Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)
2021-04-25 - The various towns suffixed Canaan in Connecticut's most northwest county are not be confused with New Canaan in the southwest corner closer to New York City. The first congregational church was organized here in the mid-1700s, and constructed a stately ediface in 1822 which still stands. It has been known over the past 150 years as North, East, and now again North Canaan Congregational Church. Ca. 1878 the {East Canaan) church installed a new organ, added an electric blower in 1929 for $156.655, and replaced it with a new Wicks organs ca. 1958. When North Canaan was broken into two towns in the 1880s, the church was now physically in East Canaan and commensurately renamed. For somewhat complicated reasons, the congregation sanctioned the creation of an offshoot parish and building in the section of town that remained North Canaan in 1887, called Pilgrim Congregational Church. It is this church which I believe installed the Wm. Johnson & Son Op. 756 in 1891, not the parent church (simply called "Congregational Church, Canaan" in the Viner notebook description of this organ). This was a compact shingle-style building. By the early 1960s, the two congregations were sharing a minister but still maintaining individual parishes and buildings. The on-line history of the present church ends in the late 1960s and as of 2021 there is no longer a Pilgrim Congregational church in this town. The East Canaan Congregational Church has again embraced its original name, North Canaan Congregational Church, presumably with a single, unified congregation. The fate of the Johnson organ is unknown. -Scot Huntington
2021-04-26 - Further research indicates that in 1980, likely a date for the merger of the two congregations, the organ was sold through the Organ Clearing House to Our Lady of Lourdes, R.C. Greenwood, South Carolina and restored by Mann & Trupiano. It was subsequently sold again in 1998-99 through the Clearing House, to Westminster Presbyterian, Gainesville, Florida, a modern contemporary building, by the Knowlton Organ Co. and church members. -Scot Huntington
2021-04-29 - The previously noted information has been confirmed by OHS member Richard Hamar who serviced the organ before its removal. The congregation merged back with the East Canaan parent congregation prior to the organ's sale through the Organ Clearing House. The Pilgrim church building is extant but repurposed long ago to another purpose. The church office across the street is now the main office for the merged congregation, again retitled back to its original name prior to the redistricting of the town with new names in the 1870s: the North Canaan Congregational Church, and the church office building houses the Pilgrim House, a local food pantry. At the time of its removal, the Johnson was in excellent condition and had been fitted with an electric blower. The pipe-fence facade was once stencilled, but painted over with gold radiator paint for many decades. -Scot Huntington
Ledger in the American Organ Archives, page 44 Source: Viner ledger notebook. 1891
Wm. Johnson & Son (Opus 756, 1891) [Pilgrim] Congregational Church [North] Canaan, Connecticut Compasses: 58/27 notes Cost: $1,425.00 Gt. 8' Open Diapason Scale 46 8' Melodia t.c. 8' Dulciana t.c. sc. 57 8' Unison Bass 1-12 Bdn. #1 4' Octave sc. 60 Sw. [enclosed] 8' Viola Diapason t.c. sc. 53 8' St'd. Diapason t.c. Bdn. #1 8' St'd. Diapason Bass 1-12 Bdn. #1 4' Flute Harmonique 8' Oboe t.c. Ped. 16' Sub Bass sc. 11" Couplers and accessories not listed, but Johnson would have typically included the following in this era: Swell to Great Great to Pedale Swell to Pedale Tremolo [Sw.] Bellows Signal Pedale Check Possibly two combination pedals to the Great
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