2023-04-08 - The 1890 enlargement left the organ with a very heavy action. Consequently, the organ was electrified by Hall along with an electric blower. In 1966, the organ was retrackerized by the Andover Organ Co. retaining the Hall pneumatic stop motors. -Scot Huntington
2023-04-14 - This electrification was once previously attributed to the Hall Organ Co. of West Haven, Conn. who did a land-office business in the first third of the 20th-century electrifying old trackers. A shipping label from the National Organ Supply Company of Erie, Penn. which was glued to the pitch pipe of the 4' octave, identities an Erffe connection with this organ: To: #2877 Wm. Erffe Jr. 3 1/2" pressure Anecdotal information in church lore was "employees of the Hall Co." did the rebuild, which has led many people to believe this was a Hall project. Whether Erffe and others did this as a Hall project, or subcontracted to Hall, or did it independently after the Hall company floundered cannot be proven 100%, but the shipping label referenced above strongly suggests this was an Erffe project. Erffe was what is today classified as an itinerant tuner whose work was not of the highest standard, and his dates of business remain a mystery-- only that he worked at least into the 40s. -Scot Huntington
2023-04-15 - A new Spencer blower of 1.5 hp and 5" static pressure was installed under the narthex - the only part of the church with a cellar, and the wind pipe ran through the dirt crawl space under the sanctuary to the other end of the building. The stop tab console was likely of Hall manufacture although no one now has a clear memory of it. The shipping label referred to in a previous entry was a gummed label, wrapped around middle-c of the Gr. Octave 4'- the organ's "pitch pipe". It was soaked off by restorer Richard Hamar in 1978 and preserved. Its significance and the event behind it is indeed a mystery. Other than changes to the action and wind system, no other changes were made. -Scot Huntington
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.