The First Presbyterian Church holds the distinction of having the longest history of service of any religious organization in the city of Chicago. The first home for the fledgling church was within Fort Dearborn, the location of which today can be found marked within the sidewalks of Michigan Avenue near the Chicago River. The first century of the history of First Presbyterian Church reveals that the congregation was a leader in the city, a distinction that extended to the congregation’s music and its pipe organs.
The first church building
On May 13, 1833, the Reverend Jeremiah Porter arrived at the fort to commence missionary work. The first service was held the following Sunday, May 19, in the fort’s carpenter shop. The church was organized within the Presbytery of Detroit on June 26 of that year with twenty-six founding members. The first church structure was built by Joseph Meeker at a location that is now the southwest corner of Lake and Clark Streets. It was a frame building measuring forty feet long and twenty-five feet wide, costing $600 and seating 200 persons. The Reverend Porter dedicated this building on January 4, 1834. He would leave Chicago the following year. By that time, the congregation was incorporated as the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago on February 6, 1835. During the two-year interim before a new pastor was called, the Reverend Isaac T. Hinton, pastor of First Baptist Church, also served
the Presbyterians.1
The “Brick Church”
On July 1, 1837, the Reverend John Blatchford was installed as the second pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Within the following year, the frame church was moved to property located at Clark Street and Calhoun Place. In May 1844, after the Reverend Flavel Bascom had become pastor, the church acquired adjacent property. Construction for a new church commenced in 1847, and in September 1849 the building known as the “Brick Church” was dedicated. The following year, the Reverend Harvey Curtis was installed as pastor. Before long, First Presbyterian began its first of several moves south, and the property was sold in October 1855. The church building continued to serve several uses, including Mechanics Institute Hall and as Smith & Nixon Hall, when it was utilized for concerts and lectures.
The 1857 church and the first pipe organ
First Church purchased property on Wabash Avenue near Congress Street and began construction of a new church building in 1856 to the designs of Boyington and Wheelock of Chicago. The new church of Gothic influence was dedicated on the evening of October 15, 1857, at a cost of $135,000.
The first organ known to have been owned by First Presbyterian Church was present at the dedication of the 1857 church, as it was played by W. H. Currie of Saint Paul (Universalist?) Church. According to Philo Adams Otis, the organ had three manuals, thirty-eight stops. It was placed in a gallery at the front of the auditorium. The Chicago Daily Press of Monday, October 19, noted:
The organ is a splendid instrument. The case, or screen, is executed in the same style of architecture as the other parts of the house, and was designed by the architect to fill the place arranged for it. It is a perfect model. The instrument is one of the largest first-class organs made by the well-known firm of Hall & Labagh, of New York City. The case of the organ has been grained to correspond with the pulpit and pews.2
The first organist of record for First Church was Adolph W. Dohn (1835–1901), who came from First Congregational Church to First Presbyterian Church when the Hall & Labagh organ was installed and remained until the winter of 1859–1860. In the spring of 1860 Horace Grant Bird (1837–1897) began service as organist, remaining until about 1868. Nicholas Cawthorne succeeded Bird, and others in quick succession were Frank T. Baird, Dr. Louis Falk, and Dr. J. E. Gilman.
In 1859 the Reverend Z. M. Humphrey was installed as pastor of First Presbyterian Church. During his tenure, the towers of the church were completed. This building burned in the Great Fire of October 1871. Nothing was salvaged save for church records, the communion service, and the “Sexton library.”
The merger with Calvary Presbyterian Church and the Indiana Avenue church
The homeless church again felt the need to move southward, as the area in which it was located had become commercial and many members had already moved in that direction. The decision was made to merge with Calvary Presbyterian Church, which had recently purchased property on South Indiana Avenue at Twenty-First Street and was in the process of building its new church home. The first worship service of the two congregations together was held on November 5, 1871, in Christ Reformed Episcopal Church. In February of the following year services were moved to Immanuel Baptist Church.
Calvary Presbyterian Church was formed on June 20, 1859. About one year later property was purchased on South Indiana Avenue between Ringgold Place (Twenty-Second Street) and Palo Alto Place (Twenty-Third Street), where the first frame church building was erected and completed in 1860. Two years later property extending to Ringgold Place was purchased, and the building was moved to the corner and expanded. The Reverend Daniel Lord, pastor of South Congregational Church of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was appointed fifth pastor of Calvary in 1869. Dr. Lord was the last pastor of Calvary Church, his term ending with its merger with First Church.
