From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). —

Born March 20, 1833 in Bleibuir on the Rhine, near Mechernich, Germany; father of George L. and William F. Odenbrett; brother-in-law of Frank J. Abler; immigrated to the United States with his parents at age 11; in Richfield, Wisconsin; in Waupun, Wisconsin, 1863, music dealer and instrument repairer; maintained residence and business in Waupun, while a partner in Marshall & Odenbrett {formerly Marshall Brothers} of Ripon, Wisconsin, 1867-1870; partner with Frank J. Abler in Odenbrett & Abler of Milwaukee, 1870-1885, organs, (church ornaments?); partner with Clinton M. Brooks in Odenbrett & Brooks of Milwaukee, 1876-1877; had his own firm in Milwaukee, 1886-1896, organs, piano service; partner with George L. Odenbrett in Philipp Odenbrett & Son of Milwaukee, 1897-1903, reed and pipe organs; with Rohlfings, piano tuner; died June 12, 1916.

Patent #254,562; March 7, 1882; pneumatic chest for pipe organ.

Sources:

• One or more local directories of the place and period.
• Gellerman, Robert F., Gellerman's International Reed Organ Atlas (Vestal, New York: The Vestal Press, 1985) 97.
• Letter of Robert Coleberd.
• Ochse, Orpha, The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975). 306.
• Organ Handbook 1986, (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society), 17.
• John Panning.
• Elizabeth Towne Schmitt.
• Richard Weber, "Sketches of Milwaukee Organbuilders, 1847-1902", The Tracker, 34:1 (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1990), 27, 29.

 

See the article by Richard Weber, "Sketches of Milwaukee Organbuilders, 1847-1902", The Tracker, 34:1 (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1990), 17–29 for a more complete history of the Marshall Brothers, John L. Lancashire, Phillip Odenbrett, and Clinton Brooks. Available online at the Organ Historical Society website (https://organhistoricalsociety.org/) under Publications/The Tracker.