Browse Items (49 total)

  • Collection: The Straight-Sided Dulcimer in Tennessee

[Decatur County Dulcimer #2]

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This instrument was manufactured by one J. W. Ashcraft, who called it a "harmonica".

[Gibson County Dulcimer #3]

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This instrument was built by Almus Crowe of Milan, Tennessee, likely in the 1960s. According to the builder, his instruments were modeled on 19th-century instruments from the West Tennessee region. The label inside reads as follows:

"No 9 A.…

[Lawrence [Wayne] County Dulcimer #7]

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The current owner of this instrument reports that it belonged to her father, Joe Lee, of Waynesboro, Tennessee, who passed away in 1953 at the age of 83. He had grown up and lived in Wayne County, He was the only person she remembered playing it,…

[Lawrence County Dulcimer #8]

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This dulcimer was built by the accordionist Daniel McGee, who lived between West Point and Piney, Tennessee, probably in the late 1800s. His daughter, Beatrice McGee, was born in 1904, and had the box in later years, passing it on to its current…

[Gibson County Dulcimer #1]

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The current owner purchased this instrument at an antique store in Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee. The manager of the store knew nothing of this dulcimer's origin. The top of the instrument was taken off at some point, then reattached via nailing,…

[Gibson County Dulcimer #2]

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The current owner located this instrument at the same time as Gibson Dulcimer #1. No other information known of its origins.

[Decatur County Dulcimer #1]

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This instrument belonged to the grandmother of Charles Fiddler, whose family chiefly lived in Henderson County. "Harmonica" is written on one side of the instrument, along with an illustration of a cuckoo. On the bottom of the instrument are traces…

[Davidson County Dulcimer #2]

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Bought for $8.00 at a yard sale on Woodmont Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee. No other information given.

[Chester County Dulcimer #1]

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This particular instrument is believed to have originated in Chester County, Tennessee. According to Mr. Evans of Henderson County, it came down through his family, where his mother had had it all his life. Interestingly, the instrument also features…