Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 328
Scan 328
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
19 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 302. See the scan on archive.org.
1CLARINET made by Graves & Co., Winchester, N. H.
2In the Dayton C. Miller Collection of Flutes. Apply to Dr. Miller as stated before.
3Boxwood with ivory rings and 5 brass keys. "Is of the ordinary old system and is a comparatively cheap and simple instrument, of the type common about a hundred years ago." (Dr. Miller's statement).
5Brass Instruments
7* KEY-BUGLE inscribed "Made by N. Adams Lowell, Ms." Made in 1825 and cost $33.
8On the U. S. Frigate Constitution (Old Ironsides) Navy Yard, Charlestown, Mass., Berth Deck. Visiting hours daily and Sunday 10-4:30 p.m.
9Large bugle, copper except for brass bell rim, mouthpiece, headjoint and fittings. Has 7 brass keys, one double jointed. Made for Paul Heald whose son, Mr. John Heald of Springfield, Mass., donated this instrument in 1927. Nathan Adams was bandmaster on the Constitution in the War of 1812. He was born in Milford, N. H., Aug. 21, 1783 and died there March 17, 1864. According to The History of Milford by George A. Ramsdell p. 230 he conceived, while on board the Constitution, the idea of cutting holes in the side of his bugle, thus being enabled to give certain calls in a lower pitch, and later submitted this idea to a noted instrument maker in London who acted upon it in producing the Kent bugle. This last statement seems questionable since Joseph Halliday is considered to have invented the keyed bugle in 1810. Mr. Adams later was a musician and instrument maker at Lowell, Mass., and noted as a repairer of ship chronometers at Nantasket, Mass.
11* TRUMPET with inscriptions on several metal plates—"Permutation Trumpet," "Invented & Made by N. Adams, Lowell, Mass.," and "Paul Heald Carlisle Mass. 1825." Made in 1825 and cost $85.
12On the U. S. Frigate Constitution, Navy Yard, Charlestown, Mass., Berth Deck. Visiting hours as above.
13All brass trumpet with 3 keys, which, when depressed, work the wires of the 3 rotary valves. By three different records Nathan Adams is given the credit of being the first American inventor of the rotary valve for musical instruments. The record of Benevolent Lodge No. 7 A. F. & A. M. of Milford, N. H., March 18, 1864 states "Bro. Adams was the inventor of a valuable improvement in musical instruments new in this country, known as 'The Rotary Valve.'" The History of Milford pp. 229-30 reads "He was a noted genius of his time, and some of the greatest improvements in musical instruments, notably the production of the diatonic scale with three touches, the introduction of the valve or piston movement, and other important changes in band instruments were his invention." "Contributions of the Old Residents Historical Association, Lowell, Mass. 1894" states "Nathan Adams, sometimes called Captain Adams, is entitled to recognition as the inventor of the first valve musical instrument and application thereto of the diatonic or natural scale." His "Permutation Trumpet," also donated by Mr. John Heald in 1927, is an excellent example of one of his rotary valve trumpets in working condition.
15SAXHORN inscribed "J. Lathrop Allen, No. [address hidden], Boston."
16Mr. Allen was at that address 1853-58.
17At University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. Coll. No. [address hidden], Catalogue p. 133.
18Baritone in E flat, German silver, 4 rotary valves. Model length, 72cm. Bell diameter 18.6cm.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.