Benjamin Gregory Residence

324 West 23rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10011

Organ Specifications:
► II/15 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 152 (1876)
• unknown earlier organ


Benjamin Gregory was born on September 26, 1839, one of fourteen children born to Anna Marie Lyon and Dudley Sanford Gregory (1800-1874). Benjamin's father was involved with the ferry service and waterfront development of Jersey City, N.J., becoming its first mayor when the city was chartered in 1838; Dudley Gregory was later elected a Whig to represent his congressional district in the US House of Representatives.

Following the death of his father in 1874, Benjamin moved to New York City where he lived in a townhouse on the south side of West 23rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. In New York, Benjamin was a president of the Manhattan Turtle Club, a social group known for consuming vast quantities of turtle soup (and alcohol) at its meetings.

Benjamin Gregory married Fannie N. Ellmaker on May 23, 1864, in her father's house in Philadelphia. That marriage ended in a scandalous divorce in 1870, after which Benjamin married "the Widow Smith." Ellen Gregory, the second wife, sued for divorce in 1883, claiming her husband had frequently violated his marriage vows within the past three years. Neither marriage produced any children.

Benjamin Gregory died on February 19, 1885, in New York City.
               
J.H. & C.S. Odell
New York City – Opus 152 (1876)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 15 stops, 15 ranks


The handwritten contract, dated May 18, 1876, states that J.H. & C.S. Odell would provide a two-manual "Style D" organ in a case made of walnut. Several alterations to the usual specification were incoporated: an 8' Viol d'Amour replaced the usual Salicional in the Swell Organ, and a reversible coupler for the Great to Pedal and a Pedal Check were added. Odell agreed to furnish an Automatic Engine and feeder, except for the plumbing and gas fitting, and promised the organ would be completed on or before the first of August that same year. Mr. Gregory agreed to pay the sum of $2,600, less $225 for the "old Organ." A rider to the contract was for the addition of a 4' Flute à Cheminée (46 notes) in the Swell Organ for a consideration of $50; as this stop used the Tremolo knob, Odell provided an alternative (foot?) control to activate the Tremolo.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
  Open Diapason
58
8
   Clarionet Flute [TC]
46
8
  Keraulophon
58
4
  Principal
58
8
  Dulce [TC]
46
4
   Wald Flute [TC]
46
8
  Stopped Diapason Bass
12
2
   Fifteenth
58

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
8
  Open Diapason
58
4
   Violina
58
8
  Viol d'Amour [TC]
46
4
   Flute [TC]
46
8
  Stopped Diapason Bass
12
2
   Piccolo
58
8
  Stopped Diapason Treble
46
8
  Oboe [TC]
46

     

     
Pedal Organ – 25 notes
16
  Grand Bourdon
25
        
               
Couplers &c
    Reversible Coupler, Swell to Great   Swell to Pedal
    Reversible Coupler, Great to Pedal   Bellows Signal
    Swell to Great   Pedal Check
    Great to Pedal   Tremolo
               
Sources:
     Ancestors of Dudley Sanford Gregory web site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~knower/gregory/sanfordstem.htm.
     J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs web site: http://www.odellorgans.com
     "Married," The New York Times (May 25, 1864).
     "Mrs. Gregory's Divorce Suit," The New York Times (Sep. 23, 1883), p. 3.
     Obituary Notes. The New York Times (Feb. 21, 1885), p. 2.
     Trupiano, Larry. Contract and Specifications of J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 152 (1876).
     "Wonderful Soup Eaters," The New York Times (Jun. 11, 1880), p. 2.