Art’s brother LeRoy admired and tired to emulate Art’s abilities as maker and player of instruments. With some help from David Sandquist of Juliaetta, LeRoy made a string bass, which he played with the Old Time Fiddlers, a venerable Latah County musical group.

In the March 13, 1968, edition of the Daily Idahonian, there was an article by Judith Blake about violinmaker Arthur Ross. At that time, Ross had made 110 instruments, 40 of which were violins. Ross is quoted in the article as saying that he frequently used wood from the Moscow area in his work and that one of these projects at the time was a viola (mine?) with a top made of Engleman spruce cut on Moscow Mountain. Arthur had no interest in making his own varnishes, believing that prepared varnishes were adequate. He focused his efforts on the tone of the instrument, which he attributed to the volume of space inside the instrument rather than on the shape or on the varnish. For the general shape of his instruments, he relied on the traditional patterns of Stradivarius and other violinmakers.

Ron Meldrum with incomplete Ross viola of experimental design.

Arthur also experimented with shapes of his devising, including what daughter Vernice described as a large violin or viola with an “inside curve” that curved around the neck of the player. Of all the instruments of the violin family, the viola is the least benign to its player. The best tone comes from the largest instruments, which are, as a result, difficult to hold and play. Moscow resident Ron Meldrum has an unfinished viola that Arthur had designed with a curved shoulder for better access for the player’s hand. And, of course, Arthur made at least one vertical viola, which need not be held under the chin at all.

In 1962, Arthur retired from everything by violinmaking. By then, his name had appeared in a World book of Famous Violinmakers. He never advertised, having all the business he could handle. Hammond Ashley regularly picked up Arthur’s violins as soon as he completed them and sold them in his shop in Seattle. Occasionally, the instruments traveled to the shop before being varnished, and Hammond would finish them. This continued until Arthur’s death in 1977. Longevity, particularly among the men, ran in Arthur’s family, so his death from a blood clot in the brain came unexpectedly, when he was one month short of age 73.

The funeral service was held at the Church of the Nazarene with Reverends Harold Stickney and Harold Gilliam officiating. Arthur and Gilliam had been longtime friends, having met in the logging camps. The Gilliams were a music-making family and spent many musical evenings with the Rosses. At Arthur’s service, Joy Youngman played the organ. Pallbearers were Harry, Jack, and Wayne DeWitt (from Chrystine’s family), Henry Nygaard, Melvin Lyon, and Paul Million. Eugene Lubiens, music minister of the Moscow Nazarene Church, and Eddie Gray, a longtime family friend provided music selections. There was, of course, a violin solo – on one of Arthur’s violins – by LeRoy Bauer. Arthur is buried in the Moscow Cemetery. Arthur’s wife, Chrystine, lived in the house at 314 South Polk until her death in 1983. Her nephew, Harry DeWitt, maintained the house for Chrystine.

Arthur’s instruments are still owned and used by musicians throughout the Northwest. Wilfred and Vernice, and other relatives, own some of this instruments, as do local people, Ron Meldrum, Lorraine Hudson, and Marianne McGreevy. Connie DeWitt, widow of Harry, and Jeannette Talbot, a distant relative of the DeWitts, both have violins made by Arthur. Jeannette’s husband, _, finished the violin Jeannette now has, which had been made for their daughter, Maida, who wanted it to be “the color of a bay horse.” This violin holds a special significance for Jeannette as it memorializes the young life of Maida who died at age 20.

Out there somewhere in the music world are all of Arthur’s violins, violas, ‘cellos, and string basses. I wish they could all answer to a roll call and tell us where they are and who is playing them now.

Lois Blackburn is a professor emerita of music from the University of Idaho who spends her time playing chamber music, teaching students, and going camping.

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