Childhood is the small town
everyone came from.
~
Garrison Keillor
Small town life.
It's a universal theme
shared by every culture
in every age.
It's a universal theme
shared by every culture
in every age.
This is a story
about the cultural center of one small town,
the Citizen's Band of South New Berlin, New York.
about the cultural center of one small town,
the Citizen's Band of South New Berlin, New York.
We will start with a brief introduction to the 13½ bandsmen. At the back on
left, was Lynn B. Parker on euphonium. He was a salesman at his cousin's dry
goods store. Next to him on valve trombone was Jay Manwaring. He was just 19
years old and worked as a bartender at his father's hotel. The slide
trombonist was Mr. Luther C. Gage the band's instructor and leader. L.C. kept
a barbershop at a hotel and had a side job as a photographer. Standing at the
right, Will Coy played the tuba. He worked at the creamery where every day
between 35,000 and 40,000 lbs. of milk was churned into 1,400 lbs of
butter.
Seated in the middle row on left, was the snare drummer, Mr. Linn Gage. He was
the undertaker in South New Berlin, and he probably got to know most folks in
town better than anyone. Moving right, George Coss and Arthur Hayes played
alto horns. Sometimes Arthur played brass trios at the church with Lynn Parker
and Will Coy. On the mellophone was Edwin Gage. In a few months he would go up
to the Normal School in Oneonta to get his teaching degree. At the far right on bass drum was Ernest Tillapaugh. He worked as a fireman at the creamery.
Seated on the grass lawn at left, was Truman B. Parker. He was Lynn Parker's
cousin and the proprietor of the T. B. Parker & Co. store in South New
Berlin where he kept a large stock of clothing for children, ladies, and
gentlemen. No doubt he helped the band get their fine uniforms at wholesale
price. To the right is Mr. Frank G. Dixon on solo cornet. Mr. Dixon was the
postmaster of South New Berlin, and for a time the leader of the band. Beside
him on right were the two clarionets, Ed Ten Eyck on B-flat, and Walter J.
McIntire on the little E-flat. Walter also worked at the creamery, but later
went on to run his own green grocery in South New Berlin.
Hidden in the center is a young boy holding a drum major's baton. I believe
this is Frank G. Dixon's son, Edwin Dixon, born February 1898. Several men
were married, but only F. G. Dixon had a son that matched that lad's age.
This is not a photo postcard or even a cabinet card photo. It's very large
format print, nearly 8" x 10", and Mr. L. C. Gage mounted it on an extra-size
board. It's quite possible that he hides in his right hand a pneumatic
squeeze bulb to operate the shutter.
It's a wonderful portrait of a small band typical of those found in thousands
of communities in America at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Usually
it might be called a "cornet band", a term for a brass instrument ensemble
that often included a clarinet (or clarionet as it was then spelled) or maybe a
piccolo for the high descant tunes. But here in South New Berlin, the boys in
this band preferred a much more democratic term, a Citizen's Band.
The photo's card mount shows that it was pinned to a wall for
many years instead of being in a frame. Still it's survived without too much
damage, though I have digitally fixed a scrape line in the center and
corrected it's faded sepia tone. But unfortunately there are no notations on
the back for a date or a name. In fact, until this past week I did not know any of the names
of these 13½ bandsmen.
But with a little detective work, I found them.
On the the front page of their local newspaper.
On the the front page of their local newspaper.
The Saturday, March 1, 1902 edition of the South New Berlin Bee, of
Chenango County, N.Y. gave a full report on the short history of the band. It
included all their names and more.
The headline says it better than I can.
The Citizen's Band one of the
Leading Organizations in this
Community***A Factor in the
Life of the Village.
