The Instruments of Homer Ledford

Dulcimer Numbers 1 to 1000 (updated 1/22/2012)

(Listing Incomplete)

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1	1946	Jul	10	Southern Highlanders Inc Guild Shop	5th Ave	New York	NY	Old back
2	1946	Jul	10	Southern Highlanders Inc Guild Shop	5th Ave	New York	NY	Old back
3	1946	Sep		Ritchie, Edna				[number starred] Repaired for her 2-14-04 - original owner?
4	1946	Nov		Tennessee, Univ of		Knoxville	TN	[Teardrop-shaped body, notch in head of peg box] Wood (top) yellow poplar from Indian Fields Hotel - Clark Co., Ky. Over 100 yr old.
5	1947			Nadel, Eddie		Chicago	IL
6	1947			Poden, Dean S		Atlanta	GA
7	1947			Stall, Martha Jean		Louisville	KY	Old back, 2-pc back matched (special). Lives in Ky
8	1947			Kanai, Lincoln			HI	[Teardrop body], all black walnut, matched back joint inlaid - butternut top
9	1947			Hemphill, Jean		Far Rockaway	NY	[number circled] Exhibit dulcimer. [teardrop body, specialy curved pegbox], 2 piece inlaid back, all curly walnut except butternut top, 4 string. Do not duplicate!
51				Wray, Mrs Frank	116 Van Sickle Grove	Berea	KY
170	1955			Hunt, Mrs Roberta	1529 Teakwood Ave	Cincinnati	OH	Diamond-shaped sound holes. 7/22/75. Repaired (rebuilt) June 1975
249				Brock, Jane Marvin
250				Caldwell, Mrs Joseph A		Blountville	TN
				Terry Conners		Lexington, KY		7/28/2020 I have a Ledford-signed Winchester dulcimer, unnumbered, also with a tapered peg head like my #1597. That one has equidistant strings and a dowel end. Staple frets with long third fret. White pine too, otherwise black walnut. Heart sound holes.  Diamond sound holes. I guess the lack of number combined with the Winchester notation and peg head style would place it ~1955-56?? (That would be interesting - I also own a Jethro Amburgey from 1955, #292. Fun to compare the two.)
	1958			Bentley, Sylvia	2052 Manor Dr	Lexington	KY	Resold May 1988 at Cincinnati, Ohio, to Maureen Griffin, 6448 Gracely Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45233
651								11/17/2008 I have a Homer Ledford dulcimer    #651.   I purchased it in a musical instrument store in Mexico City about 1963.    The owner thought it was brought in by a diplomat (from an undisclosed country) who was given the instrument when he visited Kentucky.    The sound hole design is diamond....good condition but a small crack in the one edge side. Randall Dinwiddie Stehekin, Wa.
684				Schiller, Mrs J	7257 N Layman Ave	Indianapolis	IN
690	1963							Shipped 6/7/71
700	1963	Jul	24					Heart-shaped sound holes. Shipped 6/18/71
726				Poteat, Clarissa		Greenville	SC	7/17/11 I own one of Homer Ledfords  dulcimers (#726). It was purchased in 1963 by my parents at the Southern Highlands Crafts Guild Show in Asheville. My name is Clarissa Poteat Crain and I live in Greenville SC.
734	1963	Dec		Wood, Sheila
746								1/26/2007 I am the original owner of Homer Ledford's dulcimer number 746. My parents bought it for me in the early 1960s at the "Traipsin' Woman" Festival at Jenny Wiley State Park. It is a three-stringed model with simple diamond sound holes and staple-type frets. The body appears to be butternut and the original friction pegs are of rosewood. This instrument has traveled with me all over the US from Maine to California and barely survived a house fire about ten years ago that destroyed my Gibson banjo and mandolin and nearly got my Martin guitars.  Art Boebinger.
752								From Denmark. Phone 593-3572. Sold at same time as #2056
813	1964	Sep						Sold at same time as #2055
817								3/31/2009 Mr. Ledford's dulcimer #817 was purchased by Harold and Janet Kohn, who then lived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. They bought it in Gatlinburg. Harold has died; the instrument still belongs to Janet Kohn, now living in Columbus, Ohio. Andrew Kohn (son)
840	1964	Dec
846								1/21/2009 I have a Homer Ledford dulcimer signed 'Homer C. Ledford #846, Winchester, KY'.  It was bought new by a fellow from a crafts sale in 1964.  I acquired it approximately 1970 and played it quite a bit.  It has 14 frets and no 6 1/2.  The two bottom strings are fretted.  The soundholes are diamond shaped.  It was damaged at some point and was repaired by Keith Davis, luthier from Hammond, LA in 2007.  He stated the top was butternut with the repairs being in walnut.  The tuning pegs are rosewood.  The back was thought to be curly black walnut.  It is an hour glass shape with  a curved peg head.  It has a one piece back. I am Joe Polotzola from Amite, LA. Thank you for adding this dulcimer to the list.
867				Richardson, Ken
896	1965							Phone 299-4988
927				Strode, Mrs Billy		Winchester	KY
978	1965	Aug						Made at John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. Sold to Bob Hart, Mgr. All black walnut except top - white pine, maple pegs, 3 strings. No affixed number inside.
946	1965							I also have another of Homer's works I bought from a Goodwill store in Dayton, Ohio. It is of walnut, has staple frets only under the first two strings (plus a long 3rd fret) and has mechanical tuners (original?). It is numbered 946, which should be ca. 1963. Thank you for your continued good work,   Curtis Carlisle Bouterse
979	1965	Aug	14	Fisher, Jennifer	3102 McMahan	Louisville	KY	9/3/2007 Hello! I wanted to update your listing of all the Ledford dulcimers. I have #979, written and signed by Mr. Ledford (in pencil) inside my dulcimer. My mother is from Kentucky, and I am in the process of finding out how she got it. Thanks! Sean Williams Professor of Ethnomusicology The Evergreen State College Olympia, WA 98505
996	1965			Carter, Peggy		Houston	TX	3/20/2008  Homer Ledford Mt. Dulcimer # 996, purchased by Peggy Carter of Houston TX in Oct. 1965 at the Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild Fair in Asheville, NC. 7/4/2007 Butternut top and walnut back and sides. Frets are under the 1st and middle strings, but 3rd fret is under all three strings.
997	1965			Coffee, Russ	4100 NW 15th Ave	Fort Lauderdale	FL	Special, heart-shaped sound holes 5/15/2009  Dear Sir, My name is Russell Coffey, I am the owner of one of Homer’s Dulcimer. Before Homer passed, I had been in contact with him over the phone. I sent him my dulcimer to verify its authenticity and to  “touch it up” which he did. I am the verified owner and the dulcimer is perfect. I am writing to you to help spread the word that I am interested in selling it. I am a guitar player and as such never have occasion to play the dulcimer. This is my first “reach out” to those in the community that may have an interest. I also have the original box that Homer used to mail with along with a hand signed typed, on a typewriter, paper on Hints from Homer on how to play the plucked dulcimer. Lastly, there is one more signed information sheet with all the specs on this particular dulcimer from the 2003 Touching Up that Home sent when he returned the dulcimer. All and all this is really an unbelievable collection for the true dulcimer aficionado or collector. There is no finer representation of Homers work than this particular instrument. On a scale of 1 to 10, it is clearly a 10. Russ Coffey
1000	1965			Fisher, Barbara	317 Banbury Rd	Winston Salem	NC