Benjamin Ward Baum (3 January 1821 – 14 February 1887) was L. Frank Baum's father. He was of German descent, the oldest son of John Baum and the former Magdalena Elwood, and the second of their ten children. John Baum had been a prosperous farmer, but suffered financial reverses and later became a Methodist lay preacher; he was known as Reverend Baum. Benjamin Ward began life as a poor cooper (barrel maker). His lack of means displeased his prospective father-in-law, Oliver Stanton; Benjamin and Cynthia Stanton eloped and married on 10 March 1843, when both were 21 years old.