Frank LINCOLN Wright

[Roderick Grant]

Rood, Twombly was not the source of the 1867 birth year research. Thomas Hines' research was published sometime in the mid to late 60s, while Twombly's first version of the FLW bio was published in 1973. Twombly became a writer and historian as of that book. He was inspired to research FLW when he dated Elizabeth Jacobs, and visited Jacobs House II. The first book contains certain errors, such as FLW meeting up with Johannes Brahms in 1910, 13 years after the composer's death. The second version (1979) was much better ... better, too, than Gill, Secrest or Huxtable. Twombly has subsequently become considerably more erudite on the subject.

On the subject of the birth year, Spring Green's entry under Correct Birth Year is correct.

Ron, that FLW added Lloyd to his name at the time of the divorce is another 'story' that has never been documented. Hines' research turned up divorce records which give the name of Wm. and Anna's son as "Frank L. Wright."

[DRN]

Spring Green:
In your quote from the guide's factbook I latched onto the following:

2.) The 2nd piece of evidence comes from one of the schools that Wright attended, the “old� Madison high school (now Central High School).
Wright’s name appears… once in the surviving records of his high school. In the oldest volume… in the school’s collection… Wright’s name appears near the end of the book, with his father’s name, his address, 804 E. Gorham and his birth date, ‘June 8, 1867.’[ibid]

Is it known by what name Wright was listed? Frank Wright, Frank L. Wright, etc?

[Reidy]

if there is any mention of Lincoln in Manson's book, could you specify where it is?

No. He said it in a talk at Barnsdall Park many years ago. He was only suggesting, not claiming as hard fact, and the suggestion was that this was his name at birth. Thus, as McCrea has adumbrated, all the evidence that Wright didn't use the name as an adult is beside the point.

The best evidence, if we had it, would be a birth certificate. In the meantime I'm convinced that the story is false.

[SDR]

The whole thing seems to exemplify the mischief that a single errant whim can have, when it might be true and when the person involved is famous . . .?

SDR

[Bill Swan]

Ran into this PDF tonight while looking for information on one of FLW's grandsons (using Google search). This is from flwright.org but I could not find it on my own by going to that website:

http://flwright.org/ckfinder/userfiles/ ... ealogy.pdf

Notice that Mr. Wright is listed as Frank Lloyd (Lincoln) WRIGHT.

No sources are listed for this chart.

Also, this weekend I picked up a copy of "Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace: The Enduring Power of a Civic Vision" (written by David Mollenhoff (who wrote an excellent history of Madison) and Mary Jane Hamilton). On Page 43 is a picture titled "Frank Lincoln Wright, Age Ten" taken in 1878. The picture is credited to FLW FDN.

[SDR]

Once the genie is out of the barn, its like herding cats in a barrel . . . or words to that effect . . .

SDR

[DRN]

While perusing Taschen 1 this afternoon, I noticed in the drawings published that Wright’s title block changed from “Frank L. Wright� to “Frank Lloyd Wright� somewhere between the Edward C.Waller house remodeling of February 1899, and the Stephen A. Foster summer cottage of January 1900.

[SDR]

Wright was 33 years old in April of 1900 . . .

SDR

[DRN]

Wright’s name is printed as “Frank Lloyd Wright� on the title page of the edition of William Gannet’s essay “The House Beautiful� he and William Herman Winslow printed in the winter of 1896-7.

https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot ... tails.aspx

[SDR]

Most interesting. Was the Winslow residence known as Auvergne Place at any time, do we know ?

SDR

[DRN]

The Winslow house is situated on a street called Auvergne Place. Wright designed a mock gateway at the street’s intersection with Lake Street.

[SDR]

Yes. I refer to this paragraph from the Christie's page:





I have never heard the house referred to by that name. Perhaps it was a Christie "typo" . . .


S

[DRN]

A Google search of "Frank Lincoln Wright" yields an entry in the online version of the storied and hallowed Encyclopedia Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frank-Lloyd-Wright

Fallingwater's website follows suit with more explanation:

https://www.fallingwater.org/history/ab ... yd-wright/

Frank Lincoln Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, on June 8, 1867, to William Carey Wright, an itinerant music teacher, composer, and Baptist minister, and Anna Lloyd Jones Wright, a school teacher. Following his parents’ divorce in 1885, Frank changed his middle name to Lloyd to honor his mother’s family.

I really want to know where this story is documented ...OTHER THAN THE STATEMENT IN BRENDAN GILL'S BIOGRAPHY...and have these authorities cite their sources for this bit of information.

I sent the following message to the Britannica's "Contact Us" section:

In your entry for the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, your article notes Wright was born Frank Lincoln Wright, and that he later changed his middle name to Lloyd.
What source can you cite for this, other than a biography written by Brendan Gill, or numerous bios based on Gill's biography. Has a legal document been found to substantiate Gill's claim which is not substantiated in his book?
A birth certificate, a baptismal certificate, a University of Wisconsin application or student list, a census form...? Wright himself made no such claim that was published in his autobiography.
There is concern that an erroneous claim is now becoming an accepted fact via republishing with no actual research to verify the source.

Please advise.

We'll see if I get anything other than an automated response.

I sent the following to Scott Perkins at Fallingwater:

Hi Scott.
We met briefly at a recent FLWBC Conference.
Recently, I was perusing the Fallingwater website during lunch and noted that the Wright bio states that Wright was born Frank Lincoln Wright, and that he later changed his middle name to Lloyd to honor his mother's family following his parents' divorce in 1885.

The first I read of this name change in Brendan Gill's biography of Wright titled "Many Masks", written in the early '90's. Gill did not cite a source for this rather startling claim, and I and others have not found where Gill may have read or heard this. Has a legal document been found to substantiate Gill's claim which is not substantiated in his book? A birth certificate, a baptismal certificate, a University of Wisconsin application or student list, a census form, a marriage certificate, a passport, a social security application...?

There is concern that an unsubstantiated claim is now becoming an accepted fact via its republishing with no actual research done to verify the source.

If you or your team have found something we haven't, might you share it with us?

Best.
Dan

[Roderick Grant]

Another "proof" that this is "Fake News," is the lack of any substantiation from Richland Center. There has been a long-standing debate over exactly where the Wright family lived in town when FLW was born. So far no one has come up with solid proof of an address, nor anything that might clear up the middle name rumor. It seems to me that Richland Center would be the natural location of any documentation.

People love gossip. Proof of gossip is inconsequential, and disproof ignored altogether. This is in the wind, and will doubtlessly stay there permanently.

[SDR]

Could be, but the attempt to correct the record is worthy, and could bear fruit, eventually ?

I seem to recall that the family's time in Massachusetts had been explored for this issue; local records at any and all addresses/towns/cities where the Wrights lived/worked/went to school might be useful ? Perhaps this has already been done.

SDR