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Septimus Winner (May 11, 1827 – November 22, 1905)[citation needed] was an American songwriter of the 19th century. He used his own name, and also the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne, Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton. He was also a teacher, performer, and music publisher.

Biography

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Winner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the seventh child to Joseph E. Winner (an instrument maker specializing in violins) and wife Mary Ann. Mary Ann Winner was a relative of Nathaniel Hawthorne, hence Septimus' use of the Hawthorne name as part of his pseudonym Alice Hawthorne.

Winner attended Philadelphia Central High School. Although largely self-taught in the area of music, he did take lessons from Leopold Meignen around 1853, but by that time he was already an established instrumental teacher, and performed locally with various ensembles.

From around 1845 to 1854, Septimus Winner partnered with his brother Joseph Eastburn Winner (1837–1918) as music publishers. Septimus continued in the business with various partners and names until 1902.

Winner was especially popular for his ballads published under the pseudonym of Alice Hawthorne, which became known generically as "Hawthorne's Ballads". His brother was also a composer, publishing under the alias Eastburn. Septimus Winner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.[1]

In addition to composing popular songs, Winner also produced more than 200 instruction method books for more than twenty-three instruments. He wrote more than 1,500 easy arrangements for various instruments and almost 2,000 arrangements for violin and piano.

Songs

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In 1855, Winner published the song "Listen to the Mockingbird" under the Alice Hawthorne name. He had arranged and added words to a tune by local singer/guitarist Richard Milburn, an employee, whom he credited. Later he sold the rights, reputedly for five dollars, and subsequent publications omitted Milburn's name from the credits. The song was indeed a winner, selling about 15 million copies in the United States alone.

Another of his successes, and still familiar, is "Der Deitcher's Dog", or "Oh Where, oh Where Ish Mine Little Dog Gone", a text that Winner set to the German folk tune "In Lauterbach hab' ich mein' Strumpf verlor'n"[2] in 1864, which recorded massive sales during Winner's lifetime.

The first verse of "Der Deitcher's Dog" is particularly noteworthy as its first verse has become a popular nursery rhyme:

Oh, where, oh, where has my little dog gone?
Oh, where, oh, where can he be?
With his ears cut short, and his tail cut long,
Oh, where, oh, where can he be?

Modern versions occasionally change "cut" to "so".

The original song is written in German dialect Pennsylvania "Dutch"), and subsequent verses praise lager, but lament the fact that "mit no money", drinking it is not possible, and praise sausages and thence to speculate on the fate of the missing dog:

Dey makes un mit dog und dey makes em mit horse,
I guess dey makes em mit he

Another of Winner's best-remembered songs, "Ten Little Injuns", was originally published in 1864. This was adapted, possibly by Frank J. Green in 1868 as "Ten Little Niggers" and became a standard of the blackface minstrel shows.[3] It was sung by Christy's Minstrels and became widely known in Europe, where it was used by Agatha Christie in her 1939 novel And Then There Were None, about 10 killings on a remote island.[4] In 2005, film historian Richard Finegan identified Winner as the composer of The Three Stooges song "Swingin' the Alphabet" featured in their 1938 film Violent Is the Word for Curly. Winner had originally published it in 1875 as "The Spelling Bee".[5]

In 1862, Winner was court-martialed and briefly jailed, accused of treason, because he wrote and published a song entitled "Give Us Back Our Old Commander: Little Mac, the People's Pride". It concerned General George B. McClellan, whom President Abraham Lincoln had just fired from the command of the Army of the Potomac.[6] McClellan was a popular man, and his supporters bought more than 80,000 copies of the song in its first two days of publication.[citation needed] He was released from arrest after promising to destroy all of the remaining copies. Shortly after his release, he wrote, "Oh Where, oh Where Ish Mine Little Dog Gone".[6] The song reappeared in 1864 when McClellan was a presidential candidate. In 1880, the words were rewritten as a campaign ditty on behalf of Ulysses S. Grant.[1]

Winner's 1865 love song of the American Civil War, Sweet Ellie Rhee (or "Carry Me Back to Tennessee"), is widely considered to have been introduced to South Africa by Americans working in the Transvaal gold mines, and to have greatly influenced the well-known Afrikaans song Sarie Marais.

