SIMPSON, Mrs. Corelli C. W., poet. born in Taunton, Mass., 20th February, 1837. She is one of a pair of twin daughters. Her father was Capt. Francis Dighton Williams. Her parents were of New England stock on both sides. Her mother was Corelli Caswell, whose father, Cyrus Caswell, a lover of music, gave to his daughter the Italian name of Corelli, from an air he was fond of playing on his violin.
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CARELLI C. W. SIMPSON.
She handed it down by giving to her twin daughters the names Corelli and Salome. So much alike were these little sisters, that they were distinguished by their pink and blue ribbons, and in nuturer life the resemblance is still remarkable. Corelli C. Williams was thoroughly educated in both public and private schools, chiefly
in the Bristol academy, the Taunton high school and the Salisbury mission school, in Worcester, Mass. She went to Bangor, Me., in March, 1863, to visit her sister, Mrs. S. C. Hatch. She opened
the first kindergarten in that city, in 1864, becoming at once very popular. Mr. A. L. Simpson, a member of the Penobscot bar, at that time a widower, who led his daughter Gertrude daily to the kindergarten teacher, perceived her rare qualities and asked her to preside over his home-garden. They were married 20th September, 1865. In December, 1888. their daughter Maude was born and in May. 1871, their son Howard Williams was born. She has written her poems mainly in moments of inspiration, and not as a serious task. Her productions have appeared in various popular periodicals and are warmly received. In 1883 a fair for the benefit of the Young Men's Christian Association was held in Bangor, and she was asked to give something saleable. The result was a "Tete-a-tete Cook Book," of which one-thousand copies were sold. She published an enlarged edition in 1891. Her home in Bangor is a center of literature and refinement. She has painted many artistic works in oil. Her mother died in March, 1889. in the seventy-fifth year of her age.