Kirkland, Washington
St. John's Episcopal Church
COLE & WOODBERRY, 1892
Robert J. Reich, 1958 - Tonal Changes
Olympic Organ Builders, 1974 - Re-installation
Richard L. Bond, 1979 - Refurbishing and Tonal Revisions
Puget Sound Pipe Organs, 2019 – Restorative Repairs, Tonal Revisions
GREAT
8 Principal Diapason 61 Original throughout.
8 Viola da Braccio 61 Original Swell (tc) 16' Contra Viola
with a top 8ve added by Bond on the
original Viola Dolce toeboard.
8 Hohlpfeife 61 Original 8' Flauto Concerto bass with
the original Swell 4' Hohlpfeife on the
original 8' Flauto Concerto toeboard
which had been modified in 1958 to hold
the III Ripieno.
4 Octava Acuta 61 1-4 used pipes added by Bond in 1979;
13-61 used 1903 Eifert & Stohr 4' Octave
on the original 8' Flautileno toeboard.
4 Flauto di Camino 61 Used ca. 1904 Kimball 4' Flute d'Amour
on the original Flauto Soave toeboard.
2 Octavino 61 2' component of the 1958 III Ripieno on
the original 4' Octava Acuta toeboard.
SWELL (Expressive)
8 Viola Principale 56 Original rank restored to original use
on its original toeboard. 1-5 borrowed
from the 8' Doppel Flöte.
8 Doppel Flöte 61 Original rank and toeboard.
8 Viola Dolce 61 Original Great rank moved to the Swell on
the 8' Dolceano toeboard.
8 Viola Celeste 49 Original Dolceano pipes on the former (tc)
16' Contra Viola toeboard.
4 Octava Clara 61 Original Great 4' Octava Acuta pipes moved
to the Swell.
4 Flautileno 61 Original Great 8' Flautileno moved to the
Swell on the original 4' Hohlpfeife toe-
board.
2 Piccolino 61 Vintage common metal pipes marked “Pic”.
Unknown origins. On the former 1-1/3'
Nonodecima toeboard.
II Sesquialtera 122 Former Ripieno and Quincena pipes on the
former 2' Quincena toeboard. Mounted.
1-12: 17-19; 13-49: 12-17; 50-61: 12-15.
8 Corno di Cappella 61 Original pipes and chest.
PEDAL
16 Bordone Principale 27 Original pipes and chest.
16 Lieblich Gedeckt 27 Original pipes and chest.
8 Flauto Basso -- Prepared-for.
COUPLERS
Swell to Peds. [mech. finger piston]
Great to Peds. [mech. finger piston]
Swell to Great [mech. finger piston]
Sw. Sub 8ve to Gt. [hitch-down]
Sw. 8ve's to Gt. [hitch-down]
FINGER PISTONS (Mechanical)
Swell to Peds. On/Off
Great to Peds. On/Off
Swell to Great On/Off
Swell Tremolo On/Off
FOOT LEVERS (Labeled; l - r)
Gt P.P. - 8' Hohlpfeife
Gt F.F. - 8', 8' 8' 4' 4' 2' (full)
Sw. Sub to Gt. (h-d)
Sw. 8ve's to GT. (h-d)
Sw. P. - 8' Viola Dolce, 8' Doppel Fl.
Sw. F. - 8' V.P., 8' Dop. Fl., 4' O.C.
4' Flutileno, 2' Piccolino,
8' Corno; Ped. 16' Bord. Prin.
PEDAL MOVEMENTS
Swell Expression (bal.)
ACTION: Mech Key & Stop VOICES: 17 STOPS: 17 RANKS: 18 PIPES: 1,067
NOTES
The organ was given to Highland Congregational Church in Lowell, Massachusetts
as a memorial to Lucretia Buttrick (1801-1892) by her son James G. Buttrick. It
was originally hand-pumped until a Meidinger blower was installed.
In 1958, then organist Robert J. Reich of the Andover Organ Co. made several
tonal changes. The Great 8' Flauto Concerto was removed in favor of a III
Ripieno. The 8' Flautileno which had always shared the bass of the Flauto
Concerto received the bass pipes. On the Swell, the 8' Viola Ætheria was cut-
down at-scale, and revoiced to become a 4' Octava Clara. Also cut-down at-scale
were the 4' Salicetto Dolce which became a 2' Quincena; and the 2' Violettino
became a 1-1/3' Nondecima.
In 1969, the property had been acquired by the Montefiore Synagogue. But it was
a short-lived ownership. In 1970, the building was razed for freeway construction. The Cole and Woodberry was purchased by organ buff James Merriman. He photographed it in the church and recorded its sound before its removal, and then it was placed in storage with the Andover Organ Co. in Methuen, Massachusetts.
In 1973, St. John's Episcopal in Kirkland, WA. began its first Project Reaffirma-
tion Capital Fund Drive. One part of this was the desire to acquire a better organ, though a pipe organ was not conceived to be an affordable part of the budget. But through the Organ Clearing House, the church learned of the Cole & Woodberry, and was put in contact with James Merriman, who sold the organ for $2,500.00. The
Vestry agreed to the purchase in January, 1974. Shipping costs were $3,200.00,
and re-installation was another $2,800.00 for a total of $8,500.00. Julia Kissell
of Seattle who was a member of the Organ Historical Society and friends with the
Hayman family was instrumental in helping to locate the organ.
The organ's 10,000 lbs. of pipes and parts arrived on Maundy Thursday, and it was
distributed in the undercroft for sorting and staging. Glenn D. White of Olympic
Organ Builders in Seattle supervised reconstruction assisted by many volunteers
over a 5 month period. Large components like the windchests were hoisted into the
loft by crane through a removed window. On September 29, 1974 – the organ was
dedicated in concert by Swiss organist Guy Bovet.
In 1979, Richard L. Bond of Portland, Oregon was retained to do some refurbishing
of the organ which had been installed “as is.” While the tonal concept of the
organ was retained, some pipes were replaced. The original Great 8' Flautileno
was transposed to 4' pitch replacing the original 4' Flauto Soave. A new 8'
Chimney Flute from tenor C with the original bass became the new 8' flute. On
the Swell, the original 8' Viola Principale became the 'new' 4' Octava Clara and fill-in pipes replaced the Viola Principale from tenor C. The original 4' Hohl-
pfeife was replaced with a 4' Harmonic Flute of unknown origins. Other pipework
was switched around in an attempt to make a more cohesive ensemble. And all ranks
had their bass CC removed or omitted and all pipes were shifted-down a half-step
in order to raise the pitch to A=440. Slide tuners were added. The Swell Tremolo
was repaired. Pallets were re-covered. The couplers were repaired. And the organ
was tonally refinished and tuned. At a later date, the two replacement supply
house regulators were removed and the original double-rise regulator body was rebuilt as a huge floating top reservoir.
After completion of the work, another dedicatory recital was given. Scott Shaw,
a senior organ performance major at the University of Washington and organist of
St. Paul's Episcopal in Seattle was the guest recitalist.
In 2019, St. John's Episcopal Church signed a contract with Puget Sound Pipe
Organs of Stanwood/Camano Island, Washington to remove and clean all pipework,
re-leather stoppers, repair pipework, and revise the tonal design back more
towards something resembling the original 19th century American heritage. The
Neo-Baroque revision had never been wholly successful.
Sources: 1980 OHS Convention Handbook; phone conversation with Robert J. Reich;
church records; JRS; extant organ.
[Typed stoplist from James R. Stettner]