South Second Street Methodist Episcopal Church

191-199 South Second Street
Williamsburg (Brooklyn), N.Y. 11211


Organ Specifications:
191-199 South Second Street (1840-1919)
► II/18 M.P. Möller, Op. 685 (1906)
North Second Street (1808-1840)
• unknown

The first ecclesiastical organization in the village of Williamsburgh, and the second in the old town of Bushwick, was formed about the beginning of the present century. Their first house of worship was erected in 1808, on North Second street, between Fourth and Fifth; was repaired in 1821, and was still standing in 1845; but in the year 1837, the society having greatly increased, the foundation of a spacious brick church was laid on South Second street, between Fifth and Sixth streets. The church here was organized in August, 1838, its first trustees being David Garret, Henry E. Bodwell, Geo. W. Pitman, John L. Gray, Simon Richardson, and James D. Sparkman. The building was erected in 1839, and dedicated on the 5th of January, 1840, at which time there were about fifty communicants, and such has been the rapid increase of the congregation, -that all the Methodist churches of the Eastern District of Brooklyn (with the exception of St. John's), have since been colonized from it. Notwithstanding the mother church thus sent out so many, it continued full. During the pastoral care of Rev. C. B. Sing, in 1866, the debt of the church, which had rested upon it like an incubus for thirty years, was entirely paid off. The building was unroofed in the great storm of 1853, when a number of church steeples were blown down; it was then extended, and is now the largest and oldest Methodist Episcopal church in that part of the city.
           
M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 685 (1906)
Tubular-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 29 registers, 18 stops, 18 ranks


The handwritten contract between M.P. Möller and the "FIrst M. E. Church of Williamsburg, Borough of Brooklyn," dated May 29, 1906, shows that this two-manual organ would be ready for use on or about October 1, 1906, and would cost $3,000. Möller agreed to purchase the old organ for a consideration of $500 should the church, after making a reasonable effort, be unable to dispose of it by one month prior to the installation of the new organ.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
8
  Open Diapason
61
4
   Flute Harmonique
61
8
  Gamba
61
4
  Octave
61
8
   Dulciana
61
  Tremolo
8
   Doppel Floete
61
     

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
  Bourdon
61
4
   Violina
61
8
  Open Diapason
61
4
   Rohr Flute
61
8
  Stopped Diapason
61
8
   Oboe & Bassoon
61
8
   Concert Flute
61
8
   Vox Humana [sep. box]
61
8
   Viol d'Orchestre
61
  Tremolo
8
   Aeoline
61
   

     

     
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
  Double Open Diapason
30
       
16
   Bourdon
30
        
               
Couplers
    Great to Pedal     Great to Great 16'
    Swell to Pedal     Pedal to Pedal 4'
    Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'      
               
Combinations
    Pistons No. 1-2-3 affecting Swell and Pedal stops
    Pistons No. 4-5-6 affecting Great and Pedal stops
               
Pedal Movements
    Balance Swell Pedal       Great to Pedal Reversible
    Grand Crescendo Pedal          
               
Mechanicals
    Wind Indicator    
    Crescendo Indicator    
           
Sources:
     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.
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Contract of M.P. Möller Organ, Op. 685 (1906).