South New Berlin Bee 1 March 1902 |
The band was organized in May 1899 and the report lists its original
membership of 17 men, several of whom were still with the group. Previously
the village of South New Berlin had supported a band for its local post of
the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) for Union veterans. Over time this
band changed its name to Citizen's Band, and the report gives their names
too, with several musicians now members of the new Citizen's Band. The report adds:
Since its organization it has been ably managed, for, had it not
been, it could not have existed so long. So much for those who have
had the management of it, and the balance of the credit to the
citizens for their liberal support. Many dollars have been expended
for new instruments and handsome uniforms and today no band in any
country village is better equipped than is this one; new music is also
constantly being purchased. The band does not consist of a large
membership—14 or 15—but it is better to have collected together a
small number of talented musicians than to have a large number who
furnish volume, but no music. During the Summer months our Band has
attracted many to the village by their evening concerts, which .proved
to be very enjoyable.
We think we but truthfully state the matter when we say the Band has
been a success all the way along, thus showing the public’s
appreciation of a helpful and worthy organization. It is generally a
hard matter to keep an organization of this kind together long at a
time, owing to death among its number, removal of members to other
villages and lastly by dissension and strife which too often plays an
important part in causing a disbandment; although some of these
features have entered into this organization, it has not materially
interfered with it and today its outlook is bright.
* * *
As my readers know, I don't like to leave any stone unturned when researching
a subject. But this contemporaneous identification in the South New Berlin
Bee of the exact same photo is unlike anything I've encountered before. It was like a finding a lost
key in the digital sands of the internet. A key that could open the lock
binding the chains of history on this photo. I found it in the archive
FultonHistory.com, a private
collection of primarily New York historic newspapers that is free and open to
anyone. If this was a photo of a brass band in Idaho, I'd likely never
find this kind of information, but as fortune sometimes goes, because South New
Berlin is in New York, (and not Germany) this
wonderful archive has digitized its weekly newspaper for posterity.
Today,
South New Berlin
is unofficially classified in New York state as a
hamlet, the smallest of its unincorporated communities. In 1902 the hamlet had a
population estimated at 217 citizens. It was on the N.Y., Ontario & West
Rail Road which linked it, 8 miles north, to New Berlin, NY, which then
boasted a population nearly six times larger of 1,156. Both communities were
located along the Unadilla River which winds its way southward through the hills
and dales of central New York to join the Susquehanna River, eventually
reaching the Chesapeake Bay. South New Berlin was, and remains, a crossroads
in a region of farmlands mixed with forests. In this bird's eye view, which
looks westward I think, we can't actually see the Unadilla, but it is beneath the
bridge in the center of the photo. The bridge links the separate parts of the
hamlet, the west in Chenango County, and the east in Otsego County.
This postcard photo was sent from South New Berlin to Mrs. Susie Root of New
Berlin on 3 August 1931, but I suspect the photo is a decade older or more. It
was published by the
Eastern Illustrating Co.
of Belfast, Maine, another small town on Maine's Atlantic coast. This company,
established in 1909 by R. Herman Cassens, specialized in producing photo
postcards of America's small towns for distribution to the thousands of small
town shops. The Eastern Illustrating Co. became one of the largest publishers
of postcards and at its peak printed over a million cards a year.
The short message reads:
Just got word
Otis was
worse so
dont see how
I can get
back until wednes-
day some time
Best Wishes
Sarah
Otis was
worse so
dont see how
I can get
back until wednes-
day some time
Best Wishes
Sarah
In 1902 the
South New Berlin Bee was one of several newspapers available to subscribers in the Unadilla
valley. Six miles to the southeast, Gilbertsville, population 476, had the
Otsego Journal. Eight miles east, the town of Morris, population 553,
had the weekly Chronicle. To the north, New Berlin had the weekly
Gazette. And nine miles west was Norwich, the county seat with a
population of 5,766. This little city boasted of three newspapers, the
Chenango Telegraph, (Republican), the Chenango Union,
(Democrat), and the Morning Sun, (Independent).
These papers were the social network hubs of their time, with news about everyone and everything. Alongside the band's report on the front page of the Bee were short paragraphs on events and people in the county and vicinity. "John Roban of Oxford winters 140 cows." – "The pay of the rural mail delivery carriers is to be increased from $500 to $600 a year." – "Miss Maggie Waldorf of Richmondville, has a lemon tree which is 14 years old, and has on its branches nearly 50 lemons." – "A piece of lead pencil an inch long was removed from the side of Frank Larkin a Cortland lad. He had fallen down and broke off a pencil in his pocket which pierced his side. It was thought for a time he had been shot."
