Third Universalist Society


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Third Universalist Society

142 West 81st Street
New York, N.Y. 10024

Organ Specifications:
142 West 81st Street (1893-c.1908)
► II/20 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 309 (1893)
133-135 West 11th Street near Sixth Avenue (1884-1893)
► II/14 George Jardine & Son (1884)
214 Bleecker Street (1836-1884)
• II/14 Ferris & Stuart (<1873)
• II/16 Henry Erben (1836)


Bleecker Street edifice (1836-1884)

The Third Universalist Church Society was founded in 1834. On November 5, 1835, the cornerstone was laid for a building at the juncture of Bleecker Street and Downing in Greenwich Village, and the church was dedicated on June 18, 1836. In 1884, the Society purchased the New York Presbyterian Church, located on north side of Eleventh Street, just west of Sixth Avenue, for a consideration of $52,500.

On August 15, 1892, ground was broken for a new church to be located on West 81st Street. Jonathan Capen designed the new edifice that was built from 1892-93. The exterior was of Milwaukee brick, and between two square towers were two wide staircases which led into the church; between and under the stairs was the entrance to the Sunday school rooms, the boys' reading room, and library. The interior was finished in light wood, and the sides had eight windows framed in stained glass. To the right of the altar was the large organ, and on the left was the pastor's room.

The Eleventh Street building was sold to a Dutch Reformed congregation in 1893, but the Dutch church was unable to pay the amount agreed upon, and the old mortgage was foreclosed. To protect itself, the Universalist Society had to buy back the former property, which it subsequently sold at a loss of $25,000.

In 1897, the Fourth Universalist Society, then known as the Church of the Divine Paternity, announced that it would build a new edifice on Central Park West at Seventy-sixth Street, placing it very near to the Third Society, who objected strongly as they were struggling with a large debt due. In 1908-09, the 81st Street building was leased to Rabbi Stephen S. Wise's Free Synagogue, and sold in 1910 to the First Church of the Disciples (Central Christian Church), who stayed until 1945 when they moved to Park Avenue and 85th Street and became the Park Avenue Christian Church. From 1945-75, the building was owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after which the building was acquired by Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, formerly located at 252 West 138th Street in Harlem.

J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co. New York City – Opus 309 (1893) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 19 stops, 20 ranks For the Society's new edifice on West 81st Street, the J.H. & C.S. Odell & Co. built a two-manual organ with twenty ranks of pipes. The contract, dated [day omitted] January, 1893, states that the organ will cost $3,875 and will be "set up all complete ready for use in the above named Church on or before the 25th day of April 1893." This organ was replaced in 1932 when the Central Christian Church, owners of the building from 1910-1945, purchased a new instrument built by the W.W. Kimball Co. of Chicago.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8	Open Diapason	58	8	Grosse Flöte	58
8	Keraulophon	58	4	Principal	58
8	Dulciana	58

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
16	Bourdon Bass	12	4	Forest Flute	58
16	Bourdon Treble	46	2	Piccolo	58
8	Gemshorn	58		Mixture, 3 ranks	174
8	Gamba	58	8	Cornopean	58
8	Dulce d'Amour *	58	8	Oboe	58
8	Stopped Diapason	58
4	Violina	58		* Lower octave grooved into Gamba

Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16	Double Open Diapason	30
16	Bourdon	30

Couplers
	Swell to Great			Reversible, Swell to Great
	Swell to Pedal			Super Octave, Great to Swell
	Great to Pedal

Mechanical Accessories
	Bellows Signal			Balance Swell Pedal
	Wind Indicator

Pedal Movements
	Piano on Great Organ
	Forte on Great Organ
	Great to Pedal, Reversing Pedal

Pneumatic Compositions on Swell Organ
1.	Full Organ
2.	Full without Mixture or Cornopean
3.	Gemshorn, Gamba, Dulce, Stopped Diap., Violina, Piccolo
4.	Gemshorn, Gamba, Dulce, Stopped Diap.
5.	Gamba, Dulce, Stopped Diap.
6.	Dulce, Stopped Diapason
7.	Dulce d'Amour
8.	Dulce d'Amour, Oboe, Tremulant [orig. to be Forest Flute]
	"The above compositions to be worked by piston knobs between manuals."

Organ in church located at 133-135 West 11th Street near Sixth Avenue: George Jardine & Son New York City (1884) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 14 stops, 14 ranks For their edifice on West 11th Street, the society commissioned George Jardine & Son of New York City to build a new organ. The Musical Courier (Oct. 15, 1884) reported: "The new organ of the Third Universalist Society of this city was opened last Thursday evening [Oct. 9] with a fine concert. ... The organ is divided and built on the new open style, displaying the pipes symmetrically grouped and tastefully decorated. The stops are voiced, producing great purity and sweetness of tone. The action is Jardine's simplification system, avoiding friction and noise, notwithstanding the necessary complication of a divided organ." The following specification is from The Musical Courier. Pipecounts were not given but are suggested here, based on similar Jardine organs of the era.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8	Open Diapason	58	4	Principal	58
8	Melodia [TC]	46	4	Flute Harmonic	58
8	Stopped Diapason Bass	12	2	Piccolo	58
8	Gamba [TC]	46

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
8	Open Diapason	58	4	Violino	58
8	Clariana	58	2	Flageolet	58
8	Clarinet Flute	58	8	Trumpet	58
8	Aeoline	58		Tremulant

Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16	Bourdon	27

Couplers, &c
	Swell to Great			Great Forte
	Swell to Pedal			Great Piano
	Great to Pedal			Bellows Signal

Organ in church located at 214 Bleecker Street:

Ferris & Stuart
New York City (<1873)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 14 stops

Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

Organ in church located at 214 Bleecker Street:

Henry Erben
New York City (1836)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 16 stops

The Henry Erben organ was a gift of Samuel Wittemore, who laid the cornerstone of the first church. The American Musical Directory of 1861 stated that the Third Universalist Church, Bleecker c. Downing st., had an organ with "2 banks keys, 16 stops, 1 octave pedals. Built by H. Erben, in 1840."

Sources:
     American Musical Directory. New York: Thomas Hutchinson, 1861.
     "City and Surburban News," The New York Times (Feb. 6, 1884).
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     "In the Real Estate Field," The New York Times (June 1, 1894).
     The Musical Courier (Vol. IX, no. 16, Oct. 15, 1884). Article with specification of George Jardine & Son organ (1884). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     "New Church of Eternal Hope," The New York Times (May 8, 1893).
     Thomas, Abel Charles. A Century of Universalism in Philadelphia and New-York, with Sketches of its History in Reading, Hightstown, Brooklyn, and Elsewhere. Philadelphia: Collins, 1872.
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specifications of J.H. & C.S. Odell Organ, Op. 309 (1893).
     "Two Churches At Odds," The New York Times (Mar. 16, 1897).
     "Worshipers in a New Church," The New York Times (Feb. 25, 1884).

Illustrations:
     Wurts Bros. (New York, N.Y.). 1944 photo of Central Christian Church, originally built as Third Universalist Society on West 81st Street. Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
     Underwood & Underwood (New York, N.Y.). Undated exterior of Bleecker Street edifice.

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