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Frank R. Seltzer (21 December 1863

Helena worked as a tailor. Helena lived at 22 Miller Street when she died.

Frank's father's name was likely Ignatz, the German form of Ignatius. Or his name was George or John.

Frank Seltzer attended the Soldiers' Orphans School at Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, about 36 miles west of Philadelphia.^[4][b] At the school, among other things, beginning at the age of 12, Seltzer began playing the tuba; and there, later, he learned to play the E♭ cornet, an instrument that, by the 1920s had become rare. Children at the school, when they turned sixteen, were referred to affectionately and officially by the school and community as "Sixteeners." Frank's older brothers, Charles Seltzer (1857–????)^[5] and Joseph Harry Seltzer (1861–1923) were also a Sixteeners from the same school, classes of 1873 and 1877, respectively.^[6]

• Soldier's Orphans School, Chester Springs, 1872

At the age of 16 years, 5 months and 10 days, Seltzer graduated as a Sixteener, May 31, 1880.^[4]

Early career in map publishing

• After graduation, Seltzer returned to his mother's home in North Philadelphia at 2233 Orianna Street in the Norris Square area of West Kensington.

• He began learning the trade of (i) lithography (engraving), (i) cartography (map making), and (iii) map publishing, first with the firm of Griffith Morgan Hopkins,^[7] a civil engineer, cartographer, and map publisher^[8] whose firm was located at 320 Walnut Street.

• After several years at this occupation (his salary had been raised to $3.00 per), the indoor work not agreeing with him he found employment at the E.H. Fitler & Company
  mayor of Philadelphia
  . Seltzer worked there until the day he got injured by a whirling belt that "quickly whirled him into space." In this encounter our young cornetist came out second best, receiving injuries which kept him housed for more than three months. A broken lower limb, a few shattered ribs, the loss of several teeth and the roof of his mouth so badly splintered that at the time there was no further thought of cornet playing were the resultant features of his attempt at ropemaking.

• His recovery from the little "goaround" with machinery found him cured of further inclinations to hard work and he once more turned his attention to the old trade of lithography, engraving, and map publishing, finding employment with August H. Mueller (1857–1926) at 530 Locust Street in Philadelphia, where he remained until he had fitted himself for entrance into the professional ranks of musicians. For this much credit is due to the generosity of Mr. Mueller, as he furthered Frank's advancement in the study of music through always permitting him to attend to whatever playing engagements presented themselves, thus being of great assistance to the young student.

• In 1886 young Frank Seltzer turned his back upon the industrial and entered into the art of music as a means of livelihood, playing his first professional engagement with J. Fred Zimmerman at Cape May, New Jersey, for the summer season. During the spring and fall, Zimmerman was manager of the Chestnut Street Opera House. The booking came late; every capable man had already been signed, hence Frank was only accorded a trial. From that trial up to the- present day the success of Mr. Seltzer has been truly phenomenal, for he has been idle scarcely a day in winter or summer during the past 84 years. Space forbids detailed enumeration of his various bookings, nor is it necessary as a matter of record in what is a brief life story and not a compendium of statistics. Nevertheless, the writer has learned through one of his sources of information that Friend Frank has an authentic record of every engagement played by him since the time of his first connection with amateur bands in 1882. This record embraces the date, day of the week, where and what the engagement was, with whom it was played and the remuneration received for each.^[9]

Marriage

Seven years after graduation, Seltzer married a Sixteener classmate, Mary E. Monaghan (1862–1952) in Philadelphia.

• After school, Seltzer began learning a business trade as a map engraver and simultaneously studied music.

Music career

1886

• Seltzer became a professional musician in 1886 playing cornet with J.F. Zimmermann at Cape May.

1886, 1887

• Seltzer was a member of the Germania Theatre Company Orchestra, conducted by Paul Sentz (1843–1929), which performed at the Belmont Mansion in Philadelphia during summer engagements. He also performed with the theater orchestras on Chestnut and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia.

1890

• Seltzer performed as cornet soloist with the 1st Regiment Band of Philadelphia in concerts at Fairmount Park, and later, directed the band.

1892

• During the Summer 1892, Seltzer performed with the Ellis L. Brooks' (1848–1920) Military Band at Nantasket Beach.

• From the fall of 1892 through the fall of 1894, Seltzer played first trumpet with the John Philip Sousa band on its initial tour.

