William Cumming Peters

Background

He was born on March 10, 1805 in Woodbury, Devonshire, England, United Kingdom. Between the years 1820 and 1823 he came to America with his parents and lived for a short time in Texas.

Education

He studied music with his father, although as a musician he was largely self-instructed. From 1825 to 1828 he taught music in Pittsburgh.

Career

In 1829 he moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he opened a music store. In 1839 he opened a branch house in Cincinnati, and in 1849 another branch in Baltimore. Peters was an important factor in the musical life of the cities in which he lived, and he was especially significant because of his connection with Stephen Collins Foster.

According to evidence and tradition it was Peters who was among the first to profit by Foster's songs. When Foster lived in Cincinnati during the years 1846 to 1849 he was a song writer by avocation rather than by profession. He had written several songs which were sung by minstrel performers, and they were so successful that Peters asked Foster to let him publish them. Accordingly Foster gave Peters a number of songs, among them "Susanna", "Louisiana Belle" and "Old Uncle Ned. " In spite of other, pirated editions of "Susanna, " it is said that Peters made over $10, 000 from the sale of Foster's songs. It was probably this success that enabled Peters to expand his business, and to become one of the leading music publishers of the Mid-West. Foster received little, if anything, from Peters. According to one tradition he was paid one hundred dollars for "Susanna" and nothing for "Uncle Ned". Other reports state that Foster made Peters an outright gift of all the songs.

For one year in Baltimore Peters edited and published a musical magazine, the Olio. In the final issue, December 1850, a statement was made that the magazine would be discontinued, not because of lack of support, but because of the editor's health, and the difficulty of procuring music plates in Baltimore. He wrote music for the Roman Catholic Church, including a Mass in D. He was the editor of a revised and enlarged edition of Burrowes' Piano Forte Primer (1849, again revised, 1869).

His home during his later years was in Cincinnati, and it was there that he died suddenly of heart disease at the age of sixty-one.

Achievements

• William Cumming Peters was famous as one of the leading music publishers of the Mid-W. He was the first, who published such popular Stephen Collins Foster's songs, as "Susanna", "Louisiana Belle". Peters was active as a leader of concerts and choirs, and in composing and writing. He compiled Peters' Catholic Harmonist; Catholic Harp, and a number of educational works, among them the Eclectic Piano Instructor. Among his original compositions were "Citizens Guards' March" and "Sweet Memories of Thee".

Works

More photos

• book

  • Burrowes' Piano-forte Primer

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Connections

There is no information about his marital status.

coworker:

Stephen Collins Foster