Birth: 4/2/1906, Salt Lake City, Utah [20, 20]

Marriage: 6/14/1930, Ann Arbor, Michigan [17]

Spouse: Archibald Garrard Macleod (4/10/1898-12/27/1972 )

Death: 6/4/1983, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Burial: Mountain Home Cemetery, Kalamazoo, Michigan [19]

Biography:

Childhood

Margaret was born in Salt Lake City Utah on April 2, 1906, the second child of Wesley John Davis and Maud Hess Davis [20]. Due to a misunderstanding between the delivery nurse and the doctor, Margaret’s name on the birth certificate was Mary Elizabeth Davis.  This mistake was corrected in 1932[20]. Her older brother Harold Hess Davis was also born in Salt Lake as were her younger brothers Robert Lee(?) Davis and Homer Wesley Davis. Wesley Davis was a dentist and Maud was a housewife. The family lived various places in Salt Lake until settling at 316 Douglas Avenue when Margaret was eight years old. In October of the year 1913, her brother Homer was born. He became “her” baby. Much better than playing with dolls.

Margaret Laura Davis

Margaret Laura Davis

Margaret had both Mormon and “gentile” playmates. Among the “gentile” playmates were her next door neighbor Jane Shields (Roman Catholic) and Eddie Hashimoto. The Davis family was fond of camping and fishing.

High School

Margaret and her brothers attended East High School in Salt Lake.  Margaret graduated from East High School in 1924 [22].  She was an Honor Student and very interested in music. The Davis family was musical. Wesley sang tenor and was for many years a member of the choir at the Methodist Church. His sister Elisabeth was trained as a singer. Margaret was blessed with perfect pitch.

East High School, Salt Lake City, Utah

College

After high school Margaret entered the University of Denver to study music with the idea of teaching. Her aunt Elisabeth (Wesley J. Davis sister) , a trained singer, lived in Denver with her husband Alfred Peters and their family. Margaret lived with the Peters while she attended the University for two years. After two years in Denver, Margaret moved to Ann Arbor to continue her education at the University of Michigan (where her father had received his dental degree). The University of Michigan offered a batchelor’s degree in music education which was Margaret’s goal. She lived at a boarding house run by a Mrs. Van Volkenberg(?). Mrs. Van was very popular with her boarders. Margaret met her husband to be at the boarding house because Archibald Garrard Macleod, M.D. often ate there. He had earned his M.D. degree at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and was doing a residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan. He was specializing in cardiology and doing ground-breaking research with Dr. Frank Wilson on relating the physical events of the beating heart to the recordings of electrocardiograms. Margaret and Garrard were married in the First Baptist Church in Ann Arbor on June 14, 1930. Margaret continued her voice studies and Garrard his research until Garrard accepted a position at the Heart Station of the Rockefeller Institute in New York City. They moved to New York City in either 1931 or 1932 (?).

New York City Years

Garrard’s mentor at Rockefeller was Alfred Cohn and his wife was very kind to Margaret and helpful to her in adjusting to big city life. Margaret continued to study voice. Her voice coach was ????? whose brother was a leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera. She sang professionally at several Manhattan churches and at least one synagogue. The usual path for a professional classical singer in NYC at that time was to give recitals at a number concert halls the most important of which was a Town Hall concert. At some point in her training, her coach told her that she would have to make a choice between having a musical career or raising a family. Margaret chose to have a family. Garrard Davis was born August 28, 1934, Robert Malcolm was born December 7, 1935, David Cameron was born February 26, 1937, and George Wilson was born March 21, 1938.

Stories:

Of tulips and wedding rings

Margaret bought tulips to plant around the edge of their house at their first home in Ann Arbor.  When she was all finished planting the tulips, she noticed that the middle diamond on her wedding ring was missing.  She un-planted all of the tulips until she found the diamond!  From Mary Macleod as told to Robb Macleod 2013

A. Garrard Macleod and Margaret Davis First Home – Ann Arbor, Michigan

Margaret Laura Davis Wedding Ring

 Margaret Sings Robert Burns

In June of 1955, Margaret sang twelve Robert Burns songs.  For the story of the event and to listen to the songs, please follow this link.

Margaret Macleod Sings Robert Burns, June 1955

Margaret and the Baby Carriage

One day in good weather Margaret was pushing little Homer in his baby carriage down the side walk on Douglas Avenue when she lost control of the carriage and in went rolling down a hill. Margaret frantically chased it down the hill until it came to a level spot and coasted to a stop. When she caught up she found a laughing giggling Homer delighted with his thrill ride.

Margaret’s Birthday

On one of her early birthdays, a relatively warm Spring day, Margaret was swinging on the gate to the front yard fence and singing to herself. A neighbor woman, who knew that swinging on the gate was prohibited, asked Margaret why she was so happy. Margaret replied that it was her birthday and she was happy because God had made such a pretty day for her.

Margaret’s Boyfriend

Either in High School or while at the University of Denver, Margaret had a semi-serious boy friend. The two families went on a weekend camping and fishing trip in the mountains outside Salt lake city. The Davis family was upset to see how this boy friend treated his parents with nonstop criticism and belittlement and so Margaret, sensing that as his wife she would be in for the same treatment, ended their relationship. Source: Homer W. Davis

Margaret’s Musical Training

While in Ann Arbor Margaret, as part of her musical training, had to learn to play each of the common orchestral instruments at a basic level so as to be able to instruct students in the basics. So she learned about strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments and played these in a student orchestra. One day she was playing the triangle in the percussion section and this instrument had a very small part in the piece being rehearsed. She admitted that, although she was following the score, she was also daydreaming and missed her cue to hit the triangle. The conductor, a German immigrant, stopped the rehearsal and demanded in a loud voice “vere ist dee lady mit dee trrreee-engle”. Margaret was very embarrassed.

Margaret’s Recital

Margaret’s senior vocal recitals was held in Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus. She was the first student to perform there.