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
Concertmasters:
Marguerite (Kickler) Miller
Wilfred Strang Fidlar
Mark Gantz
Kenneth Jenkins
Violin:
Leona Allen
Erama Amerger
Hazel Anderson
Wayne Anderson
Stanley Archibald
Paul Ausherman
Helen Dodson Bailey
Virginia Barrett
Richard Bash
Hazel Velma (Moss) Beasley
Jack Beedle
Woody Bergh
Laura May Briggs (also viola)
Jean Brough
Martha Brown
Reba Brown
Margaret Bull
Josephine "Jo" Bunch (also viola)
Rosemary Burkhardt
Wilfred Burton
William Burton
Helen Byers
John Campbell
Norma Correll
Harold Crawford
Mary Avelyn Davis
Lois DeBruler
Imogene Deweese
Robert Flaherty "Bob" Diehl (also cello)
Helen Dodson
Myron Eavey
Charles English
Robert Ernhart/Ehrenhart
James Eversole
Willfred Strang Fidlar
Harold Fields
Jerome Fougerousse
Jim Fulper
Mark Gantz
Robert Garrard
Beulah Francis (Wentworth) Gifford
Louise W. Goldsmith
Elizabeth L. (Miller) Gray
Hazel Gray
Rowland Hackett
Helen Haer
Mary Hall
Donald Hambrock
Kenneth Hambrock (also double bass)
Robert Harbin
Richard Hartman
Ruth Nell (Carnes) Hayward
Jeanette Heady
Helen Henry (also viola)
Arthur Hill, Sr.
Raymond Monroe Howard
Alice Marie (Jeffers) Huckleby
Charlene Hunsucker
Virginia Huntwork
Mary Alice Huston
Andrew Hyslop
Helen Ingersoll
Emily Isbell
Rudolph Walter Jeffers (also trumpet)
Kenneth Jenkins
Martha Jenks
Kenneth Johns
Myron Juble Johnson
James Kelly
Ann Kesler/Keller
Elizabeth Kirkham
Claudine Kitch
Stephen Koos
William Henry Lackey
Dorothy Lamb
Paul Lawrence
Charmenz Lenhart
Mrs. Esma Lenhart
Elza Linn
Hazel Loewenstein
Warren Lucas (also cello)
Vincent Malan
Frances Marosco
Edward McClure
Eddie McFate
Jewell McGuire
Jay Meek
Mrs. Leslie H. Meeks
Duncan Miller
Marguerite Elizabeth (Kickler) Miller
Mary J. Miller
John Mooney
Carl Mos(h)er
Shirley Myers
Mrs. M. E. Nash
George Patterson
Mrs. Howard Patton
Constance Payne
Louise Pemberton
Opal Leyton
Sindey Phillipi
Shirley Poe
Helen Pollock
Paul Pollock
Helen Potts
Ethel Lynn Rapson
Bernard Rosenak
Paul Ross (also double bass)
Jane Rowland
Janice Rudd (also cello)
Eloise Sackrider
Martha Seifres
Mary Seller/Sellers
Virginia Shannon
Mary Sharp
Rosemary Shavlaske
Marjory Shortridge
Elizabeth Smith
Mrs. Jack Stevenson
Thelma Stevenson
Mrs. H. B. Stover
Nancy Strunk
Perry Stryker
Thelma Syme
Thomas Targett
Mrs. Raymond Tate
Rosemary Tatlock
Jessica Taylor
Rebecca "Becky" Taylor
Katherine A. Thomas
Sue Thompson
Mrs. Tolles
Teal Tomson
June Trout
Carl Truitt
Anna Tucker
Katherine Trybulski
Virginia Van Devanter
Ruby Van Kirk
Rebecca Varney
Margaret Vaughn
John Walker
Dorothy Wampler
Anna Warner
Silas Wasserman
Louis Waterloo
Willamay Whitner
William Whitney
Ernest Williams
James Williams
June Wilson
Allen Wythe
Martha Brown Young
Wolfgang Yulin
Ernest Zeller
Viola:
Katherine Louise Becker
Margaret Booher
Eleanor Briggs
Helen Brown
Lillian (Champ) Cruse
Geraldine Drury (also violin)
Lawrence Eberly
Norma Sue Fremder
Stanford Don "Bobby" Gilley
Martha Godwin
Edna Grimm
Donna Harvey
Maryanna Hayes
Arthur D. Hill, Jr.
