Mount Lebanon Baptist Church - Brooklyn, NY (New York Architecture Images)
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Embury Methodist Episcopal Church

230 Decatur Street at Lewis Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11233

Organ Specifications:
230 Decatur Street at Lewis Avenue (1894-c.1948)
• II/14 George S. Hutchings Co., Op. 367 (1895)
Herkimer Street near Schenectady Avenue (c.1873-1894)
► I/5 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 216 (1885)
Fulton Street near Marcy Avenue (1870-c.1873)
• unknown


The Embury Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn was named for Philip Embury, the first Methodist minister in America. Organized sometime around 1870, the congregation met on Fulton Street, near Marcy Avenue. Around 1873, the society moved to a plain, square building on Herkimer Street near Schenectady Avenue. On July 12, 1894, the cornerstone was laid for a new church building, to be erected on Decatur Street between Lewis and Stuyvesant Avenues. Designed by the Parfitt Brothers of Brooklyn, the asymmetrical Romanesque Revival building has an exterior of orange Roman brick, brownstone, copper and red tile. At the corners are rounded turrets topped by cone-shaped roofs of terra cotta shingles. The building includes a 1,200-seat auditorium, chapel, Sunday school room, meeting rooms and parlors, a dining hall and kitchen, an apartment for the sexton, and a parsonage and pastor's study. Dedicatory services took place over a week's time, beginning on December 16, 1894.

In 1948, the building was sold to the Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, an African-American congregation organized in 1900. The church building is within the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, designated in 1971 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
               
George S. Hutchings Co.
Boston, Mass. – Opus 367 (1895)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 14 stops


For their new church on Decatur Street, an organ was built by the Hutchings Company of Boston. However, the organ was not yet installed when the church opened in December 1894. Funds for the organ were raised by the novel sale of more than 1,500 coupon books that cost $2 and gave a value of $100 in discounts at merchants and shops. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
  J.H. & C.S. Brochure for Embury Methodist Episcopal Church - Brooklyn, NY
Organ in church located on Herkimer Street:

J.H. & C.S. Odell
New York City – Opus 216 (1885)
Mechanical action
1 manual, 3 stops, 3 ranks


The handwritten contract for this organ, dated January 1, 1885, was between the Odell Company of New York City and the Embury Medical and Literary Association of the Embury M.E. Church of Brooklyn. At a cost of $450, Odell provided a one-manual-and-pedal organ having 3 stops, otherwise known as "Specification No. 1." Odell's brochure states, "All the pipes enclosed in an effective Swell." Notations on the brochure indicate that the blowing handle would be on the right side, and the case would be finished in cherry. The display pipes would be gilded, silvered or decorated in gold and colors. Delivery was to be on or before February 15, 1885.
               
Manual – 58 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
32
        
8
   Dulciana
32
        
8
   Unison, Bass
24
        
4
   Violina
32
        
4
   Viola Bass
24
        
 
      
 
      
Pedal – 20 notes
    Pedal Coupler          
 
      
 
      
Pedal Movement
    Balance Swell Pedal          
               
Sources:
     "Baptist Church Buys Church in Brooklyn," The New York Times (June 17, 1948).
     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.
     "Embury Chapel Cornerstone Laid," The New York Times (July 13, 1894).
     "Embury Chapel Dedication," The New York Times (Dec. 17, 1894).
     Morrone, Francis. An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn. Brooklyn: Gibbs Smith, 2001.
     Petty, Bynum. J.H. & C.S. Odell Annotated Opus List.
     "Raising Funds by Discounts," The New York Times (Feb. 4, 1895).
     "Services For a Week Will Mark the Dedication of Embury M.E. Church," Brooklyn Eagle (Dec. 16, 1894).
     "Specifications of Small Church and Chapel Organs," pub. by J.H. & C.S. Odell Company. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Stern, Robert A.M., Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman. New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age. New York City: The Monacelli Press, 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.
     "The New Embury M.E. Church," Brooklyn Eagle (July 12, 1894).
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Contract for J.H. & C.S. Odell Organ, Op. 216 (1885).

Illustrations:
     New York Architecture Images website: http://www.nyc-architecture.com. Exterior.
     "Specifications of Small Church and Chapel Organs": Cover. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.