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The cobs in the #3001-3017 series are once again not 20-note cobs but rather the much larger and much scarcer cobs for the 32-note Grand roller organ. As we have seen (see the Introduction to the section on Grand cobs #2001-2100), while more than 1,050 different cobs were made for the 20-note roller organ and new ones containing currently popular music continued to be issued regularly from the latter part of the 1880s through the early 1920s, only 160 different cobs were made for the Grand roller organ and at least those in the 2000 series (those numbered from 2001 to 2143) were first issued during a very short period, probably from about 1891 through about 1896. The cobs in the 3000 series all contain music of a religious nature and the music on all of them dates from earlier than 1891 and it therefore cannot be determined exactly when the cobs in the 3000 series were first issued in relation to those in the 2000 series, but it is logical to assume that the higher-numbered 3000 series was at least started no earlier than the 2000 series, and thus must likewise have dated from no earlier than about 1891. It appears that cobs #3015, 3016 and 3017 may have been first issued later than the other cobs in the series because the advertisements for Grand roller organs in Sears Roebuck catalogs through Spring 1902 (No. 111) listed only 3000 series cobs through #3014, while the catalogs beginning with Fall 1902 (No. 112) included the three additional cobs as well.

As also noted in the Introduction to the section on cobs #2001-2100, Grand roller organs were generally sold to wealthier people with more “highbrow” musical tastes and Grand cobs include a much higher percentage of classical and operatic pieces than appeared on 20-note cobs. This difference is paralleled in the religious pieces that were chosen to be included on at least the several lowest-numbered cobs in the 3000 series: instead of simple evangelical hymn tunes of the type that appeared on so many twenty-note cobs in the #1-100, 601-700 and 701-760 series, the cobs in the #3001-3017 series begin with “O Rest in the Lord” from Mendelssohn’s 1846 oratorio “Elijah” (cob #3001), followed by “I Know that my Redeemer Liveth” from Handel’s “Messiah” (cob #3002), followed by “Come Unto Me” (cob #3003) and “Lead, Kindly Light” (#3004), two pieces based on lyrics from familiar hymns but apparently intended as anthems to be sung by choir soloists rather than for congregational singing. With cob #3005 and continuing through the remainder of the series, there is a return to evangelical hymns, all of which appeared in GH and all but one of which (#3011, “Redeemed” (a different hymn from the one on cob #744)) also appeared on twenty-note cobs.

The Grand cobs in the 3000 series are as a group all fairly common relative to Grand cobs in the 2000 series (although, as previously noted, all Grand cobs are hard to find!). Of the seventeen, one has a scarcity rating of “MC” (“most common”), two have a rating of “VC” (“very common”), another eight have a rating of “C” (“common”), four have a rating of “LC” (“less common”) and only two have a rating of “S” (“scarce”). Also, as with twenty-note cobs, Grand cobs containing religious pieces are as a group less popular than non-religious cobs with cob collectors, in part because many collectors are not part of the religious tradition that produced these pieces, but also because the cobs containing evangelical hymns merely repeat the tune exactly the same several times in succession as if they were intended for use in congregational singing, in arrangements similar to those of the same tunes on twenty-note cobs and, as such, are not the most interesting cobs musically and do not really make use of the Grand roller organ’s greater range and capability compared with twenty-note cob organs (One exception to this, in my opinion, is cob #3011, which contains the tune by James McGranahan to the now-forgotten hymn “Redeemed” with lyrics by Major Daniel W. Whittle, an appealing and powerful march-type piece that did not appear on the twenty-note organ).

#3001 - O, Rest in the Lord / Elijah, Scarcity: S
As noted in the Introduction to this section, the first of this separate series of Grand cobs containing religious music, reflecting once again the upscale nature of the Grand roller organ, does not have on it a familiar evangelical hymn like those that appeared on so many of the cobs containing religious music that were made for the Autophone Company’s smaller and more popular 20-note roller organs; instead, it once again draws from the classical music repertoire, and contains a piece from the 1846 oratorio “Elijah”, op. 70, by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847; other works by Mendelssohn appeared on Grand cobs #2007, 2038, 2059, 2084 and 2138 and on 20-note cobs #32, 56, 1190 and 1223). Reference: GD

#3002 - I Know That My Redeemer Lives, Scarcity: C
Likewise, the second Grand cob in the separate 3000 series contains the tune to the familiar soprano solo “I Know That my Redeemer Liveth” from the oratorio the “Messiah” by George Frederic Handel (1685-1789), which was first performed in 1742 in Dublin. Reference: GD