Sweet Ellie Rhee, so dear to me
Is lost forever more
Our home was down in Tennessee
Before this cruel war
Then carry me back to Tennessee
Back where I long to be
Amid the fields of yellow corn
To my darling Ellie Rhee

Personal life

[edit]

Artist Margaret F. Winner was his youngest daughter.[7]

Songs

[edit]

The most popular Septimus Winner songs include:

  • "How Sweet Are the Roses" (1850)
  • "I Set My Heart Upon a Flower" (1854)
  • "What Is Home Without a Mother" (1854)
  • "Listen to the Mockingbird" (1855)
  • "Abraham's Daughter" or "Raw Recruits" (1861)
  • "Der Deitcher's Dog" (1864)
  • "Ellie Rhee" or "Carry Me Back to Tennessee" (1865)
  • "What Care I?" (1866)
  • "Whispering Hope" (1868)
  • "Ten Little Injuns" (1868)
  • "The Birdies' Ball" (1869)
  • "Come Where the Woodbine Twineth" (1870)
  • "Love Once Gone Is Lost Forever" (1870)

References

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Further reading

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Septimus Winner

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Septimus Winner (May 11, 1827 – November 22, 1902) was an American songwriter, composer, violinist, and music publisher active in Philadelphia during the 19th century, renowned for sentimental ballads such as "Listen to the Mocking Bird," which he published under the female pseudonym Alice Hawthorne to appeal to Victorian audiences.[1][2] Largely self-taught after initial studies with violinist Leopold Meignen, Winner opened a music shop at age 20, where he sold instruments, sheet music, and his own publications while offering lessons on violin, guitar, banjo, and other instruments.[2][3] He composed under multiple pseudonyms—including Percy Guyer, Mark Stoddard, and Apsley Street—producing over 200 volumes of music instruction books and more than 2,000 arrangements, primarily for violin and piano, which catered to amateur musicians in an era of expanding domestic music-making.[3][1] Among his enduring works is the hymn "Whispering Hope," still performed today, alongside patriotic and parlor songs that reflected mid-19th-century American tastes.[4] Winner's career intersected with the sheet music boom, but "Listen to the Mocking Bird" drew later scrutiny for its disputed origins, with claims it adapted an African American folk melody purchased from performer George Milburn for five dollars, though Winner marketed it as an original composition.[1][5] His father's violin-making trade influenced his early immersion in music, enabling a prolific output that spanned serious compositions, instructional materials, and commercial hits, though he remained more a practitioner of accessible popular music than a classical innovator.[2][3]

Early Life

Family and Birth

Septimus Winner was born on May 11, 1827, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][6] He was the seventh child in his family, a distinction reflected in his given name, which derives from the Latin word for "seventh."[7][8] His parents were Joseph Eastburn Winner, a violin maker and instrument specialist, and Mary Ann Hawthorne, who was reportedly related to the New England poet John Greenleaf Whittier.[9][3][7] The Winner family resided in Philadelphia, where Joseph Winner's trade in musical instruments likely influenced the household's early exposure to music.[9] Septimus had at least one notable sibling, his brother Joseph E. Winner Jr., who also pursued musical endeavors.[3]

Education and Early Musical Training

Winner attended the Central High School of Philadelphia during the 1840s, maintaining notebooks of lectures that include entries from 1843.[1] As the son of Joseph Eastburn Winner, a Philadelphia-based maker of musical instruments including violins, he received early exposure to music through familial influence and environment.[1][9] Primarily self-taught as a musician despite this background, Winner pursued structured training later in his development.[1][2] In early 1853, at age 25, he studied music theory and violin technique under Leopold Meignen, a Philadelphia-based composer and bandmaster, attending approximately 16 sessions from January through early May, as documented in his personal notebooks.[1] This brief formal instruction complemented his independent mastery of multiple instruments and composition. By age 20 in 1847, Winner had opened his own music shop in Philadelphia, where he offered instruction on violin, guitar, banjo, and other instruments, signaling the onset of his hands-on musical practice and teaching experience.[2][1] He also participated in local ensembles, including the Philadelphia Brass Band and Cecilian Music Society, honing performance skills through practical application rather than extended academic study.[3]

