by Dale Potter-Clark
Franklin Richardson was born in Mercer
in 1825 where he learned from his father how to play the fife at a young age. At age
14 Franklin heard the violin played for the first time and became enamored by the
instrument. He was offered that violin for $3.00 and his father agreed to buy
it if the boy could learn to play within a week. Franklin was able to play “Auld
Lang Syne” in less than an hour. He soon learned to make violins as well.
To make a living Franklin became
a tailor and set-up shop in Norridgewock at age 21. He continued in that trade for
more than two decades except for three years in the Union Army and one other
hiatus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1848, Franklin and a brother went
to Milwaukee, where Franklin opened a dance studio. He also played in an orchestra
on “The Empire State” – the largest steamer on the Great Lakes until it sank in
July 1849. Whether Franklin was on board and escaped is not known, but it is
known that he returned to Mercer soon afterwards and returned to tailoring.
He married Parthenia Chapman of
Mt. Vernon in 1852 and moved to Mt. Vernon village where he continued tailoring
and making violins. Parthenia died a year later and he wed Mary P. Neal of
Vienna. They had seven children born 1857-1872. All but the youngest two were
born in Mt. Vernon, including daughter Mary Neal Richardson in 1859.
Franklin enlisted in the Union
Army in 1863 where he organized and led the brass band for the 10th
Maine Regiment under General Ulysses S. Grant. Soon after his discharge he
moved his family to Canton, where he bought a farm on Canton Lake and continued his trades.
Following the Civil War, pre-made
clothing became popular and Franklin’s tailor business steadily declined so he
began a photography business – all the while making violins. He also played his
instruments at special events and he gave dance lessons. Franklin was an old
time dancing master until age 70. By age 83 he had made more than 200 violins. At
the time they fetched a price of anywhere from $25 to $100. In the recent past
a Richardson violin sold at auction for $3,375.
Although his children grew up in
a creative home it appears that only Mary entered the arts as a profession. She
became a nationally renowned artist who painted portraits and landscapes for
decades at Fenway Studios in Boston, and at her summer studio in Canton. In 1909
Franklin was interviewed for a Lewiston newspaper article titled “Canton’s
Famous Old Violin Maker”. He was making
four violins for his great-grandsons at the time and still farming his
homestead on Canton Lake. Six years
later the “Who's Who in New
England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women” listed both Franklin and his daughter
Mary. He died the same year of senile dementia. His death certificate gives his
occupation simply as “violin maker”.
Dale Potter-Clark writes
about local history and old families. She recently co-authored “The Founders
and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on Four Lakes in Central Maine.”
In April 2018, this article appeared in several Turner Publishing Maine newspapers in central and western Maine.
