In addition to his weakening health, Baum had to deal with complications with the theatre company’s finances. In Syracuse, Baum worked in sales as Maud took over running the house and their personal finances. With the arrival of their first child, Baum found a replacement manager and new leading man and settled with his family in Syracuse, NY. Despite the opposition of her family, the couple married in 1882. It was during this tour he met Maud Gage, the youngest daughter of women’s right activist Matilda Josilyn Gage (who co-wrote History of Woman Suffrage with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. While touring The Maid of Arran, one of the family’s theatres caught fire, destroying costumes, props and the sole copies of many scripts. He also began writing plays, the most successful being a melodrama The Maid of Arran, which he wrote in 1881,based on the novel A Princess of Thule by William Black. Baum developed a Shakespearian acting troupe which he performed with. Baum’s father owned several opera houses and theatres throughout New York and Pennsylvania which Baum helped manage in 1880. He later established a trade journal, The Poultry Record, and at the age of 30 had his first book published about the breed of chicken he had been breeding, The Book of the Hamburgs: A Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing, and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs. He continued to write and established a second amateur journal, The Empire, by the age of 17. After receiving a printing press from his father, Baum began producing his own publication, The Rose Lawn Home Journal, at the age of 15 for their neighbours. An avid day dreamer and unable to participate in most childhood activities, he spent a lot of time reading fairy tales, making up stories and using his imagination to explore the world. Due to his condition, Baum was tutored at their home, Rose Lawn Estates, until the age of 12. Despite having a heart condition that caused his parents to be over-protective, he survived into adulthood along with only four of his siblings.

Parents Cynthia and Benjamin Ward Baum (a barrel maker who made a fortune in oil), had nine children Frank was the seventh. Lyman (Frank) Baum was born in Chittenango, New York to a Methodist family of German and Scottish descent. London, ON N6A 3E4 Box Office: 51 Online: Grand Theatre Study Guide 2009H10 Season

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