Carrie Jacobs-Bond facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carrie Minetta Jacobs-Bond
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 11, 1862 Janesville, Wisconsin |
| Died | December 28, 1946 (aged 84) Hollywood |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1890s-early 1940s |
Carrie Minetta Jacobs-Bond (born August 11, 1862 – died December 28, 1946) was an amazing American singer, pianist, and songwriter. She wrote about 175 popular songs from the 1890s to the early 1940s.
She is best known for her song "I Love You Truly". This song made her the first woman to sell over one million copies of a single song! It first appeared in her 1901 collection called Seven Songs as Unpretentious as the Wild Rose. Another popular song from that collection was "Just Awearyin' for You".
Her song "A Perfect Day", released in 1910, sold the most copies right after it came out. These three songs—"I Love You Truly", "Just Awearyin' for You", and "A Perfect Day"—are considered her biggest hits. Carrie Jacobs-Bond was honored in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
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Carrie Jacobs-Bond's Early Life and Family
Carrie Minetta Jacobs was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. Her parents were Dr. Hannibal Jacobs and Mary Emogene Davis Jacobs. She was their only child. Carrie was also a distant cousin of John Howard Payne, who wrote the famous song "Home Sweet Home".
Carrie's father passed away when she was young. This made things financially tough for her family. Music was important to her family, and her father played the flute. Carrie showed musical talent very early. She could play piano tunes by ear at age 4. By age 8, she could play difficult pieces like Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody just by listening to it! She studied piano from age 9 to 17, dreaming of becoming a songwriter.
Challenges and Success
Carrie had a short first marriage at age 18 to Edward Smith. Her only child, Frederick Jacobs Smith, was born in 1882. This marriage ended in 1887.
In 1888, she married her childhood friend, Frank Lewis Bond, a doctor. They lived in Iron River, Michigan. Carrie helped their family by painting ceramics, teaching piano, and writing music. Life was hard there, especially when the local iron mining economy failed. Sadly, Frank died in 1895 after an accident. Carrie was left with many debts. She tried selling ceramics, renting out rooms, and writing songs, but it wasn't enough.
After some success with her music, Carrie and her son moved to Chicago. She wanted to be closer to music publishers. For a few years, many of her songs weren't published. So, she sang them at parties and concerts to earn money. People loved her simple and emotional music.
The music industry was mostly run by men back then. Carrie's songs were often turned down by publishers. So, in 1896, she started her own music publishing company! This was a big deal. It meant she was one of the very few women in the industry who owned all the rights to her own songs. Her company moved several times. In the early 1920s, she and her son moved to Hollywood, California. This move helped with her rheumatism, and she kept performing and publishing music there.
Carrie Jacobs-Bond called her Hollywood home "The End of the Road." She was a big supporter of the Theatre Arts Alliance, which helped create the famous Hollywood Bowl. She passed away at her Hollywood home on December 28, 1946, at age 85. She is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Creative Works: Poetry and Art
Carrie Jacobs-Bond also wrote books of children's poetry. She even published her autobiography, The Roads of Melody, in 1927.
She was also an artist! She drew the pictures for the covers of her sheet music. A wild rose was her special symbol. You can see it on many of her published songs.
Lasting Impact and Tributes
Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover wrote a special message for her tombstone. It said she was a "Beloved composer of 'I Love You Truly' . . . and a hundred other heart songs." He also noted that she "met widowhood, conquered hardship, and achieved fame." The Los Angeles City Council honored her as "one of America's greatest women."
Music Career Highlights
Carrie Jacobs-Bond learned piano from teachers as a child. Once, a famous performer named Blind Tom Wiggins could instantly play any song he heard. After his show, young Carrie was encouraged to play. She amazed everyone by playing back Blind Tom's song!
She started writing music in the late 1880s. Her husband encouraged her to write down the songs "continually running through my mind." After her husband's death, she lived in Janesville, Wisconsin. It was there that she wrote "I Love You Truly".
One day, Carrie played "I Love You Truly" for a music manager. He was impressed and asked if she wanted the song performed publicly. At first, she said no because she hadn't protected the song with a copyright. But she changed her mind. She called opera star Jessie Bartlett Davis, even though they had never met. Davis was so impressed that she offered to pay to publish Carrie's first collection of songs.
After moving to Chicago, Carrie slowly gained fans by singing at small concerts in homes. With Jessie Bartlett Davis's help, she published her first collection, Seven Songs: as Unpretentious as the Wild Rose, in 1901. This book included "I Love You Truly" and "Just Awearyin' for You". The success of Seven Songs allowed Carrie to grow her publishing company, called the Bond Shop.
Soon, with the help of friends, Carrie performed for President Theodore Roosevelt. She also gave concerts in England with famous singer Enrico Caruso and many shows in New York City.
In 1906, she worked with American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. They created five songs together, with Dunbar writing the words and Jacobs-Bond composing the music.
In 1910, she released "A Perfect Day". An amazing 25 million copies of the sheet music for this song were sold! It was her most popular song during her lifetime.
During World War I, Carrie Jacobs-Bond performed concerts in Europe for U.S. Army troops. "A Perfect Day" was especially loved by the soldiers.
Carrie Jacobs-Bond was the most successful woman composer of her time. By 1910, she had earned over $1 million from her music! In 1941, the General Federation of Women's Clubs honored her for helping women make progress in the 20th century.
One of her last songs, Because of the Light, was published in 1944 when she was 82 years old. Her life story and songs show how strong she was. She overcame many difficulties, like poverty, losing her father, her divorce, and the death of her second husband. She even faced the sad loss of her son in 1932.
Autobiography
- Jacobs-Bond, Carrie. The Roads of Melody: My Story. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1927.
Images for kids
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Front cover of "Just Awearyin' for You" (1901), with Jacobs-Bond's artwork of wild roses
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1901 front cover of Seven Songs as Unpretentious as the Wild Rose, from the Bond Shop in Chicago
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Carrie Jacobs-Bond (center) with other notable women of California
