Daniel Decatur Emmett was a Mount Vernon-born musician and songwriter who defined a generation and either wrote or “borrowed” a song that became the unofficial national anthem of the Confederate States of America. Born in 1815, just ten years after the founding of Mount Vernon, Dan Emmett grew up in a time that offered little formal education. From his mother he learned a love of music, along with reading and writing. By age 15 he had composed and performed “Old Dan Tucker.” From army fifer, to circus band member, to minstrel troupe leader, Dan Emmett traveled the world, but retired to his hometown, where he died and is buried.