Hello Laurie, Strange isn't it? There is nothing offensive in Beautiful Dreamer - as it was written - or Jeanie, or for that matter any the songs Stephen Foster wrote after his early ones. (Even these were written, by a young song-writer, with regard to the style of the times.) Anyone who has taken even a brief look at Foster knows there are many false assumptions made about him.
- But back to the present -   No I don't know why the Bard was told not to sing them. And yes many of Stephen Foster's songs have remained standards. Everyone sings "Hard Times Come again no More" for example.
Cheers, Joy