Postmarked 1909 - Church exterior (Photograph from an archival source: Vintage postcard, submitted by Jim Stettner/Jim Stettner)
2022-08-12 - From the *Hartford Daily Courant*, November 8, 1895: The contract for the new pipe organ for St. Paul's Episcopal Church has been awarded to the firm of J. W. Steere & Sons [*sic*] of Springfield, Mass. The money for the organ was left by the late James B. Colton of Warehouse Point and it will be a memorial to him. A plate on the organ will be suitably inscribed. The recess for the organ is nearing completion and the front of the organ will extend out into the church nearly to the chancel arch. The manuals, seat and choir seats will be on the other side of the chancel arch, the action being extended across under the floor. All of the actions will be the tubular pneumatic and of the latest improved kind. It will be a two-manual organ and the stops and mechanical appliances will give the organist a large variety of changes. The service of blessing of the organ was held on March 16, 1896, as reported in the *Courant* of March 18. The article gave the following description of the organ: [The organ stands on the west side of the church, about four feet of it extending into the body of the church. The case is of the sweet gum wood and is highly polished. The decorated pipes above the wood work are in perfect harmony with the walls, ceiling and general appearance of the interior of the church. The keyboard locker is on the west side of the church and is finished in quartered oak. The organist faces the organ and is far enough away from it to get the full benefit of the tone and knows just how the music sounds to the audience. There are two manuals with electro-pneumatic action and the pedal organ has the same action. The swell and great organs have seven sets of pipes, each fifty-eight notes, making 866 [*sic*] pipes, while the pedal organ has two stops of twenty-seven pipes each. There are seven pedal movements and seven mechanical registers. The coupling arrangement doubles the power of the swell organ and the great organ can be coupled on the swell with double power on both organs. It is also supplied with a new automatic adjustable combination stop action which allows any combination to be made for any pedal before or during the execution of any selection of music. On the front of the organ case is a plate inscribed: "The Gift of James B. Colton of Warehouse Point, 1896." . . . It was built by J. W. Steere & Son of Springfield, Mass. Sources: "Windsor Locks" (column), *Hartford Daily Courant*, Friday, November 8, 1895, 8, Newspapers.com, accessed August 11, 2022, https://www.newspapers.com/image/369518437/. "Windsor Locks" (column), subheading "Blessing of the New Organ at St. Paul's—Description of the Organ," *Hartford Daily Courant*, Wednesday, March 18, 1896, 8, Newspapers.com, accessed August 11, 2022, https://www.newspapers.com/image/374443667/. -Charles Eberline
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.