Foster, STEPHEN COLLINS, an American song-writer, was born in 1826 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was a merchant's clerk in Cincinnati when, in 1842, the success of his first song determined his profession. His compositions, many of them enormously popular, number about 125; nearly a fourth are negro melodies, the remainder chiefly sentimental ballads. The best known are 'The Old Folks at Home,' 'Nelly Bly,' 'Uncle Ned,' 'Old Dog Tray,' 'Gentle Annie,' 'Old Kentucky Home,' 'Willie, we have missed you,' and 'Come where my Love lies dreaming,' the airs and words of which alike were his own composition. He died in New York, 13th January 1864.