Madison Avenue Reformed Church - New York City (Wurts Bros., 1916)
 
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Madison Avenue Reformed Church

Madison Avenue at 57th Street
New York, N.Y. 10022


Organ Specifications:
Madison Avenue at 57th Street (1871-1915)
► III/28 George Jardine & Son (1895)
• III/28 George Jardine & Son (1889)
• II/ Ferris & Stuart (1871)
145 West 23rd Street (1854-1871)
• Hall & Labagh (1866)
• II/18 Henry Erben (1855)
Franklin Street (1808-1854)
• George Jardine (1845)
• Hall & Erben (1826) – burned 1839


The Madison Avenue Reformed Church was originally known as the North West Reformed Church, an independent Reformed Church organized in 1808 and located on Franklin Street, between Church Street and Broadway. This church burned in 1839 but was soon rebuilt. By the 1850s, as city residents moved farther uptown and away from the encroaching businesses of downtown, the congregation decided to follow its members and build a new church at 145 West 23rd Street. The society was then known as the Twenty-third Street Reformed Church. In 1871, the congregation moved again, building a new 1200-seat Gothic edifice on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 57th Street, and the church was renamed Madison Avenue Reformed Church. In 1898, the congregation established Bethany Reformed Mission Chapel to serve the immigrants flocking to the east side of Manhattan.

For many years, the Madison Avenue congregation flourished under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Abbott E. Kittredge, pastor from 1886-1906. His successor, Dr. William Carter, was forced to take a long vacation because of poor health, and Dr. Kittredge again took charge of the services. Following Dr. Kittredge's retirement in 1913, the church declined as many members moved away from the location. In December 1914, the congregation resolved to put their property, estimated to be worth more than $750,000, on the market. After it was found to be impossible for the property to remain in the Reformed denomination, an offer to buy the church for $410,000 was made by the Central Presbyterian Church and accepted. With the proceeds, the $250,000 mortgage on the Madison Avenue building was paid off and the remaining assets of approximately $250,000 were given to the Collegiate Church Corporation. In return, Collegiate agreed to support the ministry of Bethany Memorial Church for ninety-nine years.
                
  George Jardine & Son organ (1889) in Madison Avenue Reformed Church - New York City (photo: Wurts Bros., 1914)
George Jardine & Son
New York City (1895)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 27 stops, 28 ranks




In 1895, the Jardine Company electrified their mechanical-action organ that had been installed in 1889. From the specification recorded by Louis F. Mohr (a longtime organ installer and serviceman in the area), it appears that none of the stops were changed, but the console was modified or replaced to include additional sub-octave and octave couplers. This organ was removed in 1915 when Central Presbyterian Church, the new owners of the building, moved the three-manual Austin Organ (1901, Op. 53) from their previous church.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes
16
   Double Open Diapason
58
4
   Principal
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
2 2/3
   Nasard
58
8
   Gamba
58
2
   Piccolo
58
8
   Doppel Flöte
58
8
   Trumpet
58

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
58
     Cornet, 2 ranks
116
8
   Salicional
58
8
   Cornopean
58
8
   Gedakt [sic]
58
8
   Oboe
58
8
   Aeoline
58
8
   Vox Humana
58
4
   Flute d'Amour
58
        
               
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
   Philomela
58
4
   Flute Harmonic
58
8
   Clariana
58
2
   Flautino
58
8
   Clarabella
58
8
   Clarinet
58
4
   Salicet
58
        
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Open Diapason
30
8
   Violoncello
30
16
   Bourdon
30
        
               
Couplers (rocking tablets)
    Great to Pedal 8'   Choir to Great 16', 8'
    Swell to Pedal 8'   Swell to Choir 8'
    Choir to Pedal 8', 4'   Swell Sub Octaves
    Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'    
               
Combination Pedals
    Great Forte          
    Great Piano          
    Swell Forte          
    Swell Piano          
    Full Organ          
               
Pedal Movements
    Balanced Swell Pedal      
    Tremulant      
    Bellows Signal          
               
George Jardine & Son
New York City (1889)
Mechanical action
3 manuals, 27 stops, 28 ranks


In 1889, George Jardine & Son built a three-manual organ for the church. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located, but they are probably the same or very similar (perhaps with only unison couplers) to those show above after Jardine electrified the organ in 1895.
               
 
  Interior showing organ (ca.1875)
Ferris & Stuart
New York City (1871)
Mechanical action
2 manuals






The original organ in the church building on Madison Avenue at Fifty-seventh Street was built by Ferris & Stuart of New York City. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Organ in the Twenty-third Street Reformed Church at 145 West 23rd Street:

Hall & Labagh
New York City (1866)
Mechanical action


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Organ in the Twenty-third Street Reformed Church at 145 West 23rd Street:

Henry Erben
New York City (1855)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 18 stops


The 1861 American Musical Directory stated that the North West Reformed Church on West 23rd Street had an organ with "2 banks keys, 18 stops, 2 octaves pedals. Built by H. Erben, in 1855." Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Organ in the North West Reformed Church on Franklin Street:

George Jardine
New York City (1845)
Mechanical action


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Organ in the North West Reformed Church on Franklin Street:

Hall & Erben
New York City (1826)
Mechanical action


This organ burned in 1839. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
               
Sources:
     American Musical Directory. New York: Thomas Hutchinson, 1861.
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     "Old Church Goes Out of Existence," The New York Times (Feb. 28, 1915).
     "Rev. Dr. A.E. Kittredge Dies," The New York Times (Dec. 18, 1912).
     Mohr, Louis F. Specifications of George Jardine & Son organ (1895). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Illustrations:
     "Views of Old New York." Interior, ca. 1875.
     Wurts Bros. (New York, N.Y.). Exterior (1916); Interior (1914) showing George Jardine & Son organ (1895).