SCHNEIDER PIPE ORGANS, Inc., Kenney, IL, has completed the ongoing renovation and enlargement of the Kilgen Pipe organ in the builder's own church; Zion Ev. Lutheran Church, Mt. Pulaski, IL, as its OPUS XIX.

Early historic details concerning musical instruments used by this, the oldest Missouri-Synod congregation in Logan County, Illinois (founded in 1851) have not yet surfaced in any detail, despite repeated exhaustive searches for information. One older member mentioned having encountered an entry in the church records of an "organ" for $700.00 someplace between the years of 1870 and 1899. The latter range in the date spectrum seems questionable, since less than 10 years later, shortly after the construction of a new building in 1902, a new pipe organ was ordered from the Kilgen Organ Company of St. Louis, MO in 1906. In any event, it would probably be safe to assume that the first instruments prior to 1906 were either a piano or a reed organ.

One major hindrance in further research of the records is that all of the earliest records for this congregation were kept in German script, which yet await the completion of an ongoing congregational project of translation and typing. Once completed, a complete perusal of these records in search of further information detailing the musical life of this fledgling congregation will be an illuminating expedition. It would be quite remarkable to discover the existence of a pipe organ in the southeast corner Logan County prior to 1906!

Details concerning this first known pipe organ are unfortunately sketchy. The present edifice was constructed in 1902, but because the congregation carried a $3,000.00 debt after completion of the building, they deferred the acquisition of a new organ until a later date. The 100th anniversary book for Zion Lutheran Church, which was published in 1951, mentions almost in passing, that: "in October, 1906, the congregation resolved to buy a new organ in St. Louis. An unusually good Kilgen organ was purchased for a contract price of $1,200.00."

Apparently, this instrument was placed in the front alcove on the Epistle side of the Chancel where the present instrument is situated, according to recollections from older members. Unfortunately, an exhaustive search of church records indicates no information regarding the disposition of the original instrument. Moreover, no information is available from the local newspaper. Any information dating back that far, which might have existed in older copies of the newspapers in the archive unfortunately were destroyed by flood.

Given the construction date and remote location of Mount Pulaski, it is surmised that this instrument was most likely a hand-pumped tracker, since electricity was several years yet in being distributed to the area.

On November 26, 1950, the dedication of a new Kilgen instrument, which supplanted the original Kilgen (presumed) Tracker, was performed by Mr. Martin Stellhorn, instructor of Organ, Music Literature & Church Music at the St. Louis Institute of Music, Clayton, MO was heard. This booklet further states that he was "the organist of the St. Louis A Capella Society and the Bach Society for eleven years."

The 1950 Kilgen instrument contained 579 pipes playable as 23 speaking stops distributed over two manuals and Pedal on Electro-Pneumatic unit actions. In this incarnation, the instrument was entirely enclosed in a swell box, except for the pedal Bourdon, which was left outside the swell box on either side and in front of it. The 10 facade pipes were dumb.

The instrument was given as a memorial by the George Rupp Family, Herbert Finke Family, Karl W. Dittus Family, Herbert Schaffenacker Family, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Steging, Mr & Mrs. Elmer Laughery, the John Stoll Family, the George Schahl Family and the Carl H. Schmidt Family. The Chimes were given by The Wilbert C. Hoffmeister family.

In 1958, during a major expansion of the church in the form of an educational wing, an explosion of a tank car in the nearby rail switching yard seriously damaged the church structure, blowing out all of the windows and causing all of the Maas Cathedral chimes hanging within the Swell Box to fall down on top of the pipes, seriously damaging them. These were straightened out as best as possible by the service personnel from Kilgen.


The Original stoplist of the 1950 instrument was as follows:

GREAT: (Under Expression in Swellbox)

8' Diapason 61 Pipes
8' Gedeckt 61 Notes (From Swell)
8' Dulciana 61 Pipes
4' Principal 61 Notes (From Geigen Diapason)
4' Flute d'Amour 61 Notes (From Swell)
4' Dulcet 12 Pipes (Extension 8' Dulciana)
2-2/3' Twelfth 7 Pipes (Extension 4' Principal)
2' Fifteenth 5 Pipes (Extension 2-2/3' Twelfth)
Chimes 21 Bells

SWELL: (Under Expression in Swellbox)

8' Geigen Diapason 73 Pipes
8' Gedeckt 73 Notes
8' Salicional 61 Pipes
8' Voix Celeste 61 Notes
4' Flute d'Amour 12 Pipes
2-2/3' Nazard 61 Notes (From Flute d'Amour)
2' Flautino 61 Notes (From Flute d'Amour)
8' Trumpet 73 Pipes

PEDAL: (Bourdon outside Expression box; rest enclosed)

16' Bourdon 32 Pipes
16' Lieblich Gedeckt 12 Pipes (Extension 8' Gedeckt)
8' Bass Flute 12 Pipes (Extension 16' Bourdon)
8' Gedeckt 32 Notes (From Swell)
4' Block Floete 12 Pipes (Extension 8' Bass Flute)
8' Trumpet 32 Notes (From Swell)

