Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer whose work was known for being personal and honest about himself. Anderson was born into a wealthy family, but when his father lost his job, the family fell into financial trouble. So, he had to do odd jobs to make money. During this time, he learned how to be a good salesman. He finished school and worked as a salesman for an advertising company, where he made a name and reputation for himself. He left the same job to take a big job at United Factories Company, but he didn’t stay there long either. After a nervous breakdown or what he said was a deliberate attempt to get away from the material world, he jumped into a career in writing. Except for his first two pieces, which he thought of as “apprentice novels,” he wrote great pieces that helped him become known as a notable writer. He wrote a lot in the second half of his life, including novels, short stories, plays, poetry, drama, nonfiction, and many other types of writing. Also, he had a big impact on the next generation of young writers, including William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and others.
Childhood & Early Life
Sherwood was born and grew up in Berton Anderson was born in Camden, Ohio, on September 13, 1876, to Irwin McLain and Emma Jane Anderson. He was the third of the couple’s seven children. His father had been in the Union Army and made harnesses.
Little Anderson and his family moved to Caledonia just a few days before he turned one. But they didn’t stay in the town for long. Even though the family was financially stable, his father’s drinking got them into a lot of trouble.
After short stays in a few different cities, the family settled down in Clyde, where senior Anderson worked on and off. So, Anderson, when he was young, worked at different odd jobs to help support his family financially.
Even though he did well in school, he had to leave high school after only nine months because of money problems. But he didn’t give up on reading. In fact, he read a lot.
Sherwood Anderson’s Career
He got good at selling things while doing odd jobs when he was young, which helped him when he went into advertising later in life.
In 1895, when his mother died, tragedy hit the family. He moved to Chicago the next year and got a job at a cold-storage plant. He went back to school by signing up for classes at Lewis Institute at night.
When the United States joined the Spanish-American War, he was forced to join the army. His fellow soldiers liked him a lot. After the war was over, he went back to Clyde.
After a short time in Clyde, he went to Springfield, Illinois, to attend Wittenberg University in 1899. The next year, he got his diploma with top marks. He was one of the few people chosen to give a speech at the graduation.
In Springfield, it was interesting that he stayed at a boarding house where many businesspeople, teachers, and creative artists lived. Harry Simmons and Trillena White were the most important people in his life at that time. The first person was so impressed with his speech that he offered him a job as an advertising solicitor at the Chicago office of Mast, Crowell, and Kirkpatrick.
In 1900, he went back to Chicago and got a job in a white-collar field. But his boring daily routine and fights with his boss caused him to leave the company early.
He started working at the Frank B. White Advertising Company in 1901 and stayed there until 1906. He sold ads and wrote advertising copy for companies that made tools for farmers. He also wrote articles for the trade journal Agricultural Advertising.
Because of what he wrote in the trade journal, he became interested in writing. The Farmer Wears Clothes, which came out in February 1902, was his first professional work. He wrote 29 articles and essays for the magazine of his company and two for The Reader, a small literary magazine put out by the Bobbs-Merrill Company.
In 1906, he moved to Cleveland and became the President of the United Factories Company there. Most of the time, he was a sales manager. When a large number of incubators broke down, things got hard for him. In 1907, he had a nervous breakdown and left the company because of it.
He moved to Elyria, Ohio, where he started the Anderson Manufacturing Company, a small mail-order business. The business did well, and in a short time, it grew a lot, taking over a number of similar businesses and making a wider range of products. He put his business together with the American Merchants Company.
His health problems started up at a time when he was doing well financially and his business was doing very well. He had a very bad nervous breakdown, which some news stories said was amnesia or a “lost identity crisis.”
He started working at the Taylor Critchfield Advertising Company in Chicago as a copywriter. He also joined the so-called “Chicago Group” of writers, which included Theodore Dreiser and Carl Sandburg.
During this time, he wrote his first book, which came out in 1916 and was called “Windy McPherson’s Son.” The book was part of a deal he made with John Lane to write three books.
The next year, he wrote “Marching Men,” which was his second piece. Later, he said that his first two books were “raw and immature” or “apprentice novels” that helped him build a successful writing career.
His first two books, “Windy McPherson’s Son” and “Marching Men,” were interesting because they focused on the psychological lives of people in small towns in the Midwest. The main characters in these books wanted to be successful but ended up being disappointed.
His best work was a collection of short stories called “Winesburg, Ohio,” which came out in 1919. People liked the book a lot, and it made him known as a talented modern American author. It was made up of 23 stories that all had the same theme and were written in simple, realistic language. The story was based on real events and situations.
Even though his short stories were popular, he wanted to write novels because he thought they gave him more room to work. So, in 1920, he wrote his third book, called “Poor White.” In contrast to the other two, “Poor White” was well received. His short story “The Triumph of the Egg” came out the same year.
After this, he wrote “Many Marriages” in 1923, which is still thought to be his best book. Two years later, he wrote a book called “Dark Laughter.” In it, he wrote about his time in New Orleans. The book went on to sell a lot of copies.
In 1926, he wrote a book called “Tar: A Midwest Childhood.” In it, he told stories about his childhood in Caledonia, which was in the Midwest.
Besides writing books and short stories, he also wrote a lot for newspapers. In the 1930s, he published two collections of short stories: “Horses and Men” and “Death in the Woods.” He also wrote “Puzzled America,” an essay, and “Kit Brandon: A Portrait” and “Beyond Desire,” two novels.
He put out Plays, Winesburg, and Others in 1937. His last piece was a long essay called “Home Town” (1940).
Personal History and Legacies
In 1903, he met her for the first time. After going out on dates for a year, they got married. They were lucky enough to have three kids: Robert Lane, John Sherwood, and Marion.
He didn’t stay married to Cornelia for long. In 1916, he divorced her and married his mistress, the sculptor Tennessee Claflin Mitchell. The end of this marriage was also the same as the first: in 1924, he divorced her.
In 1924, he got married to Elizabeth Norman Prall, who was a fashion designer. But this marriage didn’t last long either, and in 1932, the two got a divorce.
In 1933, he got married to Eleanor Gladys Copenhaver. They traveled together, went to school together, and were involved in the trade union movement.
He died on March 8, 1941, because of peritonitis. At the time of his death, he was taking a cruise to South America. An autopsy showed that the infection was caused by him swallowing a toothpick by accident.
After he died, his work “Memoirs and Letters” was published in 1953. It was later published as “The Memoirs of Sherwood Anderson” in 1969.
In 1971, Ripshin Farm, his home in Troutdale, Virginia, was named a National Historic Landmark.
Estimated Net worth
Sherwood is one of the wealthiest authors and is on the list of the most popular authors. Based on what we found on Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Sherwood Anderson has a net worth of about $1.5 million.