Musical Career

Songwriting and Pseudonyms

Septimus Winner composed numerous sentimental ballads and songs during the mid-19th century, often publishing them under pseudonyms to enhance market appeal in an era when female-authored works were perceived as more emotionally resonant.[2] His primary pseudonym, Alice Hawthorne, derived from an anagram of his mother's maiden name, Mary Ann Hawthorne, was used for hits such as "Listen to the Mockingbird" (1855), which sold over a million copies of sheet music, and "Whispering Hope" (1868).[1] [3] These compositions emphasized themes of love, nature, and domestic sentiment, reflecting Winner's skill in crafting accessible, melodic vocal pieces that resonated with popular audiences.[9] In addition to Alice Hawthorne, Winner employed other pseudonyms including Percy Guyer, Mark Mason, Apsley Street, and Paul Stenton for various publications, allowing him to diversify his output and experiment with styles while maintaining anonymity.[4] This practice was common among 19th-century songwriters seeking to evade typecasting or to target specific markets, though Winner also released works under his own name, particularly instrumental pieces and arrangements.[4] By the 1850s, his Hawthorne-penned ballads had earned a generic reputation as "Hawthorne ballads," underscoring their commercial dominance in American parlors and sheet music sales.[10] Winner's strategic use of pseudonyms coincided with his establishment of Winner & Co. as one of the earliest songwriter-owned publishing firms, enabling direct control over distribution and royalties.[2]

Publishing and Commercial Ventures

In 1845, at the age of 18, Septimus Winner entered the music publishing business by partnering with his younger brother Joseph Eastburn Winner, establishing a firm that operated until approximately 1854.[11] Following the dissolution of this partnership, Winner independently managed several publishing ventures under names including Winner & Shuster, Sep. Winner & Co., and Winner & Co., focusing on sheet music distribution and sales in Philadelphia.[11] One early example involved Winner & Shuster publishing a song shortly after its creation, after which Winner sold the rights to another local firm to expand market reach.[1] Around 1847, Winner opened a music shop in Philadelphia at age 20, where he sold instruments, taught lessons, and marketed his own compositions and instructional materials.[2] This commercial outlet complemented his publishing efforts, allowing direct promotion of over 200 method books he authored for instruments such as violin, banjo, and guitar, alongside approximately 1,500 other musical works.[12] By 1867, Sep. Winner & Co. issued The Musical Journal, a periodical serving as a promotional house organ to highlight his catalog and attract customers.[13] These ventures positioned Winner among the pioneering songwriters who established independent publishing companies to control production and sales of their output, reducing reliance on larger firms like Lee & Walker.[14] His business model emphasized self-sufficiency, combining composition, instruction, retail, and dissemination of sheet music to build a sustainable enterprise in the pre-recording era of American popular music.[3]

Performing and Instruction

Winner established a music shop in Philadelphia shortly after graduating from Central High School in 1847, where he offered private lessons on instruments including the violin, guitar, and banjo.[2] His teaching focused on practical skills for amateur musicians, drawing from his largely self-taught background supplemented by brief formal instruction around 1853.[1] Through this venture, Winner catered to a growing demand for accessible music education amid the mid-19th-century rise in home music-making, emphasizing instruments suited to parlor and social settings.[15] To support his instructional efforts, Winner authored several method books, particularly advancing banjo pedagogy during its popularity surge in the 1850s and 1860s. His New Primer for the Banjo (1864) provided foundational techniques, including stroke patterns and simple tunes, while later works like Eureka Method for the Banjo (circa 1870s) introduced innovative "eureka" styles for tenor and standard banjos, promoting rhythmic strumming and improvisation.[16] These publications, sold via his stores, standardized banjo instruction and contributed to the instrument's mainstream adoption beyond minstrel shows, with editions reprinted into the 20th century.[17] Winner's guitar methods, though less documented, aligned with his shop lessons, often featuring arrangements of popular songs for self-study.[18] As a performer, Winner engaged in local Philadelphia ensembles rather than widespread touring or solo concerts, playing violin and other strings in groups like the Philadelphia Brass Band, Cecilian Musical Society Orchestra, and Musical Fund Society Orchestra from the 1840s onward.[2] These affiliations involved appearances at balls, parades, and civic events, where he contributed to brass and string sections supporting marches and dances typical of urban 19th-century music scenes.[15] His performances reinforced his compositional output, occasionally featuring his own banjo or guitar pieces in informal settings tied to his teaching and publishing activities.[3]

