The organ, specifically the princess Victorian parlor organ, housed at the Riley House, was invented by Charles P. Bowlby. The organ has 10 stops and swell paddle pumps. Bowlby, originally a cabinet maker, got into the organ-making business with Hiram Alleger and Edward Plotts. Bowlby was from Washington, New Jersey. Alleger was a corporal during the Civil War in Company I, 31st New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. Plotts, after leaving the partnership in about 1880, invented a new organ called "the gem organ."