Jimmie Rodgers
Born in 1897, Rodgers was the youngest of three sons, probably near Meridian, Mississippi. After the death of his mother, relatives in Mississippi and Alabama raised him. Eventually, Rodgers returned to his father Aaron Rodgers (and his second wife), a foreman at the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Rodgers began singing and playing guitar as a child. He won a talent show when he was 12 and decided to pursue music for a living.