Notable Works

Popular Vocal Songs

Septimus Winner composed over 200 songs, many published under the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne to appeal to sentimental tastes of the era, with several achieving widespread popularity in the United States during the mid- to late 19th century.[9] His vocal works often featured simple melodies suited for parlor singing and amateur performance, blending folk influences with romantic lyrics.[2] One of his earliest hits was "How Sweet Are the Roses," written in 1850 but published in 1853, which established his reputation for tender ballads.[9] This was followed by "What Is Home Without a Mother" in 1854, a sentimental piece that resonated with family-oriented audiences and became a staple in songbooks.[9] Winner's most enduring success came with "Listen to the Mocking Bird" in 1855, where he provided lyrics under the Alice Hawthorne name to a melody derived from enslaved composer Richard Milburn; he sold the rights for $5, yet it generated millions in royalties for others, selling an estimated 20 million copies over decades.[19] [2] In 1868, Winner released "Whispering Hope," another Alice Hawthorne composition portraying faith as a consoling force, which gained traction as a sacred or inspirational song and remains performed today.[2] Other notable vocal works include "Oh! Where, Oh! Where Has My Little Dog Gone" (1864, under Percy Guyer), a humorous dialect song that entered folk repertoires.[2] These pieces contributed to Winner's commercial output through his publishing firm, though he often received limited direct financial benefit due to undervalued sales agreements.[9]

Instrumental Compositions

Septimus Winner composed instrumental music primarily in dance forms suited to social gatherings of the mid- to late-19th century, including cotillons, quadrilles, schottisches, and marches, often arranged for piano solo or accompanied by violin or flute.[9] These works reflected the era's demand for accessible, playable pieces for amateur musicians, with many published in collections like Winner's Plain and Fancy Cotillons (1857), which provided simplified piano arrangements of plain and fancy cotillon figures.[20] His dance music extended to flute and piano or reed organ formats, as in Winner's Dance Music (1870), featuring popular cotillions.[21] Notable early examples include Village Polka Quadrilles (1850), a piano set blending polka rhythms with quadrille structures.[22] Later dance collections encompassed The Mocking Bird Cotillons (1856), drawing thematic inspiration from his famous song but adapted instrumentally; Black Diamond Cotillions or Quadrilles (1872); and Wide Awake Set of plain cotillions (1871).[9] Winner also produced violin-piano duets such as Fireside Schottisch (1856) and Aria Alla Schozzese (1870), alongside marches like Baxter March (1885), all emphasizing melodic simplicity and rhythmic drive for parlor performance.[9] In piano solo repertoire, Winner's output featured short, evocative character pieces, including Une Pensée du Soir (An Evening Thought), a reverie published in 1872; Bud of Promise (1874); Organ Pastime (1875) from Winner's Budget of Music for the Piano or Organ; and Baby's Dance (1880) from The Pet Set of Easy Airs.[9] [23] Additional solos like The Banjo catered to sentimental or descriptive styles popular in instructional contexts.[24] His flute collection Tunes of the World (1863) incorporated original airs, gigues, ecossaises, mazurkas, waltzes, and marches, blending folk influences with composed elements for self-instruction.[25] Overall, Winner's instrumental compositions numbered in the hundreds, supporting his ventures in music publishing and teaching, though they received less acclaim than his vocal works and prioritized utility over innovation.[2]

Civil War Involvement

Political Songwriting

Septimus Winner produced political songs during the American Civil War that critiqued Union military leadership and recruitment efforts, often reflecting popular discontent among certain Northern demographics. In late 1862, after President Abraham Lincoln relieved General George B. McClellan of command of the Army of the Potomac on November 7, Winner swiftly composed and published "Give Us Back Our Old Commander: Little Mac, the People's Pride," a protest ballad urging McClellan's reinstatement.[1] The lyrics praised McClellan as a capable and beloved figure, decrying his removal as a loss to the troops and public, with lines such as "Give us back our old commander, / Little Mac, the people's pride."[3] This sheet music sold an estimated 80,000 copies within two days, indicating widespread resonance amid McClellan's support base in Democratic and pro-compromise circles.[26] Earlier in the war, Winner penned "Abraham's Daughter (Raw Recruits)" in 1861, a jaunty tune satirizing the surge of inexperienced volunteers responding to Lincoln's July call for 300,000 troops.[27] The song depicted the recruits' enthusiasm through humorous verses about "raw" enlistees marching off, underscoring the transformative social impact of mobilization while employing a light, zouave-style rhythm typical of early war fervor compositions.[28] Attributed to Winner in period song sheets, it captured the era's recruitment dynamics without explicit partisan alignment, though its tone aligned with broader commentary on Union preparedness.[3] Winner's political output remained limited compared to his sentimental ballads, focusing on immediate events like command changes rather than broader ideological tracts; these works, published via his Philadelphia firm Winner & Shuster, leveraged his established pseudonyms such as "Alice Hawthorne" for distribution.[1] While not overtly secessionist, the McClellan advocacy drew scrutiny for potentially undermining federal authority, as McClellan's hesitancy in offensive operations and later presidential candidacy against Lincoln fueled perceptions of Copperhead influence.[29] No evidence indicates Winner composed songs explicitly endorsing Confederate positions, though his Philadelphia base—sympathetic to Southern trade ties—contextualized such expressions.[3]

