Thomas Hall
1823

A correction to my note of 2014. The letter between Hall and Erben which identified the maker of the this organ, was sent from Thomas Hall in New York, to apprentice Henry Erben in Charleston, S.C. where he was installing the large Hall organ in St. John's Lutheran Church, not the other way around. Hall urges Erben to complete his task quickly and return home as soon as possible as Hall needed him to install the Litchfield organ.

The organ was sold in 1866, in a previous altered state, with the ca. 1857 addition of one octave of permanently-coupled pedals, and a swell box enclosure, to Trinity Church, Milton Connecticut.

This entry describes an original installation of a new pipe organ.
Identified by Scot Huntington, based on personal knowledge of the organ.
-- The organ was purchased by Solomon Marsh for the parish, but he retained ownership of it until his death, at which time title passed to the church. The organ was originally one manual without pedal, unenclosed. This instrument was installed in the second building to serve St. Michael's, begun in 1812 and consecrated in 1824. The Hall organ was moved to the third building, constructed in 1851.
Under the pastorate of Rev. Junius Willey (1855-58)the organ was substantially rebuilt by an unknown builder with the addition of one octave of permanently coupled pedals, swell shutters (hitch-down) and roof enclosure, and case/frame expansion to accommodate these changes. A shipping label to Rev. Willey found attached to the pedalboard is labeled "Organ Nr. 1". An 1823 letter from Thomas Hall in Charleston, S.C. to apprentice Henry Erben in New York, states he will be detained longer than expected and directs Erben to deliver and install the organ in Litchfield.
The organ was sold at auction in 1866 to nearby Trinity Church, Milton, for $300. The organ exists in Milton, and was restored to its 1823 state by S.L. Huntington & Co. of Stonington, CT in 2013-14.