Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as “the father of American music”, was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and folk music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, including “Oh! Susanna”, “Hard Times Come Again No More”, “Camptown Races”, “Old Folks at Home” (“Swanee River”), “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”, “Old Black Joe”, and “Beautiful Dreamer”. Many of his compositions remain popular today.
Foster became sick with a fever in January 1864. Weakened, it is possible he fell in his hotel in the Bowery and cut his neck; he may also have sought to take his own life. His writing partner George Cooper found him still alive but lying in a pool of blood. Foster died in Bellevue Hospital three days later at the age of 37. His leather wallet contained a scrap of paper that simply said, “Dear friends and gentle hearts”, along with 37 cents in Civil War scrip and three pennies.