JOHN EVANS HARBOUR 1943-2020
The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums and its alumni have lost one of its founding members and its first Sergeant Major, John Evans Harbour. John, then known as Evans, was instrumental in the creation of the Corps in 1958. John served as the leader of the Corps from 1958 to 1961 when he graduated from James Blair High School. During this time, his leadership was instrumental in the early growth of the Corps, which became a world class fife and drum corps and an icon of Colonial Williamsburg, which it remains to this day. In his later years, after retiring and returning to Williamsburg, John became a tireless supporter of the Corps and its traditions and standards of excellence.
In the spring of 1958, John assisted Colonial Williamsburg in the creation of the Corps and on July 4, 1958, John was one of two fifers and two drummers who performed in the first performance of the Corps. The fife he played during that performance is on display in the history exhibit at the Fife and Drum Building, the Corps’ headquarters in Colonial Williamsburg.
After high school, John began a career in history and museum management and presentations. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from Hampden-Sydney College in 1965. Prior to completion of college, John was employed during the summer by the National Park Service as a Park Ranger. After college graduation John was the Director of Grant’s Tomb in New York City for a short time before enlisting in the Army. He spent two-and-a-half-years on active duty as an officer in in the Armor Branch of the Army. After his discharge from the Army, he graduated with a Master of Arts in History Museum Studies from the State University of New York Oneonta in 1970.
During John’s career he was a Director of Interpretation at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Old Bethpage, New York (1970 – 1976); Director of Old World Wisconsin and numerous historical sites throughout the state (1976 – 1984); and Resident Director of the Mount Vernon Estate, Mount Vernon, Virginia (1984 – 1987), where he managed the administration of George Washington’s home. From 1987 to 2000, John worked for the Association of State Colleges and Universities, as well as the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association. John retired in 2000 and moved back to Williamsburg. John enjoyed down-hill and cross-country skiing, motor boating, and summers at the beach in Florida with his family, as well as riding his Harley. He was a proud father and grandfather. In his later years, John enjoyed genealogy and researching his family history.
In 2007, John began a second association with the Corps when he became involved in the planning of the 50th anniversary of the Corps in 2008. He also assisted in researching and writing the history of the early Corps. During the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2008, John and the other three original Corps members were honored by the Corps and its alumni. Three of the four original members also were honored by the City of Williamsburg by making them the grand marshals of the 2008 Christmas Parade.
Over the next ten years John volunteered in the Corps in a variety of ways. Using skills he acquired during his career, in 2013 John created a history display for the lobby of the Fife and Drum Building, the Corps’ headquarters in Colonial Williamsburg. The exhibit included uniforms, instruments, accoutrements, photos and memorabilia. John also began conducting tours of the Fife and Drum Building for a “behind the scenes” program implemented by Colonial Williamsburg, and he wrote a script for the tours. John began to serve in a variety of roles supporting and mentoring the staff, but his most rewarding involvement was interacting with and mentoring the members of the Corps, who he could not praise enough. He was extremely proud of the excellence of the Corps, which continued the legacy of the Corps that began from its beginnings.
The story of those beginnings, and John’s involvement in them, began in a series of 1953 memoranda for the Colonial Williamsburg leadership that developed plans for a company of colonial militia with fifers and drummers. Those memoranda were written by the director of the Colonial Williamsburg craft shops, William (“Bill”) Geiger. From these memoranda, the Colonial Williamsburg Militia was created, but initially the Militia had only two drummers. High schoolers Allen Lindsey and James (Jimmy) Teal served as the Militia’s single drummer during Militia performances. However, the need for military music and a fife and drum corps for the Militia had been recognized from the beginning.
As fate would have it, Geiger lived on the Duke of Gloucester Street in the “John Crump House” next door to John Harbour, Jr., who lived in “Burdette’s Ordinary.” Mr. Harbour was Director of Presentation for Colonial Williamsburg. The Harbours had a fifteen-year-old son, John Evans Harbour, who was in the ninth grade at James Blair High School and who played saxophone in the school marching band. Geiger approached Mr. Harbour to ask if John would be willing to learn to play the fife and to recruit other school band members to become fifers, and John agreed to give it a try. In the spring of 1958 Geiger acquired a half dozen Penzel-Mueller fifes and gave one to John.
Geiger’s goal was to have a Colonial Williamsburg fife and drum corps perform during the July 4, 1958, special performance of the Militia.
The next step was for John to learn to play the fife. He taught himself the fingering for the fife by playing the scales on his saxophone with the help of his father who played the scales on a piano. Music for the fifes also was a problem because there was none available. John described their solution as follows:
The next problem was music. We had none. Bill Geiger collected military music records and he provided them as a source. So, we did it the hard way. With my father picking out the tune on a piano and me playing the corresponding note on the fife, we successfully learned and wrote the music for our first tune – “Yankee Doodle.” Next came “British Grenadiers” which we did the same way, but with an interesting twist. Bob Reveille whistled it for us. The third tune was “Washington’s Quickstep” which we learned using an orchestral arrangement.
John then recruited Chuck Miller to play the fife. Miller was a James Blair senior and played clarinet in the school band. Lindsay and Teal, who had been the single drummers for the Militia, were brought in and the group began rehearsals under John’s leadership. The rehearsals were in the basement of “Burdetts’ Ordinary”, the Harbours’ house on the Duke of Gloucester Street and the first “headquarters” of the Corps.
On July 4, 1958, the efforts of Geiger and other Colonial Williamsburg officials, and of the first four Corps members – John Harbour and Chuck Miller on fifes and Allen Lindsey and Jimmy Teal on drums – were realized. The Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums made their debut performance on July 4, 1958. The payroll for the performance lists: “Allen Lindsey… $7.00; Charles Miller … $7.00; James Teal… $7.00; and Evans Harbour…$9.00.”
And thus began the Corps that achieved world class status and became an icon of Colonial Williamsburg, which continues to this day.
John will be missed but his legacy in the Corps lives on.
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