Miriam Leslie
Encyclopedia
Miriam Leslie was an American
publisher and author. She was the wife of Frank Leslie
and the heir to his publishing business which she developed into a paying concern from a state of precarious indebtedness.
, Louisiana
. She was the descendant of a noble Huguenot
family. After a trip to France
, in 1901, she claimed the title Baroness de Bazus. She apparently grew up in New York City, and was well educated in the French, Spanish and Italian languages. She was married four times. Her first marriage, March 25, 1854, was to David Charles Peacock. That marriage was annulled two years later, and she married her second husband, the anthropologist Ephraim Squier. When the editor of Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine had fallen ill, probably in the late 1860s, she volunteered to fill in while the ill editor still received the salary. The editor died, and she took on the position permanently, the November 18, 1871, issue of the magazine appearing with the notation “conducted by Miriam F. Squier.”
. During their honeymoon, the couple met Western poet and author Joaquin Miller
. The new Mrs. Leslie and Miller began an affair and the main character in his book The One Fair Woman was modeled after her. The Leslies' summer home was in Saratoga Springs, New York
, where they entertained many notables, and she was a leader in society. In 1877, they took a lavish train trip with a numerous retinue from New York City to San Francisco. She wrote her recollections of this trip in her book From Gotham to the Golden Gate. The expense of the trip, and a business depression left Leslie's business badly in debt.
When Frank Leslie died in 1880, the debts amounted to $300,000, and his will was contested. Miriam Leslie took the business in hand and put it on a paying basis, even going so far as to having her name legally changed to Frank Leslie in June 1881. She later effected a reorganization of the business, and became its president. The circulation of the Popular Monthly increased 200,000 in four months under her management.
While abroad in 1891, Miriam Leslie married Willie Wilde
, a brother of Oscar Wilde
, but two years later was divorced from him. In 1902 she sold out all her publishing interests.
By her will she made Carrie Chapman Catt
residuary legatee, in the expectation that most of her fortune would be devoted to women's suffrage
. Relatives contested the will. Her remains are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publisher and author. She was the wife of Frank Leslie
Frank Leslie
Frank Leslie was an English-born American engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals.-English origins:...
and the heir to his publishing business which she developed into a paying concern from a state of precarious indebtedness.
Early years and marriages
She was born Miriam Florence Folline in New OrleansNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. She was the descendant of a noble Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
family. After a trip to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in 1901, she claimed the title Baroness de Bazus. She apparently grew up in New York City, and was well educated in the French, Spanish and Italian languages. She was married four times. Her first marriage, March 25, 1854, was to David Charles Peacock. That marriage was annulled two years later, and she married her second husband, the anthropologist Ephraim Squier. When the editor of Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine had fallen ill, probably in the late 1860s, she volunteered to fill in while the ill editor still received the salary. The editor died, and she took on the position permanently, the November 18, 1871, issue of the magazine appearing with the notation “conducted by Miriam F. Squier.”
Marriage to Frank Leslie
She divorced Ephraim Squier on May 31, 1873, to marry publisher Frank LeslieFrank Leslie
Frank Leslie was an English-born American engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals.-English origins:...
. During their honeymoon, the couple met Western poet and author Joaquin Miller
Joaquin Miller
Joaquin Miller was the pen name of the colorful American poet Cincinnatus Heine Miller , nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras".-Early years and family:...
. The new Mrs. Leslie and Miller began an affair and the main character in his book The One Fair Woman was modeled after her. The Leslies' summer home was in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
, where they entertained many notables, and she was a leader in society. In 1877, they took a lavish train trip with a numerous retinue from New York City to San Francisco. She wrote her recollections of this trip in her book From Gotham to the Golden Gate. The expense of the trip, and a business depression left Leslie's business badly in debt.
When Frank Leslie died in 1880, the debts amounted to $300,000, and his will was contested. Miriam Leslie took the business in hand and put it on a paying basis, even going so far as to having her name legally changed to Frank Leslie in June 1881. She later effected a reorganization of the business, and became its president. The circulation of the Popular Monthly increased 200,000 in four months under her management.
While abroad in 1891, Miriam Leslie married Willie Wilde
Willie Wilde
William 'Willie' Charles Kingsbury Wilde was an Irish journalist and poet of the Victorian era and the older brother of Oscar Wilde.-Background:...
, a brother of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, but two years later was divorced from him. In 1902 she sold out all her publishing interests.
By her will she made Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt was a women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920...
residuary legatee, in the expectation that most of her fortune would be devoted to women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. Relatives contested the will. Her remains are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
Works
She was the author of:- California: a pleasure trip from Gotham to the Golden Gate (1877)
- Rents in our Robes (1888)
- Are Men Gay Deceivers? and Other Sketches (1893)
- A Social MirageMirageA mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French mirage, from the Latin mirare, meaning "to look at, to wonder at"...
(1899)
Further reading
- Richard Reinhardt, 1967, Out West on the Overland, The Frank Leslie Party, 1877, The American West Publishing Company, Palo Alto CA
- Smithsonian Magazine, November 1997. Full text facsimile from American Memory with a biographical introduction by Madeleine B. SternMadeleine B. SternMadeleine Bettina Stern , born in New York, New York, was an American historian and rare books dealer and noted Louisa May Alcott scholar....
. Facsimile of the original 1877 publication at archive.org.
External links
- Allene Alder and Jennilyn Brockbank, "The Transcontinental Tourist: The Writings and Travels of Miriam F. Leslie, 1877"