Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)
2020-12-11 - The Kent Congregational Church was gathered in 1740, built its first church in 1742 and replaced that with the present two-towered structure in 1849. The Johnson organ was dedicated on July 9, 1893 by H.S,. Mygatt of New Milford, and cost $1,300.00. This was the smallest two-manual model the Johnson company built during their late, mature period. It shares this design with Op. 799 built for the First Methodist Church of Morrisville, N.Y. which sadly perished in a fire in 1995. Given the proximity of opera numbers, parts of these instruments were likely built together. The original instrument was altered by Charles Aiken of Granby, Connecticut in 1976, needlessly replacing the original flat pedalboard with a 32-note radiating AGO unit but without expanding the compass, and replacing the Dulciana with a 2' Fifteenth, now rendering the Great without an accompanimental stop. After serving the church for 114 years, the organ was replaced with an imitation instrument with the speakers placed behind the original facade, and the instrument itself was given to the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in the Smithfield section of the nearby town of Amenia, N.Y. where the organ was installed by grateful parishioners, (with the assistance of Stephen Russell), behind a handsome Greek Revival case built by a talented local cabinetmaker. Because the original facade pipes were forced to remain behind to camouflage the imitation, a set of Estey facade pipes were repurposed in the new facade. Charles Viner, later an organbuilder in Buffalo, New York, worked with the Johnson company from 1891 until its closure in 1898, recording into a notebook the stoplist and scales of every organ built during his tenure- the source for this stoplist. -Scot Huntington
Viner notebook page 85, held in the Viner collection in the American Organ Archives. Source: Charles Viner notebook 1893
Wm. Johnson & Son (Opus 796, 1893)
First Congregational Church
Kent, Connecticut
GREAT (enclosed with Swell)
8' Open Diapason Bass Sc. 46 12 pipes, facade
8' Open Diapason t.c. 46 pipes, unenclosed
- - - - - - - - - - - -
8' Dulciana Sc. 57 58 pipes, 1-7 capped
4' Octave Sc. 60 58 pipes
4' Flute d'Amour t.c. 46 pipes, bored stoppers, metal trebles
SWELL
8' Violin Diapason Sc. 46 46 pipes, t.c.
8' Stopped Diapason Bass Bd #1 12 pipes
8' Stopped Diapason Bd #1 46 pipes, t.c.
4' Fugara Sc. 66 58 pipes
PEDAL ORGAN
16' Sub Bass Sc. 10" 27 pipes
Accessories not listed, but the following are noted from the original
keydesk extant in the Smithfield Church, Amenia, New York:
Swell to Great
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Pedal Check
Blowers Signal
*The lack of a Tremolo is unusual.Regrettably, 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.