As often happens, while rummaging through historical archives the other day to try to find one specific thing, I stumbled upon something significant that I wasn't even looking for! Let me explain . . .
I'm neck-deep in researching John Philip Sousa's longest tenured tubist, John W. "Jack" Richardson (1874-1939), and because he was born and raised in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I've been learning about the band scene in that region during his lifetime. One of those bands, formed in late 1888, was the Iroquois Cornet Band, or simply the Iroquois Band.
Here's the notice of its formation in the August 29, 1888 edition of the Lancaster Daily Intelligencer:
Within a few weeks, their snappy new blue uniforms had been ordered, as noted in the September 12, 1888 edition of Lancaster's Daily New Era:
This local band proved to be quite successful over many years, and various images of it can be found in the archives at Lancaster History. But what caught my eye was the photo at the top of this post, from 1902. That raincatcher Sousaphone in the front row, with its upright bell pitched forward, looked very familiar to me!
Well, sure enough, when I compared it to photos I have of the original Sousaphone, built by J. W. Pepper in 1895, it's a dead-ringer! Make particular note of the valve cluster and lead pipe:
Given that Pepper only ever made that one Sousaphone, it is virtually certain that the instrument used in the Iroquois Band in 1902 is indeed that original one-of-a-kind treasure! And this begins to fill in one of the most curious gaps in that historic horn's history.
After being played by Herman Conrad on the 1896 cross-country tour of Sousa's Band, the instrument seems to have quietly disappeared. From that point on, it is never seen in that famous band again, and by the beginning of 1898, the Sousaphone that does appear is C. G. Conn's first.
So, where did the world's first Sousaphone go after 1896? Until now, I had no evidence to put forth a definitive answer.
However, having examined and played this horn myself, it clearly has a lot of miles on it, so I knew it had been played somewhere - probably for years. And now we can say with almost absolute certainty that, for a time at least, it was played in the Iroquois Band of Lancaster! And it most likely remained in that area for the rest of its active life, until it was discovered in 1973 at Renninger's Flea Market in Lancaster County - a story I have told earlier in this blog.
Here's to hoping that another sighting of this historic horn will show up in my research!
