William Shakespeare Hays

American poet and lyricist, born July 19, 1837 in Louisville, Kentucky, died July 23, 1907 in Louisville, Kentucky. Will S. Hays wrote some 350 songs over his career and sold as many as 20 million copies of his works. These pieces varied in tone from low comedy to sentimental and pious; his material was sometimes confused with that of Stephen Foster as a result. In his later years, Hays put forth one of the more plausible claims to authorship of the song "Dixie". In the end, however, no evidence could be produced to back up his pretensions.