Eliza Anna Farman Pratt (1837–1907) (pen names, Ella Farman and Dorothea Alice Shepherd) was an American writer of children's literature, best known for editing Wide Awake magazine for 16 years, starting in 1875.
Early life Farman was born November 1, 1837Elbert Eli Farman, LL.D., Foreman-Farman-Forman Genealogy, pages 74, 75, Tobias A. Wright, 1911 in Augusta, New York,Ella Farman Pratt (death notice), Kearsarge Independent and Times (Warner, N.H.), May 24, 1907 the daughter of Rev. Tural Tufts Farman and Hanna Burleson Farman. She was educated at a girls’ school in New York, where she met Emma L. Shaw, who became a close friend. For a time Farman and Shaw worked as teachers, before they decided to move to Michigan and try to earn their living by farming.Lowe, Berenice Bryant, Tales of Battle Creek, page 262-264, The Albert L. and Louise B. Miler Foundation, Inc. 1976
Literary career In about 1870 Eliza Farman began writing in earnest, submitting work under the name of Ella Farman. In 1875 she used the name of D. A. Shepherd when she sold a story entitled Two Girls that Tried Farming to The Atlantic Monthly. When the story was expanded, and published as a book by D. Lothrop and Company in 1879, the pen name of Dorothea Alice Shepherd was used once more.
Farman wrote children's stories, and for the first few years she received editing help from her friend Emma Shaw. Several children's books were published by D. Lothrop Company. When publisher Daniel Lothrop decided to publish a children's magazine entitled Wide Awake he chose Farman as editor."The Story of Wide Awake, Wide Awake page 196, August, 1893 She edited Wide Awake from 1875 until 1891, with the assistance of co-editor Charles Stuart Pratt.Kelly, R. Gordon, Wide Awake, in Children's Periodicals of the United States, page 460, Greenwood Press, 1984 Farman and Pratt wed in 1877.John William Leonard, Who's Who in America, Volume 8, page 1893, A. N. Marquis, 1914
Farman and Pratt also worked on other D. Lothrop Company children's magazines. They edited Babyland from 1877 to 1892Kelly, R. Gordon, Babyland, in Children's Periodicals of the United States, page 26, Greenwood Press, 1984 and then from 1894 to 1897.Larry Sullivan, 19th Century Authors of Warner New Hampshire, page 60, Warner Historical Society & Pillsbury Free Library, 2011 Farman also edited Our Little Men and Women (1880–1898).
From 1897 until shortly before her 1907 death Farman and Charles Stuart Pratt edited Little Folks,Obituary, New York Tribune, May 24, 1907, page 8 a children's magazine published by S. E. Cassino Company, in Salem, Massachusetts.Kelly, R. Gordon, Little Folks: An Illustrated Magazine, in Children's Periodicals of the United States, page 285, Greenwood Press, 1984 Pratt continued on as editor until 1909.Charles Stuart Pratt (death notice), Kearsarge Independent and Times, April 8, 1921 Until at least 1912 the Little Folks Contents page stated “Edited from foundation to May, 1909, by Charles S. and Ella Farman Pratt.” Contents page, Little Folks, June, 1912, no page number shown
During her work as editor Farman published approximately 20 books, most of them for children.
Personal life Eliza Anna Farman wed Charles Stuart Pratt on November 11, 1877, For most of their married life the couple lived in Warner, New Hampshire. Farman Pratt had a son, Ralph Farman Pratt, born July 7, 1878. He became a landscape painter.Marquis, Albert Nelson (editor), Who's Who in New England, Volume 2, page 872, A. N. Marquis & Company, 1916
Farman Pratt was in poor health for several years, before dying at her home from myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscle) and neurasthenia (fatigue, anxiety) on May 22, 1907. She was buried in South Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Selected works Anna Maylie (1873) A Little Woman : A Story for Other Little Women (1873) Anna Maylie : A Story of Work. (1873) A Girl's Money (1874) A White Hand (1875) Mrs. Hurd's Niece : Six Months of a Girl's Life (1876) The Doll Doctor, and Other Stories, (1877) Sugar Plums (1877) Good-for-Nothing Polly (1877) Little Miss Mischief and Her Happy Thoughts (1878) How Two Girls Tried Farming (as Dorothea Alice Shepherd) (1879) The Home Primer (1882) Nursery Primer (1882) Rosabell's Adventure (1883) Christmas Snowflakes (1883) Yule Tide (1884) Polly Himself (1886) The Cooking Club of Tu-Whit Hollow (1886) All the World Over : Interesting Stories of Travel, Thrilling Adventure and Home Life (1892) Mrs. White's Party : and Other Stories (1894) Happy Children (1896) A Dozen Darlings and Their Doings (1898) The Play Lady : a Story for Other Girls (1900) The Little Cave-Dwellers (1901) "Chicken Little" : Picture Guessing Story for Little Children (1903) The Little Owls at Red Gates (1903) Dear Little Sheila : a Picture Guessing Story for Children (1905) Grandma Crosby's Household. a Story for Girls (1907)
References
External links
Michigan Woman's Press Association 296 Occupations for Women: A Book of Practical Suggestions for the Material Advancement, the Mental and Physical Development, and the Moral and Spiritual Uplift of Women