Edwin Markham (1852-1940), American poet, leapt to fame with one poem, "The Man with the Hoe."

Edwin Markham was born Charles Edward Anson Markham in Oregon City, Ore., on April 23, 1852, the youngest of 10 children. When he was 4, his mother took him to a small farm north of San Francisco; shortly thereafter she remarried. Markham attended rural schools, worked as a cowboy and ranch hand, ran away from home at least once, and at the age of 16 entered California College in Vacaville. Two years later he transferred to San Jose State Normal School, from which he graduated in 1872.

Markham's first teaching jobs were in the mountains of San Luis Obispo County, Calif., then at Christian College in Santa Rosa, and finally at Coloma. In 1875 he married Annie Cox and became county superintendent of schools. In 1884 he divorced his wife and became a school headmaster in Hayward. In 1887 he remarried...