Julia A. Moore
- Original name in full:
- Julia Ann Davis
- Byname:
- Sweet Singer of Michigan
- Born:
- December 1, 1847, Plainfield Township, Michigan, U.S.
- Died:
- June 5, 1920, Manton?, Michigan
Julia A. Moore (born December 1, 1847, Plainfield Township, Michigan, U.S.—died June 5, 1920, Manton?, Michigan) was a Midwestern versifier whose maudlin, often unintentionally hilarious poetry was parodied by many.
Moore was born into poverty in rural Michigan. She attended school through the third grade, when her mother’s illness forced her to assume many adult responsibilities. She began writing in her teens, taking as her subjects the events and people in her environs. She specialized in sentimental verse and especially in poetry about dead children. Her first book of poetry, The Sentimental Song Book, was published in 1876 and later reissued as The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public. She also performed (1877, 1878) in Grand Rapids, both declaiming and singing, with orchestra.
Mark Twain drew upon the aesthetic of Moore for the character Emmeline Grangerford in Huckleberry Finn. Her unpoetic verse continues to be mocked and groaned over by new generations. A comprehensive and authoritative volume of her collected works, Mortal Refrains: The Complete Collected Poetry, Prose, and Songs of Julia A. Moore, The Sweet Singer of Michigan, edited and with an introduction by Thomas J. Riedlinger, was published in 1998.
