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The following information is from the Mandolin Cafe:

Samuel Siegel was one performer who made it out of the vaudeville circuit. Siegel, born in Des Moines, Iowa, believed he had a leg up because unlike his contemporaries he started playing mandolin first before violin (Sparks 123). He believed this helped because most of the other players were used to bowing a violin and not used to a plectrum (or pick), and "to this I attribute the fact that I understand the right hand far better than some great players" (Sparks 124). "In 1900, Siegel became the first mandolinist to record on Emile Berliner's newly invented sic system. 'Nearer my God to Thee', the first of several dozen recordings he made during the next few years, was performed in a solo version that displayed his technique to a full" (Sparks 125). By the end the 1890s Siegel was out of the vaudeville and was considered the best American performer. Siegel could not read music well, but had visions that the future of the mandolin could not solely base itself on violin transcriptions, but to evolve they would have to write original compositions (Sparks 124).