It was here that those close to the "Patron" assembled. When Zénaïde Blanc/Cavaillé died in Nîmes in 1883, Vincent returned to Paris and lived with his daughter, Berthe, and then his son-in-law, Gabriel, in the Cavaillé-Coll mansion on the avenue de Maine. He was buried in the Montmparnasse Cemetery in the Reinburg tomb on January 18, 1886.

One day Charles Mutin explained:" I remember Vincent Cavaillé. I owe the fact that I left the Cavaillé-Coll Company for several years and then came back as head to a wonderful conversation we had. He was a very estimable man who didn't let the grass grow under his feet.

CAVAILLE-COLL Vincent (1808-1886)

Vincent Cavaillé was the eldest of the family. He was born several months before the official marriage of his parents. He was a member of that "clan" who, after settling in the rue des Récollets in Toulose in 1827, joined his brother, Aristide, who had gone up to Paris in September 1833 on a reconnoitring trip. Soon the whole family gathered in the St. Georges / Notre-Dame-de-Lorette district. Vincent loved the arts, meeting people and enjoyed life. He was an almost constant source of worry to his younger brother in running the general Partnership Company that had been founded by the parents and the two brothers. On March 5 1845 Vincent married Aspasie Nadau at Bagnères-de-Luchon. On December 9 of the same year, Aspasie gave birth to a girl who was baptised Berthe. In 1867 she married one of the "Patron's" favourite voicers: Gabriel Reinburg.

But then, while he was in the midst of restoring the St. Nazaire church organ in Béziers, Vincent lost his wife on August 11 1850. This was followed by a long, troubled period for Vincent. More often than not he left his little daughter, Berthe, with her Nadau aunts or his brother in Paris and escaped to Spain where there were still ties with his maternal grandmother, Francesca Cole's side of the family.

His family was instrumental in his remarriage, on June 10 1858, in St. Sulpice Church, to Zénaïde Blanc in front of numerous guests one of whom was Louis Reybaud. After his mother's death, Vincent Cavaillé-Coll and his wife settled in Nîmes. He became once again an independent organ builder and broke with his brother for good just when the Paris company had moved into new premises, encompassing 2,800 sq. m. on the avenue du Maine.