My Banjo Playing Nephew David's Relationship With Stephen Foster

That is my nephew, David, staging one of his impromptu banjo concerts for his brother and sister, Theo and Ruby.

David will soon be 3 years old. Theo and Ruby have yet to cross the year one threshold.

When my sister told me David was fixated on Stephen Foster songs I Googled to jog my memory about Stephen Foster.

David's favorite Foster song is "Oh! Susanna". His concerts include others of Foster's well known songs, such as "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home", also known as "Swanee River", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Hard Times Come Again No More".

That last song, the one about Hard Times was a bit ironic for Stephen Foster. He was only 37 when he died.

While Foster is known as the "Father of American Music" and the pre-eminent songwriter of the 19th century, he was unable to make a living as a professional songwriter, due to the fact that that field did not exist, in America, at that time.

In the early 19th century the concept of music copyrights and composer royalties was ill defined, allowing sheet music publishers to steal his tunes.

Stephen Foster made a measly $100 for "Oh Susanna."

Stephen Foster was born on the 4th of July in 1826. He died in New York City on January 1, 1864. Foster had moved to New York City in 1860. A year later his wife and daughter left him, moving back to Pittsburgh.

Foster began a collaboration with a lyricist named George Cooper, during the Civil War, and together they spewed out a lot of music with patriotic war themes. But this did not improve Foster's financial situation.

Stephen Foster died after he contracted a fever and collapsed against a wash basin, clunking his head hard. Foster was living in abject poverty when he died. In his old leather wallet there was a scrap of paper which only said, "Dear friends and gentle hearts", along with 3 pennies and 35 cents in Civil War scrip.

Stephen Foster was buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. One of his most popular songs, "Beautiful Dreamer", was published shortly after he died.

I don't know if his widow got any money for "Beautiful Dreamer."

I also don't know when David's next Stephen Foster Banjo Concert takes place. Currently I believe there is no admission fee to David's concerts.