Arthur W. French

Arthur Wells French (1846-1916) was a journalist from Connecticut who was also a successful songwriter of sentimental songs in the 1870s and 1880s. Born in Monroe, Connecticut, he moved to Bridgeport as a young man. He was inclined to write, especially songs and poetry, "and this natural bent early led him into a newspaper career." His most successful work may have been "Little Sweetheart" sung by minstrel tenor Dave Wambold, which sold "several hundred thousand...copies" of sheet music. As a journalist in Bridgeport, French worked for The Leader weekly newspaper, The Morning News, The Morning Union, The Standard, The Post and Telegram, and in Monroe for The Telegram and The Farmer. His first song was printed in a newspaper. After that he sold songs to a "prominent composer" who adapted music to them and published them. In 1911, French estimated that he had written several hundred sheet music songs, and a similar number "for secular and sacred songbooks." He had kept track by making a continuous list of titles as he wrote them. He also wrote music to be performed in variety shows, minstrel shows, operettas and cantatas which were never published.