Maud lived in Fayetteville, New York, with her aging parents until she married Frank in 1882, sacrificing her college education at Cornell University.

In November of that year, Frank transferred to Maud the literary rights of his most recent books, including Father Goose and From Kansas to Fairyland (later published as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz).

[2] A relative noted that Maud's mother was a "woman of force" who "ruled her mild, gentle husband and her four children with a rod of iron".

Baum scholar Evan I. Schwartz wrote that Maud had "dark hair, a shapely figure, and eyes as sharp as her mind".

[8] In September 1880, Maud headed to Cornell University, leaving on a train and arriving at an Ithaca depot two hours later.

[9] A sophomore girl, Jessie Mary Boulton, who observed her wrote in a letter back home: "There is one that I think will make quite a stir.

[10] Maud's tuition cost $25 each term, roughly equivalent to the money her father made each week at his Fayetteville store.

[12][nb 3] After Maud passed the exam, she was included in the September 16, 1880, inaugural issue of the school daily, Cornell Sun, as "Miss M. Gage, Fayetteville".

Maud's classmate, Jessie Mary, wrote that the "[b]oys (or young men as I guess they call themselves) abound".

Nasty rumors about Maud circulated around campus, causing her to angrily lock herself in her dorm, where she cried for several hours.

Monday, at the class of '84 election, her name was put on one of the tickets for marshal ... She is a very sensitive girl and has been taking it very hard.

[15] Because the boys knew her mother was the women's rights activist Matilda Joslyn Gage, Maud was subjected to more bullying than the other girls.

In the September 29, 1880, issue of the Cornell Sun's humor column[17] a boy included the limerick: There is a gay maiden at Sage,Who flies into a terrible rageIf one says in a crowd,In a tone a bit loud,"Matilda, may I ask your age?

The all-male editorial board of the Cornell Sun wrote that the boys were being cruel in entering a fake ticket to mock girls.

[27] A sophomore at Cornell University,[27] Maud made a significant sacrifice when she accepted Frank's marriage proposal.

[25][nb 5] Matilda, who once dreamed of being a doctor and was not accepted by any medical schools, was distressed that her daughter would sacrifice the chance of higher education to marry a traveling actor.

In a frequently related family tale, Frank bought a dozen bismarks (jelly doughnuts) and took them home.

[40] She was eager to begin "keeping the household, managing its finances, organizing the kitchen, and practicing her favorite hobby, embroidery".

To fulfill her mother's dreams of her becoming a female lawyer or doctor entailed tearing down gender barriers, since there were few, if any, women in those professions.

During the summer evenings, the family would sip lemonade on the front porch and admire as the "blazing sunsets of the day gave way to the blue Krakatoa moon".

[48] In 1882, when Maud had traveled with Frank while he had been performing in The Maid of Arran, she had not felt at ease in the western cities they visited.

Frank started a dry goods store, Baum's Bazaar, on October 1, 1888, to make a stable living for his family.

During this time, Maud discontinued attending the Episcopal Church, instead choosing to have her boys go to the West Side Ethical Culture Sunday School.

They passed their summers at Macatawa Park, Michigan, where Frank purchased a cottage, christening it the "Sign of a Goose".

[34] Despite her protests, her husband brought dinner to the boy in his room, telling him a story and staying by his side until he fell asleep.

After her second son, Robert, flung from their second-story window their cat, who escaped uninjured, Maud decided to "teach him a lesson".

[25] Traveling from her home in Chicago to Bloomington, Maud frequently paid visits to her sister Helen and her infant daughter, Dorothy Louise Gage.

Baum scholar Katharine M. Rogers noted that Maud's letters "demonstrate intellectual curiosity and a sense of humor".

[55] Moving to Hollywood from Chicago due to Frank's failing health,[73] the family had a house custom-built,[74] that they called Ozcot in 1910 using Maud's inheritance money from her mother.

Frank plastered the full length of one of Ozcot's walls, which he named "Yard of Maud", with his most beloved pictures of her.