Arrest and Treason Charge

In November 1862, shortly after President Abraham Lincoln relieved General George B. McClellan of command of the Army of the Potomac on November 7, Septimus Winner composed and published the song "Give Us Back Our Old Commander: Little Mac, the People's Pride," which lamented McClellan's dismissal and called for his reinstatement, portraying it as a betrayal of Union soldiers' trust.[3] The lyrics explicitly criticized Lincoln's leadership, stating lines such as "We trusted him from the start / Our Country's pride and boast / But now he's gone, torn from our heart / And left us on this coast," which authorities deemed seditious and capable of inciting military discontent and disloyalty amid the ongoing Civil War.[2] The broadside sheet music, printed by Winner & Co. in Philadelphia, sold over 80,000 copies within days of release, prompting swift intervention by federal authorities who viewed its rapid dissemination as a threat to wartime morale and unity.[3] Winner was arrested in Philadelphia on charges of treason for authoring and distributing material perceived as anti-Union propaganda that could undermine the war effort.[1] He underwent a court-martial and was briefly imprisoned, though the exact duration and facility remain unspecified in primary accounts; the proceedings focused on the song's potential to foment rebellion rather than evidence of direct Confederate collaboration.[2] The War Department ordered the song suppressed, reflecting broader Union efforts to censor dissent during a period of martial law in border states like Pennsylvania, where public support for McClellan—seen by some as overly conciliatory toward the South—intersected with political tensions.[1] The treason charge was ultimately dropped after Winner pledged to destroy all remaining copies of the sheet music and cease its distribution, allowing his release without formal conviction or further penalty.[2] This outcome underscored the fragility of free expression under wartime exigencies, as Winner, a Philadelphia native with no documented Southern ties, faced repercussions for expressing popular sentiment favoring a prominent Union general over presidential policy, rather than overt disloyalty.[1] No subsequent legal actions followed, and Winner resumed his musical career, though the incident highlighted institutional sensitivities to pro-McClellan advocacy amid fears of Copperhead influence in the North.[3]

Controversies

Confederate Sympathies Debate

Septimus Winner's alleged Confederate sympathies have been debated primarily due to his 1862 song "Give Us Back Our Old Commander", composed in response to President Abraham Lincoln's removal of General George B. McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac on November 7, 1862. The lyrics lamented McClellan's dismissal and urged his restoration, portraying Lincoln's decision as a blow to Union prospects, which sold over 80,000 copies in its first two days of publication.[29] Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton deemed the song seditious for potentially discouraging enlistments and undermining morale, leading to Winner's arrest in Philadelphia on treason charges.[30] He was detained briefly but released upon pledging to destroy all unsold copies, with no formal trial or conviction recorded.[2] Proponents of the sympathies view cite the song's alignment with Copperhead Democrats, who opposed Lincoln's aggressive prosecution of the war and favored negotiated peace with the Confederacy, interpreting Winner's work as veiled secessionist advocacy. This perspective gained traction amid Philadelphia's wartime tensions, where McClellan enjoyed strong support as a perceived conciliator toward the South. Winner's musical setting for "Maryland, My Maryland"—a 1861 poem by James Ryder Randall calling for Maryland to join the rebellion—further fueled accusations, as the piece became a Confederate marching anthem despite its publication in Union-controlled territory.[31] Critics argued that profiting from such lyrics indicated disloyalty, especially given Maryland's documented Confederate leanings.[32] Counterarguments emphasize Winner's pro-Union compositions, including "Hoist Up the Flag" (1862), which extolled Northern battlefield successes and rallied support for the federal cause, suggesting his McClellan song reflected intra-Union political critique rather than Confederate allegiance.[33] Residing continuously in Philadelphia—a hotbed of Union loyalty—without relocating South, enlisting with rebels, or facing repeated charges, Winner maintained a career publishing patriotic Northern sheet music. The treason episode is often reframed as overreach by federal authorities suppressing dissent, akin to actions against other McClellan supporters, with Winner's quick release indicating insufficient evidence of active treason.[34] Scholarly assessments prioritize commercial motivations for controversial publications over ideological commitment, noting Winner's pseudonymous output spanned both sides for market appeal without personal secessionist actions.[2]

