The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-04-13
BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON

@T LAS Scotch political writer who,
4 more than two centuries ago, said in
substance: 81 care not who makes a
1 nations laws If I have the making
of its ballads" but it remained for an
: : !: !: :: !: !:
&c 81 American to give real significance to
Hh / that oft-quoted - and usually mis-
HANt quoted-sayng. With but few excep-
PPQE tons, the fame of the hundreds Of
our lawmakers has scarcely survived
49, their brief moment on the stage OF
history, but the fame of Stephen Foster has
endured for nearly century and seems likely
TO endure for centuries to come. For he was
the man who wrote some of a nations best
loved ballads and new biography of him by
John TaSker Howard, published by the Thomas
Y. Crowell company, bears the appropriate title
OF stephen Foster, Americas TroubadOur."
Considering the place which Foster and his
songs hold in the hearts of his countrymen, it
is also appropriate that the birthday of the
nation should also be his birthday. For he
born on July 4, 1926, the fftieth anniversary Of
the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
and at noon on that day he was ushered into
the world to the tune of Hail Columbia" cyan
kee Doodle" Hail to the Chief and THE Star
Spanged Banner" played by blaring bands,
while cannon with their noisy salutes shook the
ground so heavily that some were afraid they
would disturb the delicate, though accustomed,
operation at the White Cottage" in Lawrence
vile, Pa. (now district in the city Of Pitts
burgh).
The reference to the accustomed operation"
is to the fact that the new member of the Foster
family was the ninth child born to William B.
and Eliza Foster and had Stephen been the
first rather than the ninth child his wife had
borne him, William B. Foster might not have
felt free to absent himself from his home at
noon on that 4th of July" But that does not
necessarily mean that such events were too COM
monplace to keep William Foster at the side Of
his wife. For he was a prosperous merchant
and trader, a leading citizen Of the community
on the banks of the Allegheny river and on that
particular occasion an assistant to the mayor
of Pittsburgh in the conduct of the Independence
Day ceebratOn-a good reason for his absence
from the White Cottage.
part Of the celebration was an excellent
dinner" at which 13 toasts Tin honor of the Thir-
teen Original States) were given and William
Foster "came second, as first vice president of
the day, following the mayor who drank to The
United States of America Foster toasted The
independence of the United States ac-
CURED by the blood and valour of our venerable
progenitors. To US they bequeathed the dear
bought Inheritance; to our care and protection
they consigned it; and the most sacred obliga-
lions are upon US to transmit the glorious pur-
chase unfetter"f by power, to our innocent and
beloved offspring Was he thinking of his latest
OHSpTluR, OI WuOSe COnluS ny lie nuSL
have known?"
Under the circumstances the newcomer in the
Foster household perhaps should have been given
name In keeping with the Importance of that
day, for 1t was one Of the most significant INDIE
pendence days in our history in that it saw the
death of two former Presidents-Thomas Jeffer-
son and John Adams. A month later a relative,
writing to the little boys older sister, Charlotte
Foster, asked "How does :. the little Hero,
fnr 7 hn mill ho hoip hnrn
great and eventful a day. You certainly ought
to call him Jefferson or Adams and other
name. :" But his mother thought other
wise. She named him Stephen Collins for the
son of a neighbor and childhood friend of hers,
a little boy who had died just before her son
was born.
The youngest member of a large family, Ste
phen was both petted and spoiled, but he seems
never to have been very well understood by the
other Fosters His aptitude for music came into
evidence early. When he was two, he would
place his sisters guitar on the floor and, bending
over 1t, pick out harmonies from its strings.
When he was seven he was taken into a music
store by one of his brothers. There he saw
fageolet picked 1t up and was playing tune
upon 1t before his brother realized what he was
doing.
At the age of thirteen Stephen was taken by
his older brother, William to Towanda, Pa, so
he could attend Athens academy at Tioga Point,
not far away. But the boy was homesick at
Athens and spent much of his time with his
brother at Towanda, attending the Towanda
academy as well as the one at Tioga Point He
was not a particularly apt student and about
the only Importance there is to this period in his
career is that during this time he composed his
first music. 1.-THE Tioga Waltz" arranged for
four flutes and written for the commencement
exercises at Athens upon which occasion Ste
phen played the leading part himself, while three
other students played the remaining parts.
In 1S41 Stephen entered Jefferson college
at Canonsburg Pa, IS miles from his home at
Pittsburgh, and stayed in this institution just
seven days Then, overcome by inconsistencies.
he left college, never again to seek formal
education A year later he composed the music
for his first song "Open Thy Lattice, Love"
poem written by George P. Morris which had
appeared In a supplement to the New Mirror.
1t was issued as a twopage song, without title
page, with this heading the first page
OPEN THY LATTICE LOVE
Composed for and dedicated