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    Organ History

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    Matthew Hayner
    The sanctuary preserves the oldest church bell in Holly Springs and one of the oldest working Pilcher organs in the country. The church was originally established in 1837 and a new building was constructed in 1849. The organ in the sanctuary was completed in 1920 by Henry Pilcher & Sons for $2,520 and features 7 ranks of pipes and tubular-pneumatic action. It is currently maintained by the Milnar Organ Company.

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    Organ History

    Uploaded by

    Matthew Hayner
    58 views2 pages
    The sanctuary preserves the oldest church bell in Holly Springs and one of the oldest working Pilcher organs in the country. The church was originally established in 1837 and a new building was constructed in 1849. The organ in the sanctuary was completed in 1920 by Henry Pilcher & Sons for $2,520 and features 7 ranks of pipes and tubular-pneumatic action. It is currently maintained by the Milnar Organ Company.

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    The sanctuary preserves the oldest church bell in Holly Springs and one of the oldest working Pilcher organs in the country. The church was originally established in 1837 and a new building was constructed in 1849. The organ in the sanctuary was completed in 1920 by Henry Pilcher & Sons for $2,520 and features 7 ranks of pipes and tubular-pneumatic action. It is currently maintained by the Milnar Organ Company.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    58 views2 pages

    Organ History

    Uploaded by

    Matthew Hayner
    The sanctuary preserves the oldest church bell in Holly Springs and one of the oldest working Pilcher organs in the country. The church was originally established in 1837 and a new building was constructed in 1849. The organ in the sanctuary was completed in 1920 by Henry Pilcher & Sons for $2,520 and features 7 ranks of pipes and tubular-pneumatic action. It is currently maintained by the Milnar Organ Company.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Our sanctuary preserves the oldest church bell in Holly Springs as

    well as one of the oldest working Pilcher organs in the country. The
    church was originally established in 1837 in a small building on the corner
    of West College and Craft Street. That property was deeded to William
    Long, who built a new church building in 1849 for a partial exchange of
    materials and labor. The deed which records this transfer also shows that
    the pews and pulpit from the early church were moved to the new
    building. The property for 175 E Van Dorn Avenue belonged to Robert
    Alexander who orally deeded the land to the church. To help pay for the
    spire and the building’s façade, each pew was rented. Mr. Alexander
    disapproved of this so much that he paid for any seats that were left so
    anyone could have a free seat. In 1888 and 1889, the first hand-pumped
    organ was installed.

    Henry Pilcher, Sr. was born in Canterbury, England in 1798 and


    apprenticed as an organ builder in London. He constructed his first pipe
    organ in Dover, England, in 1820. In 1832 Mr. Pilcher arrived in New York
    and established his business in Newark, New Jersey. His sons, Henry Jr.
    and William opened an organ building shop in St. Louis, Missouri in 1852.
    During the Civil War era, the firm relocated to Chicago, Illinois. This
    factory survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and, in 1874, the Pilcher
    firm once again moved and opened their business in Louisville, Kentucky.
    The firm built over 1,800 organs for churches, concert halls, and
    universities across the country. Over a period of almost 125 years, four
    generations of family members-built Henry Pilcher & Sons Organ Company
    into a business known for its high manufacturing standards. The
    institution they created placed organs only saw its end with the outbreak
    of World War II. In 1944 the factory closed and the assets were sold to
    the M. P. Möller Organ Company of Hagerstown, Maryland.

    In 2014 a historical sketch of the company and opus list of each


    organ installation made was published by Bynum Petty- archivist at the
    Organ Historical Society Library in Princeton, NJ. The organ in our
    sanctuary was completed in October of 1920 for $2,520. It features a 61-
    note manual compass (range) and a 30 note pedal compass with tubular-
    pneumatic action. There are 7 ranks of pipes varying from 4’ to 16’ and 2
    manuals (keyboard). The organ was originally installed with 7 stops- or a
    set of pipes with a like tone quality. The unique chimes were likely
    installed in 1958 by S.W. Holcombe (Crown Point, NY) along with an a
    crescendo pedal. "Tubular-pneumatic action" refers to the lead tubing
    that connects each key, pedal key and stop on the organ console to the
    wind-chest; changes in air pressure within the tubes regulate the valves
    in the wind-chest that control the flow of wind into each pipe. Our organ
    is currently maintained by the Milnar Organ Company near Murfreesboro,
    TN.

    I know Lee is also celebrating this day with us and trying to remind
    me of something that I’ve forgotten. I know that today I’ve learned to
    truly appreciate this beautiful instrument we’ve been blessed with for
    100 years and I hope you have as well. I will remain steadfast in my
    passion to preserve and record its history, as well as the amazing
    organists that have served our church through music.

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