1st Dakota Cavalry, Company A and the Grace Beede Family Papers

A. M. English, first sergeant of the 1st Dakota Cavalry, Company A

Amos F. Shaw, corporal of the 1st Dakota Cavalry, Company A 

Nelson Miner, captain of the 1st Dakota Cavalry, Company A

Benjamin Franklin was corporal of the 1st Minnesota Cavalry (Mounted Rangers), Company L and K, a private in the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry, Company H, and a private in the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry, Company K. Printed on verso: Benjamin Franklin, The UNFORTUNATE SOLDIER, who lost all his limbs by freezing, while crossing the plains from Fort Wadsworth, Dakotah Territory to Fort Ridgley, Minn. While he was making the journey in company with four others, they were caught in one of those dreadful storms which frequently occur on the plains, and all his comrades perished. He was out eight days and seven nights without food or fire, when found by two Indians was nearly starved to death. He is the only Soldier in the United States without hands and feet, and is trying to sell his Photographs for the benefit of his family. Price, 25 Cents. Bailey and Magraw, Photographers. 174 Third Street St. Paul, Minn.

Joseph C. Whitney, captain of the 6th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company D

The Beede Family Papers were donated to the Archives and Special Collections in 1985 by Dr. Grace L. Beede, USD Professor of Latin from 1928-1970.

These papers contain genealogical information regarding the Beede family. Grace Lucile Beede was the daughter of Rosa Hyde and William H. Beede of Vermillion. She received her BA from The University of South Dakota in 1926, her MA in Classics from Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri), and received her Ph. D. at the University of Chicago in 1936. Dr. Beede was also the great-granddaughter of Captain Nelson Preston Miner. Miner was born on September 29, 1827 in Hartland, Ohio, and married Cordelia Gates on October 15, 1850. The couple had eight children—five girls and two boys. Miner came to Dakota Territory in 1860, and helped to muster into service the 1^st Dakota Cavalry Company A. This company, formed in the fall of 1861, consisted of 100 men for the purpose of setting up a garrison post for the area. Miner and his men were also instrumental in the building of the first school log house in the fall of 1864. The schoolhouse was located just below the bluff on the east side of what is now known as Dakota Street. The structure was also used by local citizens as a meeting and voting place. In January 1865, Miner was mustered out of service. He was then appointed Register of the U. S. Land office, elected as a member of the Territorial Council from 1872-1878. He eventually owned the St. Nicholas hotel in Vermillion. Miner died on October 23, 1879.  – Beede Family Papers , Richardson Collection

Selected photographs from the Grace Beede Family Papers have been published in the Digital Library of South Dakota. These photographs contain both identified and unidentified members of Company A as well as a few CDVs of members from other units. These photographs were likely collected and traded by Captain Miner.

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John Gould’s Violin Instrument Appraisals – 1945-1984

In addition to books, magazines, pamphlets, and ephemera, the Mahoney Music Collection also contains unpublished material such as the John Gould’s Violin Instrument Appraisals – 1945-1984. This collection is 2 linear feet of violin appraisal and identification forms. The Gould material is a “wealth of day to day material covering years in the life of an important regional early US luthier” (Mahoney 2012).

John Alfred Gould, 1860-1944 was born in Windermere England in 1866, worked in Liverpool with W.F. Archer, went to Hamilton Canada in 1884, and settled in Boston where he worked for violin maker Orin Weeman in 1885. He opened his first shop in 1889. Four of his sons, Erik, Orin, Ronald, and Gilbert, and one grandson, Orrin Gould, worked for his company John A. Gould & Sons at various times. This company continued in Boston until the late 1980s.

Gould designed his own violin model using solely American woods and using mostly oil varnish. His instruments were played throughout the United States. “Two of his violins were used in acoustic experiments conducted by Harvard University Professor Frederick Saunders in 1938, who compared them with Jascha Heifetz’s Guarneri del Gesu” (Mahoney 2012).

Sources:

Gould, John A. “The early violin makers of New England.” Journal of the Violin Society of America 16, no. 1 (1999): 1-76.

Frequently Asked Questions. National Music Museum.. http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/FAQ.html#worth (accessed 2012 June 26).

How to get a Musical Instrument Appraisal. Dwight Newton. http://mewzik.com/resources/appraisals.php (accessed 2012 June 9).

John Alfred Gould. Johnson String Instrument. http://www.johnsonstring.com/american-collection/gould.php (accessed 2012 June 16).

Mahoney, John. Email message to author, 2012 June 12.

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A day such as this…..

 

 

 

I came upon this photograph yesterday while searching through the collections. I didn’t recall seeing it before and thought it needed to be shared.

USD Photograph Collection

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Lyon and Healy Catalogs

Within the Mahoney Music Collection, is a wonderful collection of illustrated Lyon and Healy catalogs.

The Lyon and Healy Company was started in 1864 in Chicago by George W. Lyon and Patrick J. Healy. They began with a sheet music store but soon expanded into instrument selling and manufacturing. In 1871, “Healy developed a new merchandising tool, a ‘picture book’ or illustrated catalog that went against the secret-price and sales-from-samples tradition of that era.” At the turn of the century Lyon & Healy was the largest music house in the world. During the 1970s, Lyon and Healy downsized their services and products to concentrate on their world-famous harps.

Information from the Media Room \ Lyon & Healy http://www.lyonhealy.com/press.htm (accessed 2012 June 5)

Catalogs can help identify an instrument while at the same time provide details such as specifications, prices, and types of material used in construction. They can show changes in styles and public tastes. They can also provide company history.

For more information on the research value of product, manufacturer’s, or trade catalogs, see How to Find Trade Catalogs in the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/trade.html (accessed 2012 May 19) and Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ Trade Literature Collection http://www.sil.si.edu/tradeliterature/ (accessed 2012 May 19).

Most of our Lyon and Healy catalogs are on the Digital Library of South Dakota. 

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