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Chapel of St. John
(Episcopal)
46 Varick Street
New York, N.Y. 10024
On September 13, 1802, the Board of Trinity Corporation resolved "That a Room be hired by the Rector for the assembling of Persons to attend Public worship in the neighborhood of Brannon Street and that benches be provided for the accomodation of such assembly." On February 10, 1803, it was decided to build a church on the square at the corner of Duane, Hudson, and Jay streets. A month later, Hudson Street was approved as a more suitable site. On May 12, 1803, the Vestry selected plans prepared by John McComb Jr. and Isaac McComb, and it was decided to build the new church on the east side of Hudson Square. Almost immediately, criticism ensued about the unsuitability of such a location for a substantial edifice.
At the time, the area was a wild and marshy spot, surrounded by bushes and bulrushes, and populated by snakes. Indeed, the land in the neighborhood was of so little value that the Lutherans declined an offer of six acres for a new church, on the ground that it would not pay to fence it in.
As the church was built from 1803-07, Hudson Square was transformed to become St. John's Park, an idyllic pleasure ground for private use by those who had built new residences on land surrounding the park, some of whom were the wealthiest and most fashionable members of New York society. The magnificent new church, which rivaled St. Paul's Chapel in beauty, had a deep portico at its entrance and was surmounted by a 215-foot clock tower. The building was completed by May 14, 1807, at a total cost of $172,833, and Bishop Moore consecrated the church that year.
Following the Civil War, residents began a northerly migration away from the hustle and noise of the city, and the area around St. John's Church became surrounded by factories and tenements. In 1868, the New York Central & Hudson Rail Road purchased St. John's Park and built a depot on its land, hastening the decline of the formerly peaceful neighborhood. Services continued in the church until it was finally closed in 1909. Sadly, and despite much public outcry, the beautiful church was razed in 1917 when the city widened Varick Street. |
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Henry Erben
New York City (1874)
Mechanical action
3 manuals, 28 stops
In 1874, Henry Erben rebuilt and enlarged the organ built in 1840 by Thomas Robjohn. From the photo at the right, it would appear that the organ was also moved at that time to the left side of the chancel. Sometime after St. John's Chapel was closed in 1909, the organ was moved to Holyrood Church in Washington Heights, where it was rebuilt and electrified by Reuben Midmer & Sons. The 1874 specifications of this organ have not yet been located. |
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Thomas Robjohn (Firth & Hall)
New York City (1840)
Mechanical action
3 manuals, 28 stops, 29 ranks
In 1837 or 1838, a contract was made with Firth & Hall to build a new organ for Trinity Church. The G-compass organ was to have three manuals, an octave-and-a-half of pedals (from CC to G), and 20 stops. Although Firth & Hall were primarily a music publisher and musical instrument dealer, they also had an organ factory on Attorney Street, headed by Thomas Robjohn. In January 1839, Dr. Edward Hodges was appointed as organist of Trinity Parish, and through his presence and influence it was determined that the Firth & Hall organ would be inadequate. Around the same time, it was discovered that the Trinity Church building had serious structural problems and must be replaced. In September 1839, the vestry decided to build a new church that would contain a magnificent new organ; in November of the same year the vestry decided that the Firth & Hall organ would instead be installed in St. John's Chapel, replacing the 1813 John Lowe organ. Dr. Hodges, who was paid $250 by the vestry to supervise the construction of the Firth & Hall organ, may have influenced its design to include octave couplers, the two octaves of pedals, and the placement of the Choir division on the gallery rail.
The organ was completed in the autumn of 1840, and the official opening took place on November 27, 1840. Dr. Hodges began the concert with an improvisation of a storm, as reported in The New York Herald:
Precisely as the clock struck 7, the first tones of this magnificent instrument burst upon the ear in a voluntary by Dr. Hodges, in which he introduced quite a novel feature; we allude to the striking and close resemblance to a storm, in which the roaring of the thunder, the howling of the wind, were exactly and beautifully portrayed. This so completely and unexpectedly convulsed the audience that it was sometime before they could convince themselves that it proceeded from the organ, so complete was the illusion.
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Great Organ (Manual II) – 54 notes
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
54 |
1 1/3 |
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Larigot |
54 |
8 |
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Stopped Diapason |
54 |
1 |
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Twenty-second |
54 |
4 |
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Principal |
54 |
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Mixture III ranks * |
— |
2 2/3 |
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Twelfth |
54 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
54 |
2 |
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Fifteenth |
54 |
4 |
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Clarion |
54 |
1 3/5 |
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Tierce |
54 |
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* no pipes; drew three preceding stops
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Swell Organ (Manual III) – 37 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
37 |
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Cornet III ranks |
111 |
8 |
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Stopped Diapason |
37 |
8 |
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Hautboy |
37 |
8 |
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Dulciana |
37 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
37 |
4 |
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Principal |
37 |
4 |
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Clarion |
37 |
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Choir Organ (Manual I) – 54 notes
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
54 |
4 |
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Principal |
54 |
8 |
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Stopped Diapason |
54 |
2 |
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Fifteenth |
54 |
8 |
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Dulciana |
54 |
8 |
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Cremona |
54 |
4 |
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Flute |
54 |
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Pedal Organ – 25 notes
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16 |
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Open Diapason |
25 |
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16 |
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Dulciana |
25 |
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Couplers
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Swell to Great |
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Choir to Great |
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Swell to Great octaves |
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Choir to Pedal |
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Swell to Choir |
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Great to Pedal |
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Swell to Choir octaves |
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Great to Pedal octaves |
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John Lowe
Philadelphia, Penn. (1813)
Mechanical action
3 manuals
The first organ for St. John's Chapel was built in 1813 by John Low[e] of Philadelphia, who shipped the organ by sea on the coastal vessel Marianne. Unfortunately, the Marianne and its cargo were captured off of the New York shore by the H.M.S. Plantagenet, a 74-gun British man-of-war. Lowe then journeyed via coach to New York and attempted to have the organ freed, but he became ill and died. The original cost of $6,000 for the organ increased significantly when Trinity Church had to pay a ransom of $2,000 to redeem the organ from the British. After the organ was safely on land, it was set up by Thomas Hall, who was Lowe's apprentice; assisting Hall were Peter Erben, St. John's organist, and his son, Henry Erben. Thomas Hall remained in New York where he established a shop, married Peter's daughter, Maria, and accepted Henry as an apprentice. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
When the Firth and Hall organ was installed in 1840, the organ by John Lowe was packed away in the church tower until 1845, when the vestry gave it to St. Clement's Church, then located on Amity Street in Lower Manhattan. |
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Sources:
Dix, Morgan. A History of the Parish of Trinity Church in the City of New York. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1901.
Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
Ogasapian, John. English Cathedral Music in New York: Edward Hodges of Trinity Church. Richmond: The Organ Historial Society, 1994.
Ogasapian, John. Organ Building in New York City: 1700-1900. Braintree, Mass.: The Organ Literature Foundation, 1977.
Illustrations:
Dix, Morgan. A History of the Parish of Trinity Church in the City of New York: exterior.
New-York Mirror. 1829 engraving of St. John's Church and Park. |
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