Schnaufer's notes for this instrument read as follows: "Big Tyler Mt., West Virginia/1911/Maker - Denis McCown for Helen Melton Saffel/Owner Schnaufer/Purchased from Wanda Parrish (Las Vegas, Nevada), great niece of Helen Saffel, 1987." Wanda Parrish…
The current owner purchased this instrument from the widow of one Joe Gamble in Huntsville, Alabama. It had been purchased in turn at the same time as fiddles that were from Texas.
This dulcimer is a well-crafted instrument with attention to detail. A mate to this instrument is in the Charles Faulkner Bryan dulcimer collection at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee.