[1][3] Joseph was a member of the United States Senate, and Margaret went to live with the couple in Washington, D.C.
She also took private lessons with Howard Helmick,[1] and received instruction from William Merritt Chase.
[4] After graduation she taught at a girls' boarding school, saving up enough money to go to Paris and spend two summers at the Académie Colarossi.
[1] She received training in the creation of full-scale portraits, but soon found that she preferred the challenge of working in miniature.
[1] She was elected president of the American Society of Miniature Painters in 1923, and was a regular fixture of its annual exhibits.