Lyman Frank Baum (1856 - 1919)

"I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp ... but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward." -- L Frank Baum.^[1]

Lyman Frank Baum was born May 15, 1856 in Chittenango, Madison, New York, United States.^[2] He was the son of Benjamin Ward Baum and Cynthia Ann Stanton.^[3][4][5][6] He was named for his uncle, Lyman Spaulding Baum, but did not like the name Lyman and preferred to use his middle name. Baum was born into a devout Methodist family of German (paternal line) and Scots-Irish (maternal line) origin, the seventh of nine children born to Cynthia Stanton and Benjamin Ward Baum, only five of whom survived into adulthood.^[7]

He married Maud Gage on November 9, 1882 in Fayetteville, New York, United States.^[2] Maud was the daughter of national suffãrage activist Matilda Joslyn Gage.^[8]

Marriage Announcement, which appeared in the Lawrence Daily Journal 22 Nov 1882:^[9]

Frank L. Baum, who is starring in the Maid of Arran company, married Miss Maud Gage on Thursday last.

Frank and Maud were the parents of four sons, Frank Joslyn, Robert Stanton, Harry Neal and Kenneth Gage.^[10][11]

In the invitation for their 25th anniversary, Frank wrote:

“Quarrels: just a few. Wife in tears: three times (cat died; bonnet spoiled; sore toe). Husband swore: one thousand one hundred and eighty-seven times; at wife, 0. Broke, occasionally; bent, often.”

They were married for 37 years, until Frank passed away in 1919.

Frank's work required quite a bit of travel around the country. After work in the theater, including producing plays at a theater his father built for him in Richburg, New York, Frank and his wife settled in Aberdeen in The Dakota Territory, where he opened a store called "Baum's Bazaar," which went bankrupt. After that, he was a writer and editor for the local newspaper, The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. After this newspaper failed in 1891, Frank moved his family to Chicago, where he worked as a reporter for the Evening Post. He also founded a magazine called "The Show Window." ^[12]

His first children's book, "Mother Goose in Prose" was published in 1897 and was modestly successful. His next book, "Father Goose: His Book," was the best seller of the year in children's books for 1899. His writing career really took off after he published, in 1900, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." And the rest, as they say, is history. He went on to publish dozens of successful children's books, in addition to producing many stage plays based on his fiction.^[13]

For a more comprehensive biography, please visit Frank's Wikipedia article, which can be read here.^[14] The Smithsonian Magazine also published an interesting biography, "Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain, The author of The Wizard of Oz, traveled many paths before he found his Yellow Brick Road," which can be read online here.^[15]

Baum died May 5, 1919 in Ozcot, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States from a stroke.^[16][17] His remains were buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, United States.^[18]

Los Angeles Times Obituary 7 May 1919:^[19]

Wizard of Oz" Author Taken

L Frank Baum Dies at His Home in Hollywood

Famous Writer Passes After Months of Sickness

Wrote Scores of Books Dear to World's Children

Bringing a message of sorrow to child hearts everywhere, comes word of the death at 7 o'clock last evening of L. Frank Baum, beloved "Wizard of Oz" man, at his home, 1749 Cherokee avenue, Hollywood. Mr. Baum had been practically bedridden for fifteen months, with a serious affection of the heart.

The famous writer migrated to the West with his wife and four sons about ten years ago, fell in love with Southern California, and built a residence in Hollywood, where he has resided for the past eight years.

He leaves four sons, two of whom served in the United States Army during the war. Kenneth, the youngest of the two, having received his discharge, was at this father's death bed, as was Robert, but Capt. Frank J. Baum of the Coast Artillery is still in France. The remaining son, Harry, is a resident of Chicago.

Mr. Baum leaves a book dedicated to every one of his children and grandchildren. The "Wizard of Oz," perhaps the most liked of all his juvenile stories, was dedicated to his wife.

Wrote for Children

Possessor of a rare whimsical style that was of preeminent appeal to children, Mr. Baum, in his life, took his place in the front ranks of writer of juvenile fiction.

For more than twenty years he had written children's and other stories for various magazines, including Harper's, Youth's Companion and others, as well as plays.

