Halvor Shirley’s violin

Clay County Histories

Markus Krueger | Program Director HCSCC

One day in Rothsay, Minnesota, about 1976, Jeff Shirley, about 17, was told to head over to Edwin Nelson’s place. Jeff helped the Nelsons out around the house and mowed their lawn, but Edwin didn’t call him over to work that day. Mr. Nelson wanted to give Jeff a violin.
This particular violin was owned by Edwin’s father Charles and made by Charles’ good friend Halvor Shirley. Halvor, a Norwegian immigrant, was a farmer, the president of First National Bank in Breckenridge, and had a long career as a public servant in that town that included serving as Breckenridge’s first mayor. Looking back on it, Jeff figures Mr. Nelson gave him the violin because Jeff was the only kid in Rothsay who played the fiddle at the time and because Halvor Shirley was Jeff’s great-great-uncle. The violin came with a letter that said the following:
“December 12, 1935
Mr. Charles Nelson
Lawndalle, Minn.
Dear Charley:
You and I as Country Fiddlers are beginning to get old, and the “Dance of Life” for each of us must soon come to an end.
A fiddler becomes attached to his instrument to an extent little understood by other humans. Through its tone and tunes it speaks to him of the past, of interesting happenings and of old friends, living or dead.
Through my love for the violin I began long ago to study the history and construction of this instrument. This led me to try my hand at making a violin and this has gradually come to be a pleasant hobby with me and I have now made in all about a dozen instruments. As it is all handwork, done only in my spare time, it goes very slowly and takes me several months to finish an instrument.
I thought you might like to own one of my violins, so I am now sending you one for a Christmas gift. This violin was made in 1932. Every bit of it is the work of my own hand and I have used the best violin wood I could buy. I use an amber oil varnish, specially made for violin finish. It is soft and will improve in color with age. It is much more durable than the hard, brittle spirit varnish used on factory fiddles.
Kindly accept my gift with my sincere greetings and wishes for a Merry Christmas for you and family.
Sincerely Yours,
H. L. Shirley”
The letter reminds us that every old instrument has stories of friends and happenings that had deep meaning for the human companions they have outlived. And if they are well made and well cared for, the instruments we love will outlive us, too. Halvor Shirley’s great-great-great niece, Jeff’s daughter Elnora, is learning to play the violin now. She recently dusted off the 91-year-old family fiddle. What future interesting happenings are in store for this violin? What old friends, yet to be born, will it play a tune for in their Dance of Life?