WARNING: This is a blackface minstrel song, a genre that features demeaning caricatures rooted in racism and white supremacy.

“Massa’s in de Cold Ground” was submitted for copyright entry on June 29, 1852, and for copyright deposit on July 7, 1852, by Firth, Pond & Co. Clark’s School Visitor republished the song in December, 1859, with the permission of Firth, Pond & Co. The song’s more familiar title, “Massa’s in de Cold, Cold Ground” did not appear until the Oliver Ditson Company issued it under that title in 1867. 

“Mother, Thou’rt Faithful to Me” was submitted for copyright deposit on March 18, 1851, by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore. 

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

WARNING: This is a blackface minstrel song, a genre that features demeaning caricatures rooted in racism and white supremacy.

“My Brodder Gum” was submitted by Firth, Pond & Co. on October 1, 1949. While the title on page three read “My Brodder Gum” the title page read “My Brudder Gum.” In the text of the song both spelling are used and were probably both included in Foster’s original manuscript.

“My Hopes Have Departed Forever” was entered for copyright deposit on August 4, 1851, by Firth, Pond & Co of New York. The text is a paraphrase of verses two through four of Percival’s “The Winds of the Winter Are Over.” The text also appeared under the same title in a sheet music edition issued by John Cole of Baltimore in 1822 or 1823. It is possible that Foster knew the song from childhood. 

The title page on some of the early published sources indicate it was “written and composed by a lady.”