by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, June 4, 2026.
In 1907, Carl Akeley, an Exeter band leader and music teacher, wrote, “It is not generally known that Exeter has, in Mr. Albert J. Marden, of Oak Street, a maker of violins, which are marvels of beautiful workmanship, and unexcelled tonal qualities.” Having taught dozens of students over the years, he, and his wife Anne (“a very accomplished violinist and teacher” in her own right according to the Exeter News-Letter), were aware of the need for well-made, reasonably priced instruments.
Albert Marden was not trained as a maker of fine instruments. He worked as a builder, although primarily as a skilled joiner, for most of his adult life. Born in East Kingston in 1855, he was awarded contracts to build Hall Place school in 1897 and Winter Street School in 1902. In the world of carpentry, the joiner’s task is to produce the custom work, usually of interior woodworking that requires intricate measurement and skills. Joiners create smooth fitting door frames, staircases, mantles, window frames, wainscotting, bookcases – anything that requires exact measurements. Joiners are usually in a workshop, whereas carpenters work on-site. Not that Albert Marden couldn’t frame a building, he was just happier in his quiet home workshop on Oak Street. According to Akeley, Marden began producing violins around 1897.
“The finishing of the violins is all carried out with the most scrupulous care, each individual instrument receiving seven coats of the best varnish that money can buy, the whole being most carefully hand-polished,” Akeley wrote.
This was all the Exeter Historical Society knew about Marden and his violins – one short notice published in the Exeter News-Letter. Curator Nancy Merrill researched Marden when an inquiry reached her desk several decades ago. The request came from Priscilla Leavitt of North Hampton. Her grandfather had purchased a Marden violin from a second-hand store.
Last Spring, Priscilla Leavitt left her Marden violin to the Exeter Historical Society in her will. It arrived, via her niece, with photos and documentation. Her connection to the instrument was far more than just a casual purchase at a thrift shop. Her grandfather had picked it up to encourage his son, Norman, in his musical pursuits. Norman grew to be a fine musician, but not of the violin. He eventually stashed the instrument in a closet, where it was found by young Priscilla around 1940. He told her if she could play “Yankee Doodle” on the old instrument, he’d let her take violin lessons. After some experimentation, Priscilla did just that. She went on to study at the Boston Conservatory of Music, taking the violin by train for lessons. She played at the Grange, Ladies’ Clubs, and local churches. To Priscilla, the instrument had its own voice, so she penned the violin’s life story as an autobiography called “I am a Violin!” It described the long years of mastering the strings, “several times there were tears flowing from the eyes of my mistress which ran down on my wood and stained my finish forever. I didn’t mind though, because eventually beautiful sounds came from my strings, and I was singing again.” She played for over 60 years at the Kensington Unitarian Universalist church, which the violin loved. “The acoustics are beautiful there and I really sing out to the rafters.”
Leavitt was an active member of the North Hampton Historical Society and understood well the value of local history – particularly the history that can be found in objects. When she drafted her will, she was careful to return the violin to its place of birth in Exeter.
Marden, the carpenter turned violin maker, placed labels inside the instruments he made. Of the two examples we’ve been able to locate (Leavitt’s and another from an on-line record) he included short aphorisms along with his name. Leavitt’s violin says, “Free Men don’t hunt for masters” and the other reads, “The only fool Patriot (h)is he who stands Pat.” A recent appraiser suspected that the Marden violin was made from a German kit – these were popular around the turn of the century. Akeley’s account belies this assessment. “Mr Marden has the most accurate instruments and appliances for bending, shaping, and gauging, and he makes his measurement to less than one hundredth of an inch; so systematic and accurate is his work.” One wouldn’t need precision tools to simply glue together pieces of precut wood.
In her will, Leavitt had hoped the violin would be played annually at the Kensington church. However, its current condition is too frail to risk damaging the little instrument. We’ll have to imagine the resonance she felt when she tucked it under her chin and, in the words of the violin, “no verbal sounds were uttered, only the singing of the strings of the violin and the tones of the church organ. Our hearts all flowed into one.”
Barbara Rimkunas is curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org