#3003 - Come Unto Me, Scarcity: C
SR attributed the tune on this cob to “McGranahan” and the prolific composer of hymn tunes, tenor singer, song leader and music publisher James McGranahan (1840-1907; see also the notes to cobs #9, 27, 28, 99, 609 and 737) did indeed write the music for at least two hymns with the words “Come Unto Me” in the title. The lyrics to the first, “Come Unto Me and Rest” (GH #219), were by “El Nathan” (evangelist Major Daniel W. Whittle (1840-1901); see also the notes to cob #9) and the lyrics to the second, a copy of the single-page sheet music for which is in MN, were by P.P. (Philip Paul) Bliss (1838-1876; see also the notes to cobs #12 and 27), but neither tune corresponds to the tune on the cob, which does not break down into repeated stanzas like those on cobs #3005-3017 but is more similar to the piece on cob #3004, discussed below, in which the composer took the three stanzas of a well-known hymn and wrote music to which they can be sung continuously in succession, thereby creating what was apparently intended to be an anthem to be sung by choir soloists rather than for congregational singing. The long listing of publications of Fleming H. Revell, “Publisher of Evangelical Literature”, inThe Publishers Trade List Annual for 1887 (New York, The Publishers’ Weekly, 1887) included in its “Musical Works” section “The Sacred Song Series. Solos, Duets and Choruses, with Accompaniment” listing eight pieces, all by McGranahan, the first of which was “Come Unto Me (duet and solo)”. Although I have not yet located a copy of this item of sheet music, I suspect that the melody in it may correspond to the tune on this cob.

#3004 - Lead, Kindly Light, Scarcity: VC
The tune on this cob is not either of the two familiar tunes usually associated with this hymn (“Lux Benigna” by John B. Dykes, which appeared on twenty-note cob #734 (see also the notes to that cob), and the simpler “Sandon” by Charles H. Purday) but rather is a totally different piece of music by Dudley Buck (1839-1909), a church organist and choral conductor who was born in Hartford, Connecticut and studied music in Leipzig, Dresden and Paris as a young man. There is sheet music for the piece in MN published by Oliver Ditson in Boston as a hymn for an evening service in anthem form in a series titled “Church Music by Dudley Buck”, describing it as Buck’s “Op. 65, No. 2”. The original copyright date is given as 1873. The lyrics to Buck’s anthem are the three verses of the hymn as it was originally written by John Henry Newman (1801-1890), sung continuously in succession. Newman, an Oxford graduate, was first an Anglican clergyman and a leader of the Oxford Movement, which sought to restore greater ritual and ceremony to the English Church, and later converted to Roman Catholicism and ultimately became a Cardinal. He wrote the lyrics to “Lead, Kindly Light” in 1833 during a delay of a week when a ship on which he was returning to England from the Mediterranean became becalmed. References: GD, MH #514 (with both familiar tunes), MC

#3005 - Nearer, My God to Thee, Scarcity: MC
The hymn on this cob, like the hymns on cobs #3006-3010 and 3012-3017, also appeared on a twenty-note cob in the #1-100 series, and just as cob #2, “Nearer, my God to Thee”, is the most common twenty-note cob and it is unusual to find any batch of cobs of any size that does not include at least one copy of it, cob #3005 is the most common Grand cob. The words to the hymn were written by Sarah Flower Adams (1805-1848), an Englishwoman, and appeared in Hymns and Anthems, an 1841 hymnal compiled by the minister of the Unitarian church she attended, the music was written fifteen years later to go with the words by Lowell Mason (1792-1872), one of the most important figures in American hymnody, and the hymn thereafter achieved great popularity (see also the notes to cob #2 for further details about Mason and the hymn). It is played through twice in succession on this cob, each time followed by a brief musical interlude based on the tune. References: GH #719, MH #362, 101HS, HU, IS, MC

#3006 - Onward, Christian Soldiers, Scarcity: C
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #6. The words were written very quickly in 1864 by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924), an Anglican clergyman, to be sung in a children's procession from one Yorkshire village to another and the tune, “St. Gertrude”, was composed six years later by Sir Arthur S. (Seymour) Sullivan (1842-1900), who is better known for his operettas written in collaboration with W. S. Gilbert (see also the notes to cob #6 for further details about Baring-Gould and the hymn). It is played through twice in succession on this cob, each time repeating the last line. References: GH #365, MH #280, 101HS, HU

#3007 - Hold the Fort, Scarcity: C
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #12. The hymn dates from 1870 and both the words and music were by P. P. (Philip Paul) Bliss (1838-1876), a largely self-taught musician from northwestern Pennsylvania who became associated with evangelist Dwight L. Moody and his song leader, Ira D. Sankey, and helped Sankey compile Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs (1875) and Gospel Hymns No. 2 (1876), which constituted the first two parts of the great hymn collection Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (GH) (see also the notes to cob #12 for further details about Bliss and the hymn). It is played through three times in succession on this cob, repeating the final line at the end of each verse, with a brief silence between verses and a drawn-out “amen” at the very end. References: GH #11, MH, CH, 101 HS, HU, MC

#3008 - Jesus, Lover of My Soul, Scarcity: C
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #73. The words were written in 1738 by Charles Wesley (1707-1788) (see notes to cob #32), brother of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and the tune was by Simeon B. (Butler) Marsh (1798-1875), an organist, choir director and music teacher in upstate New York, and dates from 1834 (see also the notes to cob #73 for further details about Charles Wesley and the hymn). It is played through very slowly, twice in succession, on this cob, each time repeating the final line. References: GH #721, MH #338, 101HS, HU, IS, MC

