CANANDAIGUA, NY Drip, drip. The worst leak in the roof of the early 20th-century Woodlawn Chapel was directly above the Hook & Hastings Pipe Organ specially built for the chapel in 1910.
Gone for more than two years from the chapel that Canandaigua philanthropist Mary Clark Thompson had built in 1909, the organ was recently returned home. Renowned Parsons Pipe Organ Builders in nearby Bristol took on the restoration project that wrapped up within the past year.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s 111 years old with 60 years of water damage and brought back to life using most of the original pieces,” said Woodlawn Cemetery Superintendent Doug Stone.
Parsons Pipe Organ Builders 100th anniversary January 20, 2021
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.
Parsons is currently under contract to build new organs for First Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (three manuals, 52 ranks, mechanical action, Scott R. Riedel, consultant); St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, La Jolla, California (four manuals, 79 ranks, electric-slider action, in collaboration with Manuel Rosales; Thomas Sheehan, consultant); and St. Benedict Catholic Cathedral, Evansville, Indiana (three manuals, 57 ranks, electric-slider action). Parsons was also recently chosen to complete the research, documentation, and restoration of the circa 1841 Jacob Hilbus organ for the Organ Historical Society (Bynum Petty, archivist and consultant; S. L. Huntington & Co., collaborating).
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 departmen