Mellie Dunham

Mellie Dunham
Background information
Birth name	Alanson Mellen Dunham
Born	July 29, 1853(1853-07-29)
Died	September 28, 1931(1931-09-28) (aged 78)
Genres	Country
Occupations	Snowshoe maker
Instruments	Fiddle

Mellie Dunham (July 29, 1853 - September 27, 1931) was an American fiddler during the early twentieth century. Dunham was born in Norway, Maine,^[1] the son of Alanson Mellen Dunham and Christiana Bent. He came to prominence after he was invited to play for Henry Ford at his house in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford sent a Pullman car for Dunham and his wife, Emma "Gram" Dunham (née Richardson), because of Ford's love of country music.^[2] While Ford had invited 38 other fiddlers before Dunham, none received as much attention as Dunham did.^[1]

He was also a snowshoe maker, supplying 60 pairs of snowshoes to Commodore Robert Peary for an Arctic expedition.^[3]

Dunham died on September 27, 1931, in Lewiston, Maine, after a two-week illness,^[4] and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, South Paris, Maine.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Wells, Paul F. (Autumn 1976). "Mellie Dunham: "Maine's Champion Fiddler"". John Edwards Memorial Foundation Quarterly 12 (43). http://www.dwsanderson.com/dunham_jemf_article.html. Retrieved 2008-11-29. 
2. ^ "Melody Three". Time Magazine. Monday, Dec. 21, 1925. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928571,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 
3. ^ "Mellie Dunham making snowshoes, ca. 1925". Maine Memory Network. Maine Historical Society. http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=18986. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 
4. ^ "MELLIE DUNHAM, NOTED FIDDLER, DIES". New York Times. September 28, 1931. pp. 17. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70A11F93D5F157A93CAAB1782D85F458385F9&scp=3&sq=mellie%20dunham&st=cse. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 

External links

• "Mellie Dunham and His Orch - Mountain Rangers 1926" (MP3 and streaming audio). Archive.org. 1926. http://www.archive.org/details/MellieDunhamAndHisOrch-MountainRangers1926. Retrieved 2008-11-30. 

• "Mellie Dunham: Fiddling to Fame" (asx). The Maine Experience. Maine Public Broadcasting Network. http://www.mpbn.net/Television/LocalTelevisionPrograms/MaineExperience/tabid/532/Default.aspx. 

Persondata
Name	Dunham, Mellie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1853-07-29
Place of birth
Date of death	1931-09-28
Place of death