Geo. S. Hutchings (& Co.)
Opus 431, 1898

Updated through online information from Connor Annable.

Updated through online information from George T. Kuhn. -- This is a correction to my previous report. The original George S. Hutchings organ was donated to this church by Andrew Carnegie himself, not one of his heirs as I misstated. (see "Gift From Andrew Carnegie," N.Y. Times, July 1, 1897.) ... Since my previous statement, anecdotal evidence has surfaced from long-time church members that the original console and (likely) the echo/choir ranks were sold and removed to a church (identity unknown) in New Jersey. I say "likely" the echo/choir ranks since there is no trace of that installation extant in the choir loft today. I may be wrongly assuming that the choir organ ranks were actually located in the choir loft.

Updated through online information from George T. Kuhn. -- I am a member of the Board of Trustees of The Fourth Universalist Society (Unitarian Universalist Association). The Fourth Universalist Society is the currently used name for the former Church of the Divine Paternity, a Universalist community founded in 1837. All the information contained in the OHS database on "Divine Paternity" in New York, NY is applicable now to The Fourth Universalist Society. It is one and the same instrument in the same original building (now a landmarked structure) built around the year 1898. The Geo. F. Hutchings organ was installed shortly thereafter, as a result of a donation by one of the Carnegie heirs. The history of the organ beginning in the mid 20th century begins to get somewhat fuzzy. There is rumor that there were pipe chambers in the choir loft in the rear of the church, in addition to the still extant chambers on the left and right of the front sanctuary. The choir loft chamber were supposedly removed and the ranks either discarded or sold in an attempt to recover the space for other purposes. The original Geo. F. Hutchings console is long gone to a fate unknown by the current members of the church. There is an extant four-manual console of unknown origin. The organ is virtually unplayable. Until very recently, a few ranks spoke, but these sadly are now silent. The last time the organ was restored to totally playable condition was about 10 years ago. Due to lack of funds, the organ cannot be maintained properly. Within the last year, the organ was inspected for an estimate of cost of repair by John Klauder, an organbuilder in Brooklyn, New York. He may have additional and more accurate information on this instrument than I am able to provide. [Editor's Note: Most of these comments refer to the extant Skinner Organ, not to the Hutchings.]

Now Universalist