The growing Calvary congregation felt the need for more commodious accommodations; hence they sold their property and purchased the stone edifice that was built by Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church on South Indiana Avenue at Twenty-First Street. The Trinity building was demolished, and plans for a new church were drawn by John Crambie Cochrane, who also designed the Illinois and Iowa state capitols. The cornerstone was laid in November of 1870. The coming of winter practically halted progress, but by the Great Fire of October 1871, most of the exterior walls were complete. The church’s organ committee, comprising Philo Adams Otis, Henry Wood, and George F. Bacon, were finalizing plans with the E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings firm of Boston. These plans were to be completed after the merger with
First Church.
The newly consolidated First Presbyterian Church occupied the lecture room of its new church by May of 1872; the church auditorium was dedicated on February 6, 1873. A debt of $70,000 remained on the church and was not paid until 1878. The quartet choir of Calvary Church was retained for First Church. The Reverend Dr. Arthur Mitchell, pastor of First Church since 1869, became pastor of the united church. During the summer of 1902 the interior of the nave was redecorated and the choir gallery was enlarged. On January 19, 1906, the funeral of Marshall Field, founder of the legendary department store bearing his name, was held in the sanctuary.
The contract for E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Opus 649 for the Indiana Avenue church, mentioned above, was signed in the summer of 1872, with completion set for November of that year. The builders had the organ ready on time, yet the church was not ready to receive it, so it was placed in storage when it was shipped to Chicago. The cost was approximately $9,000. Pneumatic action was applied to I Manuale (Great).3 As with the Steere organ mentioned below, the nomenclature of the manuals is given here as found in the source, yet the order of manuals, bottom to top, would have been Choir, Great, and Swell. Installation was under the charge of George S. Hutchings, then superintendent of the builder’s factory, who would go on to establish his own firm in 1901.
1873 E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Opus 649
I MANUALE (Great)
16′ Open Diapason
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Doppel Flote
8′ Viola de Gamba [sic]
8′ Viola d’Amour
4′ Flute Harmonique
4′ Flute Octave [sic]
3′ Twelfth
2′ Fifteenth
Mixture III
Acuta III
8′ Trumpet
II MANUALE (Swell, enclosed)
16′ Bourdon
8′ Open Diapason
8′ Viola
8′ Stop’d Diapason
8′ Quintadena
4′ Violina
4′ Flauto Traverso
2′ Flautino
Dulce Cornet III [sic]
8′ Cornopean
8′ Oboe with Bassoon
8′ Vox Humana
III MANUALE (Choir)
8′ Geigen Principal
8′ Dulciana
8′ Melodia
4′ Flute d’Amour
4′ Fugara
2′ Piccolo
8′ Clarinet
PEDALE
16′ Double Open Diapason
16′ Bourdon
12′ Violone [sic]
8′ Violoncello
16′ Trombone
Mechanical Registers
I Manuale to Pneumatic, Coupler
II Manuale to Pneumatic, Coupler (Swell to Great)
III Manuale to Pneumatic, Coupler (Choir to Great)
II to III Manuale, Coupler (Swell to Choir)
I Manuale to Pedale, Coupler (Great to Pedale)
II Manuale to Pedale, Coupler (Swell to Pedale)
III Manuale to Pedale, Coupler (Choir to Pedale)
Tremolo
Bellows Signal
Pedale Movements
Forte Combination Pedale, I Manuale
Mezzo Combination Pedale, I Manuale
Piano Combination Pedale, I Manuale
Forte Combination Pedale, II Manuale
Mezzo Combination Pedale, II Manuale
Piano Combination Pedale, II Manuale
Forte Combination Pedale, Pedale
Adjustable Swell Pedal
Reversible Pedal to operate Pedale Coupler for I Manuale (Great to Pedal)
The organ and church were dedicated on February 6, 1873, with a recital under the direction of G. C. Knopfel, the “western agent of the builders.” (Knopfel arrived in Chicago during the early 1860s and served as organist for Saint Paul Universalist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, and Saint James Episcopal Church. After the Fire of 1871, he served Immanuel Baptist Church.) Other notable Chicago organists for this occasion included Louis Falk and I. V. Flagler (Plymouth Congregational Church). Another respected musician in the world of Chicago organbuilders was George W. Lyon, of Lyon & Healy, who played harp for the occasion.4 The program was as follows:
Part I.
1—Opening of the Organ, Mr. G. C. Knopfel.
Agent for the Builders.
a. Selections
b. Offertoire, Op. 22 Batiste.
2—Benedic Anima, Buck.
Choir of First Presbyterian Church.
3—Angels, Ever Bright and Fair, Handel.
Mrs. O. L. Fox.
