100 Years Ago This Week…
David Chapman | July 3, 2026 | history@thso.org
In observance of the 250th U.S. Independence Day tomorrow, and to give our staff a proper vacation — their first break since Christmas, bless them! — our THSA offices will be closed July 2-10. We look forward to serving you again starting July 13th!
And on the blog today, we pause our time-traveling journey through the THSO century to observe that, 100 years ago, our orchestra took its first summer break! In early July 1926, after several months of weekly rehearsals, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra declared a recess. The orchestra had not yet performed publicly, and there were not yet plans to do so. That would change in autumn, when the Woman’s Department Club invited Will Bryant to provide music at their annual Guest Day event. But that was still months away, and only we know that looking back from the future!
Until we return, enjoy this list of all the known musician names from the Will Bryant era, 1926-1949. We do not have access to a complete record of personnel from these years, relying on whatever programs and newspapers articles exist and are accessible. So if you know a name that does not appear here, tell us! We eventually plan to have a page on our THSO.org website with a list of all musician names from our entire century of existence, so your help in correcting this list is necessary and much appreciated!
The Musicians of Will Bryant’s THSO
Conductor/Director: William Bryant
Violin:
Leona Allen
Erama Amerger
Wayne Anderson
Stanley Archibald
Paul Ausherman
Helen Dodson Bailey
Richard Bash
Hazel Velma (Moss) Beasley
Woody Bergh
Laura May Briggs
Jean Brough
Martha Brown
Margaret Bull
Josephine "Jo" Bunch
Wilfred Burton
William Burton
Helen Byers
Mary Avelyn Davis
Imogene Deweese
Robert Flaherty "Bob" Diehl
Herman A. Diekoff
Helen Dodson
Myron Eavey
Charles English
Robert Ernhart/Ehrenhart
James Eversole
Willfred Strang Fidlar
Harold Fields
Jerome Fougerousse
Mark Gantz
Beulah Francis (Wentworth) Gifford
Elizabeth L. (Miller) Gray
Hazel Gray
Rowland Hackett
Mary Hall
Donald Hambrock
Kenneth Hambrock
Robert Harbin
Ruth Nell (Carnes) Hayward
Helen Henry
Arthur Hill, Sr.
Raymond Monroe Howard
Alice Marie (Jeffers) Huckleby
Charlene Hunsucker
Virginia Huntwork
Mary Alice Huston
Andrew Hyslop
Emily Isbell
Rudolph Walter Jeffers
Kenneth Jenkins
Martha Jenks
Kenneth Johns
Myron Juble Johnson
James Kelly
Ann Kesler
Elizabeth Kirkham
William Henry Lackey
Dorothy Lamb
Charmenz Lenhart
Mrs. Esma Lenhart
Elza Linn
Hazel Loewenstein
Warren Lucas
Vincent Malan
Frances Marosco
Eddie McFate
Jay Meek
Duncan Miller
Marguerite Elizabeth (Kickler) Miller
John Mooney
Carl Mos(h)er
Shirley Myers
George Patterson
Constance Payne
Louise Pemberton
Sindey Phillipi
Helen Pollock
Paul Pollock
Helen Potts
Ethel Lynn Rapson
Bernard Rosenak
Paul Ross
Janice Rudd
Eloise Sackrider
Martha Seifres
Mary Sellers
Virginia Shannon
Mary Sharp
Elizabeth Smith
Thelma Stevenson
Mrs. H. B. Stover
Perry Stryker
Thelma Syme
Thomas Targett
Rosemary Tatlock
Jessica Taylor
Rebecca "Becky" Taylor
Katherine A. Thomas
June Trout
Carl Truitt
Ruby Van Kirk
Rebecca Varney
Margaret Vaughn
John Walker
Silas Wasserman
Louis Waterloo
Willamay Whitner
William Whitney
Ernest Williams
James Williams
June Wilson
Martha Brown Young
Ernest Zeller
Viola:
Katherine Louise Becker
Eleanor Briggs
Lillian Champ Cruse
Geraldine Drury
Stanford Don "Bobby" Gilley
Martha Godwin
Edna Grimm
Donna Harvey
Maryanna Hayes
Gladys Horrall
Gertrude Lotze
David McIntosh
Joseph McMillan
Ralph Green Miller
Paul Munger
Elsie Sedgwick
Marian Stanfield
Dorothy Steinsberger
Thomas Strong
Phyllis Welty
Cello:
Martha Blower
Marylin Buchanan
Rachel Daniels
Isabel Ellis
Clark Engleman
Mary Leona Fariss
