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Photo cleaned up by Herk Schmidt
Long before radios, televisions, or smartphones, music in Sandwich was something people experienced together.
On summer evenings and special occasions, the sound of brass instruments drifted through downtown streets, across fairgrounds, and through public halls. Community bands were an important part of small-town life in the late nineteenth century, and for many years one of the best known in Sandwich was the Sandwich Union Band.
Organized in 1878, the band became part of the rhythm of community life in Sandwich. Newspaper accounts show the musicians performing at parades, civic celebrations, veterans reunions, festivals, public gatherings, and community events throughout the 1880s and beyond.
The band appears regularly in local newspapers of the period. In February 1879, newspapers reported that efforts were underway to organize a brass band in Sandwich. By the following year, the “Sandwich Band” was already performing publicly to help raise money for instruments and equipment.
One 1880 newspaper account noted that the band earned a profit from a dramatic entertainment that would be used “for the purchase of new instruments.” Like many community organizations of the era, the band relied on local support and fundraising to continue operating.
By the early 1880s, the Sandwich Union Band had become a familiar part of public life in town.
The musicians performed at veterans reunions, parades, and civic gatherings. During a reunion of Civil War veterans held in Sandwich in 1883, newspaper accounts reported that the Union Band led veterans through the streets of town before ceremonies were held at city hall and the opera house.
Another newspaper account from 1907 described open-air concerts given during Sandwich’s Chautauqua events, showing that public music performances remained part of community life well into the twentieth century.
The Band Photograph
One of the most remarkable surviving images connected to the organization is a photograph of the Sandwich Union Band taken about 1880.
The musicians stand proudly in matching uniforms with plumed hats, holding cornets, horns, drums, and other brass instruments. At the center is the large bass drum boldly painted:
SANDWICH UNION BAND
The photograph captures more than just a music group. It offers a glimpse into a time when local bands were a major part of public entertainment and civic identity in small towns across America.
Bands like this provided music for:
- parades
- political gatherings
- fairs
- holiday celebrations
- veterans events
- community festivals
In many ways, the Union Band helped provide the soundtrack of everyday life in historic Sandwich.
Band Members in the Photograph
The surviving identification of the photograph includes several names connected to the band.
Front Row
William Ehrler
Henry Wohlfert
John Munch
Fred Haupt
George Dieterich
Ernest Todd
Otto Losee
Christian Spickerman
Back Row
Leo Wohlfert (boy)
Charles Stephenson
Henry Wilder — Director
William Bleitz
Benjamin Ade
Charles Dieterich
Several of these men later appeared in local business records, newspaper accounts, and civic activities throughout Sandwich history.
Music and Community Life
Community brass bands were extremely popular during the late nineteenth century. Before recorded music became common, live bands provided much of the entertainment for towns across America.
The Sandwich Union Band was part of that tradition.
Their music likely included patriotic marches, popular songs of the day, Civil War tunes, and light concert selections performed for local audiences. Newspaper references show the band participating in both formal civic events and ordinary community gatherings.
Today, the surviving photographs and newspaper accounts preserve a reminder of a different era in Sandwich history — a time when music echoed through downtown streets and local citizens gathered together to listen.
Photo restored by Herk Schmidt
Continue the Story
Timeline of the Sandwich Union Band
1878 – Band organized in Sandwich
1879 – Newspapers report efforts to organize and equip the band
c.1880 – Photograph of the band taken in front of Mike Nathan’s store
1880s – Band performs at civic celebrations and veterans’ events
1907 – Open-air concerts reported in Sandwich newspapers
1915 – Band celebrates its 37th anniversary
Sources
The True Republican (Sycamore, Illinois), February 26, 1879 – notice of efforts to organize a brass band in Sandwich.
The True Republican, early 1880s – reports of Sandwich band entertainments and fundraising festivals.
Sandwich Free Press, July 18, 1907 – report of open air concert by the Union Band.
Sandwich Free Press, 1915 – article noting the band’s thirty seventh anniversary.
Local newspaper articles describing civic events in Sandwich involving the Union Band.
1880 Photograph Private collection