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The Church of St. James, Fordham
(Episcopal)
2500 Jerome Avenue at 190th Street
The Bronx, N.Y. 10468
http://www.stjamesfordham.org/
St. James' Church, Fordham, was incorporated on July 26, 1853, and although a Certificate of Incorporation was drawn up and registered in the Westchester County Clerk's Office on September 5, 1853, a technical error was discovered and a new one was prepared for registration two years later, on September 25, 1855. In a very short time a Sunday School of one hundred children was formed, more than justifying the creation of a new parish. The vestry made arrangements to use the Manor Reformed Church on Kingsbridge Road for services on Sunday afternoons, but were unable to renew the privilege on the expiration of the lease. Not far away, an old district school house was for sale. The vestry paid ninety dollars for the building and another eighty-five dollars to make it suitable for church services. On Sunday, June 11, 1854, in this tiny structure, St. James' Church, Fordham, became the first Protestant Episcopal Church in the Manor of Fordham. For several months the Parish was dependent upon visiting clergymen or lay readers as "much difficulty was experienced in securing the attendance of efficient ministers to perform the services." The little church was then moved to a lot bought previously, by the vestry, for a permanent site and a cemetery.
As the membership increased in number, the need arose for a larger and more suitable church. Plans were drawn up by Henry M. Dudley, one of the leading Gothic Revival church architects of the mid-19th century, and on May 28, 1864, Bishop Horatio Potter laid the cornerstone for the present building. Built from 1864-65 at a cost of $25,000, the church was constructed of native fieldstone with red sandstone trim, wood and slate. On All Saints' Day, November 1, 1865, the completed church was consecrated by Bishop Potter, and the Rev. Morgan Dix, Rector of Trinity Church, New York, preached the sermon.
For some years since the completion of the new church building the members had been using the old wooden structure as a Sunday School. By 1889, the vestry noted that the old building was “in such a state of decay that it is doubtful if it can be used for another winter, making a parish building one of absolute necessity.” Architect Henry Kilburn was commissioned to design the parish house which was to extend from the north of the church. A major portion of Kilburn’s work involved churches, two of the finest being the West Park Presbyterian Church at West 86th Street, and the West End Presbyterian Church at West 105th, both on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. For St. James, Kilburn designed a Gothic Revival structure that blends perfectly with the original church building. The parish house, built from 1891-92 at a cost of approximately $19,000, has a rock-faced stone facade and a recessed porch with pointed-arch openings supported by boldly carved foliate capitals.
St. James Episcopal Church and Parish House were designated in 1980 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee. |
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Acutone Organ
Massapequa, N.Y.
Electronic tone production
Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co.
New York City – Opus 582 (1928)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 24 registers, 22 stops, 22 ranks
The contract (Jan. 20, 1928) for a new organ built
by J.H. & C.S. Odell of New York City, shows that the
organ cost $11,000. This organ was installed in the church's
first building,
and
was moved
to the
present
building
with
no apparent
change. Located to the left of the platform, the organ
was behind a three-sectioned case, and there was a matching
case to the right. The console was recessed, and there
was a reversible Swell to Great piston in the Swell keyslip. |
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Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
73 |
4 |
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Octave |
73 |
8 |
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Gamba |
73 |
4 |
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Flute Harmonic |
73 |
8 |
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Dulciana |
73 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
73 |
8 |
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Doppel Flute |
73 |
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Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon |
73 |
4 |
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Rohr Flute |
73 |
8 |
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Violin Diapason |
73 |
8 |
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Oboe |
73 |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
73 |
8 |
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Vox Celeste (TC) |
61 |
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Tremolo |
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8 |
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Stopped Diapason |
73 |
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Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Viole d'Orchestre |
73 |
4 |
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Flute d'Amour |
73 |
8 |
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Melodia |
73 |
2 |
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Piccolo Harmonic |
61 |
8 |
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8 |
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Clarinet |
73 |
8 |
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Tremolo |
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8 |
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| Unda Maris (TC) |
preparation |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes
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16 |
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Open Diapason |
32 |
16 |
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Bourdon |
SW |
16 |
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Sub Bass |
32 |
8 |
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Stille Gedacht |
SW |
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Couplers
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Choir to Choir 16', 4' |
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Choir to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Great to Pedal 8' |
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Swell to Choir 8' |
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Swell to Pedal 8' |
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Great to Great 16', 4' |
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Choir to Pedal 8' |
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Swell to Swell 16', 4' |
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Pedal to Pedal 8' |
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Adjustable Combinations
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Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
affecting Swell Stops |
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Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
affecting Great Stops |
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Pistons No. 1-2 |
affecting Choir Stops |
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Accessories
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Balanced Swell Pedal |
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Great to Pedal Reversible |
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Balanced Choir Pedal |
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Sforzando Pedal |
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Crescendo Pedal |
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William H. Davis
New York City (1865)
Mechanical manual action
Tubular-pneumatic pedal action
2 manuals, 16 stops, 16 ranks
The following specifications were recorded by Louis F. Mohr & Co., an organ service firm in the area. Mohr noted that the organ occupied a space 12 feet deep (plus 18 inches for the pedals), 8 feet wide, and 18 feet high (Pedals higher). The William H. Davis organ, located in a chamber on the left side of the chancel, can be seen in the photo at right. |
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Great Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
56 |
4 |
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Wald Flute (TC) |
44 |
8 |
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Gamba Bass |
12 |
4 |
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Principal |
56 |
8 |
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Gamba (TC) |
44 |
3 |
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Twelfth |
56 |
8 |
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St. Diapason Bass |
12 |
2 |
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Fifteenth |
56 |
8 |
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St. Diapason Treble (TC) |
44 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
56 |
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Swell Organ (Manual II) – 56 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon Bass |
12 |
8 |
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St. Diapason Bass |
12 |
16 |
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Bourdon Treble (TC) |
44 |
8 |
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St. Diapason Treble (TC) |
44 |
8 |
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Open Diapason |
44 |
4 |
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Principal Bass |
12 |
8 |
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Salicional |
56 |
4 |
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Principal Treble (TC) |
44 |
8 |
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Dulciana (TC) |
44 |
2 |
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Piccolo |
56 |
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Pedal Organ – 30 notes
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16 |
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Open Diapason |
30 |
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Great to Swell |
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Pedal to Swell |
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Pedal to Great |
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William H. Davis
New York City (1860)
This organ may have been a second-hand reed organ. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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Sources:
American Organ Archives, Organ Historical Society, Princeton, N.J. Specifications of J.H. & C.S. Odell Organ, Op. 582 (1928). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.
Among the Elms of Fordham: The Sesquicentennial Historical Gazette of Saint James Episcopal Church in the Manor of Fordham, the Bronx, New York. 1853–2003. Bronx: St. James Episcopal Church, 2003.
Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specification
of William H. Davis organ (1865). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
St. James Episcopal Church
website: http://www.stjamesfordham.org/
Trupiano, Larry. Addendum and corrections (as of 1969) to stoplist of J.H. & C.S. Odell Organ, Op. 582 (1928).
Illustrations:
Among the Elms of Fordham. Original church; exterior; 1910 interior; parish house. |
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