Early life and marriages Miriam Florence Follin was born in
New Orleans, Louisiana, June 5, 1836. She described her own childhood as "starved and pinched" as far as "love and merriment go." Leslie claimed to be the descendant of an aristocratic French
Huguenot family, whose ancestors had immigrated to the colonies because of religious persecution. After a trip to
France, in 1901, Follin claimed the title
Baroness de Bazus. She apparently grew up in New York City, and was well educated in the French, Spanish and Italian languages. She married four times. Her first marriage, on March 25, 1854, was to David Charles Peacock. When the editor of ''Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine'' had fallen ill, probably in the late 1860s, Miriam Squier volunteered to fill in while the ill editor still received the salary. The editor died, and she took on the position permanently. The November 18, 1871, issue of the magazine was published with the notation "conducted by Miriam F. Squier." The Leslies' summer home was in
Saratoga Springs, New York, where they entertained many notables, and she was a leader in society. In 1902 she sold out all her publishing interests. ==Death and legacy==