Racial Attitudes in Lyrics and Titles

Septimus Winner's song lyrics and titles frequently incorporated racial stereotypes common to mid-19th-century American popular music, particularly those diminishing African Americans and Native Americans through dialect, caricature, and narratives of subjugation or demise.[35] These elements aligned with the conventions of the era's sheet music and minstrel traditions, where white composers like Winner profited from exoticized or mocking portrayals of non-white groups to appeal to audiences.[36] In "Listen to the Mocking Bird" (1855), Winner's lyrics, published under the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne, employ heavy Black dialect to depict a enslaved woman named Alice toiling on a plantation while her mockingbird sings mournfully of her hardships: lines such as "Massa makin' money, I am toilin' all de day" evoke a sentimentalized view of slavery, framing the enslaved person's labor and longing in phonetic approximation of Southern Black speech patterns.[37] This dialect usage, drawn from Winner's collaboration with Richard Milburn (a Black whistler who inspired the melody), served to authenticate the portrayal for white listeners but reinforced stereotypes of African Americans as simplistic laborers bound to their condition.[38] The 1868 song "Ten Little Injuns," composed for minstrel performances, exemplifies derogatory treatment of Native Americans through a countdown rhyme where ten "Injuns" successively perish by mishap or violence—one toddles home and "then there were nine," another hangs himself leaving "eight," culminating in none remaining—using the slur "Injuns" and implying inherent clumsiness or self-destruction.[39] Sheet music from the period confirms its minstrel origins, adapting an older English rhyme into a vehicle for American racial humor that trivialized indigenous mortality amid ongoing westward expansion and conflicts.[40] Instrumental works like "The Contraband Schottische" (1861), dedicated to Union General Benjamin Butler, featured cover illustrations of exaggerated Black caricatures: a whip-wielding overseer pursues wide-eyed, ragged runaway slaves (termed "contrabands"), their features distorted in minstrel-style grotesquery to depict evasion as comical folly rather than desperate flight from bondage.[41] Such visuals, standard in Winner's publications, catered to Northern audiences' mixed sentiments on emancipation, blending abolitionist undertones with persistent dehumanization of African Americans as buffoonish figures.[42] These examples illustrate Winner's participation in a commercial music industry that normalized racial mockery for entertainment, though his output also included non-stereotypical sentimental ballads.

Personal Life

Marriage and Family

Winner married Hannah Jane Guyer on November 25, 1847, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[9] The couple remained together until his death, residing primarily in Philadelphia throughout their marriage.[1] They had four children: daughters Emily Hawthorne Winner, Ella Guyer Winner, and Margaret Ferguson Winner (also known as Maggie), and son James Gibson Winner.[6] Emily Hawthorne Winner married Charles E. Claghorn on February 16, 1871.[43] Winner exchanged letters with his wife Hannah and daughter Margaret over many years, with surviving correspondence dating from 1845 to 1902 preserved in archival collections.[1] Little is documented about the family's daily dynamics or the children's later lives beyond basic genealogical records, though Winner dedicated some musical works to family members and associates.[1]

Daily Life and Interests

Septimus Winner spent his adult life in Philadelphia, where his daily routine centered on operating a music store he established at age 20 in 1847, alongside providing private instruction on instruments including the violin, guitar, and banjo.[1][2] He supplemented this with performances in local ensembles such as the Philadelphia Brass Band and the Cecilian Band, reflecting a hands-on engagement with community music-making.[3] These activities formed the core of his professional and personal schedule, often blending commerce, teaching, and performance in the city's vibrant 19th-century musical scene.[44] Beyond his commercial pursuits, Winner's interests encompassed poetry and song composition, pursuits he pursued concurrently with his store operations and lessons, frequently under pseudonyms like Alice Hawthorne to market sentimental ballads.[1] Largely self-taught despite brief formal violin study under Leopold Meignen around 1853, he demonstrated early aptitude by performing publicly at age nine, indicating a lifelong immersion in music as both vocation and avocation rather than distinct hobbies.[2][44] No records indicate pursuits outside music and literature, underscoring his dedication to these intertwined domains amid family responsibilities following his 1847 marriage to Hannah Guyer.

