Bow & Bridge

Turrell, Homer B.

RepairerViolin makerMedora, Indiana

As printed

  1. This claim names a source that has no page on this site yet, so it cannot be checked. It is shown rather than hidden.

    His dates, and everything outside Poidras. Absent from the 1916 Violinist’s Guide and from Poidras vol. 1 (1928, checked against intact alphabetic neighbours). Poidras’s “Homer-Basset” middle name has no second source. An unusual name in a very small town: a census return and Jackson County, Indiana records are close to certain to identify him, and neither has been sought.

  2. Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern (1930)

    Medora, Indiana

    Poidras, vol. 2 (1930), p. 244, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026. Self-supplied matter compiled by Poidras; the label facsimile (855) independently prints “Medora, Indiana” on an example of 1928. He has no entry in the 1916 Violinist’s Guide.source record

    Studied in the workshop of W. Scott Herman, called the “Washington Violin Hospital,” at Washington, D. C.

    Poidras, 2:244. Herman and his shop appear nowhere else in the corpus; the claim is the maker’s own supply and has not been tested against any Washington record.source record

    Stradivarius and Guarnerius I. H. S. models, “skilfully” reproduced.

    Poidras, 2:244. The adverb is the dictionary’s; no instrument by him has been examined.source record

    Oil or spirit varnish, brown red or gold yellow.

    Poidras, 2:244. Self-supplied matter.source record

    Blackletter shop label: “Homer B. Turrell / Me-do-ra Hand Made Violins / Expert Repairing / Strings – Accessories / Medora, Indiana,” with number and year completed by hand.

    Label facsimile 855 on the plate leaf facing p. 256, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026 by two independent readings; the text entry at 2:244 cross-references “N° 855,” confirming the assignment. The blackletter face leaves the trade name’s middle vowel ambiguous at scan resolution — one reading gives “Me-du-ra” — and the seeded transcription “Mo-du-ra” was a misreading of the same face; the label’s last line prints the town plainly. The seeded citation “plate 852” (Reindahl’s) was struck earlier as wrong; 855 is the recovered number.source record

    One instrument attested by number: No. 23, dated 1928 (the example reproduced as facsimile 855).

    No other numbered Turrell instrument is on file anywhere in the corpus.source record

    “Expert Repairing — Strings – Accessories” on his own shop label: repair and small-goods trade alongside making.

    The label’s own wording, facsimile 855; advertising copy, not an observed practice.source record

Named in one book, printed 1930. Read by a person from the page images, not yet checked by a person against the page.

Know something about this maker? Tell us.

Details and sources

Record note

A Medora, Indiana maker and repairer with a full entry in the standard interwar international reference. Poidras’s second volume (1930) prints “Turrell (Homer-Basset)” at p. 244: a “contemporary maker renowned in his country, who studied in the workshop of W. Scott Herman, called the ‘Washington Violin Hospital’ at Washington, D. C.,” reproducing the Stradivarius and Guarnerius I. H. S. models, with an oil or spirit varnish of brown red or gold yellow. On the plate leaf facing p. 256 stands his shop label, facsimile 855, set in blackletter: “Homer B. Turrell — Me-do-ra Hand Made Violins — Expert Repairing — Strings – Accessories — Medora, Indiana,” the reproduced example numbered 23 and dated 1928. The trade name is the town’s own, split by syllable. The entry closes by citing that facsimile number, so text and plate confirm each other.

He is not in the 1916 Violinist’s Guide, so no census entry stands behind this page; Poidras vol. 1 (1928) does not carry him either. Poidras compiled his American entries from what makers supplied about themselves, and everything above is that supply. No dates are attested — but an unusual surname in a very small Jackson County town makes him the most findable man in this set, should local records ever be asked.

