2007-06-10 - Identified through online information from James R. Stettner. -- Essentially new organ retaining twin black walnut cases, facade pipes, and Pedal 16' Double Open Diapason from previous 1876 Steere & Turner. Swell placed over Great in right case. Augmented Pedal division placed in left case. Dedicated Sunday, October 15, 1989 by project consultant, Ronald Ebrecht of Wesleyan University. Source: extant organ. -Database Manager
2012-04-11 - Updated through online information from Michael Peter McCarthy. -- I played this instrument at the funeral of my grandmother on 12/06/1991, at which time it had been fully restored to its nearly original condition. The pastor at the time (now deceased I believe) explained that what had been in place for a number of years was a small, two-manual Austin, that someone had stuck between the twin cases of the original Steere & Turner. The parish (believe it or not) had the the smarts and the wherewithal to remove it and raise approximately $100K to restore to Steere & Turner to its original condition. The console is built into the left (facing the rose window) tower. So far as I know, it should still be in the same condition. The pastor noted that some group making a documentary on the death of was looking for an instrument that would have been played at the time of the death of President Chester A. Arthur and chose that one. -Database Manager
Original document from James R. Stettner. Source: Stoplist copied from the console October 15, 1989 2018-07-04
Manchester, Connecticut
St. James' R.C. Church
STEERE & TURNER, Opus 108, 1876
Andover Organ Co., R-284, 1989 - Resurrection & Rebuild
GREAT COUPLERS (Drawknob)
16 Bourdon 58 Swell to Pedal
8 Open Diapason 58 Great to Pedal
8 Stopped Diapason 58
4 Octave 58 Swell to Great
4 Flute [d'Amour] 58
2 Fifteenth 58
II-III Mixture [19-22] 220 FINGER PISTONS
III Cornet [12-15-17] 174 General 1 - 6
8 Trumpet 58 Swell 1 - 4
Tremolo Sw – Ped (rev)
Sw – Gt (rev)
Great 1 - 4
SWELL (Expressive) Gt-Ped (rev)
8 Violin Diapason 58 Sfz. (rev)
8 Chimney Flute 58 Setter
4 Principal 58 General Cancel
2 Piccolo 58
1-1/3 Larigot 58
III Mixture [19-22-26] 174 TOE STUDS
16 Clarinet 58 General 1 - 6
8 Oboe 58 Sw – Ped (rev)
Tremolo Gt - Ped (rev)
Sw – Gt (rev)
Sfz. (rev)
PEDAL
16 Double Open Diapason 30
16 Subbass 30 PEDAL MOVEMENTS
8 Octave 30 Swell Expression (bal.)
16 Trombone 30
MEMORY
Levels 1 - 8
ACTION: Mech. Key STOPS: 21 REGISTERS: 21 RANKS: 27 PIPES: 1,509
Elec. Stop
S-S Comb.
NOTES
The original Steere & Turner had the Great and Pedal in the right-hand case, and the
Swell in the left-hand case. The organ fell into disrepair, and the church ultimately
replaced it with a 1927 Austin, 4-rank 'Chorophone.' It was rumored that the remaining
mechanical portions of the Steere & Turner were flattened under the wheels of the Austin
installation crew's truck - rendering the 1876 organ unrestorable. Only the manual
windchests, the Pedal 16' Double Open Diapason and its chest, and the twin black walnut
cases remained. A few misc. trebles were found in the cracks between toeboards of the
Great during removal. Two stories exist for the disposition of the Steere & Turner pipe-
work. One story states that the pipes were given to another church. The other story
claims the pipes were given to students at the Hartt School of Music for an organ they
were creating.
The Austin fell into an unreliable state after 60 years, and the parish was faced with
the decision of what to do. It was inadequate to their needs, so there seemed little
point in restoring an organ that was tonally inadequate. The Austin was sold and the
decision was made to restore/rebuild the Steere & Turner.
In the Andover resurrection and rebuild, the original Steere & Turner windchests were
retained and restored. The Great remained on the right-hand side, but the Swell was
placed over it. The left-hand side became the Pedal division exclusively. The keydesk is
attached to the left side of the Great case and the Pedal trackers run under the floor.
The Swell shutters faced across the rear gallery to the Pedal case, so John Morlock of
Andover created a unique solution for tonal egress on the side of the swellbox facing
into the nave. A large sectioned circle was cut into the swellbox...rather like orange
segments. A corresponding 'wheel' was fitted over the hole and when the expression shoe
is moved, the circle rotates to align the segmented holes and allow sound to speak into
the nave as well as through the standard louvers.
The organ was dedicated October 15, 1989 by Ronald Ebrecht of Wesleyan University of
Middletown, Conneceticut who also served as the consultant for the project.
Sources: Andover files; JRS; extant organ
St. James R.C. Church
896 Main St.
P.O. Box 790
Manchester, CT. 06040
(203) 643-4129 Documented: October 15, 1989Regrettably, it is not possible to display the information about the sponsor of this pipeorgandatabase entry or if there is a sponsor. Please see About Sponsors on Pipe Organ Database.