As a fifth grade student, Carl Sandburg came under the instruction of Miss Lottie Goldquist. She was one of his favorite teachers. He earned good grades in geography, arithmetic, language and reading under her tutelage. He also learned to appreciate the rhythms and the use of words.

 

Miss Goldsmith told her students about Eugene Field, who had been a student at Knox College in 1869 and 1870. It was her opinion he was “a poet of the Corn Belt and as good as Longfellow.” She read “Little Boy Blue” to the class. In those days the poem was a favorite of many and was recited at gatherings of family  members and of church societies. It was even set to music to be played on the reed organ or piano in family homes.

 

 John W. Burgess was responsible for bringing Field to Knox College. Burgess became a faculty member at Knox in 1869, teaching political science. Since Field's education was under his supervision, Burgess brought Field to Galesburg. Field had been a student at Williams College, but he didn't like to study, preferring to entertaining his classmates with his wit. Williams decided it wanted no more of him.

 

Field became a popular student at Knox because he was a good writer, a ready speaker and had a charming manner with the females at Whiting Hall. At the age of tweny-one, he received his inheritance and went to Europe with a friend. After the money was gone, he returned to the United States. Thereafter, he turned up in Columbia, Missouri, where his brother was attending the university. Eugene tried studying the law and acting, but never received a college degree.

 

In 1873 Field married Julia Sutherland Comstock, who was sixteen years of age. They had eight children, five of whom survived to maturity. Field worked as a journalist at several newspapers in Missouri for the next few years. He always requested that his earnings be given to his wife as he had no head managing money.

 

In 1881 the family moved to Denver where he became editorial writer, editor and managing editor, in that order, of the Denver Tribune. In 1883 Field and his family moved to Chicago where he worked for the Chicago Morning News. He wrote a column of quips about issues and personalities of the day. The column was titled “Sharps and Flats.” Field was among the first newspapermen to write a column composed of commentary on current events. Field began publishing his writing in books during 1879. Most of the material had previously appeared in the newspapers where he worked.

 

Eugene Field has been called the “Poet of Childhood” because so many of his poems relate to the nursery and playthings. He seldom wrote of children directly. His poems have an appealing charm, but there is a sharp irony as well. Try reading “The Duel”, a description of the fight to the death between the gingham dog and the calico cat.