Margaret J. Breakey: Musician, Composer & Lyricist
Marilyn J. Breakey
©2010
Once again I am indebted to my often mentioned co-author, Ken Breakey. Over the years his dedicated research and willingness to share hundreds of pages of that research with me has provided a substantial basis for current manuscripts in The Breakey Collection. However, early in 2008 a mail packet arrived from Ken with something out of the ordinary: a photocopy of a musical composition written for piano. Having long been fascinated by the accomplishments of many Breakey family members, this musical mystery warranted a solution if possible.
.
* * * * *
The front cover of the musical score that Ken sent bears an image of a furled American flag. Superimposed upon the image is the following: Most Reverently Dedicated To the American Flag, beneath which appears the title, The American Flag ~ Two Step ~, followed by “Composed by M. J. Breakey, Published by C. C. Mellor Co. Ltd Pittsburgh, Pa”. [No date of publication or copyright date appears on the reproduction; however, The Pittsburgh Sheet Music Collection provided by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh supplies the following date of publication as “1909?”].[1]
With the assistance of a reference librarian at my local library who searched the World Catalog, a global catalog of library collections for librarians, it was determined that the original musical score is housed at the University of South Florida. Further details note that the composition was published by the Union Music Company of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1900. (Retrieved 1/30/2009).
With further research I came upon two more musical compositions by Ms. Breakey, the first being Gold Bug March.
The musical score, as indicated on the cover page, was published by M J Breakey, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Immediately following Ms. Breakey’s name there is a circle in which the numeral four is shown. On page three at the beginning of the musical score there appears the title, and “M J Breakey.” At the bottom of page three appears “copyright 1895 by M J Breakey.” Ms. Breakey’s full name does not appear anywhere in this musical score.[2] The original is housed in
the Indiana State Museum.
The second musical score housed in the Indiana State Museum is that of Oh, Will You Be My Sweetheart, Then?
This musical score was published by the Bonanza Music Publishing Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and as may be seen from the cover, the cost of the composition was fifty cents. On the bottom of page three appears “copyright 1896 by Margaret J. Breakey.” Ms. Breakey’s full name also appears at the top of page three immediately following the musical score title. To date, this is also the first appearance of Ms. Breakey as a lyricist.[3]
Verse:
1. Oh! Will you be my sweetheart
When summer days are gone,
When the roses droop and fade, love,
And the winter snows are on,
Or will you forget me,
When the summer flow’rs have fled,
Will your heart grow cold as the winter snow
Or will you be my sweetheart, then?
2. Oh! Will you be my sweetheart
When youth’s bright days are gone,
When the golden hours have faded,
And the shadows of life are on,
Or will you then forget me,
When the summer flow’rs have fled,
Will you heart grow cold, as the winter snow,
Or will you be my sweetheart, then?
3. Oh! Will you be my sweetheart,
No dark days then there’ll be,
But in the light or shadow,
‘Twill all be sunshine for me,
There’ll be no doubt of falsehood,
And all will so true,
If you’ll only be my sweetheart, love,
Oh! Will you be my sweetheart, then?
Refrain:
The dearest of sweethearts, are sweethearts then
When the shadows of life fall fast,
Will your heart be cold, as the winter snow,
Or will you be my sweetheart, then?
* * * * *
Little is known of Margaret Breakey’s early musical interests although one may assume that as a public school student in Indiana she was familiar with Loomis’ 9 Progressive Music Lessons. [Author’s note: George Loomis began teaching music in Indiana in 1866, later becoming the first superintendent of music in the Indianapolis public school system. He also published music education books that introduced public school students in Indiana, as well as surrounding states, to music theory and applied music.][4][5]
Ms. Breakey’s continued interest in music was evident in later years as reported by Chris McHenry: “Margaret Breakey wrote and published a number of popular songs around the turn of the century, including some with patriotic themes and some in a more danceable form. Margaret Breakey worked for a time selling pianos for the Cook Piano Company that manufactured them in Greendale.”[6]
McHenry’s comments prompted me to take a closer look at the small print appearing on the musical scores held by the Indiana State Museum. In the lower left-hand corner of page four of Oh! Will You Be My Sweetheart, Then?, there appears “Try Valse Brilliant, Breakey. 50 cts.” In the lower left-hand corner of the final fifth page there appears: “Try Indiana Two Step. Breakey. 40 cts”. From that small print one might assume these to be the titles of two other musical compositions by Ms. Breakey that can not be accounted for at the present.
