Posted 6 years ago
CPat
(2 items)
Not for sale only charity, special situation, donation, This organ was built 1978-79 in the home of DavidCrawfordStillsJr in Atlanta Ga. He was the organist that played for the funeral service of MartinLutherKingJr and was the organist at the historic EbenezerBaptistChurch for 23yrs. Some of the specifications include: 8' Principal 8'Bourban 8'Gemshirn T.C . 8'Salitional 4'Octave 22/3' Twelfth 3tier manual& pedal
What you have here is only an organ *console*, or in other words just the 'playing controls' of a pipe organ. There are no pipes or sound producing parts within it -- it would have been connected to those portions (installed somewhere else within a building) by a large bundle of electrical cables. It was indeed manufactured by the M. P. Moller Co. of Hagerstown, MD, a firm which built thousands of instruments over its hundred+yr history until its demise in the early 1980's. Its now missing nameplate (to the left of the uppermost controls over the top keyboard) would have had what's called an 'opus number' on it which would allow semi precise dating and original location. That (4 digit) number is likely still to be found inside it if you can look there, either handwritten or stamped onto numerous parts by the factory staff which first assembled it.
Its general style suggests to me that it was probably first constructed in the 1940s, thus it is highly likely that Mr. Stills obtained it (with or without further components) second hand for installation in his residence in 1979. One dead giveaway to a more 1940's vintage is the deteriorated plastic of the remaining small rectangular tags identifying things and evidence of others (including the nameplate) now missing -- the plastic material Moller (and others) used to make their tags in the 40's was some relatively 'new' product then which seemed to work fine at the time but history ultimately proved was inferior because **they all** literally did that (shrink, discolor, warp, crack, and fall off) by the 1970's or so...
Its not impossible that the console could have come from Ebenezer Baptist given Mr. Still's association with the church -- I do know that Ebenezer had a Moller pipe organ of some sort before or into the MLKJr. era. [which, but for a few assorted dusty parts hidden in unseen places was long gone by the time I visited there in the late 1980's]
I might know where the rest of the organ is, doing some renovation work at his previous home. Came across his name and the unusual pieces of an organ.
@bkwilliams Cool. Is it in a safe place and still together. It was a challenge to find it a new home.
Greetings again CPat, also bkwilliams. CPat, were you ever able to open its cabinet and look for "opus numbers" written or stamped on anything in there?? I'd also be *way curious*, bkwilliams, to see any pics of those "unusual pieces" you came across during your work...?? <please><beg> ;-) :-) :-)
I will see if I can get pics and post here
I have all the paperwork specifications, order form, details and some original photos of the installation. I possibly want to connect with the new owner, if they are interested @bkwilliams. Are you with Resicap? @AnythingObscure I did not get a chance to look for original serial number or name plate markings. The organ is no longer in my possession. It sounds as if you probably have better knowledge of its construction than I know to explain.
I got rid of all the pipes and the motor but I left the wooden pipes and the brain of the organ behind and perhaps @bkwilliams knows what could be of what was left.