The 1976 restoration of the Pilcher organ by the Reuter Organ Co.
After it's first 21 years of service in Cawker City, the Pilcher's Sons organ received a thorough cleaning, repair, and tuning in the fall of 1952. The "reconditioning" of the organ was courtesy of E. C. Riley, a church member and owner of the local Riley Chevrolet Co. as well as other diverse entrepreneurial interests. The gift to the church was carried out in preparation for the impending wedding ceremony of the Riley's daughter. A small plaque acknowledging the Riley gift was placed on the organ case directly to the right of the consol and below the blower switch (This plaque was removed in the 1976 restoration by Reuter). The September 25th edition of the Cawker City Ledger gives the following account of the work done at that time:
Pipe Organ Concert
Methodist Church - The pipe organ at the Methodist church is being completely recondi- tioned and tuned this week. The work is being done by James Ak- right of Kansas City, who is well qualified in such work, having been with the Reuter Pipe Organ Manu- facturing Co. of Lawrence and with Mr. Sabol of the Austin Organ Co., Kansas City, Mo. There are 650 pipes in the organ. All of these are being removed and tuned, and all the other working parts of the organ are being cleaned and reconditioned. The work will take about a week. The project is a gift form the E. C. Riley family. The general public will be privi- leged to come and hear the pipe organ in a special organ concert by |
Dick Gayhart to be given on Wed-
nesday evening, October 1, starting at eight o'clock. A brief history of the organ will heard and Mr. Ak- right will be asked to say a few words about the organ and tuning. The local choir will sing a special number. The general public is invite. No admission charge will be made, but a free-will offering will be taken to care for the visiting organist's ex- penses. It is hoped a large crowd will attend the concert. The organ will be played at the regular church services by Mrs. H. M. Sanders for a few Sundays, until the Federated church moves back to the Presbyterian church. She has had two years of special training in pipe organ. |
With the purchase of an Allen electronic organ in 1969, the Pilcher pipe organ was used less and less. Over time, keys began to stick and some of the stop knobs became immovable or disconnected. The 1920's motor began to throw sparks and smoke literally came out of the mouths of the pipes. Having already experienced two devastating church fires, the congregation decided to disconnect the organ's blower out of an abundance of caution. The final indignity came shortly before a funeral, when the second large Violoncello pipe on the right side of the organ fainted and came crashing down over the chair in which the pastor was to be seated a few minutes later. The pipe was severed in two.
The 1884 Limestone Methodist Church building was also showing signs of age. The walls which had survived the 1911 fire were now beginning to lean and gaps were appearing at the roofline. The rear balcony appeared to defy gravity. In 1975, the building was deemed unsafe. Planning for a new sanctuary had begun as soon and the Fellowship Hall had been paid off. However, now the fate of the organ had to be decided. If the organ was to be retained, the roof of the planned sanctuary had to be raised three feet and would add to the total cost of the new building. On August 17, 1975 four options were placed before the congregation for a vote: 1.) Keep the organ as a beautiful, but unplayable antique, 2.) Sell it, 3) Replace it with a new organ costing $30-36,000.00, or 4) Have Reuter Organ Co. restore the organ and install it in the new sanctuary for $11,450.00. The final tally was 28 in favor to restore the organ and 8 in favor of selling it.
On October 2, 1975 Ron Rarick and Wilton Koehler came from Lawrence to dismantle and pack the organ. Back at the Reuter workshop, the organ was greeted with particular interest because two of the three founders of Reuter Organ Co. had apprenticed with the Pilcher firm. During the course of restoration, it was hoped that perhaps the original craftsmen had signed their handiwork or etched a date in an unobtrusive area. Alas, the only inscription to be found on the organ is the painted shipping destination "Cong. Church, Kinsley, Kas." which appears in two places, one with a number (2) on the swell shades, and the other with on the inside of the upper left-side panel with the number (6). These numbers are probably box numbers used to identify the entire shipment which most likely arrived by train in Kinsley from Louisville, Kentucky.
Minor changes or improvements were made on the organ by Reuter during the course of restoration. These included: 1) replacing all wooden trackers (except for the square trackers of the pedal coupler) with aluminum wire, 2) replacing leather nuts with adjustable aluminum sleeves, 3) replacing lead conduits for the façade pipes with flexible tubing, 4) removing all oak sliders and replacing them with plastic sliders with telescopic slider seals, 5) making the swell box accessible from the rear for tuning purposes with the addition of a walkway plank, and 6) adding a back panel to completely enclose the lower casement of the organ. In addition, the appropriate length was added to the shortened center pipes and the mangled Violoncello pipe was soldered back together. This work necessitated the repainting of the Victorian stencil designs of the organ. A trained artist and students from the art department at Kansas University were given the task of matching the original colors of the pipes and upper casework.
