I favor the point of view that the roots of classic ragtime can be
traced to Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869).

Listen to his Polka in B flat; in form, style, melody and use of
syncopation it's almost identical to the music written 50 years later
by ragtime composers.  Many of his other compositions have a ragtime-
like sound.  It's almost a certainty that Scott Joplin and other
ragtimers heard and were influenced by Gottschalk's music, since he was
a native of New Orleans and his music was extremely popular up until
about 1910-20.

Larry Lobel
Virtuoso Piano Service
Petaluma, CA

 [ Or, perhaps Gottschalk assimilated and organized and notated the
 [ music that he heard in the streets and the bars.  It's difficult
 [ to ascertain if later musicians were directly influenced by the
 [ sheet music, or if they came under the same influences as did
 [ Gottschalk.  The distinction is the lineage: is Gottschalk the
 [ father, or a cousin with keen ears?  The same question might be
 [ posed about W. C. Handy and the early Blues.   -- Robbie