The Sanford Mills Band

They look like musicians.
Drummers, trombone players,

clarinetists, and cornet players.

They wear sharp looking band uniforms
with music lyre badges pinned to their military caps.

In the center is a drum major
wearing a tall bearskin hat
and holding a shiny baton.

The bass drumhead even tells us their name:
the Sanford Mills Band
of Sanford, ME

But music was not the principal occupation
of these 23 bandsmen.
 

They are were employed as
weavers, winders, warpers,
burlers, combers, crimpers,
dyers, mixers, finishers,
spinners, spoolers,
twisters, tearers,
block printers, loom fixers,
bobbin setters, robe cutters, wool sorters,
and at numerous other jobs
at the Plush and Worsted Mills of Sanford, Maine,
manufacturers of Mohair Plushes,
Automobile Robes,
and Horse Blankets.
 

Sanford Mills advert
1919 Sanford, ME city directory

The Sanford Mills was an industrial complex of about 7.5 acres in Sanford, ME. It was developed by Thomas Goodall, an English immigrant, in 1867 on the site of earlier mill industries. His Sanford factories produced coarse woolen blankets for horses and mules; warm robes for drivers and passengers of automobiles which had no heating; and decorative plush mohair fabrics used in commercial upholstery. The seats in Pullman railway cars were covered in this heavy material. The next postcard image of the Sanford Mills suggests a quiet, pastoral landscape which was probably very far from the reality of a large factory employing hundreds of workers.

Sanford Mills, Sanford, ME c. 1919
Source: Wikipedia

The men in the Sanford Mills Band were predominately young. Only one cornet player, seated center on the floor, looks to be 40+ in age. Most of them worked at the Sanford Mills in either one of the jobs listed above or in some other capacity like a clerk, electrician, carpenter, plumber, etc. These skilled trade occupations were attached not only to the census records but to names listed in the city directory too.

Some of the bandsmen may have been employed in other Sanford industries like the lumber mill or shoe factory, but all of them certainly lived very close to the mills and either walked or took a trolley line to work. The reason the mills were located in Sanford was the water power from city's Mousam River. The town counted 9,049 inhabitants for the 1910 census. Sanford. ME is about 35 miles southwest of Portland, ME and 35 miles north of Portsmouth, NH.

The band was organized around 1909-10 and may have been sponsored partly by the mill owners. For some company bands, the rehearsal space was at the workplace, and the band would rehearse and perform during the factory lunch hour. This may have been the case for the Sanford Mill Band early in its history but by 1924 the band kept a rehearsal space on the top floor of a downtown building next to a city park which was a short 5 minute walk from the mill. Company bands were very much a part of the worker's community and the band would perform for all kinds of civic events. American small towns loved parades, and the tall drum major at the back of the band is evidence that the Sanford Mills Band was a marching band. With only three clarinets and seven cornets they were also more of a brass band than a wind band. 

My first simple search for the Sanford Mills Band turned up the most useful information. In July 2015, Vic Firth, the celebrated timpanist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra passed away at the age of 85. He was a very talented percussionist who won this position when he was only 20. In his memorial tribute, he attributed his start in music to growing up in Sanford where his father, Everett E. Firth, was a music teacher and director of the Sanford Mills Band from 1910 to 1954.

Having a name made it easy to find more details on Ancestry.com and I found Everett E. Firth listed in the 1913 city directory as a shoeworker and conductor of the Sanford Mills band. He was also living at home with his father Joseph E. Firth, a clerk as the Hotel Sanford. At the time he was only 19 years old.

1913 Sanford and Springvale, ME city directory

Unfortunately the internet archives have not digitized any Sanford newspapers, but sometimes Sanford's community news were published in Boston newspapers and the band got a brief mention. In January 1915 it was reported that the band had elected officers and Everett Firth was appointed as conductor of the band. Between 1917 and 1919 his name was not in the directory, as according to his draft card he was employed as a weaver at a cotton mill in Lowell, Massachusetts. When the United States entered the war in 1917, Everett was one of hundreds of musicians who were sent to France where he served as an assistant band leader for the 303rd Field Artillery band. On his return he moved back to Sanford and was listed in the 1920 census as Musician, Theatre. In the 1923 city directory he was again identified as conductor of the Sanford Mills band, while his father, Joseph, worked as an operative in the Sanford Mills.

In the photo, one musician's hat is different. It's the cornet player seated right. He has an insignia that is difficult to read as the focus is not clear, but with digital correction it looks like:

F. 1st Regt.
of K O S M

He is also the only musician with a bow tie which stands out because of the high collar on the uniform jacket. I've been unable to figure out the meaning of the initials, K.O.S.M. or H.C.S.M.?, perhaps it's a fraternal society, but 1st Regt. does suggest a quasi-military group. In any case, though I don't know the answer to this puzzle, I think this young man's dress statement marks him as the band leader. And I believe he may be Everett E. Firth.

The photographer of this large 9.5" x 6.5" photo was Fred C. Philpot who operated a studio in Sanford, ME beginning from at least 1893 to 1923. Philpot died in 1925 at age 69, so the band's photo was certainly taken before that. I believe the photo's style and the possible identification of its leader dates it from around 1914-16.


Company bands were more than just a recreation for workers. They were an organization that represented an entire community without connection to church or politics. Factory towns like Sanford, at the beginning of the 20th century proudly promoted the promise of the new industrial city. Here are two postcards to illustrate the Sanford Mills where these men worked and made music.

Sanford Apr 13
Dear Father and
Mother  I got here all right and work this after
noon  it is awful cold and
my room is cold so I am going to bed
I am well  will write soon
C. W. W.

The postcard was sent to Mr. G. H. Willey of Newfield, Maine
on April 14, 1908.
Newfield is about 17 miles north of Sanford
and in 1910 had a population of 620 people.
The photographer was Philpot,
the same studio that took the band photo.

This second postcard is not a photo but an etching of a large factory complex with impressive smoke stacks.

I am sorry but
I cannot exchan
ge souvenir spoons
or magazines
with you for
they are too ex-
pensive for me.
You know I
have to work
pretty hard
for a living I
am alone to
work with one
of my sisters to take care of the house and my dear old
mother and father.  so it makes it quite hard for me.
Hope you will find someone else to exchange with you.
Mary Menard.

The back of the postcard has no stamp or address, but like the previous postcard is "undivided" to be used only for the address. In the United States this officially changed in March 1907 when a sender was permitted to write a message on one half of the address side of a postcard. So Mary's note likely dates from before 1908.



The Sanford Mills Band disappeared from the city directory in the late 1920s, but evidently it continued performing for various civic functions like fairs and mill employee picnics. Eventually it became the Sanford community band which still continues the tradition of band music in Sanford.

In 1953 the Goodall family sold its Sanford Mills to the Burlington Mills Corporation which closed the mill operation in 1955. After many years of vacancy and decay, the remaining buildings were finally scheduled for demolition by the property owner. But concern over losing an important piece of community history motivated the city of Sanford to intervene. Arrangements were made to sell the land to a developer which then cleaned up the existing environmental contamination and rehabilitated the property. Using the remaining brick shell of the main mill building, 36 income-restricted apartment units and 22,000 square feet of commercial space were created.

In June 2017, one of the largest building of the old Sanford Mills was destroyed in a terrible fire.  Fortunately the buildings were unoccupied at the time, but two days later three boys, two 13-year-olds and a 12-year-old, were charged with felony arson. Demolition of this site began in September 2018.

Fire at Sanford Mills, Sanford, ME 23 June 2017
Source: Wikipedia

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