Part 1 of 2
By Steve Carney and Terry Conners
An Incredible Find
A previously unseen Virginia dulcimer, obviously old, showed up at a Georgia auction in 2022, where it was purchased by a woman who thought “it was something special!”(1)
This dulcimer is a teardrop-shaped instrument with four equidistant strings, an open “D” tailpiece, several sound holes in the fretboard, and three diamond-shaped buttons on the back. There are fifteen frets and no strum hollow. Another striking feature is the presence of a green-painted four leaf clover on the peghead, which is carved but not tapered from side-to-side (see figures 1–5).
The woman did not know much about the instrument, but when she looked inside she noticed that there was a label with an elaborate drawing and the signature of Creed Russell. Steve Carney subsequently purchased the instrument. It needed some TLC, so it was sent to Ben Seymour of Tryon, North Carolina, for inspection and repairs.
Discoveries Inside
When the instrument arrived at Ben Seymour’s workshop, he removed the back of the instrument to make some repairs. This made it easy to inspect the complete label (Figure 6, below) which the seller previously glimpsed. On the inside of the back plate (Figure 7) Ben Seymour also discovered an additional, penciled signature of Creed Russell and the name Julia Parker written, slightly smaller, below it.
As far as we know the names of Creed Russell and Julia Parker have not previously been associated with any dulcimer, and the label is highly unusual. Who were these people and what is the significance of the label? The story starts with the Russell family.
The Russell Family
So far this is the only instrument made by Creed Russell that has come to light; however, it shows evidence of a skillful hand at dulcimer building. So – who was Creed Russell, and how did he get into building dulcimers?
From genealogical records, we know that Creed Russell was born in Bridle Creek, Virginia, about 40 miles southwest of Wytheville, in 1907. His family moved north to Marion, Virginia, in Russell County, sometime before Creed’s thirteenth birthday in 1920. Creed’s father, Newton Columbus “Lum” Russell, died that year, and based on the 1940 census it seems that 1920 also marked the end of his formal schooling.
Creed’s grandfather was renowned Virginia-style dulcimer builder Samuel F. Russell [see Ralph Lee Smith’s “Tales & Traditions” article from Vol. 25 No. 2 (1999)]. Both Lum and Samuel were furniture makers and carpenters, so it is easy to imagine a young Creed hanging around the workshop, especially after his father’s death. Perhaps Samuel stepped in to help raise Creed, or acted as a father figure, and encouraged him to make dulcimers as part of the family tradition. According to Samuel’s family, his father was also a dulcimer maker.(2)
Creed did not make a living as an instrument maker. 1930 and 1940 census records show he worked in a furniture factory. His mother died in 1932, his wife died after an extended illness in 1944, and his grandfather died in 1946. These had to have been great losses in his life. What happened to him after these events is presently unknown – he seems to have disappeared from the records.
Family Features: Comparing Dulcimers
The Smithsonian Institute owns a dulcimer made by Samuel F. Russell, formerly in the Anne Grimes collection. It is instrument D15 in L. Allen Smith’s “A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers,” University of Missouri Press, 1983.
Similarities:
- Single bout bodies
- D-shaped tail pieces
- 3 sound holes in the fingerboard
- Reasonably accurate scale
Differences:
- Sound holes: Samuel’s are elegant f-shapes, Creed’s are more rustic elongated S-shapes
- Pegheads: Samuel’s is a finely carved scroll, Creed’s lacks significant carving and instead features a painted four-leaf clover
The Label
Dulcimer labels are usually very helpful, and so it proved with this instrument! In this case, some things are clearly identified (the date, for example), while other things (the drawings) require interpretation.
Starting with the writing – the label dates this dulcimer to August 1931. Curiously, the label includes some mirror-writing and misspellings: “CREED” with a backwards “D” and “Mairon” instead of “Marion.” The lazy “Sa” after “Mairon” may have been intended to be a comic representation of “Va” for “Virginia.”(3) The crude writing may have been a jest intended by the maker to poke fun of himself as an unschooled person. Remember, he only attended school through the sixth grade.