Later Years and Death

Ongoing Professional Activities

In the post-Civil War period, Septimus Winner sustained his career as a composer and publisher, producing sentimental ballads and instructional pieces that extended his earlier successes. Notable works from this era include "Whispering Hope" (1868), a hymn-like song that achieved widespread popularity, and "The Spelling Bee" (1875), reflecting his interest in educational and novelty themes.[2] He composed under pseudonyms such as Alice Hawthorne, continuing a practice that allowed him to market diverse styles, from parlor songs to dialect pieces.[1] Winner operated independent music publishing firms in Philadelphia after dissolving early partnerships, issuing his own compositions alongside sheet music from other artists, which supported the local music trade into the late 19th century.[1] His business activities emphasized self-reliance, as he was among the pioneering songwriters to establish personal publishing ventures, enabling direct control over distribution and royalties.[2] Parallel to composition and publishing, Winner engaged in music instruction, offering lessons on violin, banjo, guitar, and other instruments to students in Philadelphia, drawing on his self-taught proficiency and early training.[19] This teaching role supplemented his income and perpetuated his influence in amateur music circles, where he demonstrated techniques for popular genres. He remained professionally active in these capacities until shortly before his death in 1902, adapting to evolving tastes in American sheet music while maintaining a focus on accessible, melody-driven works.[1]

Final Days and Burial

Septimus Winner died on November 22, 1902, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of 75.[2] The cause of death was a heart attack.[7] [45] He was buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.[46] [3]

Legacy

Influence on American Popular Music

Septimus Winner contributed significantly to the development of 19th-century American popular music through over 200 original songs, many composed under the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne, which specialized in sentimental ballads that emphasized themes of home, loss, and emotion.[2][35] These works helped establish the sentimental ballad as a dominant form in sheet music sales and parlor entertainment, influencing composers like George F. Root by providing models for accessible, melody-driven songs suitable for amateur performers.[28] Winner's output, including hits like "Listen to the Mocking Bird" (1855), incorporated whistled melodies derived from African American street musicians, blending vernacular elements into mainstream popular song structures.[35] The commercial success of Winner's compositions underscored their cultural penetration, with "Listen to the Mocking Bird" achieving millions of sheet music copies sold, making it one of the era's top-selling publications and a staple in American musical repertoires.[35] This song's enduring appeal, alongside others such as "Whispering Hope" (1868), demonstrated how Winner's lyrical simplicity and melodic catchiness propelled popular music toward mass-market dissemination via sheet music, predating phonograph recordings and shaping public taste for nostalgic, singable tunes.[2] His pseudonymous Hawthorne ballads became synonymous with the genre, fostering a market for emotionally resonant domestic music that appealed to middle-class audiences during the Civil War era.[47] Winner advanced the infrastructure of popular music by establishing Winner & Shuster as one of the earliest songwriter-owned publishing firms, enabling direct control over distribution and royalties, a model that empowered subsequent creators to retain more profits from their work.[2] Collaborations with firms like Lee & Walker in Philadelphia further amplified reach, positioning the city as a hub for sheet music production.[35] Additionally, his authorship of over 200 instruction books for 23 instruments democratized music education, training generations of amateur musicians and expanding the consumer base for popular songs.[2] Winner's legacy in American popular music persists through the standardization of his songs in folk and hymn traditions, with inductuation into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 recognizing his foundational role in transitioning music from elite compositions to broadly accessible entertainment.[2] His emphasis on simple, repeatable forms influenced the evolution toward Tin Pan Alley styles, where commercial viability hinged on immediate emotional connection rather than classical complexity.[28]

