Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)
2013-01-23 - Organ relocated without any change. Identified by Carl Schwartz. -- From the 2011 Convention Atlas article - Carl Schwartz, author: <br>"St. Patrick-s lays claim to having the first church pipe organ in the city of Washington . At the time of the War of 1812, the British built organ of Cople Parish (Protestant Episcopal) in Westmoreland County, Virginia was taken down for safekeeping. Ultimately the Virginia instrument found a home at St. Patrick-s where it served well until 1857. This is most likely the instrument long referred to as the 'Port Royal Organ'." <br>Information taken from: MacGregor, Morris, J.; A Parish for the Federal City – St. Patrick-s in Washington 1794-1994, Washington, D.C., 1994, The Catholic University of America Press. This refers to Old St. Patrick's begun in 1807, completed 1809 and enlarged 1816 - near the site of the present Church. <br>McGregor's sources included original parish records and correspondence in this matter. The organ was in the safekeeping of relatives of parish members. Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia also considered the purchase of this organ but ultimately contracted with Hilbus and Howison for an instrument presumed to the one now in the Smithsonian Collection. <br>Earlier research by Cleveland Fisher indicated that the "Port Royal Organ" may have gone to a Catholic church in Georgetown. This was a late and published recollection of Bishop Meade of the Episcopal Church. Fr. William Matthews, Pastor of St. Patrick's, a member of an aristocratic Maryland family was President of Georgetown College at about the time that the organ arrived in Washington and may have been the person who ultimately received the instrument - thus the confusion about the ultimate destination. <br>There is a question about what instrument or instruments the legend of the "Port Royal" organ represents. That St. Patrick's has the record of the purchase and relocation of a colonial era British organ, formerly in Virginia at Cople Parish is established by McGregor's careful research. This information does not entirely conform to the story of the "Port Royal Organ" and in spite of the claims of uniqueness for the presence of that instrument in the region, it seems that the possibility that more than one organ might be involved. -Database Manager
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