Database Manager on May 27th, 2013:
Updated through online information from John Paget. -- I went to Benson High School in Portland, Oregon with Franklin Butte. It is a tech school and we both majored in radio. He bought the organ while still in high school and installed it in his parents' basement. He was an absolute genius in many areas. While still in high school he had his commercial license and worked nights as a combo man at local radio stations. He owned a Rolls Royce roadster. We both joined the Alaska Communication System (ACS)which was a branch of the Army Signal Corp that provided military and civilian communications between Alaskan cities and the US. Hence his assignment to Juneau.
Database Manager on March 16th, 2007:
Updated through on-line information from J Allan MacKinnon. -- My wife and I purchased this organ from the Franklin W Butte estate shortly after his death in 1979.
Database Manager on November 1st, 2006:
Identified through on-line information from James R. Stettner. -- According to the Judd Walton Wurlitzer list, this organ was a style "F" originally built for the Corvallis Amusement Co. in Corvallis, Oregon. In 1934, it was moved to the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland, Oregon by an unknown person or firm. (Balcom and Vaughan did install a used Wurlitzer in an Apostolic Church in Portland in 1934, but list it as having come from a theatre in Burns, Oregon - which would make it Opus 119 - originally built for Majestic Theatre in Boise, Idaho.) In 1957, the organ was moved to the Portland, Oregon residence of Alex Guenther. In 1964, it was acquired by Franklin Butte for his Portland residence. And when he moved to Alaska in 1971, the organ came along.