He was born in Chittenango, N.Y., on May 15, 1856, and received an academic education at Syracuse. In 1882, he married Miss Maud Gage of Fayetteville, N. Y., at which time he had been engaged for two years in newspaper work. He edited the Dakota Pioneer, of Aberdeen, S.D., from 1888 to 1890 and the Show Window, Chicago, from 1897 to 1902.

His Works

His first work published between book covers was "Mother Goose in Prose," which appeared in 1897. His other books, in chronological order, were "By the Candelabra's Glare" (poems), "Father Goose--His book," "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," "A New Wonderland," "The Songs of Father Goose," "The Army Alphabet," "American Fairly Tales," "Dot and Tot of Merryland," "The Art of Decorating," "The Mater Key," "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus," "Enchanted Isle of Yew," "The Magical Monarch of Mo," "The Marvelous Land of Oz," "The Woggle-Bug Book," "Queen Zixi of Ix," "Animal Fairy Tales," John Dough and the Cherub," "Ozma of Oz," "Dorothy and the Wizard," "Baum's Fairy Tales," ""The Road to Oz," The Emerald City of Oz," "Baum's Juvenile Speaker," "The Sea Fairies," "The Darling Twins," "Phoebe Daring," "Conspirator," "Sky Island," "Little Wizard Series," "Patchwork Girl of Oz," "Tik-Tok Man of Oz," "Scarecrow of Oz," "Rinkitink in Oz," "Babes in Birdland," "The Lost Princess of Oz," and "The Tin Woodman of Oz."

His plays included "The Maid of Arran,"proudced in New York in 1881; "Matches," produced in New York in 1882: "Kilmore," produced in Syracuse in 1884: "The Queen of Killarney," produced in Rochester in 1885; "The Wizard of Oz," a musical extravaganza, produced in Chicago in 1902; "The Woggle-Bug," produced in Chicago in 1905; "The Radio-Play" (motion pictures of "Baum's Fairy Tales,") produced in Chicago and New York in 1908 and 1909: "TikTok Man of Oz," produced in Los Angeles in 1913.

Sources

1. ↑ L. Frank Baum on Biography.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Lyman Frank Baum, 1906; citing Passport Application, Illinois, United States, source certificate #5477, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 1
3. ↑ United States Census, 1860 Frankie Baum in entry for Benjamin Baum, 1860; The Town Of Sullivan, Madison, New York, United States.
4. ↑ New York State Census, 1865, Frank L Baum in household of Benjamin W Baum, Ward 05, Syracuse, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing Census, p. 98, citing multiple county Clerks; Warren and Lewis County Board of Supervisors; multiple counties in New York; Utica and East Hampton Public Libraries, New York.
5. ↑ United States Census, 1870, L Frank Baum in entry for Benj W Baum, 1870; Salina, Onondaga, New York, United States.
6. ↑ United States Census, 1880, Frank Baum in household of Benjamin W Baum, Salina, Onondaga, New York, United States; citing enumeration district ED 194, sheet 246C.
7. ↑ Frank Baum Biography on Wikipedia.
8. ↑ BAUM, L. FRANK (1856-1919). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.
9. ↑ Lawrence Daily Journal 22 Nov 1882, Wed · Page 5.
10. ↑ United States Census, 1900, L Frank Baum, Precinct 13 Chicago city Ward 15, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 471, sheet 13A, family 275
11. ↑ United States Census, 1910, L Frank Baum, Los Angeles Assembly District 71, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 200, sheet 6A, family 13
12. ↑ Frank Baum Biography on Wikipedia.
13. ↑ Today in History: L. Frank Baum Library of Congress. May 15.
14. ↑ Frank Baum Biography on Wikipedia.
15. ↑ Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain The author of The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, traveled many paths before he found his Yellow Brick Road, by Chloe Schama, 25 June 2009.
16. ↑ California Death Index, 1905-1939 L F Baum, 1919; citing 21002, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento
17. ↑ California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994, L Frank Baum, 6 May 1919; Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States .
18. ↑ Find A Grave, memorial page for L. Frank Baum (15 May 1856–6 May 1919), Find a Grave Memorial no. 2024, citing Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA.
19. ↑ The Los Angeles Times 07 May 1919, Wed · Page 15.

See also:

• http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/author01.htm
• Works of L Frank Baum
• Wikipedia: L. Frank Baum
• Wikidata: Item Q207544, en:Wikipedia
• Find A Grave: Memorial #2024 Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA