Eben E. Rexford
American lyricist and horticulturist (1848–1916)
Eben Eugene Rexford (July 16, 1848 – October 18, 1916) was an American writer and poet, and author of lyrics to popular and gospel songs.
Biography
Eben E. Rexford was born in Johnsburg, New York on July 16, 1848. He moved with his family to Ellington, Wisconsin in 1855. His first poems were published in the New York Ledger when Rexford was 14. Among the many songs he wrote, Rexford is best remembered for the lyrics to "Silver Threads Among the Gold", which were set to music by Hart Pease Danks. This song was one of the first items to be recorded mechanically. Another poem that has had continuing popularity is "The Ride of Paul Venarez", which is considered to be a "cowboy poem", even though the author was from Wisconsin. It has been turned into a song, "Billy Venero", and has a colorful history.
Rexford was a prolific writer. Most of his books were about gardening.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eben E. Rexford” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.