The Sunday globe., 1901-07-07
AUTHOR OF DIXIE
Old Dan Rice Spending His Last
Days in Ohio.
THE HOME OF HIS BOYHOOO
How He Composed Tho Immortal Song Which
Thrilled The Hearts Of Robert E, Lees
Soldiers and Made StoneSa JacksOnS Men
lndnClbIs-Th8 Last Earthly Music Heard
BY Thousands of tho Brave

I
Five miles south of Fredericktown,
o., in a lonely little hermitage, Dan
d. Emmett, Father of Negro Min
strelsy' is slowly passing away the
| last days of his eventful life He is
| best known as the author of Dixie
| Land" the soul-stirring negro melody,
which served as a rallying song in two
of the worlds greatest wars. On a
| bright, sunny afternoon, Uncle Dan, %
as he is familiarly known, viii sit for
| hours in a rustic chair before his little
cottage, in reyeries of by.gone days,
dreaming of his early trials and tri-
umphs, He loves to talk, more espe-
Cially to young people, of his eventful
career as a musician, and, charmed by
the old mans plaintiye voice and man
ner, he finds them earnest listeners TO
his tales of the early days of min
strelsy Mr.. Emmett, now So years
old, was born in Morris township in
1915, and began his career as a musi.
| clan twenty years later Coming from
a family of musicians, whose fame is
still traditional in this section, he not
unnaturally showed at an early age a
remarkable talent for music. While
/ yet boy he accompanied a circus as a
stranded musician, and it developed on
him daily to present a program Of
songs with banjo accompaniment The
/ songs and music were of his own com
position. But it was in 1859 that he
composed the song that made him at
once famous. Mr.. Emmett speaking
of his composition Of Dixie" said to
a friend:
Il wrote Dixie like everything else
/ ever did, because It had to be done
| was playing with Bryant's Theater
in 1859 and on certain Saturday
night when ! was leaving, Bryant call
ed to me, We've got to list new at
traction, Dan. Give us a new walk
around for next week. Make It lively
and the kind the bands will play and
the boys will whistle in the street
The next day it rained and ! was
obliged to stay indoors, so / set to
work on the song At first | could do
nothing My store of thoughts suita.
bic for the desired song seemed eX-
hausted ! went to the window and
looked out into the street. The cold
rain was beating and driving and my
thoughts went back to ,4e time when
| was travelling with a circus When
caught in inclement weather in the
North the negroes with the circus were
wont to wish they were in Dixie land.
Then a sentence, 4 wish | was in
Dixie kept repeating itself in my
mind. Discouraged, | went back to
the desk and set it down, and the rest
came easy. In twenty minutes the
words and music were complete, and
that's the whole story of how Dixie
came to be written. Dixie was just
what Bryant wanted for the next week.
When we arrived in New York the
boys were actually whistling it in the
street It made a great hit at once
and | sang it every night. Then the
South took it and claimed it as its
own. Dixie undoubtedly prolonged
the Civil War 1t made heroes out Of
the rough, undisciplined Southern SOL
diers. and when played before battle
nerved them for the mighty struggle
/ that was to follow. The officers real
/ lied the value OF this favorite song,
and when the men were disheartened
/ and discouraged the band would strike
up Dixie and the hardened veterans
would be moved to tears, ready to die
/ for their beloved Dixie Land. The or
/ ig.nal manuscript was stolen from me
| when l was travelling with Fields min
/ strels four years ago, II was my most
/ cherished possession" Emmett is still
remarkably strong but will never ap-
pear in public again, He owes his re-
markable health to his temperate life.
Speaking of his future, he said: IF
chose to travel could be a great man
a over the United States, but ] have
had enough Of it. | came back here to
live and die in the home of my boy
hood years. | will never leave Knox
county again"