<P> `` Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair '' is a parlor song by Stephen Foster ( 1826 -- 1864 ) . It was published by Firth , Pond & Co. of New York in 1854 . Foster wrote the song with his estranged wife Jane McDowell in mind . The lyrics allude to a permanent separation . </P>
who wrote the text for jeanie with the light brown hair
Stephen Foster