Eudora Stone Bumstead

Eudora Stone Bumstead (August 26, 1860 – 1892) was an American poet and hymnwriter. She is remembered as "the children's poet".[1]

Eudora Stone Bumstead
"A woman of the century"
BornEudora Stone
August 26, 1860
Bedford, Michigan, U.S.
Died1892
Resting placeBellevue Memorial Park, Ontario, California
Occupationpoet, hymnwriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Notable works"Signs of Spring"
Spouse
William T. Bumstead
​
(m. 1880)​
Children2

Along with several other young writers, including: C. A. Stephens, William S. Walsh, Robert M. Walsh, Helen Gray Cone, Eleanor C. Donnelly, Mary Sheldon Barnes, Theodora Robinson Jenness, F. ("Fern") Hamilton, and Edwin Roth Champlin ("Clarence Fairfield"), Bumstead got her start as a writer at Our Young Folks.[2] She began writing rhymes in childhood, and when ten years old was paid US$2 for a poem entitled, "Signs of Spring", which was published in Our Young Folks, then edited by John Townsend Trowbridge.[1]

Early years and education

Eudora Stone was born in Bedford, Michigan, August 26, 1860. When she was young, her parents removed to Nebraska. Her earliest recollections are of the great West, with its prairie billows crested with pleasant homes, its balmy breezes and its sweeping gales. Her parents were highly cultured, and gave her every possible assistance and encouragement. She began to write rhymes in her childhood, and when ten years old a poem she wrote was published in "Our Young Folks". She received a good public school education. In 1878-79, she was a student in the Nebraska State University.[3]

Career

She was for a time a successful school teacher. While attending Nebraska State University, she met William T. Bumstead, whom she married in 1880. She has had little time for writing but when she did write, it was mostly for the child-readers of St. Nicholas Magazine and The Youth's Companion, having been a special contributor to the latter for several years.[3]

Personal life

Bumstead was of Quaker descent, and is like the Friends in her quiet tastes and sincere manners. She had few friends. Remarkably well-informed and having an analytic mind, she was a keen, though kindly, disputant, accepting nothing as proved which did not stand the test of reason.[3]

The family lived in Beatrice, Nebraska before removing to Ontario, California with their daughter.[1][3]

She died in 1892, and was buried at Bellevue Memorial Park, Ontario.

Style and themes

Their only son, died at the age of two-and-a-half years, but Bumstead did not write of the sadness occasioned by his loss, believing that it is better to spread light and gladness than clouds and sadness.[1][3]

Selected works
Hymn lyrics[4]
  • "The sun has gone from the shining skies"
  • "Throw to the wind your doubt and fear"
Verse[5]
  • "Blow, wind, blow", 1888
  • "Folliloo"
  • "Grievous complaint", 1890
  • "In the swing", 1888
  • "Kandikew", 1886
  • "Little red hen", 1885
  • "Mystic sign", 1888
  • "Ollie's dreams", 1881
  • "Problem in threes", 1889
  • "Sad reason for tears", 1889
  • "Summer lullaby", 1887
  • "Year with dolly", 1892
Poems[5]
  • "Little pine-tree", 1889
  • Quest, 1888
Play[5]

References
  1. Moulton 1890, p. 218.
  2. C.L. Sherrill & Company 1888, p. 81.
  3. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 136.
  4. "Eudora S. Bumstead". hymnary.org. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  5. Scribner 1920, p. 62.

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