2007-03-01 - Church interior with facade (Photo by Virginia Haynes/Database Manager)
2007-03-01 - Facade and console (Photo by Virginia Haynes/Database Manager)
2007-03-01 - Console (Photo by Virginia Haynes/Database Manager)
2007-12-06 - Identified from factory documents and publications courtesy of Stephen Schnurr. -Database Manager
2009-01-15 - Updated through on-line information from Laurel Buckwalter. -Database Manager
2009-01-27 - Updated through on-line information from James R. Stettner. -Database Manager
2011-02-27 - Updated through on-line information from Larry Philbrick. -Database Manager
2013-01-04 - Updated through online information from Scot Huntington. -- The town was originally known as Alfred Center. The organ was placed in the refurbished sanctuary following the 1929 Palm Sunday fire which severely damaged the original 1886 Steer & Turner instrument, op. 211. The Moller was purchased by the Rosebush family in memory of their mother Sara.<br><br>The initial arrangements were handled by Stephen Rosebush of Appleton, Wisconsin, on behalf of the family, (and who had initially made contact with Ford & Reynolds, the territorial Moller agent in Chicago ), but the town of Alfred fell within the jurisdiction of Buffalo agent R.J. Jackson who had also negotiated directly with the church. A major row then ensued between the two Moller agents as to who was owed the substantial commission. F&R was notorious for paying graft under the table in order to secure a contract, and had promised a kickback to Stephen Rosebush as well as a commission to an organist in Appleton, Wisconsin whom they were cultivating for the purpose of recommending Moller organs to potential clients, and who, as a friend of the family, was responsible for dictating to the factory the rather bizarre and illogical stop tablet layout. Ultimately, the Alfred church intervened on behalf of Mr. Jackson whom they felt provided outstanding service, and the two Moller agents split the commission with the factory, also making the "commission" payments to the two Wisconsin parties. <br><br>Owing to the difficult financial conditions of the time, the family giving the organ was not able to complete their payment obligations until November of 1931. The contract was signed in March, 1930 and the organ was delivered the following June. In addition to Moller, the other builders submitting tenders for the project were Austin, Estey, Gottfried, and Marr & Colton. <br><br>The original pneumatic relays and switches were replaced with noisy and slow electro-magnet supply house units in the late 1960s, and current plans are hoping to replace these failing units with solid state equipment in order to return the action to its original quick response. <br><br>In the 1980s, members from both churches using the ca. 1850 building, (the Alfred Seventh Day Baptist and Union University congregations), releathered the windchest valve actions. The on-going renovations of the organ are now under the care of the Parsons Organ Co. of Penfield, NY, and under whose direction the Tuba was recently refurbished by Broome & Co. of Granby, Connecticut. <br><br>The organ woodwork is walnut, and the facade pipes were originally painted "antique gold bronze." <br><br>The above information is from the extensive correspondence file maintained in the Moller Collection by the OHS American Organ Archives. -Database Manager
2022-06-01 - Ownership of the church building was transferred from the First Alfred Seventh Day Baptist Church to Union University Church in July 2021. -Lawrence Casey
