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Estey Organ Co. Opus 2947 (1930)

Munger Place Methodist Episcopal Church, South: Chancel
5200 Bryan Street
Dallas, TX

Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)


Images


2009-10-15 - Sanctuary interior with organ facade and grille (Photograph by Rev. Andrew Forrest/Database Manager)

2009-01-02 - Church exterior (Photograph by Terry L. Shuck/Database Manager)

2010-01-22 - Organ facade and grille (Photograph by Terry L. Shuck/Database Manager)

2008-12-29 - Organ facade and grille (Photograph by Terry L. Shuck/Database Manager)

Consoles

Main


Notes

2007-10-26 - Identified by James R. Stettner through information from the Estey Opus List, published in The Boston Organ Club newsletter, 1973-1979. -Database Manager

2010-11-13 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- The text on the Official Texas Historical Building Marker states: "Organized in 1914, this church has served the Munger Place and East Dallas communities with a variety of programs. A neighborhood landmark, this sanctuary was built in 1925 during the pastorate of the Rev. George M. Gibson. Designed in the English Gothic style by prominent Dallas architect C. D. Hill, its features include symmetrical side gables, a corner square-plan tower, and unusual window tracery and decorative details. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990." -Database Manager

2010-11-21 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- According to a July 10, 1930 Dallas Morning News article, the Woman's Missionary Society of Munger Place Church signed a contract with Estey Organ Co. for the purchase of a $15,000 instument. Mrs. George W. Works was president of the missionary society. According to a July 14, 1930 Dallas Morning News article, the Estey pipe organ was to be installed around Dec. 1, 1930. The late W. L. Moore, a parishioner of Munger Place Church, left a bequest for a church organ. This amount was added to the money raised by the Woman's Missionary Society. Mrs. S. M. McGehee, president of the society, was assisted in the selection of the organ by a committee composed of Mrs. George W. Works, chairman; Mrs. C. M. Cocke; and Mrs. A. C. Raines. -Database Manager

2010-11-21 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- According to a Dec. 4, 1930 Dallas Morning News article, the installation of the three manual Estey organ was almost completed. The organ weighed 32,000 pounds, had forty-eight speaking stops, and contained more than 2,000 pipes. The chimes were donated as memorial by a parishioner. -Database Manager

2010-11-21 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- According to a Dec. 11, 1930 Dallas Morning News article, the new $17,000 Estey organ was to have a dedicatory recital by Frances Hardin of Hot Springs, Ark. The article also mentions Charles Kiker as the church organist and Mrs. J. E. Miller as the choir director of Munger Place Church. -Database Manager

2010-11-22 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -Database Manager

2010-11-28 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -Database Manager

2010-11-28 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- According to an e-mail message from the Rev. Andrew Forrest of Munger Place Church, the Estey organ has been donated to a Dallas organ builder. -Database Manager

2010-11-29 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -Database Manager