On Sunday, May 23, 1976 the restored Pilcher organ and a new Reuter organ for the Central Park United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, were featured in an Open House at the Reuter factory in downtown Lawrence. An estimated 2,000 people toured the factory. A full page ad and article appeared in the Lawrence newspaper.
In the fall of 1976, despite a slight construction delay, the new sanctuary was ready for the installation of the restored Pilcher organ. Ron Rarick and William Pugh arrived on a Friday morning in a large moving van which also contained the console for the new Bethany College organ in Lindsborg. Due to parent-teacher conferences, a 15 year old member of the congregation was on hand to assist unloading the van and to observe the entire installation.
The new Methodist Church and pipe organ were consecrated on November 21, 1976.
The 1884 Limestone Methodist Church building was also showing signs of age. The walls which had survived the 1911 fire were now beginning to lean and gaps were appearing at the roofline. The rear balcony appeared to defy gravity. In 1975, the building was deemed unsafe. Planning for a new sanctuary had begun as soon and the Fellowship Hall had been paid off. However, now the fate of the organ had to be decided. If the organ was to be retained, the roof of the planned sanctuary had to be raised three feet and would add to the total cost of the new building. On August 17, 1975 four options were placed before the congregation for a vote: 1.) Keep the organ as a beautiful, but unplayable antique, 2.) Sell it, 3) Replace it with a new organ costing $30-36,000.00, or 4) Have Reuter Organ Co. restore the organ and install it in the new sanctuary for $11,450.00. The final tally was 28 in favor to restore the organ and 8 in favor of selling it.
On October 2, 1975 Ron Rarick and Wilton Koehler came from Lawrence to dismantle and pack the organ. Back at the Reuter workshop, the organ was greeted with particular interest because two of the three founders of Reuter Organ Co. had apprenticed with the Pilcher firm. During the course of restoration, it was hoped that perhaps the original craftsmen had signed their handiwork or etched a date in an unobtrusive area. Alas, the only inscription to be found on the organ is the painted shipping destination "Cong. Church, Kinsley, Kas." which appears in two places, one with a number (2) on the swell shades, and the other with on the inside of the upper left-side panel with the number (6). These numbers are probably box numbers used to identify the entire shipment which most likely arrived by train in Kinsley from Louisville, Kentucky.
Minor changes or improvements were made on the organ by Reuter during the course of restoration. These included: 1) replacing all wooden trackers (except for the square trackers of the pedal coupler) with aluminum wire, 2) replacing leather nuts with adjustable aluminum sleeves, 3) replacing lead conduits for the façade pipes with flexible tubing, 4) removing all oak sliders and replacing them with plastic sliders with telescopic slider seals, 5) making the swell box accessible from the rear for tuning purposes with the addition of a walkway plank, and 6) adding a back panel to completely enclose the lower casement of the organ. In addition, the appropriate length was added to the shortened center pipes and the mangled Violoncello pipe was soldered back together. This work necessitated the repainting of the Victorian stencil designs of the organ. A trained artist and students from the art department at Kansas University were given the task of matching the original colors of the pipes and upper casework.
On Sunday, May 23, 1976 the restored Pilcher organ and a new Reuter organ for the Central Park United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, were featured in an Open House at the Reuter factory in downtown Lawrence. An estimated 2,000 people toured the factory. A full page ad and article appeared in the Lawrence newspaper.
In the fall of 1976, despite a slight construction delay, the new sanctuary was ready for the installation of the restored Pilcher organ. Ron Rarick and William Pugh arrived on a Friday morning in a large moving van which also contained the console for the new Bethany College organ in Lindsborg. Due to parent-teacher conferences, a 15 year old member of the congregation was on hand to assist unloading the van and to observe the entire installation.
The new Methodist Church and pipe organ were consecrated on November 21, 1976.
Click on image to enlarge:
Although the following photos are of poor quality, they are the only record of the dismantling of the organ in Oct. 1975. These slides were taken by a freshman in High School who was just learning how to use a camera.
Information Provided by
The Cawker City Hesperian Historical Society
All Rights Reserved.
The Cawker City Hesperian Historical Society
All Rights Reserved.