The drawing on the label is full of biblical meaning. A tree is sketched on each side. To the right is a skull and crossbones design, symbolizing man’s mortality. A serpent is outstretched between the two trees and below the writing. The tail is at the left tree and the head at the right, indicating that the trees are the biblical “Tree of Life” and “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” – “but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17.
The reason this particular verse of scripture was chosen to illustrate the label is unknown.
Julia Who?
Judy Russell Powers, daughter of Samuel F. Russell’s son Woodrow W. Russell, shed light on the likely significance of the other name inscribed on the inside of the back plate. She told us that it was Samuel’s practice to mark the intended owner’s name on the inside of the dulcimer.(4) Perhaps Creed Russell maintained that practice.
Census data show that there was a Julia Parker Martin living in Marion, Virginia, in 1931. She was only one year younger than Creed, and it is not improbable that they knew each other. Julia Parker married David Martin in 1928, so it is unlikely that this dulcimer was made during their courtship or as a wedding present. Though the dulcimer is dated 1931, after her marriage, the use of her maiden name probably indicates that that was the name Creed knew her by, and this dulcimer was made for her. Perhaps she knew Creed well enough to make the request for an instrument on her own behalf.
Final Thoughts
We have been truly fortunate that we could examine this dulcimer by Creed Russell, and it is just as remarkable that we have been able to learn so much about him and his association with his grandfather, Samuel F. Russell. It’s good to remember both Samuel and Creed’s life and work. Samuel’s life and instruments are better documented, but perhaps we can still find out more about Creed someday.
There are probably many more Virginia dulcimers than we know of, sitting in homes or collections, unseen, unremarked, and unrecognized. Not all of those were made by the Russells, of course, but we hope that the information in this article encourages readers to take a closer look at ones they know of.
Labels tend to get lost and memories tend to fade as the years pass, so looking for information now is always going to be better than looking for information in the coming years! Some things, inevitably, get irretrievably lost. Judy Russell Powers told us, for example, that when Samuel Russell died, someone broke in and stole all of his tools and dulcimers while everyone was at the funeral.(5) We should all try to document the history we have while it is still available to us.
Be inquisitive! Just think – this all began with a woman perusing a local auction, who thought it was “something special”!
An old dulcimer has surfaced – again!
This is just the beginning of the story of the Creed Russell dulcimer.
Part 2 of this story will include a more detailed comparison of several Samuel F. Russell dulcimers with the Creed Russell dulcimer.
Another Samuel F. Russell dulcimer was recently rediscovered in the DPN Archives! Vol. 2 No. 1 featured a story titled “An Old Dulcimer has Surfaced” in which Doug Murray detailed his discovery of a Samuel F. Russell dulcimer at the Berry College Music Library.
The dulcimer is still in the collections of Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum (berry.edu/oakhill) and with the generous assistance of the curator, pictures and measurements are forthcoming!
Steve Carney was first introduced to the mountain dulcimer around 1970 when he met General Custer Nicholas (his birth name). His love of the dulcimer and its history has grown through the years, and he helped the late Ralph Lee Smith research some of his later articles. He is currently documenting the history of the Mountain Dulcimer in Ohio.
Terry Conners was struck by lightning as a baby, and his friends think that explains quite a lot! He’s a former university professor, but he hasn’t let that define him. How many other people have played the maracas and sung “Guantanamera” with street musicians in Havana? Contact him at your own risk at terryconners01@gmail.com.
The authors would like to thank David Bennett, Ben Seymour, Heather Smith, and Judy Russell Powers for their contributions to this article.
Footnotes
(1) Heather Smith’s note to Steve Carney.
(2) Woodrow Russell, interview by Lloyd Allen Smith on February 11, 1975. “A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers,” University of Missouri Press, 1983. Footnote 1 regarding Samuel F. Russell dulcimer D16, page 53.
(3) Thanks to Fiona Potts for this interpretation!
(4) Judy Russell Powers interview with Steve Carney, November 15, 2023.
(5) Judy Russell Powers interview with Steve Carney, November 15, 2023.
