The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-09-17

lew Celebrated song was Composed.
.Mo-e than ii5,voo copies of Evan.
e,line' we're sold In fourteen MONTHS"
aid VIII 3. Hays. the hmors song
writer, yesterday, to q tourser-IYssrHai
rporter. The conversation was ON the
mb,,ec. 81 his songs, their origin, mum.
Der and history. OF all he has pub
ll,Aet, considerably over 100, "Eysn.e-
Ine," "Mol!ie Darling" and Norah
O'Neal" were probably the mos. popu.
lar. "Evanselinc " Is one Of the most
@yatitul popular compositions ever
published in America, and just before
the breaking out of the war was sung in
every home and by every company of
singers in the land. Strange to say, the
suthor never received one cent for his
composition, though at the usual royal
ty. three cents per copy, he would have
made 81, 1850 out of it in the fifteen
months. How many copies in all have
been sold, he does not know, though it
is still in demand, and the total number
would probably reach 100000. When
"Evangeline" was first issued, it be-
came immensely popular. The min.
strels Of ante-bellum days, whose speci-
atty, next to characteristic negro de-
lineations, was sentimental ballads, sang
the beautiful composition for quintet in
every city in the land, and, as is usual
with popular ballads, the minstrel tenor,
the famous Campbell, of Campbell's
Minstrels, first introducedit it.
~ was wild young fellow when I
wrote Evangeline," continued Colonel
Hays, "and it grew out of a frolic. Just
before the war | was visiting one sum-
mer up in Oldham County, near La
grange. There was q party of gay
young ladies visiting at the house also,
most Of whom have children now as old
as l was then. Among them was q
beautiful girl who resembled the
ideal picture of Longfellow's Evan
geline' so closely that / called her
BY the name, and it chung to
her as nickname. One evening we
were all invited over to frolic at the
residence of Hon. Robert D. Mallory,
and all went. We danced and sang,
and soon discovered that four of Us
could sing very nicely together. We
tried 'Come Where My Love Lies
Dreaming and other popular quartets,
and got along so nicely that we became
quite enthusiastic over our success.
About or 2 O'Clock in the morning we
started to walk home down the road.
The night was as bright as day, with
the full moon hanging in the sky, and
as we walked we sang. Finally we sat
down in a nice nook in q field to rest,
and 'EvangeGne' began to suggest 9th
er songs to sing.
"'l'll write you song,' said I, If
you'll promise to sing it before we 90
home
"This was agreed to. On the oppo.
site side of the road rail fence had
been torn away and white plank fence
had been erected. Where we were sit.
ting = party Of negroes had been roast.
ing ears of corn over fire, and the
charred sticks lay all around, gathered
up a bundle Of them under my arm and,
followed by the girls, walked over to
the fence. With the charred sticks
wrote the first verse of the song on the
top plank Of the fence and the notes Of
four voices on the four planks beneath,
making it quartet. Then we stood
off, and, as all could read the music,
We sang it. The girls were delighted,
and insisted on having O chorus, SO
went down to the end and wrote the
chorus out on the planks. Well, we
sang it over and over, and went home
singing it. Next morning Eyangeine'
came down stairs humming the air, and
asked me to write it out and finish it.
told her l couldn't do it, but she might
90 down and copy it off the fence. She
took an umbrella and sheet Of paper,
md soon came back with words and
music copied off.
"Then she insisted on having another
yetse, and 30 / wrote another verse, on
eoodition that was to have q kiss for it,
I'D she to have the music. She wen,
lome to st. Louis, and sang 'Evange
hne about there until it attracted at
teation, and she sent 1t back to me te
laTe It published. / sent that song t.
sssry music publisher In America, unit
" Ms. was nearly worn out, and thu
best offer / received for it was from
Brainerd, Of Cleveland, who offered mi
elQ and twenty-five copies Of tho music
! declined It. Shortly after I was il
Cleveland, and Campbell's Minstrel,
wele there. ! took the song to Camp
bell and We went to . music store anl
Md Il. He said it was q great sons
and sang It that night five times to per
aitent encores. Brainerd heard Of thu
Nm song, went to hear it aud came K
ne to buy it. I told him that Johr
Howard Payne had died in . poor-house
G hat Reyes, who wrote the Star Spanglet
Banner, had died In destitution, ant
hat the publishers in America were de
B. emined to starve tho composers out
& eut would make him present Q
Evangelhs to show him how littl
publishers know Of the value Of compo
So ions. Wall, Il went selling rich
81 Yang like : whirlwind. Three month
terward he offered me $500 for anoth
= song like It, but refused it, and hay
ss 1ever written ANYTHING for him. ~