Monroe County history: Music thrived in Monroe in 1800s
In the past, I wrote about John Phillips Bronson (J.P.) and his successful business relationship with August (Gus) Boehme and E.C. Rauch to create the Rauch Paper Co. I wrote how Bronson became a decorated Civil War hero who lost his leg at the Battle of Utoy Creek, Georgia — as documented by his great-grandson, retired Monroe County 1st District Court Judge Terrence Bronson.
The success of the Rauch Paper Co. (formed from what was originally the Waldorf Mill located at the Monroe Tugboat Docks and purchased for $1,000) enabled Boehme to become a musical benefactor to Monroe. Boehme was part of a wave of highly educated German immigrants who emigrated to Monroe in the 1850s. They brought their knowledge of classical musical styles and techniques of the Romantic Period of popular German composers of the day, including Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn and others.
According to "Bulkley’s History of Monroe County, Michigan," “Mr. Boehme was especially influential in connection with the activities of local musical circles, and he was a leader in musical affairs for many years. Largely through this medium, he gained his remarkably wide circle of friends in this and other states of the Union, and he did much to give to Monroe its distinctive prestige as a center of high-grade musical art.”
Boehme was a flutist who first served as first flutist in the Norman Orchestra — the first orchestra formed in Monroe in the early 1860s. August Vergo served as second flute; Al Stewart, cello; and H.L. Stoddard, double bass. They were joined at various times by Miss M. Miller, Eva Smith and Olive Little as pianists. Singers included Miss Anna Tull (alto), Mrs. P.B. Loranger (soprano), J.P. Jaminet, and Mr. Weiss (bass).
The Norman Orchestra opportunity led Boehme to establish the Boehme Orchestra in 1874. He reprised his role as first flutist and also served as conductor. Bulkley lists the other members of the Boehme Orchestra and their assignments as Charles Vetter, cornet; Adolph Rupp, trombone; William Uhl, violoncello; Henry J. Mann, first violin; Philip Mann, second violin; and Conrad Kiburtz, clarinet. Boehme would serve as conductor until 1894.
Boehme also belonged to Vetter’s Brass Band (founded by John M. Vetter who came to Monroe in 1854 from Saxony in Germany and ran a tannery near what was the Waterloo Mill). A men’s choir — the Maennerchoir — was an offshoot of this group. In addition to leading the Boehme Orchestra, Boehme reorganized what later became known as the Monroe Coronet Band in 1874.
John Vetter was a musical pioneer in Monroe for his ability to leverage printed piano sheet music from the Norman Orchestra — which was very expensive at the time. He, with the assistance of Norman and others, rewrote the music for brass to make it usable for the needs of the Vetter’s Brass Band. Like the Norman Orchestra, the Vetter Brass Band was founded in the early 1860s.
The Vetter/Monroe Coronet Band roster included Gustav Vergho, Boehme, John Schmidt, George Schmidt, Leonard Lang, Bernard Sturn, Aldoph Rupp and Charles Vetter. When Boehme resigned in 1894, Conrad Kiburtz became leader of the Monroe Coronet Band. Later both John H. Eber and Casper H. Diekman (who was one of the founders of the Diekman Bottling Works in 1917) led what eventually became the Monroe Exchange Club Band. Eber later founded the Opera House Orchestra, joining H.J. Mann and A.W. Gale in leading bands and orchestras in Monroe from the 1890s to the 1920s. Both individuals owned music stores in Monroe and supplied musical supplies and instrumental/voice instruction to Monroe residents of all ages.
Tom Adamich is president of Visiting Librarian Service, a firm he has operated since 1993. He also is project archivist for the Greening Nursery Co. and Family Archives.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County history: Music thrived in Monroe in 1800s
