Younger Gang Fiddle at Auction

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Frank Younger just sent me this additional background information about Jim Younger’s violin, to be auctioned today in the Wilbur Zink Collection at Heritage Auctions. Frank’s email now will be included when the fiddle is transferred to its new owner.

auction fiddle

“Just to let you know, the case in which Jim Younger’s violin appears in the auction picture is not the original case. I am the one who restored the violin (it was not in bad shape at all, just some glue joints which had given up the ghost.) The “original” case was literally falling apart. It was, as I recall, painted black and looked not unlike a small coffin – this type may still be seen, usually carrying beginner-student violins. I insisted that Wilbur replace the case; he sometimes took the fiddle to different venues to give a talk and there was a very real danger that the case would “let go” while carrying with disastrous results to the fiddle.

“The size of the fiddle is what we call a 7/8, which is applied to any violin larger than a 3/4 but smaller than full size. I replaced the bridge and added the fine-tuners found on the tailpiece to make it easy to tune and easier to play for the “Younger Desperadoes” CD, and left the original bridge with the fiddle The instrument is strung with new strings. Although I would have liked to re-set the sound post, I could not knock it down using the usual method of going through the E-string side f/hole. It could have been glued in (!) but I do not know. I could find no sign of a maker. It appeared to be a factory violin, but of this I am not sure.

“As I recall, the bow was a disaster. I cannot recall if I re-haired it or not. The frog looked to me to be roughly carved from a bone.

“After the repairs I played a few tunes on the fiddle for Wilbur, using my bow. It certainly sounded like it had not been played for 100 years! My sister, Evelyn Hall, made the CD recording (with Matt Audette on guitar) in Phoenix.

“The repairs were made at Wilbur’s home in Scottsdale, Ariz. in the winter of 1997. I photographed both sides of the instrument, stringless, from above in Wilbur’s car port where the lighting seemed as near to ideal as we could find.”

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Stray Leaves Daily

Stray Leaves Daily

Daily updates from the family of Frank & Jesse James with stories, photos, & two searchable genealog

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4 months ago
Stray Leaves Daily

VIDEO of the Clay County Board of Commissioners bestowing honor upon our James colleague & friend Charlies Broomfield. Recognition begins at 2:00 min. mark.

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Congratulations Charlie!!

4 months ago
Stray Leaves Daily

We have hints from the Clay County Archives in charge of James Farm in Kearney, Missouri, that a road leading to the farm will be renamed Charles Broomfield Rd. Charlie was a Clay County Commissioner who took an active role in arranging the sale and transfer of James Farm from the James family to Clay County. See MoreSee Less

We have hints from the Clay County Archives in charge of James Farm in Kearney, Missouri, that a road leading to the farm will be renamed Charles Broomfield Rd. Charlie was a Clay County Commissioner who took an active role in arranging the sale and transfer of James Farm from the James family to Clay County.Image attachment

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Cant say that I understand the significance of this.

Do you have the address of Jesse & Frank James Cabin in Paseo Robles, California?

6 months ago
Stray Leaves Daily

FIND-A-GRAVE BLUNDERS LEAVE JAMES FAMILY HOWLING . . . Can you spot the errata in this Find a Grave post for the grandfather of Frank & Jesse James? The most glaring deception is the photograph!

History tells us the photograph was invented about the time John M. James was dying. Neither history, nor the administrator of this posting, Charlotte Raley McConaha, can tell us is how photographic technology made its way from France to the distant American frontier to take a photo of John M. James, months before his demise.

Another imprecise miscalculation in this post is the attribution of the middle name “Martin” to John M. James. The name never has been proved by evidence. To guess the name is unreliable and wrong.
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FIND-A-GRAVE BLUNDERS LEAVE JAMES FAMILY HOWLING . . . Can you spot the errata in this Find a Grave post for the grandfather of Frank & Jesse James? The most glaring deception is the photograph!

History tells us the photograph was invented about the time John M. James was dying. Neither history, nor the administrator of this posting, Charlotte Raley McConaha, can tell us is how photographic technology made its way from France to the distant American frontier to take a photo of John M. James, months before his demise.

Another imprecise miscalculation in this post is the attribution of the middle name “Martin” to John M. James. The name never has been proved by evidence. To guess the name is unreliable and wrong.
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