Gussie Lord Davis (1863-1899) was born in Dayton, Ohio and studied privately with teachers at the Nelson Musical College, Cincinnati, where he worked as a janitor. While still a teenager he self-published his first song, “We sat beneath the maple on the hill” (1880), which sold well, making a profit for Davis. By the 1890s, his song writing took Davis to NY and Tin Pan Alley where “Send Back the Picture and the Ring” won him $500 in gold. In addition to writing more than 600 songs (sacred, comic, minstrel), he performed as a pianist and toured with minstrel groups including his own Davis Operatic and Plantation Minstrels. Davis was the first black songwriter to win international acclaim for his ballads; his “In the Baggage Coach Ahead” (1896) sold more than a million copies.