Calvin Woolsey

Calvin Woolsey
Birth name	Calvin Lee Woolsey
Born	December 26, 1883 Tinney's Point, Missouri, U.S.
Died	November 12, 1946 Braymer, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Ragtime
Occupation(s)	Physician, composer and pianist
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1909 – 1918

Calvin Woolsey (December 26, 1883 – November 12, 1946) was an American composer, pianist, and physician.

Biography

Woolsey was the middle of three children born to Napoleon and Gertrude Woolsey. Woolsey was a descendant of George (Joris) Woolsey, one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam, and Thomas Cornell.

Woolsey was raised in Tinney Grove, Missouri, just south of the city of Braymer. He earned a medical degree from the University of Missouri and did his post-graduate work at Harvard Medical School. He joined the Army Medical Corps during World War I and attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

He composed rags in the folk ragtime style that was popular around 1900. He sold two of these to Jerome H. Remick and self-published several others. He also published a waltz and a march.

He died at home, in 1946, of a coronary thrombosis.

Compositions

cover art from sheet music for "Medic Rag" (1910)

• "Funny Bones" (rag, 1909)
• "Dissatisfied" (1910)
• "Poison Rag" (1910)
• "Medic Rag" (1910)
• "Peroxide Rag" (1910)
• "Mashed Potatoes" (rag, 1911)
• "Bill Johnson" (1912)
• "Purple and White" (march, 1913)
• "Lover's Lane Glide" (rag, 1914)
• "Hearts Across The Sea" (waltz, 1918)

See also

• List of ragtime composers

External links

• video of a duet performance of "Mashed Potatoes" on YouTube