Frances Margaret (Madge) Fox was born June 23, 1870 

in South Farmington, Massachusetts, but grew up in Northern Michigan.

Frances began to write down her stories and submit them for publication. In 1901 Frances 

published her first book for children, Farmer Brown and the Birds. Other books soon followed. 

Frances published fifty-one books and countless articles for magazines during her writing 

career. When the income from her writing permitted, Frances moved back to Mackinaw City, 

eventually building a stone house on the Straits of Mackinac that she named “Happy Landing.” 

She was well known in the area for her smile and her kind words to others. As a treat for the 

local children, Frances created the Sunshine Club and for years invited neighborhood children 

into her home to drink lemonade and share stories. Often she would give her stories a trial run 

by reading her manuscripts aloud to the Sunshine Club before sending them to her publisher.

Michigan in Letters