Gladys Horrall (also violin)
Mary Alice Hughes
Gerald Hunter
Gertrude Lotze
David McIntosh
Joseph McMillan
Ralph Green Miller
John Mooney
Paul Munger
Mrs. Otis
Elsie Sedgwick
James Shurr
Marian Stanfield
Dorothy Steinsberger
Thomas Strong
M. C. Topping
Anna May / Annamae Thomas (also violin)
Rudolph Voica
Phyllis Welty
Margaret Wilson
Cello:
Martha Blower
Marylin Buchanan
Rachel Daniels
Robert Flaherty “Bob” Diehl
Isabel Ellis
Clark Engleman
Mary Leona Fariss
Dorothy (Lenhart) Fidlar
Edith Ford
Betty Hall
Virginia Ireland
Carolyn Irwin
Lorene Jeffers
Betty Kniptasch
Carl Kottler
Wanda Larew
Mrs. Leila Larrison
Leila McCarter
Joseph McMillan
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 (also violin and double bass)
Stella Jenkins
Roscoe Kearschner (also Sousaphone and tuba)
W. David Koile
Carl/Karl Leifeit (also piano)
Donald Myers
James Peck
Carl Quanstrom
Bessie Reeves
Melvin Riggs (also percussion)
Barbara Rinehart
Harold Rodgers
Herman Roesch
Charlotte Smith
Flute:
Herbert Nylen Beasley
Myron Beasley
Barbara Booe
Margaret English
Billy Grass
Ernalou Hambrock
Charles Lunsford
Paul Lunsford
Mary Mac Lean
William McCaslin
Victor C. Miller
Albert Mitchell
Eileen Modesitt
John Neerman
Byron Penrod
Louise Roush
Roberta Simmons
Rita Smith
Miriam Tilton
Francis White
Armin Wilcoxin
Oboe:
Muriel (Moyer) Briggs
Ellen Diehl
Kenneth Herron
Willard Horton
Patricia (Steinsberger) Lohrman
Roy Parker
James Phegley
John Schnabel
Benjamin Southcott
Lyall Southcott
Miriam Swartz
Clarinet:
Paul Earl Beaman (also alto clarinet and bass clarinet)
Everett Bishop
Gus Chagares
Jack Cromwell
Jane Gasaway (bass clarinet only)
Doris Hodde/Hoddy (bass clarinet only)
Newlin Howard (bass clarinet only)
Douglas Kelshaw
Harold Malone
Don McCathren
George McKean
Henry Elmer Meurer
Albert Mewhinney
Robert Million (also bass clarinet)
George Overpeck
Albert Francis Owens
Eldon Ready
Donna Rolinson
Henry C. Weber
Charles Woodward
Bassoon:
Alberta Rose (Amberger) Smith
Charlene Ide Apfelstadt
Gilbert Creighton Apfelstadt
James Boyle
Frank Briggs
Virginia Carpenter
Mary Ruth "Molly" (Goodman) Cutshall
Roy Evans
Charlotte Ide
Sam Jordan
Saxophone:
Frank Diekoff
Ray Hahn
I. Malone
Ezra Overpeck
Gene Morland (baritone)
Horn:
Robert Archer
Eugene Kemp Asbury
June (Jane?) Gunnison Beaman
Loran Campbell
Dr. Frank H. Carey
Herman A. Diekoff
Robert "Bob" Egloff
Dorothy Jane Gunnison
Martha Hardaway
Warren Haverkamp
Robert Hawkins (also alto clarinet and saxophone)
Herbert Spencer Hicklin
James Jeffers
Bill Leedy
Ralph McGreal
Barbara Miller
Donald Rolla Minx
Wayne Nicoson
Mack Ralston
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
Otto Gott
George Graesche
Richard Hambrock
Warren Hamilton
J. Holder
Glenn Johnson
Paul Johnson, Jr.
Robert McPherson
Emma Meurer
Hal Albert Meurer
James Morris (also French horn and trombone)
William Nilson
William Shagley
Clarence Shook
Glenn Addie (Tarrh) Williams
Robert Wright
Trombone:
Robert Bond
Harvey Bosell
George Brooks
John Buckholz
Frances "Fritz" Chesser
Francis Davey
William H. Everson
Dick Geddes
Charlotte Ingersol
Harvey Kesler
Gene McCormick
Robert Elmer Meurer
Thomas Pearman
Wilfred Earnest Perigo
Joseph Thomas
James Van Laningham
Albert Wright
Baritone:
Harold Bright
Tuba:
Leon Corenflos
Horace Sears (also percussion)
Percussion:
Wayne Alexander
Leslie Emerson Bain, Jr.
John Philip Briggs
Virginia Brown
Willliam Graves
Loren/Orlen Hungerford
William Joyce
Willard Marshall
John Moore (also oboe)
Max Naylor
Jack O'Grady
William K. Richardson (Jr?)
Marjorie (Larew) Ross (also double bass)
Malcolm Scott
Wanda Wright
Piano:
Vivien Bard
Pauline Brothers
Pauline Chandler
Paul Fidlar
Myra Laughlin
Amelia Meyer
Julia Rodenbeck
Stella Virginia Tatlock
Mrs. Colonel Thompson
Mrs. Paul Wilkinson
Mildred Louise Woodworth
Harmonium:
Thelma Biddle
Mary Blood (also piano)
Margaret Meyer
Nellie Miklozek
Margaret Payne
Helen Rood
Sophie Kate Scholl
Unknown instrument (listed only by name):
Horace Capps
Rebecca Taylor Chinn
J.C. Creitz
Dorothy Davis
Lois de Bruler
Lois Wilford Dobson
Mary (Margaret?) Donnelly
Robert Elder
James English
Mrs. Ernhart
Donald Galey
Ralph Harris
Horace Houghton
Kenneth John
Mrs. Joseph
Rowena Kessel
Virginia Kruzan
Mrs. P. B. Mackenzie
Blanche Moran
Jane Morlan
Charles Moyes
George Osborne
Dorothy Reece
Mrs. W. D. Russell
Geneva Sankey
Rohr Smith
Mrs. R. C. Stover
Betty Rose Stultz
Arletta Swauwecker
Jane Tarman
Clyde Thomas
Glenn Toms
Louise Torbert
J.W. Treese
George Walker
Myron Waters
Herbert Williams
Kenneth Wood
Jack York
Updated August 16, 2026, after the discovery of additional concert programs and personnel lists.