Greater Victory Baptist Church - Bronx, N.Y.
 
Click on image to enlarge
St. Matthew Lutheran Church

376 East 156th Street
The Bronx, N.Y. 10451


Organ Specifications:
Second building (1895-1971)
► II/10 William H. Davis (c.1895)
First building (1863-1895)
• unknown





St. Matthew Lutheran Church was organized in 1862 as a German congregation in the Melrose area of The Bronx. The society built their first church the next year on the corner of East 156th Street and Courtlandt Avenue. In 1895, a handsome Gothic church of brick was erected a few lots to the east on East 156th Street. In 1971, St. Matthew's congregation merged into Bethany Lutheran Church, located at 585 East 163rd Street, to form All Saints Lutheran Church. About that time, the Lutheran church and property were sold to the Greater Victory Baptist Church.
             
William H. Davis
New York City (c.1895)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 10 stops, 10 ranks


The following specifications were recorded (Sept. 21, 1913) by Louis F. Mohr & Co., an organ service firm in the area. Mohr noted that the organ was blown by hand, but proposed the addition of an electric 1/3 H.P. blower at a cost of $200. A later note (Sept. 10, 1917) indicates that a blower may have been installed at a cost of $230. The fate of this organ is unknown.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
   Open Diapason
58
        
8
   Gamba
58
        
4
   Flute Harmonic
58
        
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
   Dulciana
58
4
   Principal
58
8
   Unison Bass
12
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
   Stopped Diapason (TC)
46
8
   Oboe
58
               
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16
   Bourdon
27
        
8
   Flöte
27
        
               
Accessories
    Great to Pedal   Balanced Swell Pedal
    Swell to Pedal    
    Swell to Great    
             
Sources:
     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. Specification (Sep. 21, 1913) of William H. Davis organ. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Illustration:
     Google street image. Exterior of Greater Victory Baptist Church (2009).