I've been talking about songwriters in a couple posts this year so I thought why not showcase someone labeled as the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century. Stephen Foster was born in 1826 and died in 1864. His biographies can be iffy to look through, because there is a lot of conflicting information and much of the information was destroyed by his brother to protect the family. What we do know is that he could play piano, clarinet, violin, guitar, and flute. He worked as a bookkeeper for his brother's company when he wrote his first songs. He moved to Pennsylvania and joined the Christy Minstrels. Many of his songs were used in blackface minstrel shows because he wanted to "build up taste...instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs to the order." Side note that it's disgusting that blackface plays used to be the norm. Foster later teamed up to write song for an abolitionist leader for a play he was writing. After that he moved home, then got ill from fever before dying after a fall that cut his neck. This song was actually published after his death, but is one of his most famous and beloved works. I'm sure mist people know the song, but now you know where it comes from too.
Peace.
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