After hearing about the Allen Chapel and their organ restoration project I decided to find out a little about our organ.  Our organ is a Lyon & Healy Builders organ.  It says it is uses the Bennett System.  Lyon & Healy Builders were from Chicago.  Our organ was built built on site in 1885.  Ours may be the oldest know Lyons & Healy still in existence.  Our organ predates the organ at the Allen Chapel AME Church by 20 years.

            Lyons & Healy history is a bit sketchy due to company records being destroyed in four fires including the historic Chicago fire.  It appears that they started selling sheet music and branched out into making pianos and reed organs.  Later they also made a variety of other band instruments including drums and guitars.  They settled on making harps and continue to this day as one of the finest harp makers around.