Pipe Organ Database

Updated through online information from Scot Huntington.

Updated through online information from Scot Huntington.
An unsuccessful attempt at a mechanical restoration in 2010 resulted in the instrument being unplayable for over half the year, and the church was seriously considering replacing the instrument with another electronic imitation. Ultimately, S.L. Huntington & Co. of Stonington, CT, re-restored the organ both tonally and mechanically between May and October, 2015.

The previous 2010 work replaced all the original action material except the Swell and Pedal squares. The two sets of original wooden Swell squares had deteriorated beyond reuse, and were replaced with replica squares in 2015. All non-original action components were replaced with replicas of the originals, using Morey No. 248 (1908), St. John's Lutheran Church, Lyons, New York, as the reference model.

At some point prior to the move to Cos Cob, the original Swell Oboe Gamba 8' was replaced from tenor-c with a recycled set of Oboe pipes, retaining the original Quintadena basses 1-12 and top octave of gamba pipes. At the time of the organ's installation in Cos Cob, the Spencer Orgo-blo originally provided for the former Midmer organ was retained, but replaced two years later with a new Laukhuff blower by David Wallace. The church is notable as having been the wedding site for Tom Thumb in 1945, and attended by many luminaries of the show-business world.

Updated through online information from scot huntington. -- Originally built for the Presbyterian Church in Marion, N.Y., it was sold ca. 1992 to the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Webster, N.Y., and replaced with a new instrument with the construction of a new sanctuary, then sold through the Organ Clearing House to Cos Cob in 2000, replacing a failing 1959 electronic.
The first organ in the Cos Cob church was a ca. 1882 two-manual Reuben Midmer--very similar tonally, in size and appearance to the Morey--and lasting until replacement by the electronic.
At the time of the instrument's installation in Cos Cob, the front of the church was rebuilt to accommodate it, and it is installed on the main floor of the church, essentially in a pit below the raised chancel platform. Purchased and installed on a limited budget, in 2015 the instrument is tonally unaltered, the windchests retabled and the reservoir and feeders releathered; but it remains in need of a thorough mechanical restoration.

This entry describes an original installation of a new pipe organ. Identified by James R. Stettner, based on information from a photograph posted by Edward Odell on his Facebook page.. --