Pipe Organ Database

From Organ Database Builders editor Charles Eberline, July 7, 2018. -

"1888/1899” in David Fox-s Guide, repeated in the PC Database, is probably a slip for "1898/1899.” The first listing of Charles Viner in the Buffalo city directory is in the directory for 1889, where he is characterized as an "organ tuner.” The directories for 1890, 1891, 1892, and 1893 repeat this characterization. In the directory for 1894 he is characterized as an "organ builder,” but he is listed under the heading "Organ Tuners” in the "Buffalo Business Directory” section. In the 1895 directory he is listed as an "organ manufacturer,” but in the "Buffalo Business Directory” section he is still listed under "Organ Tuners.” In the 1896 directory he is listed as Charles E. Viner, "organ maker,” and is listed under "Organ Builders” in the business directory. In the 1897 directory he is Charles Viner, "organ builder” (Charles E. Viner, under "Organ Builders,” in the business directory), and Charles B. Viner is listed (for the first time) as an "organ voicer”; both are at the same address. The 1898 directory lists Charles Viner, "organ builder,” and Charles B. Viner, "organ builder”; again, Charles E. Viner is listed under "Organ Builders” in the business directory. The 1899 directory lists Charles Viner and Charles B. Viner, both of Viner & Son, and the firm Viner & Son (Charles and Charles B. Viner), "organ builders”; in the business directory, Viner & Son is listed under "Music and Musical Instruments,” while Charles E. Viner is listed under "Organ Builders.” Listings of Charles Viner, Charles B. Viner, and Viner & Son appear in the directories for 1900 to 1911. In the directories for 1912 and 1913 only Charles B. Viner and Viner & Son are listed.

Source:

• Buffalo city directories for the years 1889 to 1913, New York Heritage Digital Collections, accessed June 27 and 28, 2018, through the links at https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/VHB011/search/searchterm/Buffalo%20City%20Directories/field/relatig/mode/exact/conn/and/order/date. An attempt to view pages of the 1911 directory in PDF format yielded the message "Invalid or corrupted PDF file,” but the transcript version of the relevant page appears to display a listing of both Charles Viner and Charles B. Viner, as well as Viner & Son.

From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). -

Succeeded Garret House firm; established by Charles and Charles B. Viner 1888/1899 in Buffalo, New York, active until 1930; (succeeded by Viner Organ Co.).

Staff: Stephen Stoot.

Sources:

• Orpha Ochse, The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 280.
• Barbara Owen, The Organ in New England (Raleigh: Sunbury Press, 1979), 415.