GARLAND, Hamlin 1860-1940

GARLAND

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 2/22/2011 at 13:08:58

Hamlin Garland Dies at 79

Noted Author
Studied in
Osage School

HOLLYWOOD— Hamlin Garland, whose stories told the world of life on the midwestern prairies, died at his home Monday night of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 70.

He was finishing the last chapter of another book when he was stricken Friday. Until then he had followed a rigorous routine of arising daily at 5 a.m. and writing until 10 a.m. He spent the afternoons working in the garden at his Hollywood Hills home.

His wife was the former Zulime Taft, sister of Sculptor Lorado Taft. They had two daughters, Mrs. Constance Harper and Mrs. Mindret Lord. They were at his bedside when death came.

He studied literature at Cedar Valley seminary, Osage, Iowa, from which he was graduated in
1881. Between school and college terms he worked on a farm and later taught school in Illinois.

Although Hamlin Garland was not a native Iowan, he spent 12 of the most formative years of his life there, from the age of 9 to 20, and has often said that his life on Wisconsin and Iowa farms furnished the inspiration for his four "middle border" books. Eventually he became the chief voice of revolt against the frontier.

He was born at West Salem Wisconsin, September 14, 1860. His parents moved to Winneshiek county in 1869, then to Mitchell county, in September, 1870. He left Iowa in 1881 and never came back there to live.

Garland lived in Hollywood, California, since 1930, in a spacious home with large grounds, across the street from Cecil B. DeMille, film producer. Since coming to California, he published "Companions on the Trail." "My Friendly Contemporaries," "Forty Years of Psychic Research" and "Afternoon Neighbors."

He was preparing a book to be called "Fortunate Exile," dealing with the background, personalities, nature and types in southern California. He worked very leisurely during his last years, declaring in an interview in 1937, "when a man gets to be 77, the old engine begins to wear out a little."

* * *

Early in his literary career, Garland became interested in psychic research and in his book on the subject writes not as a convert but as an advocate of suspended judgment.

He was not active in psychic research in his latter years, but did hold numerous sittings with Pat Marquis, a 13-year-old Hollywood boy, whose psychic feats have won considerable mention. Garland said the youth's abilities were "amazing."

[Mason City Globe Gazette, Tuesday, March 5, 1940]
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NOTES:

His burial was in the Neshonoc Cemetery,
West Salem, La Crosse County, Wisconsin.

See his memorial page on findagreve.com.

See biographical stories about Hamlin on:
http://iagenweb.org/mitchell/mitbiogr.htm

A News Story about Garland
 

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