4—A Tear Shed at the Grave of Rossini, Ciardi.
Organ, Piano, Harp, Violoncello, Violin and Flute.
Messrs. Knopfel, Falk, Lyon, Bachmann, Sir [sic] and Bareither.
5—Volkslied, Krebs.
Choir of Second Presbyterian Church.
6—Variations on a Scotch Air, Buck.
Mr. Louis Falk.
7—The Message, Blumenthal.
Mrs. W. H. Aldrich.
Part II.
1—Gloria in Excelsis, Knopfel.
Performed by the Choirs of the First, Second, and Fourth Presbyterian Churches.
2—Grand Duo for Two Pianos and Organ Obligato, Lysberg.
Miss Eva Manierre and Messrs. Ledochowski and Knopfel.
3—Venite, Buck.
Choir of Second Presbyterian Church.
4—a. Transcription—Robin Adair, Flagler.
b. Prelude in B Minor, Bach.
Mr. I. V. Flagler.
5—Trio, Lift Thine Eyes, Mendelssohn.
Mesdames Farwell, Fox, and Johnson.
6—Miserere, from Trovatore, Verdi.
For Piano, Organ, Violoncello, and Violin.
Messrs. Knopfel, Flagler, Bachmann, and Sir.
7—Festival March, Zundel.
Mr. G. C. Knopfel.
When the congregation moved to the Indiana Avenue church, George F. Bacon served as organist. Bacon, who had served Calvary Church since 1868, died in December of that year, and Henry Fuller succeeded him. Fuller would serve until his death in September of 1869. For a brief time, Benjamin Owen, who served Plymouth Congregational Church and Trinity Episcopal Church, served as organist, followed by Emil Liebling and William H. Cutler for brief terms. In October of 1874 Charles Arthur Havens began service to First Church. Havens had previously served Second Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church. One year later he left for three months at Saint James Episcopal Church, before returning to First Presbyterian on January 1, 1876. (During his absence, a Mr. Dyer, Samuel C. Moore, and Frederick W. Root, served as organists.) Mr. Havens’s second term at First Presbyterian lasted three years.
On January 12, 1879, the world-renowned organist Hiram Clarence Eddy began his term as organist to First Church, a position he would retain until May 19, 1895. When Mr. Eddy was away for frequent recitals, substitute organists were drawn from a list of Who’s Who in Chicago’s musical circles: Harrison M. Wild, A. F. McCarrell, L. J. Henderson, Louis P. Hoyt (Saint Mark Episcopal Church, Chicago), A. W. Dohn, John A. West, Charles David Irwin, and Wilhelm Middelschulte. During the World’s Fair exhibition of 1893, Mr. Otis notes in his history of the church the visits of numerous church musicians to the congregation: S. B. Whitney of the Church of the Advent, Boston; R. Huntington Woodman of First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn; W. C. Carl of the old First Presbyterian Church, New York City. On September 3, 1893, “M. Alexander Guilmant gave an informal organ recital, the congregation remaining seated at the request of Dr. Burrows.” When Eddy left First Church in 1895, his student, Charles David Irwin, became the congregation’s organist. Irwin remained until May 31, 1896, when he resigned.
After Irwin’s departure from First Church, Francis Silvey Moore, a member of First Church since his childhood and a student of Clarence Eddy, began a distinguished tenure as organist, serving some thirty years. With the removal of First Presbyterian Church to Woodlawn Park, Anne Pearson Maryott, organist for Woodlawn Presbyterian Church was appointed organist of the united church, a post she held until 1929. Organists in later years have included Willard J. Congreve and Barbara Dickerman.
The E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings organ remained under the care and maintenance of Ira Bassett until his death on December 19, 1895. A hydraulic motor was installed in 1896, paid for largely by Charles David Irwin. During the summer of 1906, it was noted that the organ was cleaned and that “the low or international pitch has been installed.”5 An 8′ Aeoline was placed in the Swell division, and the Choir manual was fitted with a combination pedal. It is not noted who carried out this work.
The merger with Forty-First Street Presbyterian Church and the move to Grand Boulevard
As early as 1895, the congregation found itself once again contemplating a move, as its membership continued to relocate to residences south of Thirty-Ninth Street. By 1897, decline in church receipts became noticeable. On June 7, 1912, a joint committee of First Presbyterian Church and Forty-First Street Presbyterian Church recommended a merger of the two congregations. (Another faction in the church had argued for construction of a new church in the Kenwood neighborhood. This group had gathered pledges nearing $83,000 for this effort, less than half that necessary for this plan to be acted upon.)
