Scott Joplin was born on November 24, 1868 near Linden, Texas to Florence Givens and Jiles Joplin. Joplin came from a rather large family. He was the second of six children in his family. His mother, Florence, cleaned homes for a living so that Scott would be able to practice on their pianos while she cleaned. By 1868, Florence was able to save enough money to purchase their first piano.
Later in life, Joplin moved away from Linden to the small town of Sedalia where he worked at the Maple Leaf Club. While working there he was inspired to compose his most famous work, "The Maple Leaf Rag." This piece was published in 1899 and did very well. Joplin went on to compose many more works in his lifetime.
In 1904, Joplin met a young ninteen year old woman, named Freddie Alexander. The two were married in July 1904, but Freddie soon became very ill and died September 10, 1904. Though the marriage was short it was full of love. Though Joplin went on to marry two other women during his life Freddie was said to have been the only woman that Joplin truly loved. Joplin went on to live a full life, but died in 1917 from Syphilis. |
