The following is taken from the program created for St. Peter’s Church Organ Centennial in 1960:
THE ORGAN
For the last century the organ in St. Peter’s Church has given continuous and faithful service to the glory of God and the credit of a fine craftsman, William Allen Johnson, of Westfield, Massachusetts, installed his Opus 100 in the church in May, 1860, and received $1,000 for his work.
Fortunately the church still has the original contract along with a sketch of the case and. some assorted correspondence from Mr. Johnson. These old documents tell an interesting story of the history of the organ. The contract reads as follows:
0rgan Specifications Price – $900.00
Two Setts of Manuals from C.C. to G. 56
Twelve Pedal’ Keys with Sub Bass from
C.C.C. 16 feet tone
Swell to Tenor F – – – – – – – 39
Case plain Gothic grained oak color and in imitation of Oak with gilded speaking
pipes in front.
Swell Organ
1 Open Diapason Metal 39
2 Viol De’Gamba “ 39
3 Stop’d Diapason wood 39
4 Principal metal 39
5 Hautboy
Couplings etc.
6 Swell to Great Organ
7 Great organ to Pedals
8 Bellows Signal
9 Swell bass to Pedals ________
Pipes in Swell Organ 195
Swell Bass
10 Stop Diapason 17 notes of wood
Great Organ
1 Open Diapason Metal 56
2 Clarabella Trebel wood 56
3 Stop’d Diapason Bass
4 Principal 56
5 Wald Flute to F 39
6 Twelfth 56
7 Fifteenth
Pedal Organ
8 German Bourdon 16 feet tone
CCC to BB 12
______
Pipes in Great Organ 331
Do. in Swell do 195
______
Total 526
17
_____
543
Beneath are some suggested alterations which have been crossed out:
“Will add to Great Organ Dulciana 39 pipes for $ 30
Will Add to Swell Organ and couplings Swell Bass to Pedals $70
Can dispense with Swell Bass by coupling the lower 17 keys to their duplicates
on the Great Organ”
It is unfortunate that the first item was not carried out, but it seems that there was already provision made for coupling Swell Bass to Pedals. Another unexplained fact is that the price is listed as $900.00 in the specification whereas it was actually $1,000. The agreement between the builder and the church is clear on this point. It is written on the other side of the specification and is here copied without alteration.
“I, William A. Johnson hereby agree to build an Organ according to the within specification in the best manner as regards materials and workmanship the case to be made up after the accompanying plan, and set up the same in St. Peter’s Parish Church in Hebron on or before the 1st day of May 1860 for the sum of one thousand dollars the payment of eighty dollars I hereby acknowledge and James H. Townsend, Frederic P. Bissell and Lucius J. Hendee
of said Parish hereby agree for said Parish to pay said Johnson for said Organ when completed according to this contract six hundred dollars in cash and a note for three hundred and twenty dollars, payable at six months without interest in all nine hundred and twenty dollars.
Witness our hands this 30th day of January 1860,
Wm. A. Johnson
James T. Townsend
Lucius J. Hendee”
It is worthy of note that the punctuation of the above is the result of Mr. Johnson’s literary style, or perhaps there was less emphasis on such matters in those days.
The next mention of the organ is in a letter dated May 8th, 1860. Apparently the organ had been completed in the factory and was ready for shipment.
“Dear Sir
The pressure of my engagements is such as to make it impossible for me to leave home this week and I have sent the man who has set up and tuned my best organs for five years past and who is fully competent to all parts of the work. Besides want of time I wish if possible to save the Expense of a journey to Hebron as the margin of profits on the organ is sufficiently small – therefore when the organ is completed to your satisfaction you may if you please make settlement with Mr. Steer according to the terms of the contract and he is hereby authorized to sign receipt in my name if on using the organ any defective workmanship be found I hold myself responsible at any time to make any such matters good at my own proper cost and you may file this document as a warranty against any defect or imperfections not found in any of all organ by whatever builder.
I hope to have the pleasure of a more thorough acquaintance with yourself & associates and will only say further that I leave my organ in the hands of the church without fear for I am certain that you & all others will like it – if you should be in this vicinity a month hence I wish you would look in and see the organ we are building for St. Peter’s in Albany.
Yours very truly, Wm. A Johnson”
The organ was shipped by rail to the depot in Andover, thence hauled by ox cart to Hebron by S.T. Porter. On May 11, 1860 there are two pertinent expenditures in the church records:
“Paid to Mr. Whiting for examining and playing organ $11.00
Paid to Johnson in part for organ $600.00”
The next letter from Mr. Johnson reflects the emotions of many harried business men. It is dated May 15th, 1860.
“L.J. Hendee, Esq.
Dear Sir
You will excuse me for intruding on your time but men of limited means are obliged to do that which those of larger purses never feel the necessity of – I have payments due the first of the coming week that I will find difficulty in meeting without the voucher for the balance due me from your committee – I will give you more time than you propose and yet make you the discount for cash, if the six months note had been sent I could have used it as collateral but as it is I am minus – so I propose to take your note at sixty days for ($320) here hundred & twenty dollars less the interest leaving the balance $310.40 or thereabouts or you will oblige my circumstances by sending the six months note just as well.
I regret that my circumstances make this necessary and hope that you bear witrh me as “needs must be met when D—-1 arrives”.
I am with much respect
Wm A Johnson”
The last letter is an amusing sideline and is certainly appropriate, since 1960 is also an election year.
May 23 1860 Westfield
“Hon Lucius J. Hendee
Dear Sir
Your notes are both received and in good time. I thank you for your kind attention to my needs – I was on board the steamer Commodore Friday last when I heard of the nomination of Honest Old Abe. I have never felt more like throwing up my hat for a shout than I did at that moment for I felt that the nomination was one “fit to be made” I trust we will elect him.
