The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Cait Clark, Mercer County Historical Society director, plays a Princess Victorian pump organ made by C.P. Bowlby on Friday.
CELINA - Among the thousands of artifacts housed inside the Mercer County Historical Society' Riley House Museum, several pump organs, one still playable, have stood the test of time.
Director Cait Clark and members Bill Vondrell, Scott Temple and Jan Temple discussed the limited history about the organs and the organization's efforts to learn more during a recent visit.
The instruments, a Princess organ made by C.P. Bowlby, a National organ and a third unknown organ, adorn the floors of the Riley House. The Princess organ, which has darker wood, and the unknown instrument with light wood, sit in the front parlor. The National is upstairs.
The Bowlby organ has significant documentation courtesy of Lee Pohlman, a former board member, who researched the instrument. It is also the only playable organ.
The ornate parlor reed pump organ originally belonged to Lola Beams Carter.
"Carter and her daughter, Lydia, died in the 1917-1918 influenza epidemic that plagued America," information from Pohlman reads. "They are buried at Swamp College Cemetery in Mercer County. The organ was purchased in Celina, probably around the turn of the 20th century. The organ is in excellent playing condition. It was donated by the Lola Reid family with the help of Juanita Oren and Donna Bealer."
This Princess Victorian pump organ is believed to have belonged to Lola Beams Carter. She and her daughter died in the 1917-1918 influenza epidemic.
Stops on the Bowlby organ, one of three pump organs housed inside the museum.
Clark played a little ditty on the organ, explaining how it operates.
"You'll notice all the knobs that you can adjust, what kind of sound is coming out of the organ, and of course, you've got the pumps down here that fill the bag in the back," she said. "It pumps air into the bag, and then as you play the keys, the air goes past, out of the bag and it plays music. This one also has a very special part to it. It's got these knee parts right here that actually lower and heighten the sound. It's closed right now, so the sound would be really light, but when I go like this and open them, it really projects that sound further. That's actually pretty new information. We thought you had to pump these, but you don't. It just helps modulate; it helps you hold … that note and make a reverb of it."
Bowlby invented the Princess Victorian parlor organ with 10 steps and swell paddle pumps in 1876. Bowlby was originally a cabinet maker but went into the organ-making business with Hiram Alleger and Edward Plotts. He was from Washington, New Jersey.
Parlor organs built for home use became common around the mid-19th century, and some manufacturers developed ornate styles with high backs, carved panels, mirrors and more.
Clark said she can tell the organ is ornate because it has a music stand, areas to put candles so organists can play in the dark and a mirror.
Little is known about this pump organ housed at the Mercer County Historical Society' Riley House Museum, though records show it was donated by Eugene and Lockie Wheeler.
There is less known about another organ across the room.
The organ, for which members don't know the maker or the era the organ was built in, is made of lighter wood and doesn't play because the bag burst. They do know, however, that Eugene and Lockie Wheeler donated the organ sometime after 1959.
Clark said it is unplayable because "the bag is burst behind it, which means when you use the pedals, it doesn't fill up with air anymore, so it doesn't make any noise," she said.
The instrument upstairs is a National organ from the home of Francis Buxton, Franklin Township. Buxton's children donated it.
This National organ is housed at the Mercer County Historical Society' Riley House Museum.
The reed pump organ, or sometimes called the harmonium, was first invented by Alexander Debian in Europe, according to information from Pohlman.
"It was more convenient than the pipe organ in terms of portability and maneuverability, with grand sounds, baseline and easy maintenance," per Pohlman. "In the late 1800s, an American invented their own portable reed organ. This variety used a suction system to create the sounds instead of a pressure-only system with swell knee pumps."
Clark said part of the disconnect in records is the fact that the museum was closed for 20 years and records come in pieces as members find them.
"We're finding a lot of records that have been completely missing, so we're hoping that we will get more information on these organs as we go through because we've already found a lot of records that we thought were just gone," she said.
Former museum director Joyce Alig died in 2024. Members are finding that Alig meticulously documented everything, though it is different than the national system. She would cut out an ID tag from the item's information card and tape that number onto the item. Issues arose if the tag got lost or fell off the item.
"We're hoping that as we keep going, we'll find that information because we're starting to realize that Joyce really did write down everything," Clark said. "It's just over the years, it's gotten jumbled. She wrote everything down, we just have to find it now. Eventually we will be able to answer all those questions, but we're always open to volunteers to come help."
Members now are recataloging every item. They are matching old numbers and assigning the item a new number. For example, one of the downstairs organs is tagged as "FP 24.01.05," indicating what room the item is in, what year it was accessioned, what collection it's in and what item it is and if it's part of a group, Clark said.
"Every day, we're making history right here in Mercer County," Clark said. "Every yesterday is something you have to preserve. Some of the stuff is pretty new still, but in 20-40 years, it's not going to be new."