Modern Evaluations and Scholarship

In the early 21st century, the primary scholarly examination of Septimus Winner's career is Michael K. Remson's 2002 biography Septimus Winner: Two Lives in Music, which portrays him as a foundational figure in 19th-century American popular songwriting despite his deliberate separation of serious compositional work from commercial output published under pseudonyms like Alice Hawthorne.[47] Remson highlights Winner's prolific output—over 2,000 arrangements and instructional volumes for instruments including guitar and banjo—as evidence of his influence on music education and amateur performance traditions, positioning him as an anomaly in musical history for blending European classical influences with vernacular American styles.[47] Remson's analysis emphasizes Winner's strategic use of female pseudonyms to market sentimental ballads to a broader audience, enabling hits like "Listen to the Mocking Bird" to achieve enduring popularity while shielding his reputation as a violinist and educator. This duality, Remson argues, reflects Winner's pragmatic adaptation to the commercial demands of sheet music publishing in antebellum and post-Civil War America, where pseudonyms allowed exploration of dialect and novelty songs without professional repercussions. Scholarship notes his guitar and banjo methods, such as Winner's New School for the Guitar (1855) and Ideal Method for the Banjo (1882), as direct precursors to later American instrumental pedagogy, influencing self-taught musicians through simplified notations and popular airs. Modern evaluations of Winner's lyrical content, particularly in songs like "Ten Little Injuns" (1868), acknowledge their reflection of era-specific ethnic stereotypes but critique their role in perpetuating derogatory tropes about Native Americans through cumulative demise narratives framed as comic choruses. Remson observes that such works addressed "issues in American popular song" yet retain cultural persistence, with refrains echoed in children's rhymes into the present day, underscoring Winner's inadvertent contribution to folklore transmission amid evolving sensitivities.[48] These assessments, informed by Remson's archival recovery of Winner's diaries and unpublished poetry, prioritize his technical innovations and market savvy over moral retrospectives, viewing his oeuvre as emblematic of unfiltered 19th-century vernacular expression rather than ideological aberration.[47]

References

  1. Septimus Winner papers 1536 - Historical Society of Pennsylvania
  2. Septimus Winner - Songwriters Hall of Fame
  3. Septimus Winner - HymnTime.com
  4. Septimus Winner - Discography of American Historical Recordings
  5. [PDF] HISTORY OF NEGRO MUSICIANS. - By John E.Bruce. - UR Research
  6. Septimus Evans Winner (1827 - 1902) - Genealogy - Geni
  7. Septimus Evans Winner (1827-1902) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
  8. Behind the Hymn: Whispering Hope - Diana Leagh Matthews
  9. The Music of Septimus Winner (1827-1902)
  10. The author of this well known Sacred song "Whispering Hope" is ...
  11. Sep. Winner - IMSLP
  12. https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/silver-wedding-march-21762485.html
  13. The Musical Journal (Philadelphia, PA, 1867) - RIPM.org
  14. Septimus Winner - [ Music Style, Composer Bio, Famous Works ] -
  15. Music: Homage to Winner | TIME
  16. Winner's Eureka method for the banjo - UR Research
  17. Eureka Method for the Banjo: 9781528712897: Winner, Septimus
  18. Method Books and the Classical Guitar in America
  19. Septimus Winner - Hymnary.org
  20. https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/winner-s-plain-and-fancy-cotillons-20084058.html
  21. Winner's Dance music for flute and piano or reed organ consisting of ...
  22. Village polka quadrilles | Library of Congress
  23. Bud of Promise (Winner, Septimus) - IMSLP
  24. Septimus Winner - A-Z Titles - Free-scores.com
  25. Tunes of the World (Winner, Septimus) - IMSLP
  26. "Who is Septimus Winner and why was he arrested for treason?" In ...
  27. Abraham's Daughter (Winner, 1861) - The Hardtacks
  28. The Songs of Septimus Winner: : Michael K. Remson: Scarecrow ...
  29. STORY BEHIND THE SONG: From folk tunes to jail to 'Whispering ...
  30. Song Composer Led Colorful Life - The Oklahoman
  31. Maryland, My Maryland: Music and Patriotism during the American ...
  32. http://folkways-media.si.edu/docs/folkways/artwork/SFW40187.pdf
  33. [PDF] MUSIC AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR by CHRISTIAN ... - UA
  34. https://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/i/n/n/winner_s.htm
  35. Popular Music - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
  36. Music: giving us insight into the disgusting ideas held about black ...
  37. 'Listen to the Mockingbird' - The New York Times
  38. Q&A Archives - "The Etude" Music Magazine
  39. Ten Little Indians: A Genocidal Nursery Rhyme - ICT News
  40. Ten little injuns / Historic American Sheet Music / Duke Digital ...
  41. The "Contraband" Schottische | Discovery Virginia
  42. The "contraband" schottische - The Library of Congress
  43. EIGHTH GENERATION - Rootsweb.com
  44. About Septimus Winner - Civil War Poetry
  45. http://dirkncl.github.io/pdmusic_org/winner.html
  46. Septimus Winner (1827-1902) - Find a Grave Memorial
  47. Septimus Winner: Two Lives in Music: Michael K. Remson ...
  48. The Songs of Septimus Winner by Michael K. Remson - jstor
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