Of further interest to me are what may appear as the rather insignificant numerals, four and five, on the sheet music covers of Gold Bug March and Oh! Will You Be My Sweetheart Heart, Then? Do they represent a chronological order for Ms. Breakey’s creative compositions?
An extensive search in public records for Margaret J Breakey provided little else than an enumeration for her in the 1880 federal census records for Greendale, Dearborn, Indiana, that being a result of researching her residence as noted on the musical scores. The following household census listed:[7]
John Breakey, self, married, male, white, age 57, birthplace Eng, occupation Cabinet Maker
Susan Breakey, wife, married, female, white, age 39, birthplace KY, occupation keeping house
Emma Breakey, daughter, female, [no marital status noted] white, age 22, birthplace KY, occupation seamstress
Maggie Breakey, daughter, single, female, white, age 12, birthplace IN, occupation house keeping
Additional family history for Margaret J. Breakey may be found in a previously included manuscript in The Breakey Collection[8].
Preparatory to including this article in The Breakey Collection I wish to add:
1. No amount of research has been able to determine the surname of John Breakey’s first wife, Mary Ann, nor has any research been found for her death attributed to a lightning strike pursuant to her location of residence.
2. John Breakey’s marriage to Susan White in 1866 is documented in marriage records[9].
3. No information has been forthcoming for Emma Breakey, listed in the 1880 census as a daughter, age 22, of John Breakey. Inasmuch as John Breakey didn’t enroll in the Indiana Volunteers until 1861, and based on the age differences between Emma and her mother as noted in the census, one might assume that Emma was perhaps a sister to Susan, or a child from a previous marriage.
4. No amount of research has been able to determine a date of death for John Breakey, or a place of residence following the 1880 US census.
5. Based upon the concluding sentence of the previously mentioned family history of John Breakey, Civil War Veteran on this website, no amount of research has been able to locate a Margaret Mehan (Meehan, Mahan) residing in Danville, Illinois, or any connection to anyone of that name in the area.
* * * * *
In conclusion, an ironic twist: In the past few months Ken emailed me to say that a copy of a piano score for Gold Bug March was put up for sale on eBay! Hopefully the person that purchased it is a descendant of Margaret J. Breakey.
[1] Who’s Who in America published in 1910 lists C C Mellor (1836-1909) as a piano and music dealer. Documents supporting the celebration of his 70th birthday, held by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the “Pittsburgh Music –Archival Material” collection lists Mellor as the owner of the C C Mellor Music Company.
[2] Breakey, Margaret J. Gold Bug March, Lawrenceburg, IN. M J Breakey, 1895. From the sheet music collection of the Indiana State Museum. Available at “IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana” Indiana University http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inharmony/welcome.do (Retrieved 1/18/2009)
[3] Breakey, Margaret J. Oh! Will You Be My Sweetheart, Then? Philadelphia, PA: Bonanza Music Pub Co., 1896. From the sheet music collection of the Indiana State Museum. Available at “IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana” Indiana University http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inharmony/welcome.do (Retrieved 1/18/2009)
[4] 1866. Timeline of Music in the United States (1850-1879), Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2009. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (Retrieved 1/25/2009).
[5] Birge, Edward Bailey. History of Public School Music in the United States. Oliver Ditson Co., 1928, p 95. Available at < http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofpublics030134mbp/historyofpublics030134mbp_djvu.txt> (Retrieved 1/25/02009.
[6] McHenry, Chris. A Bicentennial Musical Celebration of Dearborn County. Lawrenceburg Public Library District. 2008. Available at < http://www.lpld.lib.in.us/bimus.htm> (Retrieved 1/18/2009)
[7] Available at < http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp > (Retrieved 1/3/2009)
[8] Breakey, Marilyn J “John Breakey, Civil War Veteran.” The Breakey Collection. 2003. Available at
< http://www.breakeycollection.com/ >
[9] Available at http://boards.ancestry.com.au/localities.northam.usa.states.indiana.counties.marion/2154/mb.ashx (Retrieved 26 March 2009)