Rather than assume that you have seen this, I will post the following link with a brief biography of Benjamin Toomer, oddly enough from the history of a county in Minnesota.

https://books.google.com/books?id=1J8yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA529&lpg=PA529&dq=Benjamin+Toomer&source=bl&ots=d5d7U46tNr&sig=OIctpIg5XmMir_63W6AmTI3CSL0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EzA1VfH5G4u5oQSe8ICACQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Benjamin%20Toomer&f=false