von der Mehden, Jr., J. Louis

J. Louis von der Mehden, Jr. was born 20 July 1873 in San Francisco, California . He entered the Royal Conservatory at Leipzig, Germany, on 21 April 1892 and graduated in 1894, having studied music theory and composition, piano and cello. He had no formal high school education, and in 1915 began a high school equivalency correspondence course through the University of Chicago, which he completed in 1922. In June 1922, Oskaloosa College in Iowa conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Music Degree. He began studying music composition and history at Yale University in October 1922 and received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1924. In November 1923, he began correspondence courses at the Chicago School of Law and earned his law degree in 1927.

J. Louis von der Mehden married Susan Evelyn Bates (1874-1955) 26 March 1899 in Palo Alto, California . Susan graduated from the San José State Normal School . In later years she gave French and music lessons and also tried to publish children's verse. In 1908, Louis composed several series of Musical Pictures for the Young, piano pieces that were preceded by one of Susan's poems, and in 1909 they worked together in the creation of several sets of children's verses called Little Bagatelles .

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