Church of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity - Brooklyn Heights, New York (Photo: Steven E. Lawson)

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St. Ann's Episcopal Church

Clinton and Livingston Streets
Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. 11201


Organ Specifications:
Clinton and Livingston Streets (1869-1969)
• II/28 Austin Organ Company, Op. 222 (1908)
• II/18 George Jardine & Son (1885) – Chancel
III/45 Henry Erben (1868)
Washington Street (1825-1869)
II/22 Henry Crabb (1850)
• Henry Erben (1828)
Sands Street (1805-1825)
• II/ William Redstone (1814)


St. Ann's Episcopal Church (1824 building) - Brooklyn, NY  
1824 Church on Sands Street
 
The following history is taken from History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh, written and published in 1863 by Henry Reed Stiles:

"In 1785, a union or partnership house of worship, was erected on the late Episcopal burying ground (now occupied by St. Ann’s Building), in Fulton street, for Mr. Mattuck, an independent preacher; but several of the prominent partners in its ownership becoming disaffected with the undertaking, it passed into the hands of some of Mr. Wright’s parishioners, and was consecrated, about the same time by Bishop Provost. On the 23d of April, 1787, the parish was incorporated, by act of legislature, as “The Episcopal Church of Brooklyn,” and the following individuals were named as trustees, viz: Messrs. John Cornell, Matthew Gleaves, Joshua Sands, Joseph Sealy, John Van Nostrand, Aquila Giles, and Henry Stanton.

"Mr. Wright continued his ministrations here until his removal in 1789, and. was succeeded by the Rev. Elijah D. Rattoone, who continued until March, 1792, when he accepted the professorship of Greek in Columbia College, New York. The Rev. Ambrose Hull, deacon, followed Mr. Rattoone, in 1792, but remained only a few months; having inherited a large estate at the south, he removed thither, and subsequently abandoned the ministry. The next incumbent was the Rev. Samuel Nesbitt, whose connection with the church, as may be inferred from the list of baptisms, commenced in January, 1793.

"On the 22d of June, 1795, the church was reorganized and incorporated by the name of St. Ann’s Church, a title which it is said to have “tacitly received some years before,” in compliment to Mrs. Ann Sands, who, with her husband (Mr. Joshua Sands), had been its most liberal donor. The building was entirely refitted, and Mr. Nesbitt was constituted rector, with a vestry composed of the following gentlemen: Wardens, John Van Nostrand, Geo. Powers; vestrymen, Joshua Sands, Paul Durell, Joseph Fox, William Carpenter, Aquila Giles, John Cornell, Gilbert Van Mater, Robert Stoddard.

St. Ann's Episcopal Church - Brooklyn Heights, New York (Wood engraving after a sketch by T.R. Davis, ca 1880)  
St. Ann's Church, ca. 1880  
"In 1798, the Rev. John Ireland succeeded to the rectorship of St. Ann’s, and it was during his charge that the stone church which preceded the present edifice, and the first erected on the ground given by Mr. and Mrs. Sands, was built and occupied, being consecrated by Bishop Benjamin Moore, on the 30th of May, 1805, on which occasion, also, thirty-seven persons were confirmed. The church-edifice being considered unsafe for much further use, in consequence of the damages done to its walls by the powder mill explosion of 1808, measures were taken for the erection of a new building. And on the 31st of March, 1824, the corner-stone of the present edifice was duly laid, and the church being complete, was consecrated on the 30th of July, 1825, by the Rt. Rev. John Cross, D.D., of New Jersey, acting for Bishop Hobart, then absent in Europe. The sermon was preached by the venerable Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, and the sentence of consecration read by the Rev. Mr. Whitehouse, now the bishop of Illinois. The dimensions of the church were ninety-eight feet in length, by sixty-eight in width, and thirty-four feet in height, to the eaves, and eighty to the summit of the tower. In 1826, a new parsonage was built, where Clark street now enters Fulton street, and nearly opposite to the old Episcopal burying ground.

  St. Ann's Chapel and Church (Episcopal) - Brooklyn, NY
 
St. Ann's Chapel and Church
"The Rev. Lawrence H. Mills, who had been officiating previous to Dr. Cutler’s death, succeeded him as rector, March, 1864. Steps were taken soon afterward, toward erecting a new church and chapel on the corner of Clinton and Livingston streets, from designs prepared by Messrs. Renwick and Sands; and the chapel was begun in 1866, and opened for divine services in the following year, April 7, 1867. Upon the withdrawal of Mr. Mills, on the first of April, 1867, the Rev. N. H. Schenck, D.D., was called, and inducted into the rectorship on Ascension day, the thirtieth of May. The corner-stone of the present magnificent church edifice, was laid on the 5th of June, 1867, by the bishop of the diocese, the Rev. Drs. Littlejohn and Schenck delivering addresses. The church was opened for divine worship on Wednesday, October 21, 1869, by Charles P. McIlvaine, bishop of Ohio (and a former rector of St. Ann’s) assisted by a large number of bishops and clergy. The music on this memorable day, was rendered by a choir of fifty, under the direction of the organist of the church, John W. Lovitz, Jr. and a historical discourse was delivered on the evening of the same day by Bishop Littlejohn. The building, which we have not the space to describe, is of Belleville and Cleveland stone; and of the middle pointed gothic. Its dimensions are seventy-five by one hundred and twenty-six feet, the height from floor to roof being ninety feet; and it will seat two thousand four hundred persons, being the largest, as well as the most imposing church edifice in Brooklyn."

