Stephen Collins Foster was born outside Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania on July 4, 1826. He showed early promise as a musician and in a life span of only 37 years Foster became America 's first professional songwriter. In 1931 Josiah K. Lilly, an Indiana pharmaceutical manufacturer, suggested that Florida create a memorial to the American composer Stephen Foster, whose lyrics had made the Suwannee River famous around the world. The Florida Federation of Music Clubs worked with local citizens in White Springs to obtain land contributions that were then presented to the state.