2023-12-29 - In a correction to my earlier post, it was the Swell Cornopean that was restored by Broome, not the Great Tuba. I visited the organ last week, and found it to be in remarkable condition for a pneumatic organ nearing 100 years of age. However, there are "tip of the iceberg" signs of impending failures with miscellaneous dead notes relating to failing leather pouches. Several of the reservoirs were releathered by amateurs within the last 40 years. The console is fully functional, indicating it has had attention in the relatively recent past. The idiosyncratic and nonsensical stop tab layout dictated by an organist advising the family, is annoying and defies logic--this is one aspect of the original console that should be modified to accepted console standards. It is hoped that the organ will receive major restorative attention in the near future before the action failures become serious and debilitating. -Scot Huntington
2024-12-30 - In a further correction to my original post, The Swell Cornopean was refurbished by Fred Oyster, not David Broome. The 1980s consortium of volunteers releathered the manual primary actions, not the entirety of the organ's note valves, which are now in dire need of releathering. The Diapasons surprisingly are all of a hard Geigen quality lending the plenum a somewhat stringy quality, not helped by the expanse of carpet in front of the organ which is sucking the lie out of the bass and mid-range. The 5 strings are exceptional of their kind, as are the 5 reed stops, but the truly superb strings are the surprising glory of the instrument--not unlike the sides being the star of the meal. Tonally, the organ rises above the prosaic and formulaic stoplist and is better than anticipated for a typical instrument of the period, with individual stops of unexpected beauty. With Brahms instead of Buxtehude on the music rack, the organ makes a good account of itself, only being severely and unnecessarily hampered by reams of thick carpet. -Scot Huntington
Source: Stoplist from console December 28, 2023
Alfred, New York
Alfred Seventh Day Baptist Church
[Now Union University Church, 2022]
M.P. Moller, Opus 5775, 1930
Compasses: 61/32
GREAT [Great/Choir duplex chest and Expressive; left chamber]
8' Open Diapason
8' Gross Flute
8' Viola d'Gamba
8' Concert Flute (Ch) --
8' Dulciana (Ch) --
4' Principal (Ch) --
4' Harmonic Flute
8' Tuba
Tremulant [Gr,Ch]
Chimes
Great 16'
Great Unison On/Off [key cheek pistons]
Great 4'
SWELL [Expressive; right chamber]
16' Bourdon 12 [Gedeckt]
8' Open Diapason
8' Gedeckt 61 [unit chest]
8' Salicional
8' Voix Celeste (tc) 61 [draws Salicional]
4' Flute D'amour 12 [Gedeckt]
4' Violina 12 [Salicional]
2 2/3' Quint 7 [Gedeckt]
2' Flautino 5 [Gedeckt]
8' Cornopean
8' Oboe
8' Vox Humana [in Vox box; expression pistons P/F]
Tremulant
Swell 16'
Swell Unison On/Off [key cheek pistons]
Swell 4'
CHOIR [shares duplex chest with Great]
8' English Diapason
8' Concert Flute 61 [unit chest]
8' Dulciana
8' Unda Maris (tc) 61 [draws Dulciana]
4' Solo Flute 12 [Concert]
4' Dulcet 12 [Dulciana]
2' Piccolo 12 [Concert]
8' Clarinet
Tremulant [Gr, Ch]
Choir 16'
Choir Unison On/Off [key cheek pistons]
Choir 4'
PEDAL
16' Open Diapason 32 [in Sw chamber]
16' Bourdon 32 [in Gr chamber]
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Sw) --
8' Octave 12 [Diapason]
8' Major Flute 12 [Bourdon]
8' Cello (Gr) --
8' Dolce Flute (Sw) --
INTER-DIVISIONAL COUPLERS
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Pedal 4'
Great to Pedal
Great to Pedal 4'
Choir to Pedal
Swell to Great 16'
Swell to Great
Swell to Great 4'
Choir to Great 16'
Choir to Great
Choir to Great 4'
Swell to Choir 16'
Swell to Choir
Swell to Choir 4'
Choir to Swell 16'
Choir to Swell
Choir to Swell 4'
COMBINATION COUPLERS
Swell & Pedal Combons On/Off [key cheek pistons]
Great & Pedal Combons On/Off [key cheek pistons]
Choir & Pedal Combons On/Off [key cheek pistons]
FINGER PISTONS
General 0, 1 - 6
Swell 0, 1 - 6
Great 0, 1 - 6
Choir 0, 1 - 6
Pedal 0, 1 - 6
Sforzando (rev) red light
TOE STUDS / SPOONS
General 0, 1 - 6
Sforzando (rev) red light
Great to Pedal (rev)
Swell to Pedal (rev)
PEDAL MOVEMENTS
Great/Choir Expression (bal.) 8 stage
Swell Expression (bal.) 8 stage
Crescendo (bal.) 4 green lights
ACCESSORIES
DC voltmeter
NOTES
The Great/Choir expression shades have individual motors.
[Received from Laurel Buckwalter 2012-01-12.]
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