come straight home from school each day. Despite their difficulties, Emily appears to have passed down her skill in painting to her daughter.

Margaret graduated from Marquette High School in 1906 as the class valedictorian. She also received the Peter White Proficiency medal for general class standing and highest credit marks in the high school course.

Although Margaret attended St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with her mother throughout her childhood, after high school graduation, her father insisted she become a member of his church, First Presbyterian, as a condition of his financing her higher education. Her conversion appears to have been a temporary one as she was later married and buried in the Episcopal Church.

Of her studies, little is known. One report lists that she attended college “out East,” but no records could be located. She did take a few classes at Northern State Normal School (now NMU) over several decades including Drawing III in 1907; Domestic Science in 1910 (although she withdrew from the class), Spanish in 1922 and Music in 1949. She does not appear to have graduated from Northern.

In 1911, shortly after withdrawing from the Domestic Science class, she made a grand tour of Europe. There is evidence that she studied with an American painter, Ezra Winters, while in Rome. It is also believed that she enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Art, as well as attending conservatories in New York City and Paris. These gaps in her education are probably attributable to her mental health issues.

On October 1, 1924, at the age of 35 Margaret married Frederick P. Burrall, a 52-year-old widower. Frederick was a nephew of Mary Longyear and a mining engineer with the Longyear Corporation. He came to Marquette in 1922 as an executor and trustee of John M. Longyear’s estate.

A friend recalled that in the days prior to the wedding, Margaret packed and unpacked her belongings gathered for marriage, before finally shredding them. The morning after the wedding, her new husband sent her and a companion to a mental hospital in California.

During their marriage, Margaret and Frederick spent a fair amount of time apart, Margaret in her periodic hospitalizations and Frederick travelling to Europe, Hawaii and even South America. Frederick Burrall died in February 1960 at the age of 87. Following his death, Margaret returned to Marquette from the Newberry State Hospital where she had been residing. She outlived Frederick by two years, dying on June 25, 1962, at the age of 73.