Miriam Leslie

Miriam Leslie (née Follin; 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 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 a residuary legatee of her estate, to support enfranchising women. The activist established the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission for this purpose.

Biography

Early life and marriages Miriam Florence Follin was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 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 family, whose ancestors had immigrated to the colonies because of religious persecution. After a trip to France, in 1901, Follin 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 married four times. Her first marriage, on March 25, 1854, was to David Charles Peacock.

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. The November 18, 1871, issue of the magazine was published with the notation "conducted by Miriam F. Squier."

The Leslies' summer home was in Saratoga Springs, New York, where they entertained many notables, and she was a leader in society. 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, New York City.

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, but Catt received enough money to set up the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission.

Works

California: A Pleasure Trip from Gotham to the Golden Gate, April, May, June, 1877 (1877) Rents in Our Robes (1888) Are We All Deceivers? The Lover's Blue Book (1892) A Social Mirage (1899)

As translator: The Demi-Monde (1858), original by Alexandre Dumas fils (1855)