John Stark & Son

US publishing company started in 1885 in Sedalia, Missouri by John Stillwell Stark with his then 15 year old son William Stark, made famous by buying the rights to Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag in 1889 which allowed the business to expand with an office in St. Louis, Missouri and in 1905 New York. Continued to publish "rags" until 1922 well after ragtimes decline.