Louis A. Geary (1869-1906) - Music Teacher and Orchestra Leader

 

Bing AI

According to his 1906 newspaper obituary, Louis A. Geary had been a music teacher and the leader of an orchestra in California before he fell ill with consumption and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, for his health.

Geary was born in 1869, probably in Binghamton, Broome County, New York, to Patrick Geary and Mary Garvey.  Patrick was an Irish immigrant and a shoemaker by trade.  The Gearys had five children.  Although Mr. Geary probably made a respectable living, it is still surprising that three of the Geary children were able to study music.

In 1892, Mary E. “Mamie” Geary, the eldest daughter, was listed simply as a music teacher but, by 1895, she was a violin instructor at Ward’s Seminary for Young Ladies in Nashville, Tennessee.  She is said to have studied with Madame Dove Boetti, Professor Giuseppe Vecchione, and Madame Carmilla Urso, a violin virtuoso—all important names in their day.  By 1915, Mamie was the head of the New City School of Music in Chicago, and her sister Margaret was also a piano instructor in Chicago

Their brother Louis seems to have come to his musical career by a more circuitous route.  In 1892, he appeared on the New York State census as a cigar-maker.  Not until later did he move to California, where he taught music and performed with an orchestra.

By 1906, Louis Geary was suffering from consumption, and he and his wife came to Phoenix, where they took up lodgings on North First Street.  Nevertheless, Geary’s health declined rapidly.  When he died on May 29th, his widow was practically penniless and sought financial help from the in-laws she had heard about but never met. 

Geary’s funeral was delayed while Phoenix Marshal Kinney telegraphed his father, who was by then living in Chicago, Illinois.  When Geary’s father responded a week after his death, Kinney learned that his family back East had not heard from him in two years and were not even aware that he had married.  Perhaps a family rift had caused the Gearys to stop communicating.

Louis Geary was buried in Rosedale Cemetery.   Since no headstone has been found, the exact location is no longer known.  The fate of his widow is also unknown, although she probably returned to California.