Louis Bromfield (Louis Bromfield)

Louis Bromfield

Author, FarmerBorn in Mansfield, Ohio to a third-generation farmer, Louis Bromfield went to school in Mansfield and spent his boyhood working as a cub reporter for the Mansfield newspaper and working on his grandfather’s farm. He attended Cornell and Columbia Universities, majoring in agriculture and journalism. However, he left before graduation to serve in World War I as an ambulance driver, earning the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre. Afterwards, he found work as a reporter in New York City and published his first novel, “The Green Bay Tree”, in 1924. Throughout his literary career, he wrote over 30 novels and non-fiction volumes, including the Pulitzer Prize winner, “Early Autumn”. Several of his novels were made into very successful motion pictures, including “The Rains Came”, starring Myrna Loy and Tyrone Power, and “Mrs. Parkington”, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Mr. Bromfield and his family lived for many years in France, returning to Ohio in 1938 with the threat of war. Mr. Bromfield bought three neglected farms outside of Mansfield, Ohio and spent years making the ground fertile again. He became an early proponent of organic farming, and soon his farming techniques became as famous as his literary works. “Malabar Farm” was even used by the government to test soil conservation experiments. Mr. Bromfield also entertained many of his Hollywood friends, such as James Cagney and Shirley Temple. Screen legends Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married at Malabar. Mr. Bromfield continued his farming and writing on the farm until his death and is buried on the family plot on the farm. Today, Malabar Farm is a State Park and the house has been left as he had it. Bromfield is remembered locally for having planted hedgerows of multiflora roses, which have now become an invasive menice for the surrounding counties. For his contribution to the science of agriculture, Mr. Bromfield received the Audubon “Medal of Conservation” and was posthumously elected into the “Ohio Agriculture Hall of Fame” (bio by: StratasFan)  Family links:  Parents:  Charles Bromfield (1863 – 1944)  Annette Marie Coulter Bromfield (1864 – 1947)  Spouse:  Mary Appleton Wood Bromfield (1892 – 1952)*  Sibling:  Louis Bromfield (1896 – 1956)  Charles Bromfield (1899 – 1972)* *Calculated relationship

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Born

  • December, 27, 1896
  • USA
  • Mansfield, Ohio

Died

  • March, 03, 1956
  • USA
  • Lucas, Ohio

Cemetery

  • Olivet Cemetery
  • Lucas, Ohio
  • USA

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