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In its heyday (the 1920s and 30s) the Elgin American Legion Band was very active giving many concerts locally and out-of-town. People flocked to hear live music concerts for entertainment. As the public schools provided so little music training, the all-male band had to seek other training. The Swedish communities provided some, some coming from immigrants trained in Sweden. One Swedish immigrant, Albert Smith, was able to go to a Swedish college in Lindsborg, Kansas. He studied music there and came back to the Kimbro community and started training some of the younger men. One student, Arthur Swenson, became a fine trumpet player. Smith also trained others in brass instrumentation.
Other men who were in WWI got some training by participating in military bands. One of those, Martin Lind, came back and was able to direct the local band for some time. Another veteran, Will Nichols, was a director. As many came from the Kimbro and New Sweden area, some practices were held there, and other rehearsals were held in Elgin. Once the band developed, their concerts were in demand. Some without formal training learned from others who had some training. People remember that the members took the band and its rehearsals very seriously.
Most of the band specialized in concerts, but they were also known to march in parades, one as far away as San Antonio for the national convention of the American Legion Organization. People recall that they concertized at Barton Springs and always played for the Swedish Old Settlers Reunion in Round Rock. Political rallies were very popular and they nearly always featured a concert prior to the speaking.
Most of the concerts were in the Elgin area and there were many. If a band member passed away, the band frequently would provide a concert outside of the church prior to the funeral.
In the late 1930s, the Elgin High School started a band and in turn was able to provide music for special occasions. By the 1950s, many of the original legion band members were getting older and the American Legion Band became more inactive and their rehearsals were infrequent. If they were called on to play then, they would call a rehearsal just for the event and would bring in high school band men to fill in as some of the members had retired.
The Elgin Depot Museum is a non-profit, 501c3 project of the Elgin Historical Assn.
It restored and operates the former 1903 train depot with volunteers. This book developed and printed by the EHA, More Stores-Elgin,Etc. is one of several books about Elgin’s history, largely written by EHA members and a dynamic network of area residents who discovered their talent for writing.
A sincere thank you to EHA Board Member Charlene Hanson Jordan for writing this column for the Elgin Courier as well as several history books about the Swedish families who settled on the “prairie” so long ago and the settlers who came to develop Elgin when the train got here in 1872.