#3009 - Only an Armor Bearer, Scarcity: C
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #26. It is another hymn with both words and music by P.P. (Philip Paul) Bliss (1838-1876) and appeared in a collection called Sunshine in 1873 (see also the notes to cob #26 for further details about the hymn). It is played through rather quickly, three times in succession, on this cob, each time repeating the final line, with a brief silence between verses. References: GH #50, JD

#3010 - Let the Lower Lights be Burning, Scarcity: C
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #25. It is still another with both words and music by P.P. (Philip Paul) Bliss (1838-1876) (see also the notes to cob #25 for further details about the hymn). It is played through three times in succession on this cob, each time followed by a brief musical interlude. References: GH #45, MH #254, 101MHS

#3011 - Redeemed, Scarcity: LC
The tune on this cob is not that of the familiar hymn “Redeemed” (“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb”) with words by Fanny Crosby and music by William J. Kirkpatrick that appeared on cob #744 and has continued in use in evangelical denominations down to the present day, but rather is the tune of a pretty and majestic but now-forgotten hymn of the same name with words by “El Nathan” (evangelist Major Daniel W. Whittle (1840-1901); see also the notes to cobs #9, 609 and 3003) and music by James McGranahan (1840-1907; see also the notes to cobs #9, 27, 28, 99, 609, 737 and 3003), who succeeded P. P. Bliss as Whittle’s song leader following Bliss’ death in 1876 (As to Bliss, whom we have just re-encountered as the writer and composer of the hymns on cobs #3007, 3009 and 3010, see also the notes to cobs #12 and 27). The hymn is played through twice in succession on this cob, with a brief silence in between. Reference: GH #259

#3012 - Sweet Hour of Prayer, Scarcity: LC
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #68. The words are attributed to Rev. William W. Walford (1772-1850), a blind lay preacher in England, and were published in the New York Observer in 1845, the tune was written by William B. Bradbury (1816-1868) to accompany the words in 1861 and the hymn first appeared that year in a Bradbury hymn collection called The Golden Chain. The hymn is played through twice in succession on this cob, with a brief musical interlude in between. References: GH # 634, MH #302, 101MHS, HU

#3013 - Beautiful Valley of Eden, Scarcity: C
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #69. The tune was composed in 1877 by William F. (Fisk or Fiske) Sherwin (1826-1888) and the words were written by Massachusetts-born William O. (Orcutt) Cushing (1823-1902) (see also the notes to cob #69 for further details about Sherwin, Cushing and the hymn). It is played through twice in succession on this cob, with a brief musical interlude in between. References: GH #138, MH, 101 HS, 101MHS, HU, IS

#3014 - Sweet Bye and Bye, Scarcity: VC
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #1. It dates from 1868 and its words were written by S. (Sanford) Fillmore Bennett (1836-1898), a pharmacist, and its music was composed by Joseph P. (Philbrick) Webster (1819-1875), a music teacher, both of whom lived in Elkhorn, Wisconsin and neither of whom is remembered today as the author or composer of any other hymn (see also the notes to cob #1 for further details about Bennett, Webster and the hymn). It is played through twice in succession on this cob, with a brief musical interlude in between. References: GH #110, 101MHS, IS

#3015 - From Greenland's Icy Mountains, Scarcity: LC
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #4. The words were written spontaneously in 1819 for use at a missionary service by English clergyman Reginald Heber (1783-1826) and the music was composed to go with Heber’s words several years later by Lowell Mason (1792-1872), the enormously productive American composer of hymn tunes (see also the notes to cob #4 for further details about Heber, Mason and the hymn). After a brief introduction, the hymn is played through twice in succession on this cob, each time repeating the final line. References: GH #41, CL, MH #484, 101HS, HU

#3016 - Portuguese Hymn, Scarcity: LC
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #59. The tune dates from the 18th century, its composer is unknown, and it is used for the Latin Christmas carol of unknown authorship “Adeste Fideles” (and its English translation, “O Come All Ye Faithful”) as well as for the hymn “How Firm a Foundation” (see also the notes to cob #59 for further details about the hymn). After a brief introduction, the hymn is played through twice in succession on this cob, each time repeating the final line. References: GH #613, MH #96, CH, CL, HU, MC

#3017 - Antioch, Scarcity: S
The hymn on this cob also appeared on twenty-note cob #15. The words are those of the Christmas carol “Joy to the World” and are a paraphrase of Psalm 98 in verse by the extremely prolific British hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748) and date from 1719. The music was adapted by Lowell Mason (1792-1872) in 1830 from “The Messiah” (1742) by George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) and was arranged to fit Watts’ poem. After a brief introduction, the hymn is played through at a fairly quick pace four times in succession on this cob, each time followed by a little flourish. References: GH #606, MH #89, CL, 101HS, HU, MC