The Aeolian Co. View Extant Instruments View Instruments

Distinction:

New York City, c. 1887; Detroit, Michigan, 1899; Garwood, New Jersey, 1900.
Classification: Builder

Update This Entry
August 14, 2015:

For further information on successor firms, see Aeolian-Votey Organ Co. (New Jersey) and Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co.
For further information on predecessor firms, see Votey Organ Co., Farrand & Votey Organ Co. and Aeolian-Votey Organ Co. (Detroit).

We received the most recent update for this note from Database Manager on April 09, 2020.

October 30, 2004:

From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders rev. ed. by David H. Fox (Organ Historical Society, 1997) -

Established by William B. Tremaine in New York City, New York, 1878, as the Mechanical Orguinette Co., makers of player attachments for reed organs and pianos; adopted Aeolian name by 1887; owned by the Aeolian-Weber Piano & Pianola Co.; associated with the Munroe Organ Reed Co. of Worcester, Massachusetts; began selling pipe organs manufactured by Farrand & Votey of Detroit, Michigan, 1893; merged with the Votey Organ Co., 1899, and relocated to Garwood, New Jersey; reorganized as the Aeolian-Votey Co., 1927; the pipe organ division of the Aeolian firm merged with the Skinner Organ Co. of Dorchester, Massachusetts, to form the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co., January of 1932.

Administration: Harry B. Tremaine; William B. Tremaine; Edwin S. Votey;
Staff: George L. Beaudry; Eugene Braun; Tolbert Cheek; Charles E. Clinton; John Cook Sr.; John Dewar; William R. Dorr; Harry Durst; Julius Firmbach; William B. Fleming; John H. Hammond; John W. Heins; F. J. Huenken; Arthur J. Jasper; Albin W. Johnson; George B. Kemp, Sr.; George B. Kemp, Jr.; Leslie N. Leet; Carl M. Oman; Robert W. Pain; W. H. Price; Thomas Radley; Anton Rokus; Ernest Schmidt; Leo F. Schoenstein, Sr.*; Harry Smith; William C. Smith; (John W. Starkie?); Albert Stannke; Charles A. Stebbins; Frank V. Taft; Stewart R. Traquair; Richmond O. Whitelegg; Clarence A. Woodruff.

*Editor's Note: The Schoensteins repeatedly sent their sons to work with the leading firms in the east. The sons returned after a few years with experience with other firms and knowledge of the latest developments.
We received the most recent update for this note from Database Manager on February 11, 2019.

Database Specs:

  • 438 Organs
  • 32 Divisions
  • 27 Consoles

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