Daniel Decatur Emmett (29 October 1815 – 28 June 1904 / Mount Vernon / Ohio)

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Daniel Decatur "Dan" Emmett was a US-American songwriter and entertainer, founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition.

Biography

Of Irish ancestry, Dan Emmett was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, then a frontier region. Growing up with little formal education, he learned popular tunes from his musical mother, and taught himself to play the fiddle. At age 13, he became an apprentice printer and enlisted in the United States Army. He became an expert fifer and drummer at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and published his own Fifer’s and Drummer’s Guide in 1862 in cooperation with George G. Bruce. After receiving his discharge from the army on July 8, ... more »

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