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ALTON - On December 14, 1924, the Franklin W. Olin Jr. memorial organ was dedicated at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Alton. The Estey Organ Company installed the organ, which had fourteen stops and was electrically operated. Rev. Frederick D. Butler officiated a blessing of the organ at morning services, and the church organist, George A. Rieder, gave an organ recital at 4:30 p.m. Three vocalists, Mildred Dixon McDow, Reven DeJarnette, and Herbert S. Heil, accompanied him. McDow “charmed everyone who heard her,” especially in her performance of “The Penitent,” by composer Beardsley Van de Water. DeJarnett sang the song “It Is Enough,” by Felix Mendelssohn, “with great power.”
Heil sang “The Lord is My Light,” by Francis Allitsen. According to the Alton Evening Telegraph article reporting on the dedication, “only the time, the occasion, and the place prevented applause to express the appreciation of the audience.” At the end of the recital, Franz Schubert's “Marche Militaire” played as the gatherers left the dedication.
An accomplished musician, McDow taught music at Shurtleff College and voice and piano out of her home. She received special training at the Alton Conservatory of Music and was a soloist with Cora B. Rohland, who directed the Dominant Ninth Choral Society. She directed the choir at St. Paul’s for several years and had a soprano singing voice of “great beauty and excellent range.” Reven DeJarnette also taught music at Shurtleff and later held the position of head of the Northwest State College (now Northwest Missouri State University) music department. Herbert S. Heil was a St. Louis singer who sang for special events at many area churches and occasionally performed on the WCK radio station owned by Stix, Baer & Fuller in St. Louis.
Franklin W. Olin Jr. was the son of Mary Mott Moulton Olin and Franklin Walter Olin Sr. and the brother of John M. Olin and Spencer T. Olin Sr. Franklin W. Olin Jr. was born December 20, 1890, and died on February 4, 1921, at age 30. At his time of death, he had suffered for several years from intense gastrointestinal pain and tragically died by suicide after surgery at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in New York. His family attributed his depression to extreme mental distress over the state of his health.
Franklin W. Olin Jr. graduated from Cornell University, where he studied chemistry. The Franklin W. Olin Jr. Hall for Chemical Engineering at Cornell is named in his memory. The Olin family made several significant donations to the University, and there are four Cornell buildings named for Olin family members: the John M. Olin Library, the Franklin W. Olin Jr. Hall for Chemical Engineering, and the Spencer T. Olin Research Laboratory, as well as Franklin W. Olin Hall, a residence for students at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.
Sources
Alton High School (Alton, Ill). 1924. “The Tatler.”https://archive.org/details/AltonHS_Tatler_1906
“Dr. R.S. DeJarnette Named Minister of Music at Church.” Maryville Daily Forum (Maryville, MO), May 1, 1951.
Earle, Corey Ryan. “What's in a name? The stories behind the buildings and byways of Cornell.” Ezra: Cornell’s Quarterly Magazine. Vol. IV, No.1, Fall 2011.https://ezramagazine.cornell.edu/FALL11/CornellHistory.html
“A Fitting Memorial.” Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 13, 1924.
“Franklin Olin’s Funeral Tuesday.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), February 7, 1921.
“F.W. Olin, Jr. Killed in Leap from 3rd Story.” Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL), February 5, 1921.
“Memorial Organ Is Dedicated at St. Paul’s.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 15, 1924.
“Mrs. McDow.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), January 24, 1963.
“New Organ at St. Paul’s To Be Dedicated.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 12, 1924.
“New Pipe Organ for Episcopal Church Coming.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), July 7, 1924.
Study, Guy. 1944. History of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Alton, Illinois. St. Louis, Mo.: Mound city Press.https://archive.org/details/historyofstpauls00stud/
“Voice Stilled.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), January 25, 1963.
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