Yours very truly
Wm A Johnson
Over the years the organ has had regular maintenance and has suffered only one change besides the installation of an electric blower, The Hautboy was removed for repair about thirty years ago and by error was melted down for scrap. It has since been replaced by a Flautino which was also made by Johnson, originally for a church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Under the direction of Donald L.Casey the organ has been completely overhauled. Time-worn leather and felt has been replaced by new moth-proofed material, damaged pipes repaired, and the whole organ tuned and regulated.
St.Peter’s has had a number of fine organists of whom mention should be made. The following list is arranged approximately in chronological order, beginning with the more recent names.
Mr .Gardner Q.Shorey
Mr. Lewis W.Phelps
Mrs.Claude Jones
Miss Marjorie H.Martin
Miss Caroline £.Kellogg
Mrs .Maria Jones
Mrs. Charles W.Phelps
Mrs. Ella Warner
Mrs . Edwin C.Johnson
Miss Constance Farrar
Mr .F. Clarence Bissell
Mrs.Margaret M.Mann
Mary F.Warland
Miss Elizabeth J. Post
The church is now very fortunate in having Mrs. Herbert W .Porter as assistant organist.
The present organ replaced an earlier instrument about which little is known. It was taken down in 1860 and stored in the church sheds, but has since disappeared. It is logical to suppose that it was a small one-mnanual affair. The accounts for December 10. 1835 have a terse reference to it:
“Joseph Mann Paid toward organ $100.00
The Society Paid toward organ $100.00”
No person or object can attain antiquity without acquiring a number of pleasant anecdotes. It is told of an important occasion at the church where all was in order except for someone to pump the organ. A local gentleman of agrarian pursuits supplied his services for twenty-five cents and all preparations were complete. There was a wonderful fanfare of music to start things off, but the effect of it was considerably diminished when the organ suddenly faded away into silence . It was disclosed upon subsequent investigation that there had possibly been insufficient instructions given to the organ blower, for he had merely pumped the organ full of wind and made a quiet departure – quite presumably never to return.
William Allen Johnson’s Opus 100 is but one of the many fine instruments his firm built from 1844 to 1898, several of which were outstanding organs of the time. However, St. Peter’s is a good example of how an old organ can be carefully maintained and preserved over the years. While many old organs are allowed to fall into ruin through ignorance and neglect, it is possible to preserve others by keeping them in good repair. While these instruments are obsolete according to modern standards they can often be put into excellent order with but a fraction of the expense required for a comparable modern organ. The same organ today would not cost less than $12,000 and would not have the same beauty of tone which has for the past century resounded in praises to God.
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Johnson Organs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The William A. Johnson Organ Company of Westfield, Massachusetts, which later became Johnson & Son Organ Company, was a highly respected firm that built 860 pipe organs throughout the United States and in Canada and Bermuda. The company operated from 1844 through 1898. All Johnson organs were completely mechanical (tracker action) organs, with Barker lever tracker-pneumatic actions utilized in larger organs after 1871.
History
In 1843, William Allen Johnson operated a contracting business in Westfield, Massachusetts. While he was completing the construction of a new church building for his own Westfield church, an organ builder of the firm E. and G.G. Hook & Hastings arrived with wagon loads of parts, pipes and materials which were to be installed in the new church. When asked about the availability of a worker to help set up the organ, Mr. Johnson readily applied for the job.
During the construction of the Hook organ, Johnson became interested in the art of organ building. The following winter he built a small parlor organ of just one rank. He continued his new craft, building seven more parlor organs in the next five years. In 1848, he built two small one-manual church organs of five or six ranks.
Continuing with church organ construction, Johnson built organs of increasing size. His first two-manual organ was Opus 13, 1849, at the Congregational Church in Westfield, Massachusetts. This organ contained about 15 ranks. Further expanding his territory and size, Opus 40, a 34-stop three-manual organ, was built in 1855 for the Park Presbyterian Church in Troy, New York. Another 1855 organ is believed to be the oldest Johnson organ which still exists in its original form. It is Johnson’s Opus 43, built at the First Ward Presbyterian Church (later the Westminster Presbyterian Church) in Syracuse, New York.
In 1871, a fire destroyed the Johnson factory. All tools and materials, along with Opus 348, 349, and 350 that were under construction were destroyed. At the time of the fire, Opus 345, a typical William Johnson tracker pipe organ of about 18 ranks was being installed at the First Baptist Church of Penn Yan, New York. Most of its pipework, some the last to be built at the original factory, is still in use in the Church’s present organ.
After the fire, an old Westfield church building was utilized for a factory. About that time William A. Johnson’s son William H. Johnson, who had worked in the shop since he was 16, became an official member of the firm. With a new name, “Johnson and Son”, the company was back in operation soon enough to produce 52 new organs in Chicago, Illinois, after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. A new factory was built in 1873, and another in the mid-1880s. Johnson and Son continued the work of the William A. Johnson Organ Company, building an additional 500 organs. Their largest organs were of around 55 ranks.
Throughout the years, Johnson organs were well known for their “excellent balance, splendid dignity, and beautiful voicing”. Highest quality materials and workmanship were used, and Johnson’s organ pipes were always of the finest quality. Tracker organs eventually became less popular, and, not wishing to switch to tubular-pneumatic- or electro-pneumatic-action organs, the company ceased operations in 1898. Their last organ was a large 3-manual organ, Opus 860, at St. Paul’s Church in Chicago.
References / Citation
All information in this article comes from this book:
Elsworth, John Van Varick. The Johnson Organs, 1984, published by The Boston Organ Club of the Organ Historical Society.