Kirsten Anderson - What Is the Story of the Wizard of Oz?

Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York. His parents were Benjamin and Cynthia Baum, and he had two sisters and two brothers. Frankie, as he was known, was lucky to survive. He was born in the middle of a diphtheria epidemic. Two of his cousins and his three-year-old brother had died from the disease (which is a very serious infection) right around the time Frankie was born. The Baums had another son, Henry, known as Harry, in 1859.

The Baums did not have much money when Frankie was very young. But then Benjamin started working in the oil business and became wealthy. In 1861, the family bought a mansion in the city of Syracuse. And five years later, the Baums moved to a grand estate called Rose Lawn, just outside of town.

In the fall of 1868, twelve-year-old Frankie was sent away to military school. He hated the rules and strict teachers. In 1870, he became sick at school and collapsed. His family took him home for good, which was fine with Frankie. He much preferred life at Rose Lawn, where he could read the fairy tales he loved, and daydream as much as he wanted.

Not all of his dreams were good, though. For a while, Frankie kept having the same nightmare. A scarecrow was chasing him through the fields around Rose Lawn. Just as it was about to catch him, it would collapse into a pile of straw and clothes. He never forgot that dream.

When Frankie was fourteen, his father bought him a small printing press. He and his brother Harry began to print the Rose Lawn Home Journal, a newspaper for the family. They wrote stories, news, and puzzles for it. Frankie also wrote poems and stories for himself, and even started a novel.

In 1873, a financial crisis struck the United States. All over the country, people lost money, businesses, and their homes. Benjamin Baum was deeply in debt and out of money. Seventeen-year-old Frankie had to drop out of school and go to work in a store owned by his older sister and her husband.

Frank did not like working in the store. He had always loved the theater, and in 1878, he decided to go to New York to become an actor. He got a few parts in plays, but wasnt earning enough to make a living. He left New York for Bradford, Pennsylvania, where he worked on a weekly journal.

Eventually, his father let him manage a group of theaters he still owned from his wealthier days, and Frank started his own theater company. In 1882, Frank wrote a play called The Maid of Arran. He also played the lead role. The play was popular, and was performed around the East Coast and the Midwest.