December 23, 2020
This year, Parsons Pipe Organ Builders celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding and five generations of Parsons family members who have made pipe organs their vocation. Although the manufacturing workshop was established later, the family has been involved in the trade since the late nineteenth century.
Gideon Levi Parsons apprenticed as a flue voicer with noted organbuilder John Wesley Steere and later married Steere’s niece, May Estelle Steere. Gideon continued his voicing career with John’s son, Frank, and later with Ernest M. Skinner, who purchased the Steere firm in 1921. The couple had two sons, Bryant Gideon (b. 1896) and Richard Levi (b. 1905). Both of Gideon’s sons apprenticed with the Steere firm, but only Bryant continued in organbuilding. Following in his father’s footsteps as a voicer was not an option for Bryant as tradesmen commonly held their skills closely for job security. Bryant worked in every department—from stacking lumber, shoveling sawdust, holding keys, and even began setting up organs on his own. However, when he returned to the factory, he was known as “the kid.”