Read Online Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions by Ralph Lee Smith - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ralph Lee Smith
Ads: Link
Society published Dear Companion: Appalachian Traditional Singers from the Cecil Sharp Collection. Describing their work in Virginia in 1918, the book says:
Sharp and Karpeles stayed at Meadows of Dan with members of the Span-gler family, one of whom, James Watts âBabeâ Spangler, was a fine and influential local fiddler, although, as he was away from the area at the time, Sharp was unable to note any tunes from him. (p. 20)
Meadows of Dan is in Patrick County, to the east of Wythe County, but the reference and musical association are intriguing. If all the leads were followed up and some genealogical research were done, one or more very old and very important dulcimers might be found at the end of the trail.
A FINDING IN THE VALLEY
In 2006, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia, mounted an exhibit of scheitholts and dulcimers, principally from my collection. Heather Hembrey, the staff member in charge of the exhibit, read The Dulcimer in Southwestern Virginia and decided to see if any preâCivil War dulcimers might be found in court records of the Shenandoah Valley. After three long days studying records in the Shenandoah County Courthouse, she found one.
Hembrey photographed two entries for the instrument, one in the estate inventory and one in the subsequent record of sale. The photos were among the stars of the exhibit. The museumâs caption read:
Photographs by Heather Hembrey. From Shenandoah County Will Book No. 2, August 1852âAugust 1853, Pages 373â374, 381.  These documents show that dulcimers existed in the Shenandoah Valley before the Civil War. Jacob Clem of Fort Valley died on May 1, 1853. His estate inventory of July 21 listed â1 oil stone & 1 Dulcimoreâ valued at 30 cents. Five days later, Levi Coverstone bought the âDulsimoâ for 83 cents. He also bought Clemâs violin. He did not own these instruments for very long. Coverstone died of typhoid fever on September 10, 1855. He was 25 years and 10 days old.
BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS
The dulcimer traveled beyond the mountains at an early date. Indiana, located wholly west of the Appalachians, was organized as a territory in 1800 and entered the union as a state in 1816. At this time and for a number of years thereafter, Indiana was often called the nationâs âFar Western Frontier.â
In 1820, the federal government negotiated a treaty with several Native American tribes that occupied a substantial area of Indiana. By the terms of the treaty, the Native Americans were paid for an immense tract of land within the stateâs borders and were required to vacate and move west. The land was called the âNew Purchase.â It was divided up into 37 counties and was offered to settlers for $2 per acre, later reduced to $1.25 per acre. From the Eastern Seaboard and from Virginia and Ohio, pioneering settlers arrived.
In 2005, I exchanged several emails with Keith Collins, interpreter specialist for music at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum in Fishers, Indiana, east of Indianapolis. In the course of our exchange, he wrote: âIt has come to my attention that a dulcimer is listed in an [estate] inventory from 1847 in Johnson County, Indiana. It belonged to a Lewis Hendricks and was valued at his death at $1.00.â
Collins also told me about a book published in 1843 containing a description of a dulcimer owned by a resident of the pioneer community of Bloomington, Indiana, in the early 1820s. The bookâa two-volume, 616-page work by âRobert Carltonâ (a pseudonym for Baynard R. Hall) entitled The New Purchase; or, Seven and a Half Years in the Far West âprovides an extensive account of daily life in Bloomington in the 1820s.
In 1823, the state of Indiana launched the Indiana Seminary on land close to Bloomington. The seminary became Indiana University in 1838. Baynard R. Hall, a Presbyterian minister, was appointed the
Sharp and Karpeles stayed at Meadows of Dan with members of the Span-gler family, one of whom, James Watts âBabeâ Spangler, was a fine and influential local fiddler, although, as he was away from the area at the time, Sharp was unable to note any tunes from him. (p. 20)
Meadows of Dan is in Patrick County, to the east of Wythe County, but the reference and musical association are intriguing. If all the leads were followed up and some genealogical research were done, one or more very old and very important dulcimers might be found at the end of the trail.
A FINDING IN THE VALLEY
In 2006, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia, mounted an exhibit of scheitholts and dulcimers, principally from my collection. Heather Hembrey, the staff member in charge of the exhibit, read The Dulcimer in Southwestern Virginia and decided to see if any preâCivil War dulcimers might be found in court records of the Shenandoah Valley. After three long days studying records in the Shenandoah County Courthouse, she found one.
Hembrey photographed two entries for the instrument, one in the estate inventory and one in the subsequent record of sale. The photos were among the stars of the exhibit. The museumâs caption read:
Photographs by Heather Hembrey. From Shenandoah County Will Book No. 2, August 1852âAugust 1853, Pages 373â374, 381.  These documents show that dulcimers existed in the Shenandoah Valley before the Civil War. Jacob Clem of Fort Valley died on May 1, 1853. His estate inventory of July 21 listed â1 oil stone & 1 Dulcimoreâ valued at 30 cents. Five days later, Levi Coverstone bought the âDulsimoâ for 83 cents. He also bought Clemâs violin. He did not own these instruments for very long. Coverstone died of typhoid fever on September 10, 1855. He was 25 years and 10 days old.
BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS
The dulcimer traveled beyond the mountains at an early date. Indiana, located wholly west of the Appalachians, was organized as a territory in 1800 and entered the union as a state in 1816. At this time and for a number of years thereafter, Indiana was often called the nationâs âFar Western Frontier.â
In 1820, the federal government negotiated a treaty with several Native American tribes that occupied a substantial area of Indiana. By the terms of the treaty, the Native Americans were paid for an immense tract of land within the stateâs borders and were required to vacate and move west. The land was called the âNew Purchase.â It was divided up into 37 counties and was offered to settlers for $2 per acre, later reduced to $1.25 per acre. From the Eastern Seaboard and from Virginia and Ohio, pioneering settlers arrived.
In 2005, I exchanged several emails with Keith Collins, interpreter specialist for music at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum in Fishers, Indiana, east of Indianapolis. In the course of our exchange, he wrote: âIt has come to my attention that a dulcimer is listed in an [estate] inventory from 1847 in Johnson County, Indiana. It belonged to a Lewis Hendricks and was valued at his death at $1.00.â
Collins also told me about a book published in 1843 containing a description of a dulcimer owned by a resident of the pioneer community of Bloomington, Indiana, in the early 1820s. The bookâa two-volume, 616-page work by âRobert Carltonâ (a pseudonym for Baynard R. Hall) entitled The New Purchase; or, Seven and a Half Years in the Far West âprovides an extensive account of daily life in Bloomington in the 1820s.
In 1823, the state of Indiana launched the Indiana Seminary on land close to Bloomington. The seminary became Indiana University in 1838. Baynard R. Hall, a Presbyterian minister, was appointed the
Similar Books
