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At one time I was tracking down this fellow Adam Benik. I have a very nice vintage Holton Sousaphone that belonged to him. An article in a local paper mentioned he played for the Czar of Russia before moving to the States. Once in the states, Sousa heard of his talents and recruited him. When I first saw the picture I thought - that looks like the Sousa uniform. Then I realized the family mentioned the picture was taken back in the homeland. I guest that outfit was a common formal suit for the day. When he died, he was somewhat estranged from part of the family so if he had a "box of memories" it ended up in an attic and was later thrown out. The descendants have nothing. The picture at least shows he had a good-looking family and appears to be well taken care of.

He did not turn up in Sousa's rolls. Maybe his name was altered at some point which was common practice for immigrants or he didn't stay with the band long enough to be on lists.

Note from descendant:

Hi Tim...this is a photo of Adam Benik, his wife, and two girls, and his boy who were all born in Lithuania where this was taken ....he had my father Al and his brother Ed in Chicago IL. The young boy on the bicycle was also named Adam.
I am open to ideas on how to search further. But really would enjoy seeing early pictures in musical situations and that would be a miracle.
It is fun to try!

TJ

A little more new info I received this morning.

"Yes my dad said he thought it was derived from a similar name like Benikius or Benikas"

When I last worked on this, seems like the time frame for Sousa's band would have been the last few years before Sousa died. He moved South and begins to show up in some newsprint after Sousa's death.

He moved to Baldwin County Alabama and took up farming. He continued playing tuba with various local bands and was a supporter of the local school music programs.

Before he passed, his wife bought him a very nice (best money could buy) Holton sousaphone. It was later donated to the high school. I actually play it back in jr high. At the same time, the fiberglass instruments were becoming THE BIG DEAL. The Holton ended up in the band closet most of the time and was something we "looked" at as an oddity. One of my tuba buddies (older than me) said he played it in the Rose Bowl Parade.

I found it later in a local thrift store.

TJ

Not clear exactly what you're looking for, but here are a few links.

Find-a-Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28477278/adam-benik
Rootsweb: https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/154538/I5 ... ndividual
Ancestry (for Adam Jr.): https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/reco ... 24-1j22t97

You'll need an account on Ancestry to get much more from them.

@Dave Detwiler is a good source for Sousa band info.

Edit: It sounds as if the family has been in Fairhope AL a long time. You could contact the Fairhope History Museum to see if they have any local documentation on the family and Adam Sr.

Thanks, Brender,
This gets me way down the road on my developing history on Adam Benik. Of course, I would love to find pictures of him playing or with an instrument but that is just not likely.

BTW - Would love to see a picture of that pre-WW1 Cerveny. I had one and the tone was unparalleled. Huge bore - a grand instrument. Also, I have a few knuckles left over - I removed the double-over tuning slide to bring it up to pitch. Coolest horn I ever had.

Tim

I saw the title of this and my mind immediately raced to “Who is John Galt?’ Frightening.

Tim Jackson wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 9:06 pm
BTW - Would love to see a picture of that pre-WW1 Cerveny. I had one and the tone was unparalleled. Huge bore - a grand instrument. Also, I have a few knuckles left over - I removed the double-over tuning slide to bring it up to pitch. Coolest horn I ever had.

Tim

See here: https://www.tubaforum.net/viewtopic.php?p=45419#p45419