And most of the advertisements were for local business. Mr. L. C. Gage printed offers for photography studio. His brother Linn Gage advertised his funeral home. And Truman B. Parker placed ads for his clothing store.
Discovering the names of all the bandsmen in this small town paper opened up a
rare opportunity to research their personal lives. I especially wanted to
learn about one musician in particular, the euphonium player standing left in
the photograph.
His full name is Lynn Bradley Parker. Like almost everyone in South New
Berlin, he was born in New York, as were his parents. (It's amazing how
carefully the census taker dutifully repeated "New York" line after line, page after page. Not a single ditto " or abbreviation.)
According to the report in the Bee, this photo of the band was taken in
the summer of 1901, when Lynn would have then been living at the home of his
cousin and employer, Truman Parker and his wife Harriet. The couple were both
nine years older than Lynn and, as recorded in the 1900 census, had been
married for 5 years but without children. Curiously the marriage box for Lynn
Parker had a W for widower. He was only 20 years old.
Census records do not reveal the drama of individual lives, merely the facts,
and usually only a very few of those. But newspapers tell stories. According
to the Bee, in June 1898 Lynn Parker married Miss Margaret Robinson of
Garrattsville in a home ceremony in South New Berlin. "The bride was
very prettily gowned in a traveling dress of light tan cloth trimmed
with light bine sarin, while the maid of honor was tastily attired in white
mulle. Mr. Parker is the genial and gentlemanly clerk in Mr. Babcock’s store
and his friends are legion. Miss Robinson has been a teacher at the primary
department of the school here for at least four years where she has given the
best of satisfaction and is in every way an accomplished lady."
Tragically only a few months later, just before Christmas on 20 December 1898,
Margaret Robinson Parker collapsed in the bedroom of her new home and died.
For years she had suffered from a heart condition, but her end came suddenly
without warning. The funeral service was conducted by the same pastor who had
performed her marriage ceremony six months earlier. Her casket was carried by
husband, brother and two cousins. Lynn Parker was only 18 years old.
The reason for my interest in this young man is that I have a companion photo to the
South New Berlin Citizen's Band photograph. It is a large portrait of Mr. Lynn
B. Parker in his band uniform and with his shiny double-bell euphonium.
This 8" x 10" print was also the work of Lynn's fellow trombonist, band leader,
and probably his barber too, Mr. L. C. Gage. It's a handsome photo taken in a
studio in front of a painted garden backdrop. According to the Bee, Lynn was
one of the original members of the citizen's band when it was formed in May
1899. Lynn played tuba and was chosen to be the band's secretary and
treasurer. The band met twice a week, on Monday and Friday nights, and aspired
to become a first-class band. They were soon performing at county fairs, church socials, and giving regular summer concerts in the hamlet.
Less than a year later, on 28 April 1900, the
Bee reported that, "Mr. Lynn Parker has just received a new $110
Euphonium horn. It is silver plated and a beautiful specimen, and the owner
has a right to be proud of it ."
The double-bell euphonium is an odd novelty of the brass instrument family. It
has a complicated plumbing with a separate valve, visible next to Lynn's left
hand, that lets a player instantly change from the large baritone voice bell
to the small tenor bell. It's an instrument intended for a soloist who can use
this feature to create a dual vocal effect for a melody line. In 1900 it was a new
fad to add one to a band, and a big investment for the citizen's band of South
new Berlin. It also marks Lynn Parker as a talented and versatile musician.
Besides tuba and euphonium, Lynn also played trombone, and in February 1901,
he played one in a sextet that they called an "orchestra". L.C. and Ernest
Gage played violins, Walter McIntire was on clarionet, postmaster F. G.
Dixon on cornet. and T. B. Parker played double bass. In this era it was
very common for musicians to be proficient on multiple instruments, and many
bands put together softer ensembles for fall and winter when it was too cold
for outdoor concerts.
In the 1902 report on the band, there is an unusual sentence that sticks out.