In 1969, St. Ann's Church, faced with a crumbling building, moved into the former Holy Trinity Church on Montague Street. The congregation then assumed the present name of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity. The old St. Ann's Church was purchased by the Packer Collegiate Institute who made extensive alterations to the interior for use as school facilities.
            
Austin Organ Company
Hartford, Conn. – Opus 222 (1908)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 28 stops


Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
George Jardine & Son
New York City (1885)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 16 stops, 18 ranks


In 1885, George Jardine & Son of New York built a two-manual organ for the chancel. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
Henry Erben
New York City (1868)
Mechanical action
3 manuals, 35 stops, 45 ranks
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes
16
  Double Open Diapason
58
3
  Twelfth
58
8
  Open Diapason
58
2
  Fifteenth
58
8
  Gamba
58
  Sesquialtera, 3 ranks
174
8
  Melodia
58
    Mixture, 3 ranks
174
8
  Stopped Diapason
58
8
  Trumpet
58
4
  Principal
58
4
  Clarion
58
4
  Night Horn
58
       
               
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed
16
  Bourdon
58
2
  Fifteenth
58
8
  Open Diapason
58
    Cornet, 3 ranks
174
8
  Dulciana
58
8
  Cornopean
58
8
  Stopped Diapason
58
8
  Hautboy
58
8
  Vox Celestes
58
    Tremulant  
4
  Flute Harmonic
58
    2 blank slides  
4
  Principal
58
       
               
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
  Open Diapason
58
4
  Principal
58
8
  Pyramidal Diapason
58
2
  Flageolet
58
8
  Clarabella
58
8
  Clarionet [TC]
46
8
  Dulciana
58
8
  Bassoon bass
12
8
  Keraulophon
58
    blank slide  
4
  Flute Traverse
58
       
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
  Double Open Diapason
30
8
  Clarabella Flute
30
16
  Contra Gamba
30
8
  Violoncello
30
16
  Bourdon
30
16
  Trombone
30
               
Couplers &c.
1.
  Manual engine  
5.
  Choir and Great
2.
  Pedal engine  
6.
  Swell and Great  
3.
  Great and Pedals  
7.
  Swell and Pedals  
4.
  Swell and Choir  
8.
  Choir and Pedals  
            Bellows signal  
           
Organ in church at Washington and Prospect Streets:

Henry Crabb
Flatbush, L.I. (1854)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 18 stops, 22 ranks


In 1854, Henry Crabb of Flatbush built a new two-manual and pedal organ for St. Ann's Church. Crabb provided a Grecian case in grained oak that had 13 gilt facade pipes. The case measured 22 ft. high, 18 ft. 6 in. wide, and 11 ft. 3 in. deep. When the church was torn down in 1880 to make way for the Brooklyn Bridge, Henry Erben placed an advertisement to sell the organ, along with the following specifications.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 54 notes [CC-f3]
8
  Open Diapason
54
3
  Twelfth
54
8
  Stop'd Bass
17
2
  Fifteenth
54
8
  Stop'd Treble
37
    Sexquatter [sic], 2 ranks
108
8
  Dulciana [TC]
42
    Mixture, 2 ranks
70?
4
  Principal
54
8
  Cremona
37
4
  Flute [TC]
42
8
  Trumpet
54
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 54 notes [CC-f3], enclosed
16
  Bourdon
37
4
  Principal Bass
17
8
  Open Diapason
37
4
  Principal Treble
37
8
  Stop'd Diapason Bass
17
    Cornet, 3 ranks
111
8
  Stop'd Diapason Treble
37
8
  Hautboy
37
               
Pedal Organ – 18 notes [C-f]
16
  Open Diapason
18
       
               
Couplers
    Great to Swell      
    Swell to Pedal          
    Great to Pedal          
           
Organ in church located at Washington and Prospect Streets:

Henry Erben
New York City (1828)
Mechanical action


Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
Organ in church located on Sands Street:

William Redstone
New York City (1814)
Mechanical action
2 manuals


Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
Sources:
     Dolkart, Andrew S. and Matthew A. Postal. Guide to New York City Landmarks (Third Edition). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004.
     Fish, Francis G. St. Ann's Church From the Year 1784 to the Year 1845. Brooklyn: F.G. Fish, 1845.
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Ochse, Orpha. Austin Organs. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2001.
     Speller, John. "Henry Crabb: An Ancient Tradition of Organbuilding Moves from Devonshire to New York," The Tracker, 43:3 (1999).
     Stiles, Henry Reed. History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Brooklyn: pub. by subscription, 1863.

Illustrations:
     Lawson, Steven E. Color exterior.
     Stiles, Henry Reed. History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Drawing of 1824 church; drawing of 1867 chapel and church.