Guide to the Carrie Jacobs Bond Collection, 1885-2001

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary

Biography of Carrie Jacobs Bond

Scope and Content

Organization of the Papers

Arrangement of the Compositions

Restrictions

Index Terms

Administrative Information

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Biography of Carrie Jacobs Bond

Carrie (Minetta) Jacobs-Bond was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, to Dr. Hannibal and Emma Davis Jacobs, on August 11, 1862. She studied piano with local teachers C. J. Titcomb and J. W. Bischoff until her family fell on hard times and her early marriage. Financial problems left the family destitute after the death of her father. She married E. J. Smith at age 18 and they had one son, Frederic Jacobs Smith. She was divorced seven years later and at age 25 married a childhood sweetheart, Dr. Frank Lewis Bond.

They moved to the small mining town of Iron River, Mich., where she lived "the seven happiest years of [her] life." Of her days in Iron River, she once reminisced, "Our existence there in the great pine forests was almost idyllic." Her husband, Dr. Bond, died of injuries from a fall, leaving Carrie a widow at age 32. In addition, because of business failures in the mining industry, Carrie Jacobs-Bond once again faced desperate times. In 1895, she and her 9 year old son moved to Chicago in quest of a new life.

She was described as tall and willowy, but extremely frail, a semi-invalid, yet she was a strong woman. She returned to writing music which had always been her first love. In addition, she kept lodgers, painted china, made dresses, and sang for private recitals for $10.00 an appearance. At age 13, her son quit school to help her and at age 17 he became a partner with his mother in the Bond Shop, a music publishing business. Carrie and her son, Frederick, were very close and he looked after her all his life. He did marry and had two daughters. However, in 1932, depressed over a severe illness, he killed himself in his mountain lodge near Lake Arrowhead.

Carrie Jacobs-Bond had been writing and publishing music from the 1890's. She had moved her publishing company to southern California from Chicago about 1920 due to her ill health. She composed over 200 songs, including her most notable, "A perfect Day" and "I Love You Truly" By the end of the first World War her music was beloved by the nation. She sang for Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Warren G. Harding. Sarah Bernhardt was her friend and admirer. In her day, she earned more money writing songs than any other woman, an achievement that stood for 40 years. Her works show a genuine lyrical gift, an ability to communicate a variety of emotions, and a level of craftsmanship that makes much of her work of lasting artistic value.

Mrs. Bond died of a heart attack at her Hollywood, Ca. home on Dec. 28, 1946, at age 84.

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Scope and Content

Collection contains clippings, photos, booklets and sheet music written and published by Carrie Jacobs-Bond and Son at the Bond Shop

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Arrangement of the Compositions

Arranged by title.

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Restrictions

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the American Music Research Center.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Carrie Jacobs-Bond Collection, American Music Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder.

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Series Description

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