Sacramento County
Biographies
PROFESSOR CHARLES A. NEAL
PROFESSOR CHARLES A. NEAL, leader of
the First Artillery Band, is a native of London,
England, where he was
educated. Very early in life he exhibited a peculiar fondness for music,
and when at the age of fifteen he came to America
he was already a trained musician. He spent one year in Savannah,
Georgia, where he played in the local
band of that city, and later on spent one season at St. Augustine,
Florida; then near Charleston,
South Carolina, taught school and tried his
hand at farming. In August, 1876, he received the appointment of Leader of
the Marine Band on the flag ship Hartford, of the South
Atlantic Squadron then lying at Norfolk;
and for three years occupied that position. In 1880 he went to Colorado
and tried mining for one year; at the expiration of that period he came to Sacramento,
December, 1881, and at once became the leader of the Artillery Band, holding
that position easily by his superior attainments as a musician. The First
Artillery is, it is hardly necessary to state, as it is so well known in
Sacramento, attached to and a part of the First Artillery Regiment, N. G. C.;
it was organized in 1879,—the first leader being Mr. A. Davis, and is composed
of twenty-one members,—about one-third of whom are professional musicians,
while the balance are engaged in various avocations and play in the band from
their inherent love of the art. Under the leadership of Professor Neal,
the band has attained a very high degree of excellence and has become one of the
attractive features of the Capital City, their summer concerts in the capital
grounds attracting immense crowds of pleasure seekers; and during the winter it
is the custom to hold a series of concerts at the Opera House, which are
attended by the elite of the city.
Transcribed 8-30-07
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated
History of Sacramento County, California. Page 623. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Marilyn R. Pankey.