2004-10-30/2019-10-16 - From Organ Database Builders editor Stephen Hall, October 16, 2019. — Stanley Wyatt Williams was born October 29, 1881 in London, England; he was a graduate of Dulwich College. His early career was with Robert Hope-Jones at Norman & Beard of Norwich, England, in 1898. He was Hope-Jones again in Ingram & Hope-Jones of Hereford, England where he became head voicer. Around 1904, he immigrated to the United States and started with the Los Angeles Art Organ Co. of Los Angeles, California, as head voicer and superintendent. When the firm failed, he traveled east with other staff members to form the short-lived Electrolian firm of Hoboken, New Jersey, 1905-1906. The Wirsching Organ Co. of Salem, Ohio acquired Electrolian's assets in 1906, Williams moved to Salem and worked with the firm. Three years later (1909) he was again in Los Angeles with Murray M. Harris Organ Co. as a voicer; he remained with the successor companies Johnston Organ Co. and California Organ Co. both of Van Nuys, Californa. He was persuaded to remain with the firm when it became the Robert-Morton Organ Co. of Van Nuys, California although he preferred the traditional church organ to the new theater organs that would be the focus of the new firm. He became the superintendent replacing Edwin A. Spencer. He remained with Robert-Morton until 1923 when he became concerned about the company's financial practices. He tried a brief partnership with Carl B. Sartwell, another former Robert-Morton employee, then became a representative of the W. W. Kimball firm of Chicago, Illinois, in Los Angeles in 1926, and a representative of Ernest M. Skinner firm of Boston Massachusetts in California in 1927. He retired in 1959. Williams died 17 June 1971 in Santa Monica, California. Sources: David H. Fox, "Stanley Wyatt Williams" A Guide to North American Organbuilders rev. ed. (Richmond, Va., Organ Historical Society, 1997), 305. "History of the Robert Morton Unit Organ" a supplementary booklet distributed with the September 1966 issue of The Console magazine, edited and published by Tom B'hend.
2015-10-28/2020-04-09 - For further information, see: Robert Morton Organ Company
2016-01-26/2019-10-16 - Bibliography: R. E. Coleberd, "Stanley Wyatt Williams, 1881-1971, The Odyssey of an Organbuilder" The Diapason June 2006.
2019-10-17/2019-10-17 - From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). — Born October 29, 1881 in London, England; graduate of Dulwich College; with Robert Hope-Jones at Norman & Beard of Norwich, England, 1898; with Ingram & Hope-Jones of Hereford, England, head voicer; with Los Angeles Art Organ Co. of Los Angeles, California, head voicer and superintendent; with Electrolian firm of Hoboken, New Jersey, 1906; with Wirsching firm of Salem, Ohio, 1906; with Murray M. Harris firm of Los Angeles, California, 1909, voicer; with successors Johnston Organ Co. and California Organ Co. of Van Nuys, California; superintendent; with Robert-Morton Organ Co. of Van Nuys, California, until 1922; representative of W. W. Kimball firm of Chicago, Illinois, in Los Angeles, California, 1926; representative of Ernest M. Skinner firm of Massachusetts in California, 1927; retired 1959; died June 17, 1971 in Santa Monica, California. Sources: Raymond Biswanger. The Bicentennial Tracker (Richmond, Va., The Organ Historical Society, 1976), 120. The Diapason February 1914, 1; December 1916, 16; June 1917, 2; April 1922, 19; November 1927, 3; October 1971, 8. Jim Lewis. The American Organist March 1926, 64, 67; October 1968 [no page number in Fox's Guide].
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