David Harrison Macon (1870 - 1952)

Born 7 Oct 1870 in Smartt Station, Warren, Tennessee

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Matilda (Richardson) Macon — married 28 Apr 1889 in Kittrell, Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

Died 22 Mar 1952 at age 81 in Murfreesboro, Rutherford, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Dave Macon is Notable.

David Harrison Macon (October 7, 1870 – March 22, 1952), known professionally as Uncle Dave Macon, was an Appalachian old-time banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian.

Uncle Dave Macon, known variously as ‘The Dixie Dewdrop,’ ‘The King Of The Hillbillies’ and ‘the King Of Banjo Players,’ Uncle Dave Macon was the first real star of The Grand Ole Opry.[8]

David Harrison Macon, was born in the tiny hamlet of Smartt Station in Warren County, Tennessee, 7 Oct 1870, son of Confederate Captain John Macon and his wife Martha Ramsey. He was the great-great nephew of Nathaniel Macon.[2]

He spent his teenage years in Nashville where his parents operated the Broadway Hotel. Among the clientele were vaudeville and other traveling performers, both black and white, whose music and songs influenced the young Macon. In 1885, he learned to play the banjo from a circus comedian called Joel Davidson.[4] He attended Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville.[1]

Macon's father was murdered outside the hotel in 1886.[5][6] His widowed mother sold the hotel and the family moved to Readyville, Tennessee,[4] where his mother ran a stagecoach inn. Macon began entertaining passengers at the rest stop, playing a banjo on a homemade stage.[1] His brother, E. L. Macon, was a businessman who purchased the Brevard-Macon House in 1926.[3]

In 1889, Macon married Matilda Richardson and moved to a farm near Kittrell, Tennessee, where they in time raised seven sons:

1. Archie J. Macon 1901–1978
2. John Henry Macon 1903–1970
3. Harry Macon 1904–1984
4. Samuel Glen Macon 1908–1961
5. Dorris Robert Vanderbilt Macon 1910–1982
6. Esten Gray Macon 1913–1993
7. Paul Franklin Macon 1919–1966

Around 1900, Macon opened a freight line between Murfreesboro and Woodbury, Tennessee. It was called The Macon Midway Mule and Mitchell Wagon Transportation Company. He sang as he drove and picked his banjo under a handy shade tree when he stopped for a rest. After a trucking company forced him out of business, Macon embarked on a career in music, soon after his fiftieth birthday.[4] After a couple of years, a talent scout signed Uncle Dave to entertain at vaudeville theaters around the country. Before long, he was sent to New York to record and his fame spread rapidly. He became an American old-time banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian. Known for his chin whiskers, plug hat, gold teeth, and gates-ajar collar, he gained regional fame as a vaudeville performer in the early 1920s before becoming the first star of the Grand Ole Opry in the latter half of the decade. In 1925, Macon became one of the first performers on the Grand Ole Opry and, for a while, was its only superstar. By the 1930s he was a regular on the show and played there until a few months before his death.

In 1940 Macon— together with Opry founder George D. Hay, rising Opry star Roy Acuff, and Dave's son, Dorris Macon— received an invitation from Hollywood to take part in the Republic Pictures movie Grand Ole Opry. The film contains rare footage of Macon performing, including a memorable duet of "Take Me Back to My Carolina Home" with Dorris in which the 69-year-old Macon jumps out of his seat and dances throughout the second half of the song. ^[1]

Macon continued to perform until March 1, 1952. He died three weeks later on March 22, 1952, at Rutherford County Hospital in Murfreesboro. He was buried at Coleman Cemetery near Murfreesboro. He lies next to his wife who died 6 years previously in 1946.[7] His funeral was visited by more than five thousand people and his pallbearers were George D. Hay, Kirk McGee, Roy Acuff, and Bill Monroe.[4] He was inducted posthumously into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966. A monument was erected near Woodbury.

A Historical Marker was erected in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in Rutherford County. Marker is on 312 S Front Street. Marker is near the Toll Bridge in Cannonsbrough Village. 35° 50.634′ N, 86° 23.792′ W. Inscription reads: One of Tennessee’s early country music performers was the irrepressible singer and banjo player, Uncle Dave Macon, the “Dixie Dewdrop.”[9]

Sources

1. ↑ YouTube Music Video, Country Western music video in black and white, contains rare digital footage of Dave Macon and others performing "Take Me Back to My Carolina Home" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OZg1dTJin0)

• [1]Charles Wolfe, "Uncle Dave Macon", The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music, 1998. pp. 320-321

• [2] Doubler, Michael D. (2018-08-14). Dixie Dewdrop: The Uncle Dave Macon Story. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252050695.

• [3] "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Brevard-Macon House". National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior.

• [4]Bill C. Malone, Judith McCulloh, Stars of Country Music: Uncle Dave Macon to Johnny Rodriguez, University of Illinois Press, 1975 pp.41- 42, 50

• [5]Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide to Country: The Definitive Guide to Country Music, Backbeat Books, 2003 pg 462

• [6]Jan Harold Brunvand, American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, 1996 pg 457

• [7] Gravesites of Southern Musicians: A Guide to over 300 Jazz, Blues, Country and Rock Performers' Burial Places by Edward Amos, 2002 pg. 107

• [8]( Alan Cackett "Americana, Roots, Country and Bluegrass Music" (https://alancackett.com/uncle-dave-macon-biography)

• [9]Historical Marker Database (https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=90691)

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 26 December 2019), memorial page for David Harrison “Uncle Dave” Macon (7 Oct 1870–22 Mar 1952), Find A Grave: Memorial #20059, citing Coleman Cemetery, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Uncle_Dave_Macon
• Wikidata: Item Q2492614, en:Wikipedia