St. Peter's Episcopal Church
Maple Avenue
Hobart, NY
Images
June 2021 - Hobart, original fieldstone bellows weights (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Hobart gallery, original location (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Hobart blower in floor well (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Davis front organ case (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Davis Treble side stopjamb (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Davis Bass side stopjamb (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Davis shortened pump handle (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Hobart pedalboard (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Davis keydesk (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Hobart portrait side view (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Builder's nameplate (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
June 2021 - Church interior (Photograph by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
Postmarked 1919 - Colorized postcard of the church exterior (Photograph from an archival source: Postcard, submitted by Scot Huntington/Scot Huntington)
Consoles
Main
- Organ type: Traditional With Hinged Doors That Enclose Keyboards
- Console position: Keydesk Attached, Manuals Set Into Case
- 1 manuals
- 7 stops
- 8 registers
- 1 divisions
- Key action Type: Mechanical (Details Unknown)
- Stop action Type: Mechanical
- Stop layout Type: Drawknobs in Vertical Rows on Flat Jambs
- Manual compass: 54 notes
- Pedal compass: 13 notes
- Pedal Type: Flat Straight
- Expression Type: Trigger/Hitch-Down Expression
- Combination action: None
Notes
2004-10-30 - Status Note: There 1995 -Database Manager
2004-10-30 - 'we have been enabled to procure and excellent organ, which in a few days will be placed in the church. Cost $500. -Database Manager
2017-02-27 - Updated by Scot Huntington, naming this as the source of information: The Tracker 44:4:20. <br> -Database Manager
2017-02-27 - Updated by Scot Huntington <br> -Database Manager
2019-04-18 - Updated by Scot Huntington, who gave this as the source of the information: Personal correspondence 3/25/2019. <br> <br> -Database Manager
2021-06-29 - I examined the organ June 28, 2021. Other than the addition of a 1/6 h.p. Spencer Junior electric blower, (3" static pressure), the organ is in original and unaltered condition. The blower is installed in a metal box placed in a well to the side of the organ, accessed by lifting a hinged section of the floor-- there being no cellar under this portion of the building. The instrument is very well built from quality materials, including mahogany chest table and sliders. The pipework is beautifully crafted of substantial common metal, and the wood pipes are sealed with brick paint throughout. The faux-grained oak finish on pine is well executed by an experienced hand. The voicing is sweet yet fulsome . As of 2021, the double-rise reservoir and single-wedge feeder are still operating on original leather- remarkable. The church was built in 1801 with a three-sided gallery and barrel-vault ceiling. If it weren't for the carpet covering every square inch, the church would have excellent acoustics. At some point in the 20th century, the interior of the upper case was lined with thin sheets of homosote acoustical material.
The horizontal shades open not quite half-way, and the rear of the case has been removed to allow greater tonal egress, but has unfortunately been lost. The reservoir is weighted with field stones. The pump handle protrudes from the right rear of the case, and was shortened by probably at least half so the organ can sit close to the wall after it was moved to the front. The facade of half-round wooden dummies may have originally been gilded, but the present treatment is either paint or an antique gold toner glaze, and the upper lips (but not the lower) are painted a dark maroon.
The stops all divided a tenor-f, with only the Principal and Stop'd bass being full compass. The wood trebles have bored stoppers, and screwed-on walnut caps. The metal ranks have no skiving, and the cutups are ever so slightly arched. The nicking is vertical and moderately light. The metal pipes overblow normally by mouth, i.e. voiced on the quick side. The stop'd bass is strong with a prominent twelfth. The only zinc pipes in the organ are notes 1-5 of the 4' Principal. The octave of pedals is original, and is engaged with a stop knob. The hitchdown pedal has a short travel and a single hitch at full open. The metal pipes are carefully cut to pitch with little evidence of tuning-- small tabs on the larger pipes, minimal coning of the small pipes, currently with random and mild pinching adjustments. The pitch is low: 436.4 at 83 degrees, which would be roughly 430 at 70.
The keyboard is pulled out to play, and the stickers attached to the fan backfall are secured in a register and ride up a long ramp at the key tail when the keyboard is fully extended. A hinged panel folds down to open the keydesk. Presently the key dip is very shallow: 4 mm. The stop jambs are rosewood veneer, but the keyframe and music desk area of the keydesk are black walnut. The music rack is held in position by a rather fussy prop stick-- making a hinged prop stick would have been simpler and more secure. The stoplist in the Tracker 44:4 is in error, omitting the Dulciana. This has now been corrected in the specification attached to this entry.
Originally installed in the center of the rear gallery. Given the barrel shape of the ceiling, the distribution of the organ's tone throughout the room would have been surprisingly even and present. The organ was moved in 1880 to a confining alcove to the left of the chancel, and a wall was constructed in the gallery cutting its depth in half. The reason for this is inexplicable to us today, unless the previous gallery extending deep into the tower was cold and difficult to heat. The organ can not now be moved to its original advantageous position in the gallery.
The ensemble of space, oak-grained box pews with doors, and organ is all of a piece and especially fine. -Scot Huntington
Stoplist
Source: Examination of extant organ June 28, 2021
Hobart, New York
St. Peter's Episcopal
Wm. H. Davis & Son, 1855
Compass: 54/13
Open Diapason t.f.
Stop Diapason Treble t.f., wood, bored stoppers
Stop Diapason Bass 1-17, wood
Dulciana t.f.
[Prin. Treble] t.f., paper label
Principal Bass 1-17
Flute t.f.
Pedals (pedal coupler)
Hitchdown expression pedal
Other Links
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