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St. Stephen Lutheran Church
2806 Newkirk Avenue at East 28th Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11226
Organ Specifications:
► II/20 Various Builders
• II/ Clarence E. Morey (c.1914)
• II/14 Reuben Midmer & Sons (c.1900) |
St. Stephen's English Lutheran Church had its beginnings on Easter Sunday 1898, when the Rev. Luther D. Lazarus conducted an English Lutheran service for a small group assembled in the Bergen Homestead on Flatbush Avenue. At that time there were no English Lutheran services in the vacinity. On June 19 of that year, the Rev. Luther D. Gable was called to take charge, and regular services were held in the Vanderveer Homestead at Flatbush Avenue and Avenue C. The Sunday school was organized on June 26th, with twenty-one scholars and five teachers. The society was formally organized as St. Stephen's English Lutheran Church on November 17, 1898.
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| Image in the Brooklyn Eagle (1900) |
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In the first year the congregation experienced tremendous growth and made plans to erect a permanent building. A plot of land on the corner of Newkirk Avenue and East 28th Street was acquired, and on December 3, 1899, the cornerstone was laid for the new edifice. Designed by Benjamin Driesler in the English Gothic style, the two-story wooden structure was intended to form a wing of the proposed future church. On the lower floor were the Sunday school room, parlor and kitchen. The upper floor contained the auditorium, 35 by 50 feet, that provided seating for about 300 persons. The completed structure was consecrated on Sunday, May 6, 1900.
By 1913 the congregation had outgrown its building and plans were made to rebuild the 1900 edifice. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Aug. 14, 1913) reported that "additions will be made of limestone, stucco and brick, and will be artistic and in harmony with surrounding buildings. The main addition in front will make the main auditorium twenty feet wider, as the old structure will be moved back to provide for this. At the left a small building will be added extending nine feet from the old edifice and a seven-foot addition will be put on the right side. This will make the new church thirty-four feet across the front and will give room for some 200 more sittings. ... Along with the rest of the new venture, the committee will buy harmonious church furniture, an altar and a new organ. The cost of the latter will be at least $3,500." |
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Various Builders
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 24 stops, 20 ranks
The Clarence E. Moyer organ installed c.1914 has been altered several times over the years. Following is the stoplist as of 2004. |
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Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
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8 |
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Principal |
61 |
2 |
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Wald Flute |
61 |
8 |
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Gedackt |
61 |
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Mixture II-III ranks |
165 |
4 |
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Octave |
61 |
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Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Viola Pomposa |
73 |
2 |
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Block Floete |
61 |
8 |
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Viola Celeste |
68 |
1 3/5 |
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Terz |
55 |
8 |
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Holz Floete [TC] |
49 |
1 |
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Principal [ext.] |
— |
4 |
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Principal |
61 |
8 |
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Trompette |
61 |
4 |
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Nachthorn |
61 |
8 |
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Oboe |
49 |
2 2/3 |
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Nazat |
61 |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
61 |
2 |
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Principal [ext.] |
12 |
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Tremolo |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes
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32 |
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Resultant |
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8 |
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Bass Floete [ext.] |
12 |
16 |
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Subbass |
30 |
8 |
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Kleine Gedacht [ext.] |
12 |
16 |
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Gedackt |
32 |
16 |
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Bombarde [ext. SW] |
12 |
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Undated photo of interior showing organ |
Clarence E. Morey
Ithaca, N.Y. (c. 1914)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals
The rebuilding and enlargement of the church in 1914 included the purchase of a new organ. Clarence E. Morey of Ithaca was commissioned to build this organ. It is unknown whether Morey incorporated any of the original organ built by Reuben Midmer & Sons. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located. |
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Reuben Midmer & Sons
Brooklyn, N.Y. (c.1900)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 14 stops
The first organ in St. Stephen's Lutheran was built sometime before 1917 by Reuben Midmer & Sons of Brooklyn. It seems likely that the organ was installed when the original building opened in 1900. This organ had mechanical action and 14 stops (Great 4, Swell 8, Pedal 2). Specifications of this organ have not yet been located. |
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Sources:
"Church to be Rebuilt," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Aug. 14, 1913).
"To Consecrate Church at Vanderveer Park," Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Apr. 29, 1900).
"To Lay Church Corner Stone," Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Nov. 28, 1899).
Vogel, Robert. Stoplist (as of 2004) of Reuben Midmer & Sons organ (1916).
Illustrations:
Brooklyn Eagle (Apr. 29, 1900). Drawing of exterior.
Google Street View. Exterior.
Trupiano, Larry. Undated photo of St. Stephen Lutheran interior. |
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