Greencastle, PA

Mathias Peter Moller was born in Denmark in 1854, and apprenticed himself to a carriage maker. He immigrated to America at age 17 and found a woodworking job at the Derrick & Felgemaker Organ Company of Erie, Pa. In 1875 he went into business for himself, and built his first organ for the Swedish Lutheran Church in Warren, PA. In 1877 he moved to Greencastle. He lived at 42 East Franklin Street where he began his organ making business, first producing pump organs. (It is also known that Moller erected a pipe organ in one of the J. B. Crowell buildings.) When Moller was unsuccessful at securing financing from the Greencastle banks to expand his business, he moved to Hagerstown in April 1881.

Originally, Moller was a carriage maker and his interests extended well beyond organ building.  Among numerous other ventures, in 1905, he joined with Robert Crawford to form the Crawford Automobile Co. About 1,500 Crawford touring cars were produced from 1905 to 1924. In 1922, Möller introduced a new car, the Dagmar (named after his wife), which came in a variety of body styles, including a four-passenger version called the Victoria Speedster. Less than a thousand Dagmars were manufactured before production ceased in 1927. Moller's old car factory is still standing on Pope Avenue in south Hagerstown. Part of the building is occupied by - guess! - The Hagerstown Organ Company!  Mr. Moller was also instrumental in establishing the Dagmar Hotel, which also still stands at the corner of Summit Ave. & Antietam Street which is just down the street from Shockey’s (furniture, piano, and organ store) old building. It's (Dagmar Hotel) still being used as a hotel.

Four Greencastle churches have Moller organs in their sanctuaries – Evangelical Lutheran, Trinity Lutheran, Grace United Church of Christ, and Greencastle Presbyterian. 

In January 1880, the Reformed Church (now Grace U.C.C.), 128 East Baltimore Street, began to raise funds to purchase an organ.  M. P. Moller installed an organ in the Reformed Church shortly after that. It was one of the first organs built in Greencastle. The Reformed Church bought the Moller organ for $425.  That first Moller organ was replaced with a newer model in 1902.

After more than a century in business, the Moller Pipe Organ Co. closed its doors in 1992.  Some of the company’s employees started their own organ-related companies in the area which continue to service former Moller Pipe Organ Company customers.  One of those companies is Eastern Organ Pipes, Inc. that operates in part of the old Moller building on North Prospect Street in Hagerstown.

As an added visual for the exhibit, the museum has been given the opportunity to use some rare slides that were taken in 1977 of the Moller Organ factory that show different phases of making an organ by hand, several organs in different states of completion along with some of the workers at that time.  These slides will be shown throughout the open house on the museum’s TV/VCR in the large bedroom upstairs.

Did you know there is currently another organ manufacturing business, Lawless-Johnson Organ Company, in Greencastle?  John Johnson, who formerly worked for the Moller Pipe Organ Company, has kindly agreed to open the doors of his business at 501 South Cedar Lane (only two and half blocks from the museum) to welcome museum visitors to tour his facility during the museum open house times on both Thursday and Sunday.  Johnson will also have new and antique tools on display, all of which are used in the making of organs.  In addition, on display will be a copy of the 50^th anniversary booklet of the Moller Pipe Organ business and a massive book, previously owned by Moller Organ which describes, in depth, the process of making an organ.  Lawless-Johnson is another company in the area, started by one-time Moller employees, which services former Moller Organ customers.  Lawless-Johnson has among their many customers the Greencastle Presbyterian Church and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Howard Swisher, a native of Greencastle-Antrim, worked for the M. P. Moller Organ Company for 47 years.  He worked in the department that made the consoles for all the organs.  The tools with which he worked everyday are on display in the large bedroom upstairs.  Swisher also made the tool box which now contains his tools.  He retired from the Moller Company in 1975.