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Stephen Collins Foster (born 4 Jul 1826; died 13 Jan 1864) was the son of William Barcley Foster (born: 7 Sep 1779; died 27 Jul 1855) and Elisa Clayland [Tomlinson] Foster (born: Jan 1788; died Jan 1855) who were married in 1807. He had three sisters (Charlotte Susanna, Ann Eliza, and Henrietta) and four brothers (James [who died in infancy], Dunning McNair, Morrison and William). In 1850, he married Jane Denny McDowell. Among his most popular songs are: Oh! Susanna (1848), De Camptown Races (1850), Old Folks at Home [aka Swanee River] (1851), My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night! (1853), Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair (1854), Gentle Annie (1856), Beautiful Dreamer (1862), and The Voices That Are Gone (1865). The following published chronological song listing is derived from definitive information from the Center for American Music at Foster Memorial Hall of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. My three main resources for obtaining score copies were The Music of Stephen C. Foster: A Critical Edition prepared by Steven Saunders and Dean L. Root (1990), Morrison Foster's book, published in 1896 and reprinted in 1977 by AMS Press, of Biography, Songs and Musical Compositions of Stephen C. Foster, and The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music. An excellent supplementary resource, which began my interest in this project was Stephen Foster Song Book: Original Sheet Music of 40 Songs by STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER Selected, with an Introduction and Notes by RICHARD JACKSON, 1974, Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-23048-1. |