This is a transcription of the Morgana (Porter) Wilson of Laconia, NH biography from New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 103.
Morgia (Porter) Wilson
PROMINENT among the song birds of the Granite state, is Morgia Porter Wilson of Laconia. Her voice was noted in childhood for remarkable beauty of tone and timbre. Before she was sixteen she sang leading roles in operettas, and soon began a remunerative career as a choir singer in Concord, Manchester, and Lawrence, which continued until her marriage. At twenty-two she accompanied John W. Hutchinson, of the famous Hutchinson family, an uncle by marriage, on a concert tour, at which time her voice attracted the attention of the late John B. Gough, who manifested a strong interest in her. Through his assistance she began study in Boston under Mrs. J. H. Long. She made rapid progress in her art, and at the expiration of a year engaged for a season with Father Kemp’s Old Folks’ Company. Subsequently she resumed her studies with Mrs. Long, continuing for three years, and, later on, taking the Rudersdoff method of other teachers, and establishing a high reputation as a concert soloist in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She had studied with profit. Carl Zerrahn said of her that she was one of the most promising singers in New England, there being no perceptible change of quality in the whole compass of her voice, which comprised two and a half octaves. Morgia Porter is a native of Manchester, the daughter of Charles C. P. Porter and Caroline (Patch) Porter. She married, in 1873, Mr. Julius E. Wilson, now the successful manager of the Wardwell Needle Co., in Laconia, where they have resided for the past nine years. Mrs. Wilson is heard occasionally in concert, though most of her time is devoted to vocal teaching. Her annual recital, in which she participates vocally, is a musical event in the community, anticipated with interest. Her work, the value of which is attested by the proficiency of her pupils, has been heartily commended by the New England Conservatory of Music. Mrs. Wilson blends a cultured and intellectual mind with a most gracious and charming personality.