Back in 2001, not long after I had started getting serious about collecting, I came across this poorly photographed cornet online and thought it might be a good project. The owner had it listed as a "R C L,eland Trumpet" and I had no idea who that was but thanks to a reference book I was able to determine that it was S R Leland & Son of Worcester, Massachusetts. I knew nothing about him but took my chances and bought it anyway.

It only needed some minor restoration work and a good polishing to get it back in shape again. The bonus was that this was an excellent player as well and made in Worcester, not imported with their name on it. For a full history of this maker please see the Leland section of this website.

Here it is restored. It has serial #160 which is the lowest I have found and dates it to about 1888.