This cornet was donated in 1980 by Onalaska resident Robert Allen Doolittle.
According to our archives, Mr. Doolittle received it around 1928 from an uncle who lived in Diboll who was given this instrument by a Black man who retired in Diboll.
The cornet is a student-grade instrument made by Grand Rapids Band Instrument Company, a subsidiary of J.W. York and Sons brass instrument manufacturers. In conjunction with The History Center in Diboll, the story behind this otherwise unremarkable cornet has been revealed.
Robert Doolittle’s uncle was Fred Nelson, married to Ora Doolittle Nelson. They lived in Diboll and donated collection items to The History Center. Fred and Ora’s son Hyman Edwin Nelson was friends with a Black man, W.J. (William James) Jackson who had come to Diboll in the 1920s and hired on with the Texas and Southeastern Railroad as a porter and mail clerk. He worked for the railroad for 20 years, retiring in Diboll. Jackson was known locally as “The Professor.”
Prior to his arrival in Diboll, The Professor was the bandmaster for a sideshow of the Christy Brothers Circus which wintered in Galveston and South Houston. The main tent bandmaster was a man named Everett Robert James, married to circus acrobat Myrtle Maybelle Stewart. Everett and Maybelle had a son to whom they had gifted a trumpet. Their son hounded The Professor to teach him to play his new trumpet, and The Professor said that after just a few lessons, the 8-year-old boy played better than The Professor himself. That boy was Harry James, who later became an internationally famous big band leader.
Christy Brothers Circus opened in 1919 touring the U.S. under the name Christy Hippodrome Shows, later changing the name to Christy Bros Circus after acquiring parade wagons from Ringling Bros Circus. Christy Bros Circus visited Livingston on November 14, 1927.
Christy Bros Circus’ final performance was on July 7, 1930 in Greeley, Colorado. The circus was owned by George Washington Christy who was later elected as the mayor of the City of South Houston, serving 1949-1951 and 1960-1964. He is buried at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, Houston, Texas.
Professor William James Jackson passed just before his 103rd birthday in Diboll. He and his wife Emma Ann Jackson are buried at Nigton Memorial Park (also called Nighton Cemetery and Ligon Chapel Cemetery), Apple Springs, Trinity County, Texas.
Credits: The History Center, Diboll, Texas; Allison Hearne, The History Center Office Manager/Research Assistant; The Cornbread Whistle published 1986, Diboll Historical Society; Gary Davis, Polk County Historical Commission; findagrave.com; ancestry.com; Wikipedia; Circuses and Sideshows: Christy Bros Circus
