Thomas Dunn English (1819-1902)was from Philadelphia. He had degrees in medicine and law, wrote plays, articles and verse, was the editor of several journals, and was even a two term member of the US Congress. He fancied himself mostly a writer, but his reputation was more that of an amateur. His friend Edgar Allen Poe once mocked him in an article, which led English to accuse Poe of plagiarism. Poe, in turn, sued for libel and won. English's literary "fame" rests almost entirely upon the poem "Ben Bolt" which he wrote for "The New Mirror" a weekly newspaper in New YOrk. the paper was edited by Nathaniel P Willis and George P Morris (author of "Woodman, Spare That Tree). "Ben Bolt" was first published in the Sept. 2, 1843 issue of the paper.

A number of songwriters set "Ben Bolt" to music, but the only really popular version was that by Nelson Kneass, who wrote his in Pittsburg in 1848. Kneass was a singer and minstrel show entertainer. Some later critics have suggested that Kneass may have adapted another tune, possibly a German tune. One critic, William Hunt, said that Kneass was rather unmusical and "the art of creative composition was almost an impossibility." Kneass also had some reported ethical lapses. In 1848, the same year he set "Ben Bolt" to music he attempted to register and copyright as his own the Stephen Foster song "Away Down South". He was stymied when Stephen Foster's brother showed up at the Pittsburg registrar's office to register the song for his brother. As a singer Kneass participated in the first public performance of "Away Down South" before it was published. A year earlier he had also sung the pre-published version of Foster's "Oh Susanna. Kneass is credited with publication of other songs, so whether or not he borrowed a tune, or parts of a tune for "Ben Bolt", it is his version that became popular.

"Ben Bolt" got a second jolt of popularity when it was used in the best selling novel by George Du Maurier, "Trilby" published in 1994. A year later Paul Potter wrote a stage version of "Trilby" in which the heroine sings "Ben Bolt". Both the novel and the play were so successful in America, that S Brainard's Sons Co. of Chicago issued "Ben Bolt, the Trilby Edition" in 1895 with a two color title page with a drawing of the heroine singer. Revivals of the play in the 20th century kept the song alive and it has appeared in movies. Vivien Leigh sang bits of "Ben Bolt" in "Gone With The Wind."

This information is condensed from "Popular Songs of Nineteenth Century America" by Richard Jackson.

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