Our Pipe Organ

In doing a little research into the history of our pipe organ, we contacted Bond Organ Builders, Inc. who originally installed the instrument for us in 1992.  Mr. Richard L. Bond kindly replied with with the text below. Some is historical, and some is technical, but all of it is interesting. It was exciting to learn that the organ was originally built it the 1800's by Henry Pilcher's Sons of Louisville, Kentucky. If you search the web for that company, you will turn up hundreds of wonderful organs in churches all over the country. We are pleased, and proud to be part of the preservation of these magnificent historic instruments. Here's what Mr. Bond had to say:

"As to the history of the instrument, I have the following from the 1997 Organ Historical Society convention brochure. The Pilcher organ(Op 348, 1898) was located for many years in Trinity Episcopal Church in Victoria, TX--it is not clear that it was built for this church, it may have been intended for a Houston church.  After it was removed from the Episcopal Church, it was given to a Mexican Presbyterian church in Victoria, but never installed.  Ruben Frels, a Victoria organ builder, rebuilt the instrument and installed it in the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Kingsville, TX, in 1956.  All of the original pipe-work, as well as the casework, were replaced at that time.  The casework and some of the original pipe-work exist in Victoria, still.  The organ was removed in the 1970's, when the church closed and was stored in Mr. Frels' shop in Victoria. Bond bought the organ on speculation and kept it in storage for several years, waiting for a suitable home for it.  Milwaukie Presbyterian Church was well suited; we built a new casework and greatly altered the already altered stoplist.  The Great Rohrflote, Swell Gedackt, Rohrflote, and Pedal Bourdon are old pipes from the Frels rebuild.  The Great Octave, Swell Gemshorn, and Sesquialtera were new pipes installed by Frels.  The Great Principal basses are Hook and Hastings, provided by Bond, and the rest of this stop are unknown 19th century pipes from a residence organ in Rocklyn, CA, also from Bond.  The Great Mixture was made up from several sets of used pipes by Bond.  The Great Trumpet is new pipes from Bond.  We also supplied a new blower, reservoir, wind trunks, and swell box.  The key and stop action is by Pilcher.  The organ was installed in 1992." - Richard L. Bond

A little more research took us to the Organ Historical Society who publishes a quarterly journal called The Tracker. There we turned up a little more interesting information. It appears Op. 358 is among the missing Pilcher opus numbers between 1881 and 1901 (an apparent missing ledger). So, while the original organ may have been intended for a church in Houston, The Tracker shows this as opus 129, which was built for St. Stephen's Lutheran Church of Chicago, IL in 1871. The Trinity Episcopal Church in Victoria, TX is shown in a Pilcher ledger with opus 1811 (1936) at $170, probably a repair of some sort, or perhaps when the St. Stephen organ was moved there.

Regardless of whether our organ was built in 1871 for a church in Illinois, or 1898 for a church in Texas, it is clear that our Pilcher organ is a part of the musical history of this nation. We thank The Bond Organ Builders, Inc. for helping to preserve this wonderful instrument, and for its masterful installation in our sanctuary. Please come and enjoy the sounds, and great music this classic instrument produces at the hands (and feet) of our very talented organist, Mr. Dan Meares.