This A style mandolin is the earliest known example of Orville Gibson’s work. Estimated to have been made around 1892/93, it is the closest in design to Orville’s 1895 patent drawing.
The owner of this mandolin, Lynn Wheelwright, asked me to research the initials to see if I might come up with the name of the original owner. The first order of business was to recognize the rules of 19th century monogramming. In this case, the person’s initials on the tailpiece are ECS. In doing my research, I came up with a list of possible owners for the time period, which happened to be all women. I told Lynn that it was my belief that if Orville had made this for a woman, those initials would be sweeping etched curves. Because of the perforated work on the tailpiece, I believed that this mandolin belonged to a man. And the only man on my list was Dr. Eugene Colvin Southard.
Eugene Southard lived next door to the widow Mrs. Sarah Hays boarding house where Orville lived around 1876. Over the years, Orville and Eugene belonged to the same charity groups and the same civic organization.
Patients of the 19th and early 20th century often bartered an item of value when they couldn’t pay cash for a doctor’s services. Perhaps Orville had some sort of throat issue that the doctor treated, then customized this mandolin specifically for him as payment.
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In the winter season of 1892/93, Orville was once again living at the Hays boarding house and doing home repairs for Sarah’s son, Sidney, who was now running the place. One can only guess if the metal plate on the head stock came from scrap metal leftover from the renovations.
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The sound hole has a simple and narrow rope binding around it. There is no evidence of there ever having been a label on the inside.
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According to 19th century rules of monogramming, this person’s initials are ‘ECS.’ Orville did not stop at the initials on the top side, but added a star to the back side of the tailpiece.
Personally, I feel that the unique features of this mandolin, along with all the other unique features of his other instruments (for example, see the AUC Mandolin under Orville’s), show the vastly creative and inventive mind of Orville Gibson…something that would never have come through if he had worked for someone else. I feel he would have been bored stiff working for Martin.
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All photos are the property of Lynn Wheelwright and used with permission on this page.
A Biography of Orville H. Gibson 