Geo. S. Hutchings (& Co.)
Opus 239, 1891

Unidentified note from PC database typed stoplist [but appears to be someone from the Lewis & Hitchcock firm, who carried out restorative repairs]:
The organ cost $2500 new in 1893, and I knew a lady who remembered the pastor going off in a buggy to the old B & O station at the foot of the Capitol and returning followed by a horse-drawn wagon containing the crates with the organ. They apparently used orchestra and a reed organ until the organ came. Two interesting things about the installation-the 16' Diapason on the great is not in the contract, and the facade originally was two rows-an M in front and an A on the second row. Only the end three pipes of the second row were speaking, the center being short dummies which sat on the scollop. Apparently when Mr. Hutchings installed them he realized that the window behind the organ shone through the facade and made the short dummies apparent. So the end pipes (2) which showed were tubed off to little perches beyond the edge of the facade. In fact, it is from one of these which did not get repainted that we have been able to reconstruct the patterns which were original, and plan to restore the facade soon. The building is just finished restoration, and now the facade needs it to match.

The organ was hand pumped-feeders and reservoir removed in 1964, and the water motor is still in the basement. Only last December(1996) did the District of Columbia start charging churches for water. The Bourdon 16 forms the back of the organ, and many who pumped the organ wrote and carved their names. The strange things is that there is one inscription for 1890-three years before the organ was installed, which may mean that Mr. Hutchings used a set of pipes from a previous instrument. There is no record of what if anything was in the 1845 church, which the present building replaced in 1890.

The organ has an oak case with the facade from the great Diapason 16' & Diapason 8'. The lower notes of the 16' are "monkey quints" but work quite well. The swell shutters are double, and unbelievably effective. The changes in the specification which I have made can be returned to the original in about an half hour.

The congregation grew as more people arrived from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. By the mid 1880s, the church building was too small and a much grander edifice was begun. In 1890, the new church was dedicated, with stained glass windows from Germany and Stations of the Cross from Austria. There was a large open space under the tower for the organ that was ordered from George S. Hutchings of Boston, but until it was installed, music was provided by an orchestra or a reed organ.

One bright spring morning in 1891 the pastor, George Glaab, DD, left the rectory in his buggy to return an hour later from the Baltimore & Ohio railway station at the foot of the Capitol leading the two horse drawn wagons carrying the new organ. Although she was only six years old at the time, one of the parishioners told me that she witnessed this. The magnificent building had cost $60,000 and the $2,500 organ was to be Glaab’s crowning achievement. The organ was certainly adequate for the building, but Hutchings added the 16ʹ Diapason on the Great without charge because he felt the room needed the extra foundation.

-- 2011 OHS Atlas

Updated through online information from James R. Stettner. -- [New winding system; organ has been re-pitched.]

Details from Donald E. Clark: Double Swell shades, vertical, one behind other. Swell shoe on right side of pedalboard. Five combination pedals, Gt-Ped Rev. Pedal. Tremolo pedal hook-down. Two pedal stops ventil

Updated through information from Donald E. Clark. See Document for stop-knob layout.

Status Note: There 1997

Recently renovated. [as of 1997?]