Nellie Bangs Skelton facts for kids
Cornelia (“Nellie”) Pomeroy Bangs Skelton DePue (born August 8, 1855 – died November 23, 1911) was a talented American musician. She was a composer, pianist, singer, and vocal coach. Nellie toured all over the United States as a pianist. She was best known for her work as Nellie Bangs Skelton.
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Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Nellie Skelton was born in Lacon, Illinois. Her parents were Harriet Cornelia Pomeroy and Mark Bangs, who was a judge. Nellie started learning to play the piano when she was just seven years old. She even published her first musical piece at age eleven! She later studied piano in Chicago with a teacher named Eugenie de Roode Rice. Nellie married John Skelton and later Elmer DePue.
A Career in Music
Nellie Skelton traveled across the United States as a pianist. For two years in the early 1880s, she toured with the Marie Litta Company. After that, she joined the Slayton Concert Company, also as a pianist.
By 1896, Nellie had started her very own concert company. Her husband, Elmer De Pue, who was a tenor singer, joined her. Nellie also taught piano at the Armour Institute and at the Soper School of Oratory, both in Chicago. She also toured for the International Young People’s Lecture Bureau, sharing her piano skills.
Nellie's Compositions
Nellie Skelton's music was published by companies like Clayton F. Summy and Theodore Presser. Here are some of the pieces she composed:
Piano Music
- First Brigade March
- Gavotte in e minor
- Ripple
- Three Ballet Dances
- Trifle
Vocal Music
- “Asleep, Adream Awake Serenade” (This song had words by Edmund Vance Cooke and music by Kate Vanderpoel. Nellie Skelton made the piano version.)
- “I’m a Merry Little Vivandiere” (The words for this song were written by Fanchon H. Thompson.)
