Name/Title
Stephens Organ and Piano Co. OrganEntry/Object ID
1992.02.01Description
Tiger maple wood organ with ivory keys. Bench is included with organ. Also has music board, pedals are brass. Has flat bench surface on top. Can be locked. Has Stephens logo/name on inside of key cover. It was the Episcopal Church organ, The organ and the bell were only objects rescued from the fire in 1900. Church was on the corner of Washington/Walnut Streets. The church was established by town founders Henry and Henrietta Fitzhugh, who had inherited Washington's land here. Organ has deteriorated since donated to the museum, protected underside has glossy original finish still visible.
The Stevens Organ & Piano Co. was founded by Collins R. Stevens. Stevens worked for Estey Organ Co., which made the best-selling organ of the day, from 1859 to 1877. In 1888 he opened a store in Marietta selling pianos and organs. Stevens went into a manufacturing business with Orin C. Klock, a piano salesman, in 1892. They made reed organs under the name Stevens & Klock. The company made both organs and pianos, but when piano sales slowed it only made organs. Organs were cheaper than pianos at the turn of the century and many homes had parlor organs. The company name was changed to Stevens Organ Co. when Klock retired, and later it became Stevens Organ & Piano Co. Stevens began making combination reed-pipe organs out of piano cases about 1900. The company also made large pipe organs for churches and began making phonographs by 1919. Stevens died in 1921 and the company went out of business in 1924.
made 600 organs per year in 1898, 1200 in 1902
Organs were continued to be built using left over piano cases.Acquisition
Accession
1992.02Source or Donor
Katherine C ParkRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Fitzhugh Family