Click on images to enlarge The General Theological Seminary (Episcopal) 175 Ninth Avenue at 20th Street New York, N.Y. 10011 http://www.gts.edu Organ Specifications: Chapel of the Good Shepherd (since 1888): ► III/51 Holtkamp Organ Company, Job 1712 (1958, 1996) ► II/16 Frank Roosevelt, Op. 385 (1887) Earlier Chapel or Meeting Room: • I/10 William A. Johnson, Op. 155 (1864) • Henry Erben (1838?) Chartered by the Episcopal Church in 1817, the General Theological Seminary was built with the support of Trinity Church, most notably Vestryman Jacob Sherred, and Clement Clarke Moore, best known for penning "Twas the night before Christmas." Moore offered 60 lots of his rural Chelesa estate on the condition that a seminary be built there. An East Building was the first to open in 1827, followed by a West Building erected in 1836. The Rev. Eugene Augustus Hoffman, who graduated from General in 1851, became its first dean in 1879. Hoffman endowed the chair of pastoral theology with $80,000, and on the death of his father, Samuel Yerplanek Hoffman, his mother contributed $125,000 for the building of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd as a memorial to her husband. The Chapel of the Good Shepherd was designed by Charles Coolidge Haight in the collegiate-Gothic style, and was built between 1886-88 as the centerpiece of the seminary. Haight's father, the Rev. Benjamin I. Haight, was the first rector of St. Peter's Church, located a block away on West 20th Street. The chapel's tower contains a set of 15 tubular chimes, manufactured in 1922 by the Walter H. Durfee Company of Providence, R.I. The seminary's Guild of Chimers ring the chimes mechanically each morning and evening.
Holtkamp Organ Company Cleveland, Ohio – Job 1712 (1958, 1996) Electro-pneumatic action Solid-state combination action 3 manuals, 42 registers, 39 stops, 51 ranks The present organ in the Church of the Good Shepherd was designed by Walter Holtkamp and installed in 1958 by the Holtkamp Organ Company. Several additions have been made since its installation. In 1996, the organ was refurbished by the Holtkamp Company.                 Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes 16   Quintadena 61 2   Doublette 61 8   Principal 61  1 1/3   Quinte 61 8   Gedackt 61     Mixture (IV ranks) 244 4   Octave 61  8   Trumpet 61 4   Spitzflöte 61                         Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed 8   Rohrflöte 61     Plein Jeu [IV ranks] 244 8   Gambe 61     Cymbal [III ranks] 183 8   Voix Celeste (FF) * 56 16   Dulzian 61 4   Gemshorn 61 8   Oboe 61 4   Flute  61 4   Clarion  61 2   Piccolo 61     * added in 1996                 Positiv Organ (Manual I) – 56 notes 8   Copula 56 2   Blockflöte 56 4   Praestant 56  1 3/5   Tierce 56 4   Rohrflöte 56     Fourniture [III ranks] 168 2 2/3   Nazard 56 8   Cromorne 56 2   Octave 56     Tremolo                   Pedal Organ – 32 notes 32   Resultant — 4   Flute 32 16   Principal 32     Mixture [III ranks] 96 16   Sub Bass 32 16   Posaune 32 16   Quintadena GT 16   Dulzian SW 8   Octave 32 8   Trumpet 32 8   Gedackt 32 4   Schalmey 32 4   Choralbass 32                         Couplers     Great to Pedal   Swell to Great     Swell to Pedal   Positiv to Great     Positiv to Pedal   Swell to Positiv                 Adjustable Combinations     Great 1-2-3-4-5 (thumb) Swell 1-2-3-4-5 (thumb) Positiv 1-2-3-4-5 (thumb) Pedal 1-2-3-4-5 (toe) General 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb & toe)   Capture Piston   General Cancel Piston                 Reversibles     Great to Pedal (thumb & toe)         Full Organ (toe)                     Expression     Balanced Swell Pedal           Balanced Crescendo Pedal
1889 Photo of Roosevelt Organ Frank Roosevelt New York City – Opus 385 (1887) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 14 stops, 16 ranks The original organ in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd was built in 1887 by Frank Roosevelt of New York City. At some time, the M.P. Möller Company of Hagerstown, Md., rebuilt the organ as their opus R-1959. F.R. Webber recorded the following specifications in one of his "Organ Scrapbooks," now in the collection of the Organ Historical Society Archives in Princeton, N.J. Webber noted that the organ "existed intact in 1952, and was still giving good service." In a later notebook entry, Webber writes, "Dismantled 1958."                 Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes 8   Open Diapason 58 4   Gemshorn 58 8   Salicional 58 8   Trumpet 58 8   Doppel flöte 58                         Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed 16   Bourdon 58 4   Flute harmonique 58 8   Violin Diapason 58     Cornet, 3 ranks 58 8   Stopped Diapason 58 8   Oboe 58 8   Dolce 58   Tremulant                   Pedal Organ – 30 notes 16   Open Diapason 30         16   Bourdon 30                         Couplers     Great to Pedal       Swell to Great       Swell to Pedal       Swell to Great octaves
William A. Johnson Westfield, Mass. – Opus 110 (1864) Mechanical action 1 manual, 10 stops An organ built by William A. Johnson predates the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
Henry Erben New York City (1838) Mechanical action The first organ in the General Theological Seminary was built by Henry Erben for nearby St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church. Two of Erben's Opus Lists (1874 and 1880) indicate that the organ was built in 1838, yet parish records show that the Erben organ was sold to the General Seminary in 1843 for $400, and that the church purchased a new and larger organ in 1843 for $5000. However, a September 3, 1838 entry in Philip Hone's diary mentions a visit to St. Peter's, where he found an organ which was "too large for the church." It may be that a smaller organ had been used by the church until the 1838 Erben was installed, at which time the earlier organ was sold to General Seminary. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
Sources:      The American Organist (May 1959). Specification of Holtkamp Organ (1958).      Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.      The General Theological Seminary web site: http://www.gts.edu.      Stern, Robert A.M., Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman. New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age. New York City: The Monacelli Press, 1999.      Webber, F.R. "Organ scrapbook" at Organ Historical Society Archives, Princeton, N.J. Specification of Frank Roosevelt organ, Op. 385 (1887). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen. Illustrations:      Museum of the City of New York. Photo (1889) of Frank Roosevelt organ, Op. 385 (1887).      Rust, John. Chapel exterior and interior; Holtkamp organ.
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