Relocated byRobert S. Rowland
1937

Some time around 1880 the congregation sent a group to Duanesburg, about 40 miles distant, for the purpose of attending the auction of the contents of the Catherine Duane Livingston mansion (Featherstonehaugh) by her descendants, which included a fine chamber organ. Catherine died in 1852 with her property passing through her children and grandchildren. The church's intention was to bid on the organ with the purpose of purchasing it and bringing it home. We don't know what the final bid was, nor how many parties may have been bidding against them. It is believed that the organ may have originally been in a NYC residence, or it may have been original to this grand home, built ca. 1812. There is a photo of the organ, likely from the 1880s, showing the organ in-situ in the church, with its top pediment and carved decorations intact, making an already tall organ, grandly tall. The Worcester church was town down and replaced with a modern and less imposing Akron-style church in 1892. An early postcard of the organ in the new church without its top decorations is dated either 1903, 1908, or 1909. The postmark was incomplete making the exact date unclear. The pleated center screen was redone for the new location under a large window, apparently in a different color, and not nearly as nicely pleated. The organ remained in the Worcester church until it was replaced with an Estey two-manual electro-pneumatic organ, and the Jardine was either sold or given to the Presbyterian Church in Middlefield Center, about 12 miles northwest as the crow flies. The organ remained in Middlefield until that church closed in the late 1960s to become a residence, and Sidney Chase of Worcester rescued the organ and brought it to its shop. It remained there for several years before it was sold through the Organ Clearing House to a low-power classical music station in Seattle. It was on the market again by 1982 for an inflated price. It has moved four times since, most recently in 2022 when it was acquired by S.L. Huntington & Co. for relocation to another church in upstate New York, yet to be restored and installed as of this writing in 2026. Except for replacement of the Op. Diap. with a second-hand Gamba, either when it was moved to Middlefield or Seattle, the installation of an electric blower, slide tuners, and minor repairs, the organ is otherwise original. It is very likely George Jardine's oldest extant organ. With its moving history across nine homes, it is a miracle survival, and could have perished at any time.

Correction to an earlier post after discussion with a previous owner. Following the closing of the church in Middlefield Center in the mid, not late 1960s, the organ was rescued by a local organbuilder who owned the organ for a year two before selling the organ through the Organ Clearing House to the Seattle radio station. At an unknown date but before the organ arrived in Middlefield, the organ of 5 ranks had lost its Open Diapason 8'. When Rowland moved the organ here, he installed a second-hand set of stringy Gamba pipes on the empty Diapason toeboard. The historic Greek Revival Middlefield church was converted to a residence and has been allowed to deteriorate to an unfortunate degree since.

Robert Rowland is identified in the Rowland opus list as the person moving the organ to Middlefield Center, in the book "Only His Organs Remain", by Richard Triumpho (2011). A quote from Rowland's recollection correspondence about his work to Albert Robinson, editor ofThe Tracker. He refers to the organ as "an old thing with about four ranks of pipes and resembling a bureau". He further states he put some dummy pipes in place of the center pleated cloth "to make it look like a real pipe organ".

Notes by Scot Huntington. -- Originally built for the Duane Mansion in Duanesburg, New York. At an unknown date late 19th century, the organ was moved to the Presbyterian church in Worcester, New York, about 35 miles distant. The organ served there until it was replaced by a two-manual Estey in the 1930s, and the organ was moved again here to the Presbyterian church in Middlefield Center, about 12 miles west. When the church closed in the late 1960's, the organ was sold to radio station KRAB in Seattle, Washington.