VIOLIN made in Ogdensburg in 1930 sold on eBay to museum director

OGDENSBURG — Edward A. LaVarnway loves stringed instruments. And history.

The town of Oswegatchie resident and executive director of the Frederic Remington Art Museum owns a mandolin and a dobro. He also owns enough acoustic and electric guitars to outfit a serious battle of the bands.

Now Mr. LaVarnway, 60, can add a violin to his collection. And here is where the history comes in: He is the proud owner of a 1930 Jackson violin, one of about 100 made in Ogdensburg by Alexander E. Jackson (1870-1944). He obtained it last month on eBay from a vintage-violin dealer in New Jersey.

It all started when he was interviewed for a newspaper story about establishing an Ogdensburg museum.

Mr. LaVarnway said an inquiry was made on a whim on eBay, and there was the Jackson model, offered for sale by Jarek K. Powichrowski, a Polish-born musician and owner of Princeton Violins in Kingston, N.J.

“I was amazed,” Mr. LaVarnway said last week.

Neither Mr. LaVarnway nor Mr. Powichrowski would divulge how much money changed hands. But the new owner is sure he has satisfied not only his passion for stringed instruments, but for history too.

“I just thought it’d be wonderful to bring it back to Ogdensburg,” said Mr. LaVarnway, the great-great-grandson of Ogdensburg native Benjamin LaVarnway.

The Jackson violin is no cheap remake. Julliard School of Music-trained Mr. Powichrowski, 47, says it’s the real deal.

“Jackson, as many American makers, is very undervalued by the market, but musicians love them,” he said. “This particular instrument sounds very well and it is certainly on a professional level of making. But it is not near Stradivarius or the best classic makers.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Powichrowski appreciates what Mr. Jackson — and his boat builder father, Levi C., also a violin maker — was up to.

“In America 100 years ago, well educated people very often got fascinated by this art and did it for love, not money,” he said. “American instruments are very often unique and stylistically very individual. They’re only getting better. If you buy a good old violin today, you can most likely sell it for double and sometimes 10 times within 10 years. Try to do that with your car.”

Mr. Powichrowski bought the Jackson with several other old violins from an antiques dealer. He kept it for a year and a half, doing some restoration to it along the way.

Mr. LaVarnway, who took viola lessons as boy, cannot wait to reach back to what he learned and start playing his new acquisition. He says it’s “a moral imperative” to do so and not just let it lie around unused.

“It’s always appealed to me,” Mr. LaVarnway said. “This violin is a real beauty.”

A beauty that Mr. LaVarnway has no plans to hoard for himself.

“I’d love for more people to know about this,” he said. “I’m hoping at some point to have it on display at the (Ogdensburg Public) library.”