• Seltzer then performed with the Herald Square Theater in New York when, in 1894, had accepted an appointment to served as Bandmaster of Pope's Band in Hartford, a position he held until 1897.^[c]

1895

• Seltzer in 1895, accepted a five-year contract to serve as bandmaster of the 2nd Regiment Band of Springfield, Massachusetts.^[10]

1897

• In 1897, Seltzer accepted a position as cornet soloist with the Band of the First Regiment Infantry National Guard of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the regiment having been established in 1861 and ceased in 1911. Samuel Heritage Kendle (surname also spelled "Kindle"; 1856–1917) was the band's longstanding director was

Seltzer, in the 1880s, played trumpet with the

• Paul Sentz (1843–1929) Band in Philadelphia
• John Wanamaker Band of New York? or Philadelphia

Former directors"

* John Sabia

* Arthur A. Rosander

* Henri Elkan

* Charles Sanglear (nl) (1881–1915)

• Mark Hassler (1834–1906) Band in Philadelphia
• William D. Bastert (1866–1942) Band in Philadelphia

• Frederick Neil Innes (1854–1926)^[d]

Fourteen years while living in New York, as early as 1899 and as late as 1903

• Thomas F. Shannon's (1862–1934)
  New York National Guard, Manhattan.^[e]
• Charles John Crowley's (1848–1918) 8th Regiment Band, National Guard of New York
• Henry Richard Humphries' (1846–1925)
  7th Regiment Band
  , National Guard of New York
• William Bayne's (1840–1922)[f] 69th Regiment Band, New York City
• Luciano Conterno's (1839–1910) 14th Regiment Band, National Guard of New York
• For years, director of the East River Park Concerts in New York (in 1899 is soloed on cornet with John A. Boswald's Military Band in the East River Park
• In 1899, while Seltzer was performing as cornetist with the
  Columbia Phonograph Company Band^[11][1] — engaged Seltzer for all the Columbia Phonograph
  recordings. Seltzer recorded nearly every day for Columbia, recording during the day and playing in orchestras in the evenings, until about 1903.

• Seltzer, in 1908, took over as Bandmaster of the First Infantry Band National Guard of Delaware and held the position until about 1914. The band was founded in 1900 under the direction of Bandmaster Walter D. Walls (1869–1907), a Wilimgton-based cornetist who died in 1907 of tuberculosis.

May, June, July 1922

• Seltzer was solo cornetist for about 6 weeks, beginning May 19, 1922, with the 1st Infantry Band, in Wilmington, Delaware, directed by John Norris Robinson (1865–1960).^[g]

• Victor Herbert

• Seltzer performed as cornetist with Patrick Conway's band 25 consecutive summers.

• Director of Edison Phonograph Band Records for a number of years

He was an early recording musician: in New York played nearly every day for the

Seltzer belonged to the Ellis Brook's Band and the Sousa Band as a cornet player. For the Jacob's Band Monthly, he wrote articles from 1916 until his death, which included a monthly biographies, "Famous Bandmasters in Brief."

Short tenure at Ithaca College

Composing, publishing, and instrument manufacturing

Around 1917, Seltzer became general manager of the Philo Music Company in Philadelphia.

Commemorations to the Soldiers' Orphans School

In 1908, Seltzer composed a march, "Zim's Assembly March," to commemorate his classmate from Soldiers' Orphans School, George Zimmerman (1866–1941), originally from Allentown, and, after graduation, went on to become a public servant in Allentown.^[17][9][15] In 1922, he composed "The Sixteeners," a march with words commemorating alumni of the Soldiers' Orphans School.

11 – Celebrity endorsements

• Frank Holton & Co.
  cornets
• Cornetist's Alphabet, by Antonio A. De La Mora (1984–1926),
  OCLC 12956929

Seltzer had been a member of Local No. 77, American Federation of Musicians, in Philadelphia.

Health

Beginning 1919, Seltzer suffered from diabetics, which developed into blood poisoning and gangrene. Seltzer's grand-nephew – by way of his brother, Joseph Harry Seltzer (1861–1923) – Holbrooke Stroud Seltzer, MD (1917–1997), later became a notable researcher toward the goal of finding a cure for diabetes.

Selected compositions

As a composer, he wrote works for wind orchestras. Compositions Working for concert band

Before 1895

General references

• "The Patrick Conway Military Band School, 1922–1929," by Mark Fonder, Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 62-79
• "Two Examples of Czech-Americans' Influence in American Popular Musical Culture in the Early Twentieth-Century: Bohumir Kryl and J.S. Zamecnik," by Michael Cwach, see: [1]
• "Alton Augustus Adams: The First Black Bandmaster in the US Navy," by Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Autumn, 1977), pp. 173-187 (accessible via JSTOR)

Seltzer's publishing companies

• 1908: Coenille-Seltzer, Philadelphia^[l]

Selected discography

As performer

Jacobs Band Monthly

"The Cornetist" (monthly series), by Frank R. Seltzer

1. "A Correspondence Course in Music," Vol. 7, No. 2, February 1922, pps. 5, 8, 10

"Famous Bandmasters in Brief" (monthly series), by Frank R. Seltzer

"Noted Orchestral Conductors" (monthly series), by Frank R. Seltzer (in Jacobs' Band Monthly)

Other articles

Instructional publications

1. Pocket Manuel for Brass Instrument Performers, by Frank R. Seltzer, Philo Music Company (1911)

Gallery

• 
  1889
  Weed Sewing Machine Company, later, home of the

  Hartford

References

Notes