A short history of the Fegelmaker Organ Company...

[KB7DQH]

...makes up the bulk of an article celebrating the centenary of one of them...

http://www.parkesburgtoday.com/2012/04/ascension-episcapal-chruch-celebrates-its-pipe-organs-100th-birthday.html

Episcopal Church Of The Ascension Celebrates Its Pipe Organ's 100th Anniversary
April 15, 2012 · 2:27 PM


The pipe organ in the Episcopal Church of Ascension on the corner of 2nd and West Streets in Parkesburg was built in 1912 by the A. B. Felgermaker Organ Company of Erie, Pennsylvania.  Agustus Bernard Felgermaker, company president, was born in Buffalo, New York on July 16th, 1836.

After apprenticing with a Buffalo piano manufacturer, Felgermaker went to work for Buffalo organ builder Garrett House in 1858.

In 1866 Felgermaker began a partnership with Silas L. Derrick.  Derrick and Felgermaker moved their company 90 miles south to Erie, Pennsylvania in 1872.  The firm was reorganized in 1875 to become the A. B. Felgermaker Organ Company.

By 1900 the firm had manufactured and installed over 700 organs including more than 300 portable pipe organs, a specialty of the firm.  Most of the company's organs went to churches in Pennsylvania and Ohio as well as to the midwestern and southern states.

Felgermaker died on October 16th, 1905.  A report of his death in The Music and Trades Journal observed that Felgermaker "was an honest, upright man, one who inspired confidence and commanded the admiration and respect of all.  In his factory he employed men who had spent a lifetime with him, which speaks better than almost anything else in his praise."

At the beginning of 1906 Augustus' wife, Julia D. Felgermaker, succeeded her husband as president of the organ company.  The couple's youngest daughter, Julia Olive, was also active in her the business from 1903 until the firm was dissolved in 1918.  In their 52 year history the firm produced nearly 1,300 organs.

Installation of Ascension's organ, a Felgermaker model Opus 1110, began on April 12th, 1912, just days before the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the north Atlantic.

The organ probably cost Ascension $1,500 as this is the amount the organ was insured for by the church.

No services were held that Sunday April 14th at Ascension due to the installation of the organ.

The organ is a two manual and pedal instruments with 7 ranks of pipes.  Wind for the organ was originally supplied by hand pumping the bellows from inside the organ chamber.  An electric blower was added in 1920, eliminating the need for hand pumping.

While some minor repairs were made over the years, by 1986 the organ had become unreliable and troublesome due to the deterioration of its many pneumatic mechanisms and leather parts.  In July of that year the congregation contracted with R. J. Brunner & Co. of Silver Springs, Pennsylvania for a complete restoration of the 70 year old instrument.

Restoration work included:

    * cleaning of all the parts
    * straightening and repair of all 396 pipes
    * releathering of approximately 1100 valve assemblies in the windchest and console
    * replacing hundreds of feet of lead tubing in the action
    * refinishing many wood parts in the organ
    * buffing of the ivory keys
    * replacing of worn key surfaces and pedal board
    * replating of the ornate cast swell shoe
    * re-installing of the original pump handle, a handle removed when the electric blower was added
    * installing a new electric blower
    * painting the facade pipes

While the organ was in the Brunner & Co's Silver Springs shop, Ascension's parishioners set to work on the organ's chamber refinishing the floor, sealing a rear window openings, replastering and painting the chamber's walls and installing new lighting.

Reinstallation of the organ in Ascension's sanctuary was done as the work on the chamber progressed. Once installation was complete and the room was finished in February of the following year, Brunner staff tuned the organ and made adjustments to the organ's action.

The end result was an organ that played and sounded just as beautifully today as it did 100 years ago when it was installed.

Details for this story were taken from Ascension's own history.

Eric
KB7DQH

[AnOrganCornucopia]

Sounds great! Small but sweet.

Oh, but I WISH journalists would stop with the Titanic references already! It's so lazy, clichéd and irrelevant!