COUPLERS:

8' Great to Pedal
4' Great to Pedal
8' Swell to Pedal
4' Swell to Pedal
16' Great to Great
Great Unison Off
4' Great to Great
16' Swell to Great
8' Swell to Great
4' Swell to Great
16' Swell to Swell
Swell Unison Off
4' Swell to Great

COMBINATION PISTONS:

1-2-3-4 Affecting Great & Pedal Stops (non-electric)
1-2-3-4 Affecting Swell & Pedal Stops (non-electric)

PEDAL MOVEMENTS:

Crescendo Pedal
Combination Great/Swell Expression Pedal
Great to Pedal Reversible
Sforzando Reversible

ACCESSORIES:

Tremolo
Wind & Current Indicator light
Crescendo Indicator light
Sforzando Indicator light
Sacristy signal light
Organ Bench
Console Music Rack Light & Pedal Keyboard Light


Renovation by Schneider Pipe Organs, Inc.: 1987-1992

In the early 1980's serious problems with the Kilgen "Matrix" relay boxes in the form of broken contacts brought about the desire to find a permanent solution to the various mechanical with the instrument. During this period, Richard Schneider and family, pipe organ builder from Kenney, Illinois joined the congregation as members. After several years of "struggling" with the problems of broken contacts and realizing that complete inaccessibility of the contacts within the relay boxes made effectual repair impossible, an Organ Committee was formed with Mr. James Poffenbarger as the liaison between the Trustees and the organbuilder.

A renovation program was proposed to the congregation that would redress these problems by converting the switching systems to solid state control. The program also included console renovations in the form of replacing the defunct original mechanical Combination action with a Peterson solid state single-level memory level with 16 General pistons driving new electric stop action magnets. This also afforded the necessary freedom to re-configure the stoplist to provide additional tonal variety to the instrument. At the same time, the troublesome Trumpet 8' stop was replaced with a new Hautbois stop extended to 16' so that it could function in the Pedal as well as on the Swell division. The program was accepted by the congregation in a special meeting in 1987 with the funds to come from a memorial provided to the church by a generous benefactress: the late Mrs. Hazel Holmes, from whose estate the main portions of the organ renovation project were funded.

The renovated instrument was re-dedicated to the Glory of God in a special Advent Organ Rededication Service of Song on December 11, 1988 with Mr. Alan Keup of Springfield serving as the guest organist. During the same occasion, a special gift was presented to the incumbent organist, Mrs. Lois Stahl who has presided over the 1950 instrument almost from the beginning.

The Re-dedication program included the following Selections:

Praise to the Lord -Paul Manz
Savior of the Nations Come -Paul Manz
In Dulci Jubilo -Paul Manz
Von Himmel Hoch -J.S. Bach
Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring -J.S. Bach
Prelude on: This Joyful Eastertide-Jan Bender
Triune God, Oh, Be our Stay -Paul Manz
I Come, O Savior -Charles Ore
Prelude on: A Mighty Fortress -Wilbur Held
Postlude on: Praise to the Lord -Hans Friedrich Michaeelsen


The renovation program included augmentation of the stoplist of the original Kilgen design with desirable mutations and other registers, as well as a staged program of tonal renovations undertaken in the form of re-voicing the various stops on a rotating basis to provide brighter, more articulate sound in keeping with the strong German-Lutheran musical tradition of this congregation. Despite the increase in size of the instrument, as well as increasing the strength of the Prinzipal chorus in particular, the congregation can easily out-sing the instrument with a very strident registration!

As a Thankoffering to God for His grace, mercy and blessing shown on the organbuilder and his family during their tenure at Zion, especially for the Christian Educational opportunities for the builder's children provided in the Christian-day school, a gift of a new Zimbelstern complete with rotating star, a III-IV 1' Mixtur, composed entirely of re-cycled and re-voiced pipework and a 32' Acoustic Bass stop for the Pedal were given by the Schneider family to Zion Lutheran Church in 1991 and 1992, respectively.

Since completion of that work, the instrument has been visited by a number of recitalists, including Hannes Meyer from Switzerland and Cj Sambach of Brick, NJ, who presented one of his "Pipe Organ Informances" to the congregation and the Christian Day-School.

Those working on this project included the following individuals:


Carl F. Awe: Chest building, pipe racking, wind system modifications and installation, organ re-wiring & general field installation work.

John R. Nodeen: Chest building, pipe racking and remodeling layout work.

Brian Gifford: Assistance in re-finishing facade pipes.

Joan Schneider: Office administration activities, cleaning & polishing pipes and tonal finishing/tuning assistance.

Dan Schneider: Polishing pipes & note-holding assistance.

Joy Schneider: Polishing pipes & note-holding assistance.

Richard Schneider: Administration, re-voicing pipework, console re-building & wiring work, Zimbelstern construction, tonal finishing & general repair work.