Emanuel Baptist Church

47 Suffolk Street, near Grand Street
New York, N.Y. 10002

Organ Specifications:
47 Suffolk Street near Grand Street (1883-1898?)
► II/14 J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co., Op. 196 (1883)
Grand and Allen Streets (1882-1883)
• William B. Williams (c.1876)
36 Stanton Street near the Bowery (1879-1882)
• II/20 Thomas Robjohn (1842)
Grand and Allen Streets (1876-1879)
• William B. Williams (c.1876)


The society of Emanuel Baptist Church began in 1870 when the Fifth-avenue Baptist Church started a Sunday-school in a factory building at 394 Madison Avenue. After two years at that location, the Sunday-school moved to a hall on Grant and Clinton Streets. In 1873 the church was organized, and three years later, in 1876, moved to the corner of Grand and Allen Streets. The society moved in 1879 to the former Stanton Street Baptist Church on Stanton Street, near the Bowery, and when that edifice was torn down in 1882, they moved back to their old church at Grand and Allen Streets while a new church was erected at 47 Suffolk Street. The new brick structure provided facilities for a Sunday-school and a church seating 1,250 persons. Built at a cost of $80,000, the church was a gift of Mr. J.A. Bostwick, who presented debt-free it to the Fifth-Avenue Baptist Church, to be held in trust for 15 years. Dedication services lasting a week started on April 15, 1883. It has not been determined if Emanuel Baptist merged with another congregation, or disbanded after 15 years on Suffolk Street. At some point, the building was converted to a post office.
               
J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co.
New York City – Opus 196 (1883)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 14 stops, 14 ranks


For their new church building on Suffolk Street, an organ was installed by J.H. & C.S. Odell of New York City. The handwritten contract, dated January 2, 1883, states that the organ was to cost $2,000, and would be ready for use by the first day of April that year, providing the building was ready to receive. Odell's two-manual organ was a standard "Specification D," with one alteration: the 16' Grand Bourdon of 25 notes would be replaced by a 16' Double Open Diapason of 27 notes.

In 1912, this organ was moved to Tremont Baptist Church in the Bronx.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
  Open Diapason
58
8
   Dolce (TC)
46
8
  Keraulophon
58
4
  Principal
58
8
  Stopped Diapason Bass
12
4
   Wald Flute (TC)
46
8
  Clarionet Flute (TC)
46
2
   Fifteenth
58

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
  Open Diapason
58
4
   Violina
58
8
  Salicional (TC)
46
2
   Piccolo
58
8
  Stopped Diapason Bass
12
8
  Oboe (TC)
46
8
  Stopped Diapason Treble
46
     Tremulant  

     

     
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16
  Double Open Diapason
27
        
               
Couplers, &C.
    Reversible Coupler (patented)     Swell to Pedal
    Swell to Great     Bellows Signal
   
Great to Pedal
     
               
Organ in Stanton Street Baptist Church:

Thomas Robjohn
New York City (1842)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 20 stops


The Emanuel Baptist congregation worshipped from 1879-1882 in the former Stanton Street Baptist Church. This edifice contained an organ built in 1842 and placed in the gallery by Thomas Robjohn of New York City. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
William B. Williams
New York City
Mechanical action


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Sources:
     "A New Baptist Church," The New York Times (Apr. 16, 1883).
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     "The Emanuel Baptist Church," The New York Times (Apr. 8, 1883).
     A History of the Stanton Street Baptist Church in the City of New York. New York: Sheldon & Company, 1860.
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Contract of J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 196 (1883).