Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1947-11-01
LIFE and MUSIC OF
STEPHEN C. foster
BY MARY 10 FORSELL

Inc r OStcT 1dIlliy III IofO uC-
cided that Stephen should go to
Cincinnati and become a book
keeper for Dunning, who was in
partnership with Archibald Irwin,
Jr., as commission and forward
ing merchants and steamboat
agents.
Before Stephen left for Cincinn-
att, his some There's A Good
Time Coming" was copyrighted by
Peters and Field in Cincinnati The
eight-versed song with it's elab-
crate accompaniment was not par
ticularly successful.
William c. Peters was a friend
of Stephen Fosters, who lived in
Cincinnati and owned music pub
fishing house. Peters obtained
"Stay Summer Breath" and Uncle
Ned" and Susanna Don't You
Cry" from Stephen and published
them at different dates in 1848. It
is still puzzling exactly how, when
and by whom, those first two
songs were published. Stephen
had a habit of giving copies of his
song to more than one person be-
fore they were copyrighted and
published. Many Foster songs
We're sung by minstrel groups,
such as the Sable Harmonists and
Christy's Minstrels. 1t is difficult
to determine the first performance
or publishing of a song. Howard
lists twenty different publications
of 20 Susanna" from February,
1910, to February, 1851.
AS Dunning's bookkeeper, Ste
phen was neat and efficient, how
ever the work was probably dis
tasteful to him. 1t was of second
airy importance to him and there
fore he did not devote his entire
time to it.
In 1S49 Stephen Foster made
some business dealings with Firth,
Pond & Co., in which the company
agreed to pay him two cents per
copy on all future songs, and re-
fers to fifty copies as Fosters in
terest in MY Brudder Gum and
"Nelly Was Lady. Stephen a.
that time really had no financial
interests in those songs. Another
house that published his works
was F. D. Benteen of Baltimore.
stephen Foster was now well
launched on his career as a song
writer. At twenty-three, success
had come to him suddenly, unex-
pectedly and to an amazing de-
gree" His strange a len for
music" had set a nation singing,
and his melodies were soon to
travel overseas into every corner
of the world" This is what Mil
ligan says about Fosters first
fame.
Stephen went home to Allegheny
(Pittsburgh) and devoted himself
entirely to composition.
Not much is known of Stephens
courtship of Jane Mcdowell. He
did have a rival, Richard Cowan,
who was a friend of both Jane and
Stephen. Stephen asked Jane to
marry him one evening in a mat
ter-of-fact way just after a visit
from Mr.. Cowan. They were mar
ried July %, 1850, and after a
short visit to Baltimore and New
York, they lived with the Foster
family. Marion Foster, their only
child. was born April IL, 1881
Stephen worked industriously on
his music now.
He and Jane went for a vaca-
ton to New Orleans in February
of 1852, together with a company
of friends. After his return, ste,
phen is supposed to have visited
Bardetown, Kentucky, where his
sisters Charlotte and Ann Eliza
had visited many years before, and
written My Old Kentucky Home.
John Howard. and File tic n
Hodges, curator of Foster Han,
tried increasingly to find some sort
of evidence that would prove this
legend to be either true or false
however their search was in vain
They found no information at all
In quite complete file of news
paDers and records