Stephen C. Foster appears to have never competed composing this song. The text on the manuscript was written by his friend George W. Birdseye, and it was used in the song “Down by the Gate,” composed by J. R. Thomas and published in 1863. 

The melody was later used in “Dearer than Life!” Although there is no record of copyright entry or deposit for it, George Cooper, who authored the lyrics, claimed that the song was written three weeks before Foster’s death, placing the date of composition sometime during the final week of 1863. It was not published, though, until it appeared in Demorest’s Monthly Magazine in March of 1869.