FUN Facts, brought to you by First United National Bank, is a new weekly feature on exploreClarion.com and exploreVenango.com that will list facts about the area and other relevant topics.
1. The Most Sought After Organ Builder of the Early 20th Century Was Born in Clarion, Pa.
Ernest Martin Skinner, pictured above, was the United States’ most sought-after American organ builder in the first quarter of the twentieth century.
He was born in Clarion, Pennsylvania, on January 15, 1866.
Skinner’s fascination with creating musical sounds was “formed through an abundance of exposure to music via his family.” His parents, Washington Martin Skinner and Alice Francis Brett, were both itinerant professional concert and opera singers. The Skinner family settled in Taunton, Massachusetts when Ernest was seven-years-old.
In 1900, Skinner started his own company and through the years various companies bearing his name produced hundreds of organs that were placed within prestigious facilities throughout the world.
His final major project was a great organ built in collaboration with his son, Richmond Hastings Skinner, and placed in the Washington National Cathedral in 1938.
Skinner passed away on November 26, 1960, at the age of 94, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
More information on Skinner can be found here.
SOURCES: Arizona State University, The Life and Work of Ernest M. Skinner — Dorothy Holden published by The Organ Historical Society, 1985
2. SCI-Forest Accounts for Nearly 1/3 of the Total Population of Forest County
The most current population data available shows that 7,410 people reside in Forest County, Pa., making it the third-least populous county in Pennsylvania.
An August 31, 2018 population report released by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections lists the current SCI-Forest population at 2,409 inmates meaning the facility accounts for 32.5% of the total population of the county.
The population of the county prior to the 2004 opening of SCI-Forest was at 4,946, according to census data.
SOURCES: PA Department of Corrections, United State Census
3. One of the Founding Fathers of Modern Hematology Grew Up in Oil City, Pa.