Ernest M. Skinner

Ernest Martin Skinner (born 1866 in Clarion, Pennsylvania – November 26/27, 1960) was one of the most successful American pipe organ builders of the early 20th century. His electro-pneumatic switching systems advanced the technology of organ building in the first part of the 20th century.

Skinner was born in Clarion, Pennsylvania, in 1866 (exact date unknown), to the touring concert singers Washington and Alice Skinner. His father organized a music company in Taunton, and his son attended rehearsals and performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, which stimulated his interest in music.

When he was a teenager, the family moved to West Somerville, Massachusetts, where he attended high school for approximately six months. In his autobiography, he stated that the reason for leaving his schooling was his inability to understand Latin, but Dorothy Holden in her biography The Life and Work of Ernest M. Skinner attributes it to the fact that the family fortunes declined precipitously and Ernest was obliged to assist in supporting the family. It was during this time that Ernest saw his first pipe organ and later got a job as a bellows pumper at fifteen cents per hour. He also repaired his first organ at this early stage of life.

He became a "shop boy" for George H. Ryder, a small organ builder located in Reading, Massachusetts. It was here that Ernest's interest in the pipe organ began to take shape. After four years here, he was summarily fired one morning. This departure proved fortuitous, for it led to his employ at the shop of preeminent Boston organ builder George Hutchings (1835-1913), first as a tuner, then quickly rising to the post as factory superintendent, during his twelve years with that firm.

The 1897 Hutchings organ at the Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, commonly known as the Mission Church, in Boston, drew national attention and acclaim for Hutchings, although he failed to mention his young factory superintendent, Ernest Skinner, by name.

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