The Wurtsboro Cornet Band
 
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This old postcard of the Wurtsboro Cornet Band caught my eye recently since I have lived near that village since 2003. So far, I have only found a little information about the band from local newspaper accounts. This photo was taken in 1895 and it seems that they were tied to the Ontario fire house in Middletown, NY.

Wurtsboro Cornet Band 1895 NY

The band was formed in 1890 but so far I have not found any end date. There are three accounts from the Middletown Times that I came across from the 1890s.

May 1892: "The Wurtsboro Cornet Band still leads them all in Sullivan County."

May 1893: The Wurtsboro Cornet Band recently elected officers:
William Bedford - manager [he was born in 1868 and in the 1900 census was listed as a day laborer living with his mother Elizabeth in Wurtsboro; by the 1910 census he was married to Agness and working as a railroad machinist]
O. Roesci - leader [no information found, the spelling may be wrong]
William F. B. Helm - assisstant leader [he was born in 1874 to Jacob & Mary Helm of Wurtsboro; he died in February of 1900 from a "lingering illness" and is buried in the Sylvan cemetery; his obituary said that he was "for the past five years director of the Wurtsboro Cornet Band and second assisstant Fire Chief for the Wurtsboro Fire Department."
L. Wakeman - treasurer [no information found]
G. F. Harding - secretary [George Harding was born in July of 1863 to Frederick and Ann in Wurtsboro and worked for many years as a sign painter; in the 1920s and 1930s he was the Mamakating Town Clerk; he was married to Addie by 1910 and had a daughter Eva, a local teacher]

October 1893: they were in a parade with the Ontario Hose Co.

If any locals recognize a relative in this photo or know more about this band, please let me know.

 

The Woodridge Brass Band

I was researching the J. W. Pepper company and came across this news report from the Sullivan County, NY Record from May of 1892. "A brass band has been organized at Centreville Station with a membership of fourteen, fully equipped with a new set of J. W. Pepper instruments."

Centreville Station became Centerville Station then changed to Woodridge in 1917. If anyone knows more about this band please let me know as that village is ony ten miles from where I live.