How can I find my grandfathers autobiography?

Question

He was a famous musician back in the 30's and I would really like to find out more about him besides his name and what he did for a living.

His name was 'Francis Henry' and he wrote the song 'Little Girl' and played jazz music.

That's all I know about him but if anyone knows if there's a way I can find out more I would be eternally grateful.

Answer 1

An Autobiography is a book or booklet, "My Life - by Me" - that is, someone sits down and writes the story of his or her  life. It can be 30 pages or 300. If your grandfather wrote one, ask your parents, aunts, uncles and cousins if they have a copy.

If you mean how can you find out about him on-line, for free, that is a different question. Sadly, you had to be twice as good as a white male to get mentioned in a book in the 1930's if you were a person of color or a woman. Your chances are not good.

You could try Google Books; they are digitizing an astounding variety. Go to Google, click on More > Books, then search within Google Books.

If he played in a famous band, AND someone wrote a book about it, he might be in it.

Answer 2

Hi Adelaide,

What a wonderful story you have, in your family history!

I've been looking all over (Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, etc.) and can't seem to find much information.  

Do you have a copy of the sheet music for that song already?  I did find a copy that's for sale currently:

http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/kay/3OT452...

It appears that the song was co-written by Madeline Hyde, there are a few references such as:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_in_mus...

http://books.google.com/books?id=Pt3lKMA...

(Could Brunswick Records have been the company which produced the record?  If so, you might consider contacting them and finding out if they have any further information...  http://www.brunswickrecords.com/contact....

I'm sorry I'm not finding more info for you...  Do you know where Francis Henry lived, or the name(s) of any family who lived with him?  If so, it's possible we could find out some information about the family...

Answer 3

Looks like he worked with Guy Lombardo as a side man.

One place to look for these types of records online is in google books.

go to www.google.com

put in the name of your grandfather, click search

go to the top drop down menu and choose books and it will search the books it has online.

I put in Henry Frances Jazz and got some hits. If they don't have the entire book online there is a link about getting it sent to your nearest library