Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church (c.1915) - New York City
  Fourteenth St. Presbyterian c.1915
Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church

214 East 14th Street at Second Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10003


Organ Specifications:
West 13th Street (1910-?)
• unknown
214 East 14th Street (1851-1910)
► III/37 A.B. Felgemaker, Op. 700 (1899)
► II/22 Hall & Labagh (1851)




The Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church was built in 1851. The congregation remained at this location until 1910, when they moved to West 13th Street. The old building on 14th Street was taken over by Labor Temple, organized by the Presbyterian Home Mission Board.
           
  A. B. Felgemaker organ, Op. 700 (1899) in Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church (c.1915) - New York City (image: Felgemaker Catalog)
A. B. Felgemaker
Buffalo, N.Y. – Opus 700 (1899)
Mechanical action
3 manuals, 33 stops, 37 ranks




Original specifications in the archives of the Tellers Organ Company (successor to A.B. Felgemaker) indicate that this three-manual Felgemaker organ was shipped on November 21, 1899, and was setup by Henry Tellers and Scultetus. The organ weighed 10,500 pounds, the iron was an additional 800 pounds, and the frieght cost was $49.09. In 1930, the organ was moved to Crawford Memorial Methodist in the Bronx, where it was rebuilt and electrified by Clark & Fenton.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
   Double Open Diapason
61
4
   Octave
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
2 2/3
  Octave Quinte
61
8
   Viola da Gamba
61
2
   Super Octave
61
8
   Doppel Floete
61
     Mixture 3 ranks
183
4
   Flute d'Amour
61
8
   Trumpet
61
               
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon (Treble & Bass)
61
4
   Flute Harmonique
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
4
   Violina
61
8
   Salicional
61
2
   Flautino
61
8
   Vox Celeste
61
     Dolce Cornet 3 ranks
183
8
   Aeolina
61
8
   Oboe and Bassoon
61
8
   Stopped Diapason
61
8
   Vox Humana [in sep. box]
61
               
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
8
   Geigen Principal
61
4
   Concert Flute
61
8
   Melodia
61
2
   Harmonic Piccolo
61
8
   Dulciana
61
8
   Clarinet
61
8
   Quintidon [sic]
61
        
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Open Diapason
30
16
   Bourdon
30
16
   Violone
30
8
   Violoncello
30
               
Couplers and Mechanical Accessories
    Great to Pedal       Swell to Great super octaves  
    Swell to Pedal       Swell to Great sub-octaves  
    Choir to Pedal       Choir to Great sub-octaves  
    Swell to Great       Tremolo  
    Choir to Great       Bellows Signal  
    Swell to Choir       Wind Indicator  
               
Pedal Movements
    Forte Great with appropriate Pedal stops
    Mezzo Great with appropriate Pedal stops
    Piano Great with appropriate Pedal stops
    Forte Swell with appropriate Pedal stops
    Mezzo Swell with appropriate Pedal stops
    Piano Swell with appropriate Pedal stops
    Balanced Swell Pedal
    Great to Pedal Reversible Coupler
    Balanced Crescendo & Full Organ Pedal
    Electric motor
               
    Extended console          
           
Hall & Labagh
New York City (1851)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 19 stops, 22 ranks


The first-known organ for the Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church was described in Choral Advocate and Singing Class Journal (Sept. 1851):

“The Swell Organ is very comprehensive, and is contained in a double box, giving an unusual crescendo and diminuendo.

"The action is extended so that the organist can face the choir and yet the machinery works easily and perfectly. The stops of remarkable beauty are the Open Diapasons, Viol da gamba, Cremona, Trumpet, Hautboy, Dulciana and Night Horn. The Bourdon, or Double Stopped Diapason, is so fine an addition that no organist, having once used it, would willingly dispense with it. The Sesquialta contains the flat 21st, giving the minor 7th with the common chord, a peculiarity never before introduced in this country, and but recently in Europe.

" Mr. Thomas Hall … prefers smoothness of tone and adaptedness to church use, before mere power and screaming noise.”

 
Great Organ – Manual I
8
   Open Diapason  
4
   Night Horn  
8
  Stopped Diapason  
2 2/3
  Twelfth  
8
   Dulciana  
2
   Fifteenth  
4
   Principal  
8
   Cremona  
               
Swell Organ – Manual II (enclosed)
16
   Bourdon  
2
   Fifteenth  
8
   Open Diapason       Sesquialta [sic], 4 ranks  
8
   Stopped Diapason  
8
   Trumpet  
8
   Viol da gamba  
8
   Hautboy  
4
   Principal       Tremulant  
2 2/3
   Twelfth          
               
Choir Bass – Manual II (bass to Swell Organ)
8
   Open Diapason  
4
   Principal  
8
   Stopped Diapason          
               
Pedal Organ
16
  Open Diapason          
               
Couplers
    Great & Swell          
    Pedals & Great          
    Pedals & Choir          
           
Sources:
     Choral Advocate and Singing Class Journal (Sept. 1851, Vol. II, No. 4). Specification of Hall & Labagh organ (1851) in Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     "14th Street and Union Square: A Preservation Plan," New York: Columbia University.
     Ochse, Orpha. The History of the Organ in the United States. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975. Specifications of Hall & Labagh organ (1851).
     Ogasapian, John. Organ Building in New York City: 1700-1900. Braintree: The Organ Literature Foundation, 1977.
     Tellers, Aaron (Tellers Organ Co., Erie, Penn.) Specification of A. B. Felgemaker Organ, Op. 700 (1899).

Illustrations:
     A. B. Felgemaker Catalog. Drawing of Felgemaker organ, Op. 700 (1899). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     "14th Street and Union Square: A Preservation Plan," New York: Columbia University. Exterior c.1915.