Tellers Organ Company was a manufacturer of

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

s in

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. From 1906 to 1973, the company produced over 1,100 organs throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

History

The company was founded by two brothers, Henry and Ignatius Tellers, and William Sommerhof. Prior to this, the two Tellers brothers worked at

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

based

Schuelke Organ Company The Schuelke Organ Company was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based pipe organ builder. Schuelke Organs operated in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. William Schuelke was a Prussian immigrant who came to the United States in 1874. Schuelke's ...

until 1892. They moved to Erie and went to work for the

Felgemaker Organ Company The Felgemaker Organ Company was a manufacturer of pipe organs based out of Erie, Pennsylvania, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. History It was founded in Buffalo, New York in 1865 but relocated to Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1872, the compa ...

for the next 14 years, where they met Sommerhof. In 1906, the three men established Tellers Organ Company. In 1911, the company changed its name to Tellers-Sommerhof Organ Company. Sommerhof would sell his interest in the company to A. E. Kent, another former Felgemaker employee, in 1918. The company's name was then changed to Tellers-Kent Organ Company. Felgemaker also ceased operations that year. Tellers-Kent assumed all the open contracts and service agreement work from Felgemaker. The company was known as Tellers-Kent for a number of years until the name changed back to Tellers Organ Company. The company would eventually become a pioneer in the combination pipe/electronic organ fields and would come to produce the ''Conn-Tellers Electro-Pipe Combination Organ''. The company later became an authorized

Rodgers Instruments Rodgers Instruments Corporation is an American manufacturer of classical and church organs. Rodgers was incorporated May 1, 1958 in Beaverton, Oregon by founders, Rodgers W. Jenkins and Fred Tinker, employees of Tektronix, Inc., of Portland, Or ...

dealer. Lawrence Phelps purchased the Tellers factory in 1973 and established the Lawrence Phelps & Associates organ building firm. Phelps would produce organs in Erie until the company went out of business in 1981.

Churches that have installed Tellers' organs

* St. Alban's Episcopal Chapel,

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, installed 1969 * St. John's United Church of Christ,

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.–based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationall ...

, installed 1961 * Ninth Street Christian Church, Logansport,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, installed 1952 * St. Boniface Church,

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, installed 1961 * St. Paul Lutheran Church, Millington,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, purchased 1965

References

{{Reflist Pipe organ building companies Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United States Companies based in Erie, Pennsylvania American companies established in 1906 Manufacturing companies established in 1906 1906 establishments in Pennsylvania American companies disestablished in 1973 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1973 1973 disestablishments in Pennsylvania