“Under the Willow She’s Sleeping” was submitted for copyright deposit on May 3, 1860, by Firth, Pond & Co.

According to Evelyn Foster Morneweck in The Chronicles of Stephen Foster’s Family:

It is also quite likely that Firth, Pond objected to Stephen’s attempts to make contracts with other publishers before he had fulfilled his agreements with them. That there was a tension between them is evident from a letter written many years afterwards by Mattie Stewart de Witt to Jane, dated January 2, 1890—“Mr. Foster brought the manuscript [of “Under the Willow She’s Sleeping”] to us wet [?] from the printer, and he told ma—‘that he could not try it at Mr. Pond’s,’ so used our piano. Mr. Pond was not fair to Mr. Foster. I remember that very well.” Although “Under the Willow” was copyrighted by Firth, Pond on May 3, 1860, it might not have been published until Stephen and Jane went to Mrs. Stewart’s. Mrs. Mygatt, whom we have quoted before, was of the belief that “Under the Willow She’s Sleeping” was written in Warren while Stephen was at the Gaskill House. This seems quite likely as Stephen was in Warren in April, 1860.