Shared Photo: Mt. Holly Band, 1908

Question

This is the Mt. Holly (North Carolina) Band. My grandpa, Ralph Sidney Underwood (1889-1986) has the "tick mark" on the second row.

On the back of the photo in Grandpa's hand is the following:

Taken at Bob Abernathy's picnic 1908 near Duke Power Steam Pland at Riverbend, Gaston Co.

First Row
Ed Kale
Parte (?) Bumgardner
Lester Knowles
Tom Fite
Russell Kale

Second Row
Perry Fite
Emmet Armstrong
R. S. Underwood
Guy Howard
Fred Stowe

Third Row
Joe Harris
Wash Holland
Columbus Lowe
Buren Howard
_________ Bumgardner
Bob Painter

When Grandpa wrote the above, he was the last surviving member of the band. He was born in the Riverbend section of Gaston County, NC, but grew up in Paw Creek, Mecklenburg County, NC, from 1900 on. I havent looked these guys up to see if they're on WT yet, but it would be a cool project.

Click here for the image details page or here for the full-sized version (2028 x 1451).

Answer 1

Oh, wow, this is just the most wonderful band photo!  Thank you for sharing this, and I love your idea about tracking down any of these band members, to add their WikiTree ID to the photo, if they're on WikiTree!  

I'm wondering if perhaps the Bumbardner and Bumgardners aren't actually related, and maybe the name is the same?  I'd love to see a scan of your Grandpa's notes of the names--perhaps his handwriting made the letter "g" look like a "b."  

And I see that the Mount Holly Band was so good they made it into the local newspapers, apparently, such as in this report from The Gastonia Gazette from Gastonia, North Carolina (if it's indeed the same band):

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/64163108/

"The Mount Holly Band gave us music each day that would be hard to beat."

 

Comments

Good catch, Cynthia, on the spelling. I corrected it. I’m amazed that you found an article on the band. It is the same. How cool it that!!!

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I think I found one! Robert M. Painter, 1886-1936, died in Mt. Holly, NC. Buried st Pineview Cemetery in Gaston County.

(Painter-1586)

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Found another Pip, in 1910 Census.  Brother Ed is here too.

Name: Russell Kale

Age in 1910: 20

Birth Year: abt 1890

Birthplace: North Carolina

Home in 1910: River Bend, Gaston, North Carolina

Eliza Kale 43

Russell Kale 20

Edward Kale 17

Allen Kale 12

Ila Kale 10

Galdie Kale 8

Clara Kale 5

And WW 1 Draft Registration

Name: Russell Henderson Kale

Race: Caucasian (White)

Marital Status: Married

Birth Date: 1 Aug 1889

Birth Place: North Carolina

Street address: Belmont

Residence Place: Gaston, North Carolina, USA

And Ed Kale is actually James Edward Kale: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49632768

These are always fun.

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LJ, this is really crazy, but James Edward Kale’s daughter, Clara, married my grandma’s first cousin, Wilmer McCrae Beaty, son of William Jasper Beaty.

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I guess Walt was right Pip, It's a Small World After All.  Wink, wink.

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I’m ashamed of myself. I had to think about this before I got it. Almost started looking up the line of responses to see who Walt was. I’m going to go hide now.

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Pip, Clara is his sister, not daughter.  Really don't think 11 year olds were allowed to father children in 1904...even in North Carolina.

Please folks from N.C.  No hate mail..it's a joke.

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Ha! If you only knew! Two many Russels in there and I wasn’t paying attention to the details. And... btw.... I’ve got so many multiple descents that it would make a West Virginian blush.

Please folks from W.Va. No hate mail... it’s a joke.

Answer 2

What a wonderful photo of the holy band, amazing old photo from 1908 what a treasure of and old photo

Thank you for sharing

Comments

Your most welcome, Susan. I was fortunate enough to inherit lots of old originals from my grandparents. And I was also fortunate that they regularly wrote on them who, when, and sometimes where.

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You are so lucky to have photo like this I just love old photos