Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church - Brooklyn, N.Y. (Brooklyn Eagle, 1928)
Click on images to enlarge
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church - Brooklyn, N.Y. (Brooklyn Eagle, 1908)
Church on Schermerhorn Street (1908-1930)
Church of Our Lady of Mercy
(Roman Catholic)

Schermerhorn Street, near Bond Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201



Organ Specifications:
Schermerhorn Street, near Bond St. (1908-closed 1930)
• III/ Reuben Midmer & Sons (1908)
Debevoise Street, near DeKalb Avenue (1858-1908)
Second building (1869-1908)
► III/30 E. & G.G. Hook, Op. 486 (1869)
First building (1858-1869)
• Henry Erben (1858)



The parish of Our Lady of Mercy was officially organized in 1868, but as early as 1857 Catholics in the vicinity of Debevoise Place and DeKalb Avenue assembled in an old oil-cloth factory under the care of Rev. John McCarthy. In 1858 the group was put under the charge of Rev. John McKenna, and it was through his efforts that a church was erected that same year. In 1864 a school was started that provided accomodations for nearly 300 boys, under the care of the Franciscan Brothers, and about 200 girls, taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph. An academy for girls and a rectory were built in the succeeding years.

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church - Brooklyn, N.Y. (Brooklyn Eagle, 1907)  
Church on Debevoise Street (1869-1908)  
On September 8, 1867 the cornerstone was laid for the second church building. Designed by the prolific Brooklyn architect, Patrick C. Keely in what was described as a "modern" and "mixed" Gothic style, the structure was 150 feet deep and 63 feet wide and had a plain exterior of brick with brown stone trimmings. The entire interior, however, was richly decorated with oil paint finish, mosaics on the clear story arches, and gold flowers on the chancel ceiling. All of the windows were of stained glass with a light gray tint, interspersed with yellow flowers. Seating was provided for about 1,000 persons. Built at a cost of $70,000, the completed church was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin on February 7, 1869. The parish flourished here for more than three decades, but sometime around 1904 the church was notified that their buildings must be demolished in order to construct approaches to the new Manhattan Bridge.

Under the leadership of Rev. Richard S. Foley, a suitable location for a new church was found on Schermerhorn Street, between Bond and Nevins Streets. A plot of land with a frontage of 115 feet on Schermerhorn Street, and 99½ feet along State Street, was purchased for $145,900. Besides the church building, the site would provide space for a parochial school, a residence for the Sisters of St. Joseph, and a rectory. Plans were prepared for a church that was said to be the "first specimen of Romanesque, Renaissance and Lombardic treatment" in this country. It would be built of brick with a facade of dove-colored Vermont marble. The cornerstone was laid by Bishop McDonnell in December 1906, but Father Foley died on May 9, 1907, before the church was dedicated by Bishop McDonnell on February 12, 1908. By a strange twist of fate, the church once again found its buildings were in the path of progress, namely the construction of a subway station and a street-widening program. Our Lady of Mercy Church was closed and demolished in 1930.
             
Organ in church located on Schermerhorn Avenue:

Reuben Midmer & Sons
Brooklyn, N.Y. (1908)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
             
Organ in second building located on Debevoise Street:

E. & G.G. Hook
Boston, Mass. – Opus 486 (1869)
Mechanical action
3 manuals, 28 stops, 30 ranks


The organ in the church on Debevoise Street was built in 1869 by E. & G.G. Hook of Boston at a reported cost of $75,000. It was first used for Divine Service on Sunday, September 5, 1869, for which the congregation was charged an admission of fifty cents. The large congregation present that day heard the Mass of Paolo Gioraza, as sung by the choir and soloists of the church, with Prof. Cartada, "the brilliant young organist who has charge of the organ, [conducting] the music and [proving] himself a thorough master of his new instrument."
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes [enclosed with Choir?]
16
   Open Diapason
58
2 2/3
  Twelfth
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
   Stopped Diapason (wood)
58
     Mixture, 3 ranks
174
4
   Flute Harmonique
58
8
  
Trumpet
58
4
   Octave
58
        

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason (w. & m.)
58
4
   Violina
58
8
   Keraulophon (w. & m.)
58
2
   Flautino
58
8
   Stopped Diapason (wood)
58
8
   Oboe and Bassoon
58
4
   Flauto Traverso (wood)
58
8
   Cornopean
58
4
   Octave
58
        
               
Solo Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
   Geigen Principal
58
4
   Flute d'Amour (w. & m.)
58
8
   Dulciana
58
2
   Piccolo
58
8
   Melodia [stopped bass] (wood)
58
8
   Clarinet [TC]
46
4
   Fugara
58
        
               
Pedale Organ – 27 notes
16
   Open Diapason (wood)
27
8
   Violoncello
27
16
   Bourdon (wood)
27
        
               
Mechanicals
    Swell to Great   Solo to Pedal
    Swell to Solo   Swell Tremulant
    Solo to Great   Bellows Signal
    Great to Pedal   Two composition pedals
    Swell to Pedal    
             
Organ in first building located on Debevoise Street:

Henry Erben
New York City (1858)
Mechanical action


The first-known organ in Our Lady of Mercy was built in 1858 by Henry Erben of New York City. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Sources:
     "Building Intelligence," The American Architect and Building News (Dec. 31, 1904).
     The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X, Vol. III. New York: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914.
     "A New Church Edifice," Brooklyn Eagle (Jan. 25, 1869).
     "A New Organ," Brooklyn Eagle (Sep. 6, 1869).
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     "The Organ," The New York Weekly Review (Aug. 14, 1869). Specifications of E. & G.G. Hook organ, Op. 486 (1869). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     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, Vols. II and III. Brooklyn: pub. by subscription, 1863.

Illustrations:
     Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection). Exterior (1907) of Debevoise Street church; interior (1908) of Schermerhorn Street church.
     The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Exterior (c.1911) of Schermerhorn Street church.