Organ

In 1885 Rev. James C. Kerr came to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church succeeding Rev. Benjamin J. Douglass. He was here until 1887. He did much for St. Paul’s especially with his purchase of a Tracker Organ that was to be operated with bellows to furnish air to the 8 pipes. This was to last until 1919 when Rev. Samuel Dies VanLoan 1914-1929 placed an order with Charles S. Haskell to upgrade the organ. They replaced the console, wind chests and reservoir at that time. In 2014 a Meidinger Blower was installed to replace the aging and inadequate blower. It supplied more steadier wind pressure. The records do not show when electricity was made available to St. Paul’s but we do know that a new Kinetic Organ Blower was purchased in 1925 and placed in the Vestry room to provide air to all the pipes of the organ. 

Matters went fairly well until 1949 when there was need of repair in the area of $2,100. There was a bequest of Fannie L. Conover for the organ repair which included the restoration of the Pedal 16’ Bourbon. By the end of 1949 all repairs were completed and paid for. In 1976 there were three choices for the vestry to make for more problems with the organ. One was electrical of $335, two $3,000 of repairs needed and, make a plan for establishing funding annually for future repairs. A member of the parish at his expense took care of the electrical. The vestry had in hand $3,000 donated in memory of William Blizzard by his wife Roberta Brazzure for organ repair. Though the vestry said that it would not be needed for the organ at the time they would spend it on other church needs. However money was taken from that fund to add a 4’ Octave to the great division and new cables were also installed between the console and the wind chests.

In the 1990’s there was real trouble. Leather in the 8’x4’ windchest that maintains a constant wind pressure for the organ had a hole large enough that one could put his whole arm inside. This as well as other issues made playing the organ impossible.

The vestry began reaching out for help and their first response came from Richard Howell & Company in Baltimore, MD whose recommendation would destroy the historical being of the church.

Four years later the C. W. Gibson Co. of New Jersey was asked to do a partial restoration to get it back to playing shape. They redid the wind reservoir, cleaned and did necessary repairs to pipes, some work inside the console, installed a new tremola system, and a few other repairs long overdue. Finally in 1996 a contract was signed to do the work and the church paid $14, 530 to have the work done. Understanding is that the Vestry sold a newer grand piano that was stored in the parish hall for $10,000 to help fund the project. 

From this time and until 1912 all was well.

In 2012 Robert Muhlhauer arrived as a new member and was quite knowledgeable about the organ that we had. He proceeded to replace the console interior with new slide switches for the couplers and all new stop and coupler tabs and arrange the stop tabs in a more modern arrangement. A new windcrest was built for the 4’ Octave added in 1976 so that all the pipe work could be placed together.

In 2014 a new Meidinger Blower was installed to replace the aging and inadequate blower. It supplies more and steadier wind pressure. In 2015 the console was taken from the 18” high platform in front of the church. It provided for a less prominent position and provided for a better view of the proceedings for the organist. 

In January of 2019 Libby Stevenson donated an added 8’ Trumpet to the great division which will eventually play as the swell and pedal. Future plans for the addition include a 2 ⅔’ Twelfth and a 2’ Fifteenth to the great, an 8’ Voix Coleste t.c. and a 2’ Spitz principal to the swell and a 8’ Bourdon to the Pedal.