8. Jehile Kirkhuff
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While researching the musical life of the Philadelphia piper, Thomas Standeven, I discovered he frequently visited the Appalachian Mountain region of Northern Pennsylvania, visiting the musicians who lived there. One of these locals was blind fiddler Kirkhuff, whose ancestors came from Germany in the late 1700s.
Short Biography: Jehile Kirkhuff was born on June 26th, 1907, on a farm at the foot of Irish Hill in the town of Lawton, Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. [Photo 1&1a] He was the only child of William Kirkhuff and Hannah Oakes who were married in 1893. Jehile’s father was a farmer and beekeeper and a nice fiddle player, and his mother was a very accomplished pianist. [Photo 2] William’s brother, also named Jehile, was a very well-known fiddler in the region and their father, Barney Kirkhuff (young Jehile’s grandfather) was also an excellent fiddle player. When Jehile was only 6 weeks old he contracted a disease which affected his eyesight, leading to complete loss of vision of his left eye by the age of 6 years and he was declared legally blind before the age of 50. However, this mishap in no way hindered Jehile’s education or his development as a musician. At the age of 3 or 4, an Irish neighbor, John McGovern, gave him a little tin fiddle and he quickly learned to play his first tune, Pop Goes the Weasel. [Photo 3] “Jehile and his parents were aware, early on, that he possessed an unusual ability to learn. He was able to remember, almost word for word, anything he read, and he had total recall of events. He also had an extraordinary ability to play the fiddle.”[1] He took lessons on the fiddle from both his father and uncle and piano lessons from his mother, before her untimely death when Jehile was nine years old. He also took lessons from a classically trained violinist, J Wesley Gavitt of Montrose, and he could have gone on to be a concert violinist. When asked why he did not pursue this Jehile said “If I had gone on to a different field in violin, I would have made a lot of money. And then I would have had to pay taxes to a system that promotes pestilence, war and famine. I am not of that world.”[2] As a young musician, he was always interested in any information he could find on the tunes he learned; who was the composer? When and where was it composed? etc., and for the rest of his life he would relate this history of the tune prior to playing to an audience. By the time he finished his education at the age of 16, he was well known as a wonderful fiddle player at all the local house parties and dances. [Photo 4] He worked on his father’s farm and kept bees and continued to develop his prowess on the fiddle. He won the Susquehanna County fiddling championship three years in a row from 1926 after which he was invited to accompany a well-known old-time fiddler, Charles Dyer, to tour New York state which he did for several years. He returned to Lawton when his father was in ill-health, prior to William’s death in 1930. [Photo 5] He was the Pennsylvania State fiddle champion in 1947 and World Champion Old-Time Fiddler in 1954. He picked up many Irish traditional fiddle tunes from the descendants of many Irish who immigrated to Pennsylvania, particularly during and after the Great Famine in Ireland from 1845-1850. A lot of these immigrants came from Donegal and Jehile was once quoted as saying he was not a typical Old-time American fiddler but rather his forte was Irish Jigs & Reels and music from the British Isles. This is quite evident when listening to many of the recordings I have collected of him over the past few years. [Photo 6] Jehile passed away on March 21st, 1981, at the age of 73. He was laid to rest in Lawton Cemetery on March 24th to the sound of eight fiddlers playing at his graveside. My sincere thanks to Bonnie Yuscavage, Curator, Susquehanna County Historical Society for her support during this project. [1] Jehile, The Blind Fiddler from Lawton, Pennsylvania. Book written by Ken Oakley (K&C Publications, NY) 2003, p. 29 [2] Jehile, The Blind Fiddler from Lawton, Pennsylvania. Book written by Ken Oakley (K&C Publications, NY) 2003, p. 31 Collection 1:
In 1964, Tom Standeven, accompanied by his friends Danny Smith (accordion, Co. Galway) and Pat Harvey (fiddle, Co. Donegal), who were both living in Philadelphia, travelled up to the Appalachian Mountains in N. Pennsylvania to spend an afternoon with Jehile. Danny recorded the session and on his return to Ireland, towards the end of his life, he presented the cassette recording to his good friend Charlie Harris, who, in turn, kindly gifted me with a copy of the tape for my Archive. My sincere thanks to Alan Morrisroe for digitizing this music. Most of the tracks are of Jehile on fiddle, accompanied by Tom Standeven on piano (and uilleann pipes on a few tracks) with, as Danny Smith remarks, “Pat Harvey and I chiming in, once in a while”. |
1 & 1a: Susquehanna County PA & Irish Hill
2. William Kirkhuff & Hannah Oakes
3. Young Jehile at Sunday School Class, East Rush PA
4. Young Jehile with group of older fiddle players
5. Jehile
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Collection 2:
This is a compilation of Jehile’s music I have collected from various sources including Lora Staples of Red Desert Violin, Dan Fassett and the recordings of Ed & Geraldine Berbaum.
This is a compilation of Jehile’s music I have collected from various sources including Lora Staples of Red Desert Violin, Dan Fassett and the recordings of Ed & Geraldine Berbaum.