Reuter Organ Co.
Opus 871, 1949

From the Pipe Organ History page of the church website, *"In the 1940s, Mr. W. Lee Wood, who had come to the church in 1934 as organist and financial secretary, championed the cause to replace the aging Pilcher organ. His guidance led the church to sign a contract with the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence, Kansas to build a new instrument. Upon removal of the Pilcher organ in the summer of 1949, a chamber was built to house the new Reuter pipework above and behind the choir loft. This chamber continues to house the organ’s pipework today.

*In January 1950, the church dedicated the new Reuter organ (opus 871), inviting Mr. Claude Murphree—who led the organ department at the University of Florida—to play for the service. The Reuter organ consisted of 3 manuals, a pedal division, 19 ranks, and approximately 1,400 pipes. An excerpt from the church’s bulletin at the time of the dedication: “The beautiful and majestic organ…is a modern three-manual instrument designed to give full and brilliant expression to the great compositions of sacred music. The organ has been placed so that the full tonal beauty can be heard by all and has been cased in an attractive grille designed to compliment [sic] the architecture of the sanctuary.”

The Reuter organ, valued at $18,000, was gifted to the church by the Mallary family in memory of Mr. Edgar Young Mallary, Sr., who had served as Chairman of the Board of Deacons, Superintendent of Sunday School, Music Committee Chairman, and teacher of the Mallary Bible Class at First Baptist Church of Christ. The 10 lowest pipes of the Open Diapason from the 1887 Pilcher organ were retained for decorative use in the façade of the Reuter organ. These non-functioning façade pipes were later removed during a sanctuary renovation project in 1967.

Updated through online information from Hunter Godsey. -- This Reuter organ was completely replaced by a Schantz Organ Company instrument in 1986. A few of the Reuter ranks (pedal ranks, we believe) were carried over to the new organ. The console frame was retained and rebuilt.

Updated through online information from Jeff Scofield. -- The chambers were above and behind the choir. Not known if the organ retained a pipe facade from the Pilcher tracker.

Update (2021-08-05): 10 pipes from the Pilcher facade were retained and combined with the Reuter wooden chamber grille. These were removed in 1967.

Identified from the Reuter Opus List, provided by Chris Leaver, Reuter Organ Co., November, 2005.