1. Eugene Field's father died when Eugene turned 19, and he subsequently dropped out of Williams after eight months.
19 Facts About Eugene Field
1. 2.
Eugene Field then went to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, but dropped out after a year, followed by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, where his brother Roswell was attending.
3.
Eugene Field was not a serious student and spent much of his time at school playing practical jokes.
4.
Eugene Field led raids on the president's wine cellar, painted the president's house school colors, and fired the school's landmark cannons at midnight.
5.
Eugene Field tried acting, studied law with little success, and wrote for the student newspaper.
6.
Eugene Field then set off for a trip through Europe but returned to the United States six months later, penniless.
7.
Eugene Field then set to work as a journalist for the St Joseph Gazette in Saint Joseph, Missouri, in 1875.
8.
Eugene Field became known for his light, humorous articles written in a gossipy style, some of which were reprinted by other newspapers around the country.
9.
From 1876 through 1880, Eugene Field lived in St Louis, first as an editorial writer for the Morning Journal and subsequently for the Times-Journal.
10.
In 1883, Eugene Field moved to Chicago where he wrote a humorous newspaper column called Sharps and Flats for the Chicago Daily News.
11.
Eugene Field didn't seem to want to talk about anything but literature.
12.
Eugene Field first started publishing poetry in 1879, when his poem "Christmas Treasures" appeared in A Little Book of Western Verse.
13.
Eugene Field died in Chicago of a heart attack at the age of 45.
14.
Eugene Field is buried at the Church of the Holy Comforter in Kenilworth, Illinois.
15.
Eugene Field's childhood home in St Louis is a museum.
16.
The Eugene Field House contains many of Field's mementos, including original manuscripts, books, furniture, personal effects, and some of the toys that inspired his poems.
17.
Eugene Field has his own star on the St Louis Walk of Fame.
18.
In 2016, Eugene Field was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
19.
One of the branches of the Denver Public Library near Eugene Field's Denver home is named after him, as is an apartment building in Denver's Poet's Row.