Artifact Spotlight: Julia Wolfe’s Estey Pump Organ

On display in the parlor of the Old Kentucky Home is a small pump organ, a common type of reed organ. The pump organ makes its sound by using foot-pedals to force air through numerous chambers attached to metal reeds. They are sometimes called cottage organs, harmoniums, or American organs. This pump organ was made by J. Estey & Co., which was founded in 1846 by Jacob Estey at Brattleboro, Vermont. Originally Estey focused on building and selling melodeons (another type of reed organ), but the company turned its focus to larger pump organs by the late 1860s. With music as the chief form of group entertainment in the 19th century, organs and pianos became staples of the affluent middle-class American household. Organs produced in the United States generally made use of native hardwoods such as walnut for the frame of the organ and pine for the inner workings.

The organ at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial is steeped in family history. The piece has a locatable serial number, 123247, which according to the Reed Organ Society’s database of Estey serial numbers, means it was manufactured in 1882. Unlike many objects in the house this piece was not initially located in the boardinghouse, but at one time was in the Wolfe family home at 92 Woodfin Street. Family lore states the organ was originally used by Julia Wolfe during her days as a teacher in a rural Mitchell County, NC schoolhouse. This would be consistent with her purchasing it new in 1882. Julia then brought it with her to Asheville when the Westall family moved to Chestnut Street by 1883. It is not certain when the organ was moved to the Wolfe family home at 92 Woodfin Street after Julia’s marriage to W.O. Wolfe in 1885. The Wolfe children remembered it finding a place in the children’s playhouse, which was built around 1900 behind their Woodfin Street home. Thomas Wolfe’s sister Mabel Wolfe Wheaton recalled in a December 1954 interview for the Asheville Citizen-Times, “We used to go out to the playhouse on Sunday afternoons, and I’d play hymns and we’d all sing.”

Another clue to the history of this artifact is an inscription on the back above the serial number. It reads “W. J. McCanless 53,” marking ownership by William J. McCanless. William J. McCanless Jr., gave the organ to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in December 1954. In her interview, Mabel Wolfe Wheaton elaborated, “Julia Wolfe had given the organ to a neighbor, Mrs. Johnson, about 20 years ago… and it was passed on subsequently to McCanless.” It is not clear where Julia Wolfe bought the organ, who Mrs. Johnson was, or when the organ was sold to the McCanless family. If this artifact could talk it would surely tell us more about its journey in Asheville and miraculous return to the family collection.

For more information on organs and the history of the Estey Co., check out:

“Melodeon Organ,” Madison County (IL) Historical Society. https://madcohistory.org/online-exhibits/musical-madison-county/melodeon-organ/.

“A Brief Chronology of the Estey Organ Company,” The Estey Organ Museum. https://www.esteyorganmuseum.org/estey-heritage/a-brief-chronology-of-the-estey-organ-company/.

“Why Reed Organs Were Made from Hard Woods,” Pump Organ Restorations. https://www.pumporganrestorations.com/why_reed_organs_were_made_from_hard_woods.htm.

“Reed Organ Database,” Reed Organ Society. https://www.reedsoc.org/index.php/rosdb/ros_search?name=estey&regNo=&nm=1&ctry=1&ser=1&info=1&mklc=1&modl=1&ymStrt=&ymEnd=&stopStrt=&stopEnd=&cStyl=0&showOrg=1&showGel=1&advanced=0&type=Search

Other sources:

“Wolfe’s Playhouse Bought by Association,” Asheville Citizen-Times. October 31, 1954.

“Old Wolfe Organ Now Located In Memorial,” Asheville Citizen-Times. December 17, 1954.