2010-12-14 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- The following information concerning the Munger family and the Munger Place Church was recently published in Texas Methodist History: "Saturday, December 04, 2010 This Week in Texas Methodist History December 5 First Lay Delegates Seated at Texas Annual Conference December 11, 1867 The 1866 General Conference of the MECS is rightly considered by many historians as one of the most significant. The 1862 General Conference had been canceled because of the Civil War. When delegates to the 1866 General Conference arrived in New Orleans, they faced a mountain of problems. Many of the church buildings had been destroyed or neglected during the Civil War. African American Methodists were leaving the MECS by the thousands. No bishops had been elected for eight years, Prospects looked dismal. <br><br>One of the steps the General Conference of 1866 took was to authorize lay representation in the both the annual and general conferences. So it was that on December 11, 1867, sixteen lay members of the Texas Annual Conference were duly enrolled when the conference met in Houston. Three of the sixteen lay delegates are particularly interesting because in the years to come there were churches that bore their family names. August Bering and Morris McAshan were both from Houston. Bering UMC is still in operation. McAshan Methdodist Church was once located just north of Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston. It is no longer in existence. <br><br>The third delegate whose family name was the name of a church was also from Houston-Sylvester Munger, and the church in this case, Munger Place Methodist Church in Dallas bears the name of the suburban development of his nephew, Robert Sylvester Munger. Since Munger Place UMC has recently been in the news as the result of its becoming a branch of Highland Park UMC, we should remember the life and contributions of Robert Sylvester Munger. <br><br>The Munger family was rooted in Connecticut where R. S.Munger-s father, Henry was born. Some of the family migrated to South Carolina, then to Mississippi, and then to Texas. Henry tried his luck in the California gold fields but came back to Texas when he met and married Jane McNutt, daughter of Robert McNutt, Texas Revolution hero and close associate of John Wesley Kenney. <br><br>The couple lived in Rutersville which had been originally organized by Methodists, and it was there in 1854 that Robert Sylvester Munger was born. Henry followed the Houston and Texas Central Railway as it built its rails north, and eventually settled in Mexia where he opened a lumber business. One way that Henry Munger expressed his love for the church was his supplying building materials to churches at cost. <br><br>Living in Mexia meant that Robert S. Munger was close to one of the finest schools in Texas, Trinity University in Tehuacana, and he took advantage of that opportunity. (Trinity University was later relocated to Waxahachie and then San Antonio. Methodist Protestants bought the facilities and operated a college there.) The Munger family expanded from lumber to cotton farming, and it was in that arena that R. S. Munger made his mark. The youthful Munger turned his attention to the ginning process. At the time most ginning was done in small-scale animal-powered gins in, or near, the cotton fields. Munger began a series of inventions that revolutionized the industry. From the pneumatic suctioning of cotton from the wagons to the bagging of 500 pound bales wrapped in burlap, Munger-s inventions increased the speed and efficiency at every step. The cumulative effect of his patented improvements was to replace the small animal-powered gins on plantations with larger steam and then diesel gins to which farmers brought their crops. The "Munger System� was so great an improvement that it was universally accepted across the South. <br><br>In 1885 R. S. Munger opened a manufacturing plant in Dallas. A few years later he built a larger one in Birmingham, Alabama, and after that spent most of his time there. The Munger family did not abandon Dallas. Robert-s brother Stephen ran the Dallas operation. In 1902 Robert Munger sold his gin machinery manufacturing business and turned his attention to real estate development. The Munger Place subdivision was a showplace of fine homes in what some sources describe as the first subdivision to employ deed restrictions. It was conveniently located just east of downtown Dallas and soon became one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the state. There was even a possibility that the new university the Methodists were planning in Dallas would be built in Munger Place. R. S. Munger's offer of fifty acres for a campus could not compete with the 300 acres plus cash offer that was accepted. Munger Place Methodist was organized in 1913, and the present sanctuary built in 1925. <br><br>Later, though, upscale Dallas neighborhoods moved north instead of east. The location of SMU in the north near Highland Park, rather than the east near Munger Place was part of that trend. It also adds a bit historic irony to the October 2010 re-opening of Munger Place as a branch of Highland Park UMC. If SMU had been located on the east side of Dallas rather than the north side, the roles of the respective churches might have been reversed. <br><br>Robert S. Munger died in Birmingham in 1923. In addition to his impact in Dallas, he is also remembered at UMC-related Birmingham-Southern College where Munger Hall is named for him. <br><br>Thanks to Rev. William Lanigan for research help for this column." -Database Manager

2010-12-19 - Updated through on-line information from T. Bradford Willis, DDS. -- According to a History of Munger Place United Methodist Church by Nadyne Hill of Dallas, "The organ includes twenty-five ranks and three manuals, with a fourth manual prepared for expansion." This church history, which includes the date of the congregation's organization and names of charter members, is located in a Vertical File on Munger Place Methodist Church in the Texas / Dallas History & Archives Division of the Dallas Public Library. -Database Manager


Stoplist

Source: From THE DIAPASON August 1930

       Dallas, Texas
       Munger Place Methodist Church

       Estey   Op. 2947   1931   3/28
       ______________________________________________

       GREAT                      CHOIR
    8' Open Diapason     73   16' Contra Dulciana  73
    8' 2nd Open Diapason 73    8' Violin Diapason  73
    8' Grossflöte        73    8' Clarabella       61
    8' Gemshorn          73    8' Flute Celeste    61
    8' Clarabella        CH    8' Dulciana         12
    8' Dulciana          CH    8' Unda Maris       61
    4' Octave            12    4' Flute            12
    4' Flute             CH    2' Piccolo          12
    8' Tuba              73    8' French Hoen      73
       Chimes            20    8' Clarinet         73
                                  Chimes           GT
       SWELL                      
    8' Open Diapason     73       PEDAL
    8' Gedeckt           73   32' Resultant       res
    8' Viol d'Orchestre  73   16' Open Diapason GT 12
    8' Salicional        73   16' Bourdon          32
    8' Voix Celeste      61   16' Violone          32
    8' Aeoline           73   16' Lieblich Gedeckt 32
    4' Octave            73   16' Contra Dulciana  CH
    4' Violina           73    8' Bass Flute       12
    4' Flute d'Amour     12    8' Cello            12
2 2/3' Nazard  (Mixture) --    8' Flauto Dolce     SW
    2' Flautino (Mixture)--   16' Contra Fagotto   SW
  III  Dolce Cornet     183
   16' Contra Fagotto    73
    8' Cornopean         73
    8' Oboe              12
    8' Vox Humana        73
    4' Clarion           12

        [Received from Jeff Scofield April 3, 2023]

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