Career
She died at the age of seventy-four in a fire on January 17, 1903 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is best known for being the wife of Stephen Foster and being the inspiration for Foster"s song Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair. Jane"s father was a well-known physician in Pittsburgh.
He encouraged the first black medical student from Western Pennsylvania to apply to and attend Harvard Medical School.
Doctor McDowell wrote a letter of recommendation for the student and even helped to pay for part of his tuition. Jane was three years younger than Stephen.
By the summer of 1850, Stephen Foster had begun to sell his music and had become increasingly well known. Jean has not been identified as having musical interests, talents or abilities.
She was called pretty, had light brown hair and according to the custom of the time it was long and "luxuriant".
Her wedding gown was noted to be beautiful and well-fitting. The wedding ceremony was described by Jane"s sister to be quite strained, attributed to the couple"s nervousness. Immediately after the wedding, the couple took an extended honeymoon to New York and Baltimore.
They stopped in Paradise, Pennsylvania, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and Chambersburg.
Biographers speculate that the honeymoon was really a business trip to establish business arrangements with music publishers in New York and Baltimore. Jane and Stephen were married for fourteen years until he died on January 13, 1864 in New York City.
They were not living together at the time and had been separated for four years-an unusual arrangement in the mid 1800s. Morrison Foster, an older brother of Stephen aided Jane and Marion after the composer"s death in the arrangement of royalty payments to her from various music publishers.
Wiley after Foster"s death.
Jane created very little biographical information. Jane is remembered during the Allegheny Cemetery"s "Doo-Dah Days" when visitors are given a tour past her grave. Morris Foster destroyed correspondence that would reflect poorly on the Foster family.
This included almost all references to Jane.
Number letters or other documents that Jane wrote to Stephen or Stephen wrote to Jane survives. Primary source material including family letters and Jane"s diary are housed in the University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives Service Center.
These have been digitized and are accessible remotely.
