HISTORIC ATHENS & TEXAS
1932 First Athens Fiddlers Event
By Anne Adams
Huge Crowd Present as Forney Man Wins Fiddling Honors” read the headline in the Athens Review of May 5, 1932 – and thus began an Athens tradition. For this April 29, 1932 event was the first of the many Athens Fiddlers Reunion programs to be held over the next nearly 100 years.
The reporter continued:“ More than 900 people from ten East Texas counties crowded the high school auditorium here Friday evening …” The story continued how they were gathered to“… hear 14 East Texas string bands compete for honors in an old time Fiddlers Contest sponsored by a group of Bethel farmers.”
The winner of the first prize($ 15) was J. M. Hughes, who was the fiddler with the“ Forney Old Time String Band” and it was added that this group had been one of the last to enter the contest. Second prize was awarded to S. R. Owen’ s“ Bearcat String Band” from Brownsboro and they won $ 10.
Third prize($ 7.50) went to John B. Calloway and the“ Athens Ragtime Band,” Fourth prize($ 5) went to C. E. Soloman with the Forney String Band” – also from Forney. The fifth and sixth prize($ 5) winners were B. Y. Garrett with the“ Hog Fork String Band” from Kemp and John R. Lunsford and his group“ Lunsford String Band” from Palestine.
In a“ sidebar” we get some background on some of the competitors. One was John R. Lunsford, a member of the band from Palestine, who was reunited with some very old friends. The reporter described it:“ Mr. Lunsford spent almost an hour after the contest shaking hands with old time acquaintances of his father, the Rev. Lunsford, who as an early day circuit rider in Henderson County had been well known to many of Henderson’ s county [ sic ] older citizens during his life-time.”
Another contest entrant, J. B.( Dad) Gauntt, who, according to the reporter, had known fiddlers and fiddling contests in Henderson County for fifty years. He characterized last night’ s contest as“ the most successful and the most enjoyable he had attended in the past half century.”“ Mr. Gauntt stated that he was especially impressed with the accuracy shown by the judges in picking the winners of the prizes.”(“ Dad” Gauntt was probably from the family of J. R. Gauntt who built the Faulk- Gauntt Building that now houses the Henderson County Museum on North Prairieville).
The reporter also described how another exhibitor, Mrs. Eva Wright and her“ Old Flapper String Band” had“… brought loud and prolonged applause from the audience” and
14 | Greater Athens Magazine | March 2026