Dorothy (Lenhart) Fidlar
Edith Ford
Betty Hall
Virginia Ireland
Carolyn Irwin
Betty Kniptasch
Carl Kottler
Wanda Larew
Leila McCarter
Virginia Miller
Agnes Ooley
Mary Alice Purcell
Lorene (Jeffers) Ray
Daisy B (Hoggatt) Robinson
Priscilla Smith
Vivian Spurgeon
Blanche Amelia (McRay) Ulmer
Charles Frederick Woerner
Betty Jane (Kniptasch) Woodyard
Elmer Zeller
Double Bass:
Orval Austin
Warren Bandy
Jane Briggs
Vernon Brown
Stella Clark
Charles Ora Davis
George Davis
Florence Ellis
Bernard Firks
Miriam Fulford
Bessie Viola (Reeves) Haburcsak
Madolin Hackett
Howard Hambrock
Stella Jenkins
Roscoe Kearschner
W. David Koile
Carl/Karl Leifeit
Donald Myers
Max Naylor
James Peck
Carl Quanstrom
Barbara Rinehart
Harold Rodgers
Herman Roesch
Marjorie (Larew) Ross
Charlotte Smith
Flute:
Herbert Nylen Beasley
Myron Beasley
Margaret English
Billy Grass
Ernalou Hambrock
Charles Lunsford
Paul Lunsford
Mary Mac Lean
William McCaslin
Victor C. Miller
Eileen Modesitt
John Neerman
Byron Penrod
Louise Roush
Roberta Simmons
Rita Smith
Francis White
Oboe:
Muriel (Moyer) Briggs
Ellen Diehl
Kenneth Herron
Willard Horton
Patricia (Steinsberger) Lohrman
Henry Elmer Meurer
John Moore
Roy Parker
John Schnabel
Benjamin Southcott
Lyall Southcott
Patricia (Pat) Steinsberger
Miriam Swartz
Clarinet:
Paul Earl Beaman
Everett Bishop
Gus Chagares
Jack Cromwell
Douglas Kelshaw
Harold Malone
Don McCathren
George McKean
George Overpeck
Albert Francis Owens
Eldon Ready
Donna Rolinson
Henry C. Weber
Charles Woodward
Robert Hawkins (alto clarinet)
Doris Hodde/Hoddy (bass clarinet)
Newlin Howard (bass clarinet)
Robert Million (bass clarinet)
Bassoon:
Alberta Amberger
Charlene Ide Apfelstadt
Gilbert Creighton Apfelstadt
James Boyle
Frank Briggs
Mary Ruth "Molly" (Goodman) Cutshall
Roy Evans
Charlotte Ide
Sam Jordan
Alberta Rose (Amberger) Smith
Saxophone:
Frank Diekoff
I. Malone
Ezra Overpeck
Gene Morland
Horn:
Robert Archer
Eugene Kemp Asbury
June (Jane?) Gunnison Beaman
Dr. Frank H. Carey
Robert "Bob" Egloff
Dorothy Jane Gunnison
Martha Hardaway
Warren Haverkamp
Herbert Spencer Hicklin
James Jeffers
Bill Leedy
Ralph McGreal
Robert Elmer Meurer
Barbara Miller
Donald Rolla Minx
William Sidenbender
J. C. Tranbarger
Cornet/Trumpet:
David Clark "Jack" Adams
Bert Barnes
Raymond Blair
Leamon Boler
John Bright
John Croy
William Davis
Herbie Eckels
Arvin Ewing
Guy Foreman
George Graesche
Richard Hambrock
Warren Hamilton
Glenn Johnson
Emma Meurer
Hal Albert Meurer
James Morris
William Nilson
William Shagley
Clarence Shook
Glenn Addie (Tarrh) Williams
Robert Wright
Trombone:
Harvey Bosell
George Brooks
Francis Davey
William H. Everson
Dick Geddes
Charlotte Ingersol
Harvey Kesler
Gene McCormick
Thomas Pearman
Wilfred Earnest Perigo
Joseph Thomas
James Van Laningham
Baritone:
Harold Bright
Tuba:
Leon Corenflos
Percussion:
Leslie Emerson Bain, Jr.
John Philip Briggs
Virginia Brown
Willliam Graves
Orlen Hungerford
William Joyce
Jack O'Grady
William K. Richardson (Jr?)
Carl Robinson
Malcolm Scott
Horace Sears
Wanda Wright
Piano:
Pauline Brothers
Pauline Chandler
Paul Fidlar
Myra Laughlin
Amelia Meyer
Julia Rodenbeck
Stella Virginia Tatlock
Harmonium:
Margaret Meyer
Margaret Payne
Sophie Kate Scholl
Unknown instrument (listed only by name):
John Buckholz
Horace Capps
Pauline Chandler
Frances "Fritz" Chesser
Rebecca Taylor Chinn
J.C. Creitz
Dorothy Davis
Lois de Bruler
Lois Wilford Dobson
Mary (Margaret?) Donnelly
James English
Ralph Harris
Horace Houghton
Kenneth John
Rowena Kessel
Virginia Kruzan
Blanche Moran
Jane Morlan
Charles Moyes
George Osborne
Dorothy Reece
Geneva Sankey
Rohr Smith
Betty Rose Stultz
Arletta Swauwecker
Jane Tarman
Agnes Thomas
Clyde Thomas
Glenn Toms
Louise Torbert
J.W. Treese
Richard Vaughn
George Walker
Myron Waters
Herbert Williams
Kenneth Wood
Jack York