"It is generally a hard matter to keep an organization of this kind together
long at a time, owing to death among its number, removal of members to other
villages and lastly by dissension and strife..." It's a very frank admission
of the difficulties in keeping any volunteer organization going. Since Lynn
Parker was the band's secretary, he might have been the author of this report.
Was there some meaning between the lines that only fellow citizens of South
New Berlin would recognize?
One local news item in the Bee from November 1900 said that Lynn Parker
would be taking over as the band leader after the resignation of Mr. F. G.
Dixon, the cornetist. Dixon was praised as an efficient leader since the
organization had started two year before. "New music is being purchased and
the boys propose to be in better shape than ever the coming year. Few villages
of this size, or even larger, can boast of as good a band as we have right
here in South New Berlin."
But this was a transition that many musical groups experienced. Was there
another event that caused "dissension and strife"?
There was.
Something dark and never found in census records.
Something dark and never found in census records.
In 1901, on the first Friday in January, there was a large party given in
honor of Lynn Parker by his aunt, Mrs. Randolph J. Butts. Over 70 people were
invited, including one young couple, Frank Follett and Miss Blanche Sargent
who had been "keeping company" together for the past two years. The party was
progressing nicely and everyone seemed to be having an enjoyable time, when
Frank disappeared. When it was time for their turn at table, Blanche could not
find him and Jay Manwaring, Lynn's fellow trombonist in the band, offered to
escort her.
Just then, Frank returned, acting oddly. When Blanche spoke to him, he asked her
to go upstairs for a private conversation. Once alone, he accused her of
changing her affection to Jay. When Blanche denied it, he pulled out a
revolver and threatened her with it. Suddenly he turned the gun on himself,
fired, and fell dead at her feet. Frank Follett was just a week short of his
19th birthday. He was also a member of the South New Berlin Citizen's Band.
I include the full sad story from the Bee to remind us of how
newspapers once reported on all the aspects of life, from joy to sorrow. Even
120 years later we can recognize how shocking this tragedy was to the people
of South New Berlin. But there was a detail missing in the Bee's account because everyone who lived there already knew it. Strangely enough it is found
in the census records.
On the same census page where Lynn Parker's name is listed living in his
cousin's home, just six houses up the street is the residence of the Sargent
family home where Blanch Sargent, age 20, is listed. Mr. and Mrs. Sargent had three children, but Blanche is not listed as a daughter but as a
boarder, occupation - Servant. Two houses above is the Follett family,
home to Frank Follett, occupation - Laborer, Creamery. And in between the two
families is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Butts, Lynn Parker's aunt and
uncle. It was on their lawn that Mr. Gage took the photograph of the Citizen's Band later that summer of 1901.
Here is a vintage postcard of N. Main St., South New Berlin, New York produced
for T. B. Parker & Co. Though never posted, it has an undivided back
for just the address which dates it to before 1907. The half-tone
photo shows, I think, a horse watering fountain in the center of this little
hamlet. The large building on the right is the F. Van Valkenburg Cash Store
for Clothing and Dry Goods. I'm not certain but I think this may be where T.
B. Parker and Lynn Parker worked. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Van Valkenburg were their
next-door neighbors.
In the 21st century, the fountain at the crossroads of South New Berlin, NY has been replaced by traffic lights. Mr. Van Valkenburg's store still stands, though it's now called Toby's Auction Center. It's missing the tall roof pediment, but the window caps and fancy cornices are still there. In the postcard the smaller building between the trees is now the museum and library of South New Berlin. It appears that the hamlet's better days were in the 1900s.
* * *
* * *
In 1902, Lynn Parker, the double-bell euphoniumist of the South New Berlin Citizen's Band was reported as having left the group for Albany to try out business school. It evidently didn't suit him and he soon returned to South New Berlin. In March 1903 he was playing brass trios at a church social with a Miss Ada Sherman on piano. By the end of September she and Lynn were wed.
In December 1905, Mrs. Ada Parker and several women of South New Berlin formed a ladies musical ensemble, the Berlinian Symphony Orchestra. She was joined on violin by Mrs. Jay Manwaring, and on cornet by Mrs. F. G. Dixon. Mrs. T, B. Parker played bass. There was music, singing, and recitations so it sounds like a proper entertainment, but as it was Christmas time this may have been a more farcical turn-about for the ladies and its humor does not translate a century later.
