Events
1900
April 23 – The word hillbillie is printed for the first time in the New York Journal.
No dates
Several train crashes, all occurring between 1890 and 1903, occur throughout the country, inspiring several early country music recordings. These include the wreck of the C&O in 1890 ("Engine 143" by the Carter Family), train 382 near Vaughn, Mississippi (which inspired "Casey Jones") and train 97 near Danville, Virginia (bearing "Wreck of the Old 97"). The resulting themes are tales of tragedy, bravery and triumph. "Rube" comedy and long country dialect tales, such as the "Uncle Josh" series of songs from Cal Stewart, become popular in the first decade of the 1900s and first part of the 1910s.
Notable recordings of the pre-1920s era
1917
"Till the Clouds Roll By" – Vernon Dalhart
1919
"Till We Meet Again" – Vernon Dalhart and Gladys Rice
1912
"Ragtime Cowboy Joe" – Bob Roberts
Births
1848
Uncle Jimmy Thompson – first person to appear on the Grand Ole Opry (d. 1931).
1868
March 23 – Fiddlin' John Carson, one of radio's first country music stars, recorded "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (d. 1949).
1870
October 7 – Uncle Dave Macon, "The Dixie Dewdrop" and country music pioneer who combined banjo playing, singing and comic talents to be one of the Grand Ole Opry's first stars (d. 1952).
1883
April 6 – Vernon Dalhart, early 1900s singer whose "The Prisoner's Song" became country music's first million-selling single in 1925 (d. 1948).
1885
June 6 – Gid Tanner, old-time fiddler and leader of the Skillet Lickers, which became one of the first major country music bands (d. 1960).
1887
November 20 – A.C. "Eck" Robertson, fiddle player whose "Sally Gooden" became the first recording in the country music genre (d. 1975).
1889
October 19 – Arthur E. Satherley, pioneering music executive (d. 1986).
1891
August 25 – Tom Darby, singer, guitar player and partner of Jimmie Tarlton (as Darby and Tarlton) (d. 1971). December 15 – A. P. Carter, member of the legendary and original "Carter Family" (d. 1960).
1892
March 22 – Charlie Poole, singer, banjo player and leader of the "North Carolina Ramblers" (d. 1931). April 6 – Henry Whitter, singer and one of the first recorded country musicians (d. 1941) May 8 – Jimmie Tarlton, singer, steel guitar player and partner of Tom Darby (as Darby and Tarlton) (d. 1979). May 22 – Ralph Peer, talent scout and pioneering recording executive and producer (d. 1960).
1893
May 25 – Ernest "Pop" Stoneman, singer, multi-instrumentalist and country musician (d. 1968).
1894
May 7 – Riley Puckett, singer, guitarist and member of the "Skillet Lickers (d. 1946).
1895
January 5 – Elizabeth Cotten, left-handed guitarist and folk musician (d. 1987). May 10 – Carl T. Sprague, "The Original Singing Cowboy" (d. 1979). July 13 – Bradley Kincaid, early country musician and folk singer (d. 1989) September 29 – Clarence Ashley, banjoist, guitarist and early country musician (d. 1967). November 9 – George D. Hay, "The Solemn Old Judge", legendary announcer, first on WLS and later on WSM Grand Ole Opry (d. 1968).
1896
August 23 – Wendell Hall, "The Red Headed Music Maker", early country music singer (d. 1969).
1897
March 20 – Frank Hutchison, early country blues singer and slide guitar player. (d. 1945). September 8 – Jimmie Rodgers, "The Singing Brakeman", "America's Blue Yodeler", legendary country singer famous for his "Blue Yodels" (d. 1933).
1898
February 7 – Dock Boggs, old time country singer (d. 1971). July 20 – J. E. Mainer, old time fiddle player of The Mountaineers and brother to Wade Mainer. (d. 1971). July 21 – Sara Carter, member of the legendary and original "Carter Family". (d. 1979). August 24 – Fred Rose, songwriter (including "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain") founder of Acuff-Rose Music publishing (d. 1954).
1899
September 11 – Jimmie Davis, pop- and gospel-styled singer of the 1930s and 1940s ("You Are My Sunshine"), who later served as governor of Louisiana (d. 2000). December 14 – DeFord Bailey, harmonicaist and first African American performer on the Grand Ole Opry (d. 1982).
1900
January 26 – Clayton McMichen, pioneering fiddle player and member of the Skillet Lickers (d. 1970). April 15 – J.L. Frank, music executive (d. 1952).
1901
May 12 – The Duke of Paducah, comedian and star of the Grand Ole Opry (d. 1986).
1902
December 24 – Don Law, music executive (d. 1982).