Bruce Evan Hawkins
* i t • i . i
Valuable Old Five-String Banjo Now Belongs
To Brevard 5-Year Old Who "Won't Swap”
Estimated To Be
140 Years Old
What probably started out as a measure
to propitiate a three-year old boy by giving him
an old, broken banjo, has wound up with the
youngster now owning what may be an unusual
far valuable antique initrument. v
For Bruce Evan Hawkins, son of Mr. and
Mr*. John H. Hawkins of Brevurd ifc ihe
rightful and unouestj^ned owner xtft a five
spring banjo which fat certaihly over 100 years
old, and may reasonable|be estimated to be
nearer 140. And it is rioy^hfter expert repairs,
j in first-class shape and’has a tone^aud Quality
By Cal Carpenter
The atorv, according to John Hawkins,
Printer at THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES, be
gan 5 years ago at Christmas when his wife,
Mary, and infant son, Bruce, gave him a. new
five-string, banjo. Over the next three years,
John played it some around the house and the
boy took a liking to it.
On Christmas three years later. John
got a newer banjo and he and his wife de
cided to pive his old one to their son’s grand
father, Ralph C. Garren. who lives in the
Cathey’s Creek section. Their three-vear old
son wanted a banjo too. so Grandfather Gar
ren gave the bov an old banio he’d had for
many years. It had strings missing, the head
broken, and the neck was cracked. But it was
a banjo, and voung Bruce, wiser than he could
realize, gladly accepted it as his.
H£D REPAIRED
'*■ »; '•
Mary Hawkins suggested that mavbe the
old instrument could be repaired, and the boy
would have something he could actually play.
John agreed and the instrument was taken to
Mr. Joey Freeman of Naples, N. C., whom the
Hawkins knew as a fine five-string player and
an expert instrument repair man.
It took quite a while, all the skilled hand
Science for You bob brown
7-as
PROBLEM: Crack of the whip.
NEEDED: A whip that will “crack.”
f
DO THIS: Try to think of the explanation of the
loud sound made by the whip as the wave goes to the
end, faster and faster, finally ending with the “crack.”
' -
WHY: It could be called an example of conservation
of angular momentum; the momentum starting at the
thick part of the whip continues, but" the smaller parts
of the whip must move faster to maintain momentum.
The end of the whip moves faster than the speed of
od; it “breaks the sound barrier”— actually moving
ster than a .45 pistol bullet. The whip does not slap
on itself to make the noise, as popularly supposed.
For You” feature Is
at Pisgah Forest in
is;
SAYS HE WON’T SWAP — Bruce Evan
Hawkins, five-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. John
H. Hawkins of Brevard, is shown with the over
a-100 years old banjo given to him by his grand
father, Ralph C. Garren of the Cathey’s Creek
community. The banjo was in pretty bad shape
when Bruce accepted it but now, after repairs, i1
is considered quite valuable. His father and grand
father would like to trade him their new banjoes
for it, but Bruce “won’t swap.”
(Times Staff Photo)
work that wa# necessary to repair the old in
strument, but young Bruce Hawkins finally
got his banjo back just a few weeks ago. It
had a new neck, new head, new fret-board,
and numerous repairs to the head brackets.
The entirely new neck of the instrument,
an exact copy of the old one, had been made,
according to Mr. Freeman, from a piece of
hard maple that was the post of a road sign
taken down near Fletcher, N. C., in 1923. How
long the sign had stood, no one knew, but it was
a beautifully seasoned and preserved piece of
wood and ideal for the banjo neck.
Best of all, the newly repaired banjo
looked and sounded absolutely wonderful.
The Hawkins heard Mr. Freeman play it, and
their ears told them they’d never hear a bet
ter sounding instrument.
BEGAN INVESTIGATING
The remarkable tone and nualitv of the
old instrument and the name “Wilson” found
on an original brace piece in back of the head,
aroused John Hawkins’ curiosity. He knew it
was a very valuable instrument as well as very
old; he wanted to know more about it. So he
began an investigation of its past.
First, he learned that Mr. Garren had
owned the instrument for some 32 vears, a fact
he hadn’t mentioned when he’d given it to
young Bruce. He also learned it had been
given to Mr. Garren bv his cousin. Jack Wil
son, also of Cathey’s Creek, who had owned
it for some 40 years.
Investigation with Jack Wilson disclosed
it had been given to him bv his mother, Alice
Dunn Wilson, and had originallv belonged to
her father, C. R. Dunn, who di»d in the 1870’s.
This made the banjo at least 100 years old.
But records indicate that C. R. Dunn was
one of the earliest settlers on Cathey’s Creek
and was probably born before. 1829, for that
was the birth year of Sarah J. Dunn, wife,
and he was older than she. This being the
case, and making the reasonable guess that
Mr. Dunn got the banjo somewhere in the
middle years of his life, this would make the
instrument near 140 years old — long pre
dating the Civil War.
WON’T SWAP BACK
Despite its undoubted age, the banjo, now
in full repair, has a tone and quality not to be
found in new instruments today. As a matter
of fact, both Bruce Hawkins’ father and grand
father know he has the best and by far the
most valuable banjo of the three — the old,
broken instrument that was probably first given
to him just to keep him quiet — just so he
wouldn’t want his father’s nor his grandfather’s
new banjoes.
The joke seems to be on them. For, as
proud father John Hawkins admits reufullyt
“He won’t swap hack with either of us.
So; I am just hoping he’ll keep and taka
good care of the instrument and learn to
play it. That will be enough for me.”
Hold That Pose
Photo buffs needn’t mis
that good shot because thei
flash batteries went dead ii
the middle of the action. No\
available is an electronic flasl
Services Held For Miss Mason
Miss Anita Louise Mason, 28,
of 105 Summit Ave., died Sun
day night in a Brevard hospital
after a short illness.
She was a lifelong resident of
Transylvania county and a
graduate of Brevard College
and Western Carolina Univer
sity. She was formerly employ
ed at Olin Corporation and
taught school in the county
’ unit powered by rechargeable
, nickel - cadmium batteries. Af
' ter only a 20-minute charge, the
, batteries store enough power
to shoot a whole roll of film.
system.
Surviving are the parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Russell Mason of
the home; twb sisters, Mrs.
Dana Barton of Brevard and
Miss Elaine Mason of Atlanta,
Ga.: and the paternal grand
mother; Mrs. Iva Mason of Bal
sam Grove.
Services were held at 2:00
p.m. Tuesday in Calvary Baptist
church, of which she was a
member.
The Rev. Nolan Ford offici
ated. Burial was in McCall
Cemetery.
Moore Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
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