Mr. Leedy Story 1
As I researched a book that I have named “Mr. Leedy and the House of Wonder,” about U.G. Leedy and his fabulous factory that grew over 25 years at the intersection of Palmer and Barth in Indianapolis, I learned a number of interesting little stories. For the next few installments of the Gallery I will tell some of those stories about the father of American Percussion. Ulysses Grant Leedy was a drum builder by the mid 1890s and stayed on it until his death in January, 1931.
Leedy came to Indianapolis to be a musician, and in his spare time, first in the basement of the long gone Empire Theatre, he made traps to go along with the snare drums and bass drums he built.
He lived in a number of apartments in the down time when he was not on the road. It seems by 1898, he was in Indianapolis go stay, playing with local bands, giving drum lessons, appearing at the English Theater on the Circle and starting the World’s First Great Drum Company. He is listed in the 1900 census and just after that he became a home owner.
He must have been something!
If you would like to learn more about Leedy Drums and other vintage drums,
then I invite you to order my book for Modern Drummer. We’ll send you an autographed copy of
The Great American
Drums ! Email us for details, and check back to learn more about Mr. Leedy. | |
