Edwin Markham

Edwin Markham (born Charles Edward Anson Markham; April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940) was an American poet. From 1923 to 1931 he was Poet Laureate of Oregon.

Edwin Markham was born in Oregon City, Oregon, and was the youngest of 10 children; his parents divorced shortly after his birth. At the age of four, he moved with his mother to Lagoon Valley in Solano County, California. He obtained a teaching certificate in 1870 from Pacific Methodist College in Vacaville. Markham then attended San Jose Normal School (now San Jose State University) graduating in 1872, and wrote the poem "The Man with the Hoe". The house in which he wrote the poem was preserved and moved to the city's History Park, and now serves as a poetry center. He went by "Charles" until about 1895, when he was about 43, when he started using "Edwin." He also studied at Christian College in Santa Rosa, California, in 1873.