_ _ _
In 1904, Lynn passed his federal service examination and was appointed postmaster of nearby Holmesville, 2 miles south. Soon afterwards in 1907 Lynn and Ada moved to the big city of Binghamton, New York, about 50 miles southwest of South New Berlin. Lynn had secured a position there as a letter carrier. His fellow bandsman, Walter J. McIntire succeeded him as postmaster in Holmesville.
In Binghamton, Lynn and Ada Parker settled into big city life there, though without children. Both were active in their Baptist church and Lynn transferred his membership in the International Order of Odd Fellows to the Binghamton I.O.O.F. lodge. Lynn's name shows up numerous times in the Binghamton papers as playing trombone in his church band.
On 10 July 1931, Lynn Bradley Parker died in the city hospital. No cause of death was reported. He was age 51. Only a few month earlier in March he led a special program at his Baptist church entitled "The Life of Christ in Music."
Most of the vintage photographs and postcards in my collection are of musicians whose names are unknown. And the greater portion played in small town bands, just like the South New Berlin Citizen's Band, made up of amateur musicians whose names are usually unknown. So when I found the newspaper's key to all their names it didn't feel right to pass over a rare chance to write about a more personal side to their lives in the small town of South New Berlin.
The Citizen's Band serves as an example of how music making was once an important focal point for small town communities in America. These were close-knit places where everyone knew everyone else's business. Knew their families, their history, their skills and quirks. In a small town like South New Berlin, people shared joy and sorrow. And they shared music. In this time before radio and recorded music, it was a culture that required active participants, either playing music or listening to it. It created a bond of shared experience that is sadly not so common anymore.
There is another reason that I write this story of Lynn Parker. Over the past several years, and as recently as this past week, I've been contacted by someone who wishes to thank me for featuring their musical ancestor in my blog. It's a special privilege to be able to reconnect descendants with forgotten family stories and images. It's something I've learned to appreciate from my many blogging friends on Sepia Saturday, whose blogs are filled with wonderful family stories and beautiful photographs of their ancestors. It makes me proud to say after so many years, "Thank you for sharing!"
5 comments:
Well done, Mike! I know that research was time-consuming - many people and many parts to the story. Amazing that the same photograph was used by the newspaper, giving you the information you needed to press on. Lives were not always so simple back then, no matter how we like to frame the past as simple, as this story reveals. I love the fact that your posts have led to a descendant of someone you featured.
Your opening quote says it all: "Childhood is the small town everyone came from.
~ Garrison Keillor." Having just finished a series about my own small town, your story of this band captures a piece of small town life. The photos are excellent, ditto the backround research. And those uniforms are to die for!
A most interesting and informative post per usual. You never disappoint! Those band uniforms were certainly spectacular. Kudos to whoever chose them! Community and 'citizens' musical groups still certainly exist in small towns. Because my husband worked for the U.S. Forest Service we've lived in many small towns over the years and we've never lived in one that didn't have some sort of community musical group or more and what's more, surprisingly large audiences to enjoy their concerts. When we lived in the small community of Gasquet (listed as having 300 residents) and put on the every-2-years "Gascapades" people came out of the trees and bushes to participate and we had to put the show on 4 times to accommodate everyone who wanted to see it (the hall where we performed only seated 100 and people drove the 20 miles from the larger town of Crescent City to see the show!) In Groveland where the Pine Cone Singers - a community chorus - performs, we have 3 performances per concert seating approximately 600 in total. This, in a small community of 1500. And if you live in a collage town the colleges usually support community bands, orchestras, and choruses. The experience of belonging to these musical groups is unequalled by almost anything else and the communities they are a part of will happily brag about them and attend their concerts - sometimes attending a concert a second time to enjoy it even more which, of course, is very rewarding to the performers! :)
What can I say but "thank you for sharing"
Such a lovely (and loving) description of a small-town! Your detailed research and careful reading have brought South New Berlin NY as it was in 1902 vividly back to life.
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