Charles and Charles E. Town
Carpenters, Pattern Makers, and Stair Builders
Charles Town was born August 13, 1804 in Augusta, Maine. He married Julia Ann Pratt on September 23, 1827. Together they would have six children. Census records indicate that Town was a carpenter and pattern maker, providing him the skills to produce drums as well. He died in 1888.
One child would also follow in the woodworking trade, carrying the name "Charles" as well. Charles E. Town was born on February 20, 1831. Census records list Charles Jr. as both a carpenter and stair builder, which would also provide him the necessary skills to make drums. On March 2, 1853 he was given a contract to make "100 drums complete at $5.75 each." Charles (Jr.) lived until April 14, 1908.
17” diameter by 16.75” tall.
This plain maple shelled drum was made by Charles Town (Sr.). The ropes and leather braces are replacements, but the shell and red painted counter hoops appear original to the drum.
A close inspection of the scarf joint shows the use of alternating iron round headed nails and brass tacks. You will also notice how tightly the flesh hoops fits against the shell, even allowing some overlap of the counter hoop.
On the right is a clear view of the replacement rope. Often used for clothes line, this rope was popular in the early 1900s as replacement rope on older drums.
A hand written label reads, "Charles Town 1842/ Augusta"
16.75" diameter by 16.5" tall.
Charles E. Town (Jr.) received a number of government contracts to produce drums for both the infantry and artillery. According to the Directory of American Military Goods Dealers and Makers by Bazelon and McGuin, Town was given contracts in 1859, 1862, and 1863 totaling 1,275 drums.
To the left we see an eagle emblazonment with characteristics pointing to an artist
A common brass tack design consists of two parallel rows of vertical tacks, one circle centered around the vent, and two diamonds above and below, each separated by a single tack as well.
A printed label reads, "CHAS. E. TOWN,/ MANUFACTURER OF/ DRUMS,/ OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS./ Bath, Me."
It appears that Charles (Jr.) wanted to distinguish himself from his father by including his middle initial on all labels. This makes sense considering they were working in the same city for 50 years.
17” diameter by 16” tall.
Maker's label indicates Charles E. Town of Bath, Me as the manufacturer. Very similar to the above mentioned drum, this one having a slightly different emblazonment, but still enough characteristics to pinpoint a Bath, Me artist.
As seen here, the counter hoops are quite warped, but remain un-cracked with minimal loss of paint. Most of the leather braces are present and look to be very old, if not original.
This drum was carried by Private Alpheus M. Holbrook of the 19th Maine Infantry.
The 19th Maine was mustered into service on August 25, 1862 and mustered out on May 31, 1865. They were engaged at some of the following battles: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Appomattox.
16" diameter by 14 1/2" tall.
This unique piece comes from the John H. Rosensteel collection, and is now part of Brian Hill's collection and the history comes from an article Brian wrote found on notsomoderndrummer.com.
Label reads, “DRUMS, Made and Sold by, Chas. E. Town, Bath, Maine.”
Made from a solid ash drum shell with eagle emblazonment. Red painted counter hoops of maple drilled with ten hol
The brass tack design, as seen here to the left, is identical to the other Town contract drums. A few appear to be missing from this drum, however.
New rope, leather braces, skin heads, and gut snares were added to make this drum functional.
"On Sunday July 5th, John, a resident of Gettysburg, ventured out on the battlefield and began collecting items as souvenirs. The family collection would eventually number 43,000 pieces.
The drum was found somewhere near the famed Wheatfield and back toward Little Round Top.
There are no markings on the drum to indicate an owner or regimental designation."
17” Diameter by 16 ½” Tall
This contract eagle painted drum is without a full label, but certainly shares many characteristics with other known Charles Town manufactured drums.
The painting itself is undoubtedly from Bath, Maine, matching others from that area. At some point, new leather braces were added, as well as a modern snare holder, but the rest of the drum appears to be in untouched conditi
The beautiful ash shell is secured in the often-seen tack design of Town, consisting of two rows of vertical tacks, a circle design around the vent, and a wide diamond pattern above and below.
The hoops are drilled for ten holes, painted red, and secured with a single row of three iron nails.
No strainer appears to have been present when manufactured, which is also consistent with other Town made drums.
16 1/2" Diameter by 16" Tall
Certainly painted in the area of Bath, ME, this drum carries a beautiful eagle motif. Interesting to this particular painting, stars have been added to the American shield on the eagle's breast.
The ears and hoops seem to be replacements, but the rest of the components are original, if not very old.
The stars differ slightly as well, as they consist of three brush strokes creating a 6-pointed star.
The ash shell is a warm honey color, secured by an oval tack design with a circle and two arrows.
Unusual is the fact that the shell has no vent hole, only a very small hole which my have held a brass tack at some point.
16” diameter by 12” tall Ash drum shell.
A very different looking Town labeled drum consisting of an oval shaped tack design surrounding a circle around the vent, and two arrows pointing up and down. A wooden vent insert also adds to the simple look of the shell.
The drum was cut down from it's original size as evidenced by the removal of tacks on the bottom portion of the shell.
This very large label reads, "Manufactured and Sold,/ Wholesale and Retail,/ BY/ CHARLES E. TOWN,/ BATH, ME."
It is difficult to determine an exact date of manufacture on this drum, but judging by the largeness of the label and border, this was most likely made in the 1850s.
I was able to take photographs of this drum when I performed some light restoration work on the shell. This image shows the clamping of reinforcing hoops after glue had been applied to areas where previous glue failure had occurred.