Mellie Dunham (July 29, 1853 – September 27, 1931) was an American

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...

Biography

Dunham was born on July 29, 1853, in

Norway, Maine Norway is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Norway was included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 5,077 at the 2020 census. It is home to Pennesseewassee Lake, a freshwa ...

, to Alanson Mellen Dunham and Christiana Bent. He came to prominence after he was invited to play for

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

at his house in Dearborn,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Ford sent a

Pullman car Pullman is the term for railroad dining cars, lounge cars, and especially sleeping cars that were built and operated by the Pullman Company (founded by George Pullman) from 1867 to December 31, 1968. Railway dining cars in the U.S. and Europe w ...

for Dunham and his wife, Emma "Gram" Dunham (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Richardson), because of Ford's love of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. While Ford had invited 38 other fiddlers before Dunham, none received as much attention as Dunham did. He was also a

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footw ...

maker, supplying 60 pairs of snowshoes to Commodore Robert Peary for an

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

expedition. Dunham died on September 27, 1931, aged 78, in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...

, after a two-week illness, and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery,

South Paris, Maine South Paris is a census-designated place (CDP) located within the town of Paris in Oxford County, Maine, United States. South Paris is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area.The population was 2,237 ...

References

External links

* * Musicians from Maine 1853 births 1931 deaths 19th-century American fiddlers 20th-century American fiddlers People from Norway, Maine People from Lewiston, Maine Burials at Pine Grove Cemetery (Brunswick, Maine) {{US-violinist-stub