A printed violin label with no visible border rule, set in a blackletter face. The lines read Homer B. Turrell; then a hyphenated trade name, Me-do-ra, whose middle vowel is indistinct at this resolution, followed by Hand Made Violins; then Expert Repairing; then Strings - Accessories; then Medora, Indiana. A final line carries No at the left with 23 beside it and 1928 at the right, both numerals in a plain roman face unlike the rest of the label. Below the label the plate prints its facsimile number, 855, in a small ruled box. A coarse halftone dot screen from the 1930 printing lies over the whole image.
Turrell’s shop label, the reproduced example numbered 23 and dated 1928: a repairer’s label as much as a maker’s, offering strings and accessories beside the instruments. The hyphenated trade name splits the town’s own name by syllable, and the label’s last line prints it whole — Medora, Indiana. Detail (facsimile 855) of the plate leaf facing p. 256 in Henri Poidras, Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern, vol. 2 (Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomté, 1930), read from the Google Books page image — full source record. Published 1930; its United States copyright has expired — public domain.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Medora, Indiana reported read from the page image
Training
Studied in the workshop of W. Scott Herman, called the “Washington Violin Hospital,” at Washington, D. C. reported read from the page image
Models and patterns
Stradivarius and Guarnerius I. H. S. models, “skilfully” reproduced. reported read from the page image
Varnish
Oil or spirit varnish, brown red or gold yellow. reported read from the page image
Labels and brands
Blackletter shop label: “Homer B. Turrell / Me-do-ra Hand Made Violins / Expert Repairing / Strings – Accessories / Medora, Indiana,” with number and year completed by hand. reported read from the page image
Numbering practice
One instrument attested by number: No. 23, dated 1928 (the example reproduced as facsimile 855). reported read from the page image
Repair and rework practice
“Expert Repairing — Strings – Accessories” on his own shop label: repair and small-goods trade alongside making. reported read from the page image
What is not known
His dates, and everything outside Poidras. Absent from the 1916 Violinist’s Guide and from Poidras vol. 1 (1928, checked against intact alphabetic neighbours). Poidras’s “Homer-Basset” middle name has no second source. An unusual name in a very small town: a census return and Jackson County, Indiana records are close to certain to identify him, and neither has been sought. reported [no source recorded]

Instruments

No instruments recorded yet for this maker.

The books behind this record

This record draws on 1 source, read from the page image. The count weighs how well each source was read, not just how many are cited. A stack of half-read sources does not outweigh one page read properly.

  1. Poidras, Henri, Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern (Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomté, 1930), 2:244. Google Books, pHQHAQAAMAAJ, pg PA244; also HathiTrust mdp.39015012793934. https://books.google.com/books?id=pHQHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA244.Secondaryread from the pagecited for 4 linessource record

    Poidras, vol. 2 (1930), p. 244, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026. Self-supplied matter compiled by Poidras; the label facsimile (855) independently prints “Medora, Indiana” on an example of 1928. He has no entry in the 1916 Violinist’s Guide. Poidras, 2:244. Herman and his shop appear nowhere else in the corpus; the claim is the maker’s own supply and has not been tested against any Washington record. Poidras, 2:244. The adverb is the dictionary’s; no instrument by him has been examined. Poidras, 2:244. Self-supplied matter.

  2. Poidras, Henri, Critical and Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern (Rouen: Imprimerie de la Vicomté, 1930), 2:256. Google Books, pHQHAQAAMAAJ, pg PA256-IA31; also HathiTrust mdp.39015012793934, image seq. 413. https://books.google.com/books?id=pHQHAQAAMAAJ.Secondaryread from the pagecited for 3 linessource record

    Label facsimile 855 on the plate leaf facing p. 256, read from the Google Books page image on 12 August 2026 by two independent readings; the text entry at 2:244 cross-references “N° 855,” confirming the assignment. The blackletter face leaves the trade name’s middle vowel ambiguous at scan resolution — one reading gives “Me-du-ra” — and the seeded transcription “Mo-du-ra” was a misreading of the same face; the label’s last line prints the town plainly. The seeded citation “plate 852” (Reindahl’s) was struck earlier as wrong; 855 is the recovered number. No other numbered Turrell instrument is on file anywhere in the corpus. The label’s own wording, facsimile 855; advertising copy, not an observed practice.