Miriam Leslie (née Folline; after first marriage, Peacock; after second marriage, Squier; after third marriage, Leslie; after fourth marriage, Wilde; claimed title, Baroness de Bazus; June 5, 1836 – September 18, 1914) was an American publisher and author. She was the wife of

Frank Leslie Frank Leslie (March 29, 1821 – January 10, 1880) was an English-born American engraving, engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals. Biography English origins Leslie was born on March 29, 1821, in Ipswich, England as Henry C ...

and the heir to his publishing business, which she developed into a paying concern from a state of precarious indebtedness. After her husband's death, she changed her own name to his, Frank Leslie. She made

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American 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. Catt ...

a residuary legatee of her estate, to support enfranchising women. The activist established the

Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission The Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission was an American woman's suffrage organization formed by Carrie Chapman Catt in March 1917 in New York City, based on funds willed for the purpose by publisher Miriam Leslie. The organization helped promote the ca ...

for this purpose.

Biography

Early life and marriages

Miriam Florence Folline was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, June 5, 1836. She described her own childhood as "starved and pinched" as far as "love and merriment go." Leslie claimed to be the descendant of an aristocratic French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

family, whose ancestors had immigrated to the colonies because of religious persecution. After a trip to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in 1901, Folline 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. This source gives her birthdate as c. 1836. She married four times. Her first marriage, March 25, 1854, was to David Charles Peacock. That marriage was annulled two years later. She married pioneer anthropologist and archeologist

Ephraim Squier Ephraim George Squier (June 17, 1821 – April 17, 1888), usually cited as E. G. Squier, was an American archaeologist, history writer, painter and newspaper editor. Biography Squier was born in Bethlehem, New York, the son of a minister, Joel S ...

.John H. Leinhar
No. 1799: Miriam F. Leslie
KUHF Houston When the editor of ''Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine'' had fallen ill, probably in the late 1860s, Miriam Squier volunteered to fill in while the ill editor still received the salary. The editor died, and she took on the position permanently. This source gives her birthdate as 1851. The November 18, 1871, issue of the magazine was published with the notation "conducted by Miriam F. Squier."

Marriage to Frank Leslie

Miriam divorced Ephraim Squier on May 31, 1873, to marry publisher

. During their honeymoon, the couple met Western poet and author

Joaquin Miller Cincinnatus Heine Miller (; September 8, 1837 – February 17, 1913), better known by his pen name Joaquin Miller (), was an American poet, author, and frontiersman. He is nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras" after the Sierra Nevada, about which h ...

. The new Mrs. Leslie and Miller began an affair. He later modeled the main character after her in his novel ''The One Fair Woman'' (1876).Marberry, M. M. ''Splendid Poseur: Joaquin Miller—American Poet''. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1953: 139. The Leslies' summer home was in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

, 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. Leslie wrote her account of this trip in her travel book ''California: A Pleasure Trip from Gotham to the Golden Gate'' (1877). The expense of the trip and a late 19th-century 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 by creditors. Miriam Leslie took the business in hand and put it on a paying basis. In addition, she had 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 by 200,000 in four months under her management. While abroad in 1891, Miriam Leslie married

Willie Wilde William Charles Kingsbury Wilde (26 September 1852 – 13 March 1899) was an Irish journalist and poet of the Victorian era and the older brother of Oscar Wilde. Background Willie was the oldest son born into an Anglo-Irish family, at 21 Westl ...

, the older brother of playwright

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

. Two years later, they divorced. In 1902 she sold out all her publishing interests.

Death and legacy

Leslie died on September 18, 1914. Her remains are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City. By her will, she made

residuary legatee, in the expectation that most of her fortune would be devoted to

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. Relatives contested the will, but Catt received enough money to set up the

Works

''California: A Pleasure Trip from Gotham to the Golden Gate, April, May, June, 1877''
(1877) *''Rents in Our Robes'' (1888) *''Are Men Gay Deceivers? and Other Sketches'' (1893) *''A Social Mirage'' (1899)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* The 1915 edition of this source gives 1828 as her birthdate. *

External links

* * * Allene Alder and Jennilyn Brockbank
"The Transcontinental Tourist: The Writings and Travels of Miriam F. Leslie, 1877"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Miriam 1836 births 1914 deaths 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American businesspeople American magazine publishers (people) Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Feminism and history Writers from New Orleans Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century