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Allen Dixon Vachel Lindsay started a family fairly late in life. He was forty-six years old, recovering from a physical and mental breakdown, when he met Elizabeth Conner, a twenty- year- old English teacher from Spokane, Washington. They were engaged and married after just a few days. His marital status could not have come at a better time for Lindsay. His downfall from fame was marked with despair and lonely bachelor days. Elizabeth Conner, who taught English at the local Lewis and Clark High School, was quite taken with Vachel and his powerful position in the literary world. After a short courtship, they were married on May 20, 1925, in the poet's room at the Davenport Hotel. The day following their wedding, The Spokane Daily Chronicle ran the headline, "Engaged One Day, Poet Weds Next." The Lindsays went on a hiking trip to Glacier National Park for their honeymoon. In 1926 Lindsay published a collection of poems and drawings written on their honeymoon during the summer of 1925. The Candle in the Cabin reads as a honeymoon poetry/picture album. The book's final poem, "One More Song," shows that Elizabeth Conner Lindsay was the poet's new "inspiration girl." Although the marriage started in great happiness, financial problems developed almost immediately for the young couple when Elizabeth was fired from her teaching job because teachers could not be married at the time. In addition to this, Vachel had not talent for managing funds. Thus, he was forced to return to the platform more often. His hatred of performing was placated for a while because his wife was able to travel with him. However, following the birth of their first child, Vachel was forced to continue touring alone.
The Lindsays' first child, Susan Doniphan, was born on May 28, 1926, and their second child, Nicholas Cave, followed her on September 16, 1927. During this time Lindsay became determined to move his family back home to Springfield. After legal confrontations, and the eviction of renters, Vachel finally moved his young family into his boyhood home in 1929. They lived there until his death in 1931 at which time Mrs. Lindsay and the children moved. Nicholas Cave Lindsay became a teacher and poet who has made his living as a boat builder and carpenter. He has published several volumes of poetry and oral history. Nicholas and his wife, Dubose, live on Edisto Island, off the coast of South Carolina, and they are the parents of ten children. Today Nicholas is recognized as the only authentic interpreter/performer of his father's ideas. Susan Doniphan Lindsay lived in Wales after she married John Russell, son of Bertrand Russell. Susan, like her father, was an artist and a writer. She also was a celebrated dancer, receiving a scholarship with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Susan died November 22, 1990, at the age of 64.
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Vachel
Lindsay
