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FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS (1826-1864)

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 733 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FOSTER, See also:STEPHEN See also:COLLINS (1826-1864) , See also:American See also:song and ballad writer, was See also:born near See also:Pittsburg, See also:Pennsylvania, on the 4th of See also:July 1826. He was the youngest See also:child of a See also:merchant of Irish descent who became a member of the See also:state legislature and was related by See also:marriage to See also:President See also:Buchanan. Stephen See also:early showed See also:talent for See also:music, and played upon the See also:flageolet, the See also:guitar and the See also:banjo; he also acquired a See also:fair knowledge of See also:French and See also:German. He was sent to school in See also:Towanda, Pennsylvania, and later to See also:Athens, Pennsylvania, and when thirteen years old he wrote the song " Sadly to Mine See also:Heart Appealing." At sixteen he wrote " Open thy Lattice, Love "; at seventeen he entered his See also:brother's business See also:house, See also:Cincinnati, See also:Ohio, where he remained about three years, composing meanwhile such popular pieces as " Old See also:Uncle Ned," " O Susannah!" and others. He then adopted song-See also:writing as a profession. His See also:chief successes were songs written for the See also:negro melodists or See also:Christy minstrels. Besides those mentioned the following attained See also:great popularity: " Nelly was a See also:Lady," " Old See also:Kentucky See also:Home," " Old Folks at Home," " See also:Massa's in de See also:Cold, Cold Ground," &c. For these and other songs the composer received considerable sums, " Old Folks at Home " bringing him, it is said, 15,000 dollars. For most of his songs Foster wrote both songs and music. In 1850 he married and moved to New See also:York, but soon returned to Pittsburg. His reputation rests chiefly on his negro melodies, many of which have been popular on both sides of the See also:Atlantic and sung in many See also:tongues. " Old See also:Black Joe," the last of these negro melodies, appeared in 1861.

His later songs were sentimental See also:

ballads. Among these are " Old See also:Dog See also:Tray," " See also:Gentle Annie," " Willie, we have missed you," &c. His " Come where my Love lies Dreaming " is a well known vocal quartet. Al-though as a musician and composer Foster has little claim to high See also:rank, his song-writing gives him a prominent See also:place in the See also:modern developments of popular music. He died at New York on the 13th of See also:January 1864.

End of Article: FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS (1826-1864)

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