St. Paul German Methodist Episcopal Church - Brooklyn, NY
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St. Paul German Methodist Episcopal Church

Marcy Avenue and Penn Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211


Organ Specifications:
Marcy Avenue and Penn (1896-1940)
► II/21 Henry Erben (1845) – installed (1865)
Stagg & Lorimer Streets (1846-1896)
• unknown


The First German Methodist Episcopal Church of Williamsburgh was organized in 1846. The society's first church, "a square substantial brick building of the old style," was located at Stagg and Lorimer Streets. As the Mother Church of German Methodists in Brooklyn, the society later established two other churches: St. John German M.E. Church on Yates Place, and the Greene Avenue German M.E. Church.

After more than half a century at their original location, the congregation moved to a newer and more aristocratic area of the Eastern District, where, toward the close of 1895 they purchased (for $17,000) the former St. Luke Methodist Episcopal Church at Marcy Avenue and Penn Street. The building had been erected in 1861 as St. Paul Protestant Episcopal Church who remained there until the property was foreclosed in 1886. St. Luke's Church purchased the property, and at a sheriff's auction obtained the "big organ" for $131, and a smaller organ for $21. Owing to dissension in the congregation and financial difficulties, St. Luke's congregation was dissolved and the building was handed over to the Church Extension society who then sold it to the First German Methodist congregation.

The German congregation effected a complete remodeling of the old St. Luke's church, as reported in the Brooklyn Eagle (Jan. 29, 1896):
"The organ will be taken down and brought forward near the front of the pulpit platform. The floor is to be raised three feet—the windows being at present too high—new seats are to be provided all over the church, a gallery erected over the vestibule at the main entrance, and all of the interior painted and decorated. A new parsonage adjoining the church will be begun as soon as practicable after the alterations on the church proper have been completed. When finished it is estimated that the alterations and improvements will have cost $15,000."
Owing to its location, the congregation was also known as Marcy Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, and at some point the name was changed to St. Paul German Methodist Episcopal Church. Although the 1926 photo above shows a For Sale sign, geneological records report that the church closed or merged sometime after 1940.
         
Henry Erben
New York City (1845); moved and installed (1865)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 17 stops, 21 ranks


The Henry Erben organ in St. Paul German Methodist Episcopal Church was originally built in 1845 for Trinity P.E. Church in New Haven, Conn. As built, this was a "G" compass organ and had 16 stops and 20 ranks. At some point, the organ was rebuilt with a "C" compass and a Dulciana was added to the Great Organ. In 1865, this organ was acquired by and moved to St. Paul P.E. Church in Williamsburgh, the original owners of the building.

The following specification was recorded (April 4, 1916) by Louis F. Mohr & Co., an organ service firm in the area. Mohr noted that this was originally a "G" compass organ but the lower keys had been taken out. The pedal, which was originally GGG (no GGG#) to C (or 17 notes), was renovated to C compass and extended but kept the original Erben coupler mechanism for the bottom 17 notes. The pine case, which was painted to simulate oak, measured about 14 feet wide by 8 feet deep (plus 15 inches with the bench) and 16 feet high, and contained 15 front pipes in gold. A water motor, activated by a pull chain at the right, provided power to the feeders.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 54 notes
8
   Open Diapason
54
3
   Twelfth
54
8
   St. Diapason Bass
12
2
   Fifteenth
54
8
   St. Diapason Treble [TC]
42
  
{
 Sesquialtera [bass, 3 ranks] *
51
8
   Dulciana [TC]
42
   Cornet [treble, 3 ranks] *
111
4
   Flute [TC]
42
8
   Cremona [TC, orig. Trumpet]
42
4
   Principal
54
    
* bass 17 notes; treble 37 notes
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 37 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
37
     Cornet [3 ranks]
111
8
   Dulciana
37
8
   Trumpet
37
8
   St. Diapason
37
8
   Hautboy
37
4
   Principal
37
        
               
Choir Bass (Manual II) – 12 notes
8
   St. Diapason
12
4
   Principal
12
8
   Dulciana
12
        
               
Pedal Organ – 25 notes (Mohr: "only 17 notes couple to manuals – narrow keys")
16
   Subbass [orig. Double Diap.]
25
        
               
Couplers
    Great & Swell    
    Pedal & Choir    
    Pedal & Great    
               
Pedal Movements
    Swell Pedal (hook)    
           
Sources:
     "Church Furniture Sold. A Deputy Sheriff Reigns Supreme in Dr. Maynard's Old Edifice," The Brooklyn Eagle (Apr. 20, 1886).
     "First German M.E. Church. A Mission Chapel on Greene Avenue to be Erected," The Brooklyn Eagle (Mar. 6, 1887).
     "From the Eastern District. The First German Methodist Congregation to Move," The Brooklyn Eagle (Jan. 29, 1896).
     Haberstroh, Richard. The German Churches of Metropolitan New York: A Research Guide. New York: The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, 2000.
     Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (April 4, 1916) of Henry Erben organ. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Owen, Barbara. Music on the Green. Specifications of Henry Erben Organ (1845). Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2010.
     "St. Paul's Church, Williamsburgh," The Brooklyn Eagle (Nov. 30, 1861).
     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.

Illustration:
     Brown Brothers, New York. Exterior, 1926.