Know anything about Arthur L. Griswold?

[Dave Detwiler]

Hi all,

As I continue my research on the men who played Sousaphone in Sousa's Band, one man stands out as particularly intriguing to me - Arthur L. Griswold.

He was the one to take Jack Richardson's place on Sousa's world tour, which began in late 1910 and continued through most of 1911. Richardson re-joins the band in 1912, so my working assumption is that Richardson - or perhaps his wife - was not up for the long tour (esp. since it departed for England on Christmas Eve, 1910!). But I have found no evidence of that.

What I have found is that Griswold was single at that time, while Richardson was married, which might support my theory.

But in trying to learn more about Griswold, through Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, and Google searches, I have discovered very little - and, surprisingly, almost nothing about him as a musician, other than that he supposedly started playing in theater orchestras in NYC after the world tour.

It looks like he might have passed away in late 1914, as there is a death notice for an Arthur L. Griswold of NYC at that time, but I can't be sure it's him, as there are no details (and there are others by that name).

But he must have been a solid player, if not top-notch, to fill the one and only Sousaphone post for such an epic tour by that world-famous band.

The primary reference to Griswold with Sousa (apart from his mention in Paul Bierley's works) is this brief notice in a C. G. Conn publication from 1911 (and I assume "Shortly" should be "Shorty"; plus, it turns out he was actually 6' 4" tall, according to a customs document from the world tour - I wonder, did his height factor into his being tapped to replace Richardson, who was also about that tall?):

1911-10 Conn's Musical Truth v. 9 n. 10 (2).jpg

Is there anyone out there who perhaps knows more about his story? If so, please let me know!

Thanks,
Dave

P. S. I have now identified 37 men who played Sousaphone in Sousa's Band, two more than I had previously thought.

[Dave Detwiler]

One last try - anybody?

Here's the (colorized) image of Griswold from the cover of Bierley's book on Sousa's Band.

1911 Arthur Griswold.JPG