Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-05-11
GREAT SONG WRITER.


the writers or woven into romantic story
without foundation or fact. Fosters wife
is still living in Allegheny, while his only
daughter, Marian, il the wife OF Walter
Welsh of Chicago. OF other relations
there fare but two living-his brother,
Morrison Foster of Allegheny, and Sis
ter, the wife of Rev. Edward Y. Buchanan
of Philadelphia.
Stephen Collins Foster was born in
Lawrenccville, now portion OF the Fiji
teenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Wards
of Pittsburg. on the 4th of July, 1926.
His father, William B. Foster, Sr., was
quite wealthy, and resided on the old
Philadelphia pike, back from the road i'll
n frame cottage house, painted white,
with green blinds.
The author of "Old Folks at Home
came into this world AMID the boom OF
cannon and blare of horns from the ar
senal, half milo distant from his faith
er's house. He was the seventh in line
of descent, there being eight children.i in
all. His eldest brother was formerly
State Surveyor and afterward Nice-Presl-
dent of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
"Melodies seemed to float through his
BRAIN, said his brother, speaking on the
subject a day or two ago. can idea
would strike him and he would note 1t
down. l have known him to get up IN
the middle OF the night, light candle
and note down dozen bars OF some mel
ody that was ringing IN his ears. Alter
he had it completed to his satisfaction he
would write words to suit the notes. "
Foster WAS 17when his first negro mel
words and music being his own compost
| ! 10 suin y
wrote his negro melodies under inspira-
ton gathered from association for n brief
period with the "chidren in bondage in
the South. 1t is n mistake, however, for
at that time Stephen C.. Foster knew
nothing of the Southern land, and it was
not until three years after that he saw
the plantation darkey in all of his ante
bellum peculiarities and life. In the two
years following the appearance of his
Louisiana Belle, ne wrote the words
and music of "Old Uncle Ned" "Oh,
Susanna" and "Way Down South.
Along in 1915 he went to Cincinnati,
and accepted a position under his brother,
Dunnlng Men. Foster, rs bookkeepsr,
the former being engaged in the mer-
chandise and boating trade. After two
years behind the desk Stephen forsook
mercantile life. During this period, how
ever, he composed q sentimental song,
'Stay, Summer Breath, which was pub
lished in the East. While Ill Cincinnati
he met w. c. Peters, who had formerly
been music teacher in his fathers faml-
" in Pittsburg. Peters was then en-
barking in business rs a music publisher
in Cincinnati and Foster presented him
with the manuscript Of "Old Uncle Ned
and "Oh, Susanna" He was not writing
for gam q, that time, and thought nothing
of the value Of his production. Years
afterward Peters confessed that those two
songs were the nucleus of the business
enterprise he succeeded III establishing,
and that not less than Sl0,OO was realiz-
ed from their publication. Foster never
derived any royalty from them.
In his young manhood StephenC. Fos-
ter was small in stature clean-cut but
, rather heavy features, prominent nose
, and large, dark eyes. He was an inter
+ esting conversationa,ist, but not demon.
, stratiyc. One peculiariiy that marked
. his life was habit Of ignoring his ac
. quaintances on the street. Apparently
absorbed in himself. he would notice NJ
person on the street When % years o
age he began to derive very respectable
income from his songs, and then frs
thought of writing ballads as business
it being more to his taste and peculiar i'll
clination than anything else. He ha'
n already put twenty-five or more songs he
., fore the public, but he now entered int
n contract with Firth, Pond 4 Co., t
Ia publish his compositions. In 1870 h
n. wrote "Nellie was Lady" besides
v score of songs of lesser note, and in tn
is summer of 1851 he composed "Old Folk
Id at Home enormously called "Swane
e River"
l. The predominant trait of Fosters life
rs outside of his passion for music, was hi
te love of home and his affection for hi
IS mother. In 1850 he was united in maj
Id riage to Miss Jane D. Mcdowell, a pre-
possessing young lady and daughter
a DIR. A. N. Mcdowell, then the leadin
10 physician of Pittsburg. Shortly aftt
~ his marriage ho removed with his wife
a, New York, at the suggestion OF NJ
nj Pond, his publisher. They boarded fo
is while with Mrs. Stewart on Gree
iii street, and afterward kept house in Hob
We ken.
CHI One day Foster astonished his wi
lt- with the announcement that he was 9
en- ing back to Pittsburg. Within twent
lc- four hours their household goods we
in disposed of at great sacrifice and tn
, u were on their way home, arriving in til
he city in the middle of the night. III
zen Young man was homesick, though his Il
nd ton in breaking up his Hoboken hon
was wholly in accord with the crratic i
niu ~ stinct that governed his whole life. Il
''' longing and homesickness Of that peri
- suggested sold Folks Mt Home" 4
,he song of all his songs that Stephen
'A Foster was the proudest Of. 1t was .wr
the ten verse Mt time, with days and wee
/. at intervening between the composition
the each stanza
the One day he entered his brothers II
iv. said 81 want good river name.
his have tried Yazoo and several others, I
they do not suit ii must have two syl
rat blcs and must be a Southern stream.
his 81 took down an atlas, said Mr.. Nj
'nd rison Foster, who related the incide
was "and we began n search. Very sool
=, W found n little bit of a river on the we
nee ern side of Florida, called the Swanee.
di Ms "'That's it, that's Just the thing y
,'aI n claimed Stephen, in an ecstacy, AMI
,fhh snatched pen and filled APP the blai
m in the manuscript with the word and
mid song was completed He was never
him that section of the South where the Sw
his nee River is located. Some editions
nee, song spell tine river Suanee. This ia
'ow, aboriginal name of the Cumberland,
hich is not the stream that Foster immorta
fter ed. He seemed to possess an intult
'eral idea of negro life When he wrote 90
h he Uncle Ned" in which the lines occur,
in
Ills fingers werelong
cnn Like de cane IN de brake,
star he had never seen canebrake, tho
the simile was peculiarly appropri
"Old Folks at Home" was FORWARDED
Firth, Pond Co., and at the same
f. p. Christy opened negotiations '
the author for the sole right to introd