Norfolk, Virginia
St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church
Ferris & Stuart 1858 3 manuals, 36 registers, 33 stops, 36 ranks
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GREAT ORGAN SWELL ORGAN
8' 1st Open Diapason Metal 56 16' Bourdon (TC) 44
8' Open Diapason Wood 56 8' Open Diapason (TC) 44
8' Gamba 56 8' Dulciana (TC) 44
8' Melodia (TC) 44 8' Voix Celestes (TC) 44
8' Stop Diapason Treble (TC) 44 8' Stop Diapason Treble (TC) 44
8' Stop Diapason Bass 12 8' Stop Diapason Bass 12
4' Principal 56 4' Principal 56
4' Night Horn 56 2' Fifteenth 56
4' Rohr Flute * 56 Cornet II * 112
2 2/3' Twelfth 56 8' Trumpet (TC) 44
2' Fifteenth 56 8' Hautboy (TC) 44
Sesquialtra III 168
8' Trumpet 56 PEDAL ORGAN
16' Open Diapason 25
CHOIR ORGAN (unenclosed) 16' Stop Diapason 25
8' Open Diapason 56 8' Violoncello 25
8' Dulciana (TC) 56 16' Trombone 25
8' Stop Diapason Treble (TC) 44
8' Stop Diapason Bass 12 COUPLERS
4' Principal 56 Gr. & Sw. Coupler
4' Flute (TC) 44 Gr. & Ch. Coupler
2' Fifteenth 56 Ch. & Sw. Coupler
8' Clarionet (TC) 44 Ped. & Gt. Coupler *
Tremolo (later addition) Ped. & Ch. Coupler
Bellows Alarm
No Machine Action
* original stop label missing
Richard A. Garrett of Norfolk has known St. Mary's organ since 1938, and recently
completed a refurbishing project that was begun in 1975 during the pastorate of
Father Thomas Quinlan who was advised by St. Mary's parishoner and former organist,
Brandon Spence. Funds for the work were raised by members of the parish. Garrett
replaced trackers and some squares, replaced a 32-note concave radiating pedal board
which did not function with a proper 25-note flat pedal board, replaced the missing
knee panel, replaced some damaged pipes with new ones fashioned to be identical to
the old ones, had the keyboard recovered in ivory by Pratt & Read of lvoryton,
Connecticut (retaining the black keyfronts which are thought to be original),
replaced the deteriorated leather chest channel bottoms with rubber cloth, added new
metal wind lines to augment existing wooden wind lines, and generally cleaned the
instrument. With the help of Richard Garrett, Robert Campbell, Frank Lybolt, and the
observations E. A. Boadway, George Bozeman, Jr., Peter Cameron, the late Cleveland
Fisher, Alan M. Laufman, James R. McFarland, Dr. John Ogasapian, and Iawrence
Trupiano, all members of the Organ Historical Society, some notes can be recorded
about the organ's current status and changes which have been made.
Richard Garrett added the tremolo to the Choir division in 1938, while the organ had
a single, large wind reservoir and could still be hand pumped. Around 1954 a period
began when the organ was under the care of Harry H. Groenwegen who had worked for
the now defunct Standart Organ Company of Suffolk. Groenwegen replaced the original
reservoir with two smaller, weighted, single-rise reservoirs, placed tuning collars
on all of the pipes, replaced the Great Trumpet, Pedal Trombone, and Swell Hautboy,
and installed the 32-note pedal board since removed.
The Great is on adjoining "C" and "C-sharp" chests, with the pallets in front and
the reed rank at the rear. The Choir is behind the Great on a chest with eight
basses rollered to the C-sharp end; the Swell is above, with tuning doors on the
sides, reed tuning panels below the shades, and the pipework is arranged with the
basses in the center. The Pedal is on two large slider chests at the rear, the C and
C-sharp sections having abutting toeboards and the basses are in the center. The
organ has no winkers, and is well designed for maintenance.
The Open Diapason Wood is an unusual stop fashioned of clarabella-like pipes, with
open wood basses. The Gamba is a mild gemshorn rank with long ears, and is likely to
have been a bell gamba before the tuning collars were added. The Stop Diapason is of
wood; the Night Horn is a wide-scale metal rank which seems to have been made louder,
the Rohr Flute is an original open wood rank with eight metal trebles, the
Sesquialtra III is composed l2-15-17 with a break to 8'12'15 at the top octave
replicating the original with what appear to be recent pipes, and the Trumpet is a
recent replacement with French double blocks.
In the Swell, the Bourdon is of wood; the Voix Celestes, an exceedingly unusual stop
in America in the 1850's, is original, is surely the oldest extant Celeste in the
United States, and is of slightly larger scale than the Dulciana; the Stop Diapason
is of wood; the Trumpet has common metal resonators, seven flue trebles, and appears
original with a few replacement pipes; the Hautboy is a recent replacement in the
style of a schalmei with a one-half length tenor octave and no flue trebles; and the
Cornet is of two ranks composed 12-17 and a top octave breaking to 8-12.
The Choir Open Diapason has offset unmitered zinc basses; the Stop Diapason is of
wood; the Flute is chimneyed, has movable caps and large ears, appears to be a
replacement rank, is inscribed "Roerflute," and has 12 tapered trebles; the Clarionet
has cylindrical resonators and seven flue trebles.
The Pedal division has open and stopped ranks of wood, the Violoncello is a large
zinc rank and may not date from 1858, and the unmitered Trombone is of zinc and is a
recent replacement.
Notes on the organ and its history gathered from
several sources by William T. Van Pelt
[Received from Steven E. Lawson 2017-05-01]