Bedford Avenue Reformed Church - Brooklyn, NY
Bedford Avenue Reformed Church

Bedford Avenue, corner Clymer Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211


Organ Specifications:
Bedford Avenue, corner Clymer Street (1869-1941)
► II/30 George Jardine & Son (1869)
Fourth Street, near South Second (1829-1865)
• unknown


The Bedford Avenue Reformed Church was organized in 1828 as the First Reformed Dutch Church of Williamsburgh, then a village within the town of Bushwick. Ground was acquired on Fourth Street, near South Second, and work commenced toward the erection of a church building. On September 28, 1828, the cornerstone was laid with appropriate religious exercises, and the completed edifice was dedicated on July 26, 1829. During the winter of 1848-49, the church underwent expensive repairs and alterations.

In 1840, Williamsburgh separated from Bushwick and in 1852, the Town of Williamsburgh became the City of Williamsburg (dropping the final "h"). Three years later, in 1855, the City of Williamsburg, along with the adjoining Town of Bushwick, were annexed into the City of Brooklyn as the so-called Eastern District.

After the Civil War ended in 1865, the original church was sold. Lots for a new church were purchased on Bedford Avenue at the corner of Clymer Street. The completed edifice, built of brick with stone facings, was dedicated on October 17, 1869, and was thereafter known as the Bedford Avenue Reformed Church.

Bedford Avenue Reformed Church disbanded in 1941. The building was acquired by Congregation Tifereth Israel.
               
George Jardine & Son
New York City – (1869)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 26 stops, 31 ranks
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes
16
   Double Diapason
56
4
   Principal
56
8
   Open Diapason
56
3
   Twelfth
56
8
   Viol di Gamba
56
2
   Fifteenth
56
8
   Melodia
56
     Sesquialtera, 4 ranks
224
8
   Clarionet Flute
56
8
   Trumpet
56
4
   Boehm Flute
56
        
 
      
 
      
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 56 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
56
4
   Violino
56
8
   Open Diapason
56
4
   Echo Flute
56
8
   Stopp'd Diapason
56
2
   Piccolo
56
8
   Lieblich Gedackt
56
     Cornet, 3 ranks
178
8
   Clariana
56
8
   Cornopean
56
8
   Dulciana
56
     Tremulant  
8
   Vox Celeste *
56
        
     
* "similar to the celebrated stop in the organ of La Madeleine, Paris."
Pedal Organ – 25 notes
16
   Open Diapason
25
8
   Octave
25
16
   Contra Bass
25
        
               
Composition Knobs
    Full organ   Choir organ
    Forte organ   First solo organ
    Mezzo organ   Second solo
               
Pedal Movements
    Swell to Great   Bellows Signal
    Swell to Pedal   Grand Crescendo Slide
    Great to Pedal    
               
Sources:
     "Bedford Avenue Reformed Church," Brooklyn Eagle (Oct. 18, 1869). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Gasero, Russell, ed. Historical Directory of the Reformed Church in America, 1628–1992. New Brunswick: 2000.
     "New Organ for First Reformed Church, Williamsburg," The New York Weekly Review (Aug. 14, 1869). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     "Old Dutch. The Newly Named Reformed Churches of Brooklyn," Brooklyn Eagle (Feb. 26, 1887).

Illustration:
     New York Public Library Digital Collection. Exterior (c.1910).