The merger was adopted at the annual meeting of First Church on December 2 of that year. A part of the action provided “that if found practical, all our memorial windows and tablets, upon consent of the donors, together with the furniture and organ, be moved to [Forty-First Street] church.” The last service in the Indiana Avenue church was held on Sunday, December 29,6 with the minister of Forty-First Street Church, the Reverend Dr. William Chalmers Covert, and his congregation present. The first service of the combined church in its new home was held on Monday, December 30. The congregations were officially merged on December 31, 1912, retaining the name of First Presbyterian Church and the property of Forty-First Street Presbyterian Church. The Reverend Covert became minister of the united congregation.
Forty-First Street Presbyterian Church was organized on February 14, 1875. Activities of the congregation began in 1869 under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church in a frame building located at Prairie Avenue and Forty-First Street. The Reverend Dr. Thomas Cuming Hall became the third pastor on November 4, 1886. During his pastorate, the building at the southwest corner of Grand Boulevard (now Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive) and East Forty-First Street was constructed at a cost of $115,000. The cornerstone was laid in October of 1889, and the building was dedicated on December 21, 1890. The architect of the Richardsonian Romanesque-style building seating 2,000 persons was Chicago’s Solon S. Beman, who designed numerous other churches, particularly Christian Science churches, as well as the entire town of Pullman, now annexed into Chicago. A debt of $50,000 remained at the time of dedication, which was paid in 1907. In 1926 the building was sold to Metropolitan Community Church, and today is home to the congregation of Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church.
Forty-First Street Presbyterian Church was served by the following organists from 1874 until its consolidation with First Church in 1912: Elizabeth Lamson, Charlotte Dodd, Anna Carhart, Henry Howenstein, Mary Pierce, Frank Hazen, Victor Garwood, Allen B. Benedict, and C. H. Demorest. The only pipe organ known to have been owned by this congregation was built for the Grand Boulevard church by J. W. Steere & Sons of Massachusetts as their Opus 331. The contract, copied from company ledger books now located in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives in Villanova, Pennsylvania, was signed on September 7, 1891, and the three-manual organ was to be completed by May 1, 1892. The contract price was $5,700.00. The compass of manuals was 61 notes (C–C); pedal compass was 30 notes (C–F). “Bassett’s Patent Pneumatic Motor” was to be used for the Great division and “its couplings.” When the congregation merged with First Church in 1912, the Steere organ was removed in the summer of 1913 and replaced with the altered E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings from the 1873 church, the latter rebuilt and electrified by the Coburn & Taylor (or Coburn Organ) Company of Chicago for its new home behind the Steere façade. The Steere organ was offered for sale, though its ultimate fate is unknown.7
While manual designations are copied from the contract ledger book,8 presumably the order of manuals, bottom to top, was Solo, Great, and Swell.
1892 J. W. Steere & Sons Opus 331
FIRST MANUALE—Great Organ (* enclosed with Solo)
16 ft. Double Open Diapason (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Open Diapason (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Doppel Flote (wood—61 pipes)
8 " Viola da Gamba (metal—61 pipes)
4 " Octave (metal—61 pipes)
4 " Flauto Traverso (wood—61 pipes)
2 2⁄3 " Twelfth (metal—61 pipes)*
2 " Fifteenth (metal—61 pipes)*
Mixture (4 rank, metal—244 pipes)*
8 " Trumpet (Reed, metal—61 pipes)*
SECOND MANUALE—Swell Organ
16 ft. Bourdon Treble/Bass (wood—61 pipes)
8 " Open Diapason (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Stopped Diapason (wood—61 pipes)
8 " Salicional (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Æoline (metal—61 pipes)
4 " Violina (metal—61 pipes)
4 " Flute Harmonique (wood and metal—61 pipes)
2 " Flautino (metal—61 pipes)
Dolce Cornet (3 rank, metal—183 pipes)
8 " Cornopean (Reed, metal—61 pipes)
8 " Oboe and Bassoon (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Vox Humana (metal—61 pipes)
THIRD MANUALE—Solo Organ (enclosed in a separate swell box)
8 ft. Geigen Principal (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Melodia (wood—61 pipes)
8 " Dulciana (metal—61 pipes)
4 " Fugara (metal—61 pipes)
4 " Flute d’Amour (wood—61 pipes)
2 " Piccolo (metal—61 pipes)
8 " Clarinet (Reed, metal—61 pipes)
PEDALE ORGAN
16 ft. Open Diapason (wood—30 pipes)
16 " Bourdon (wood—30 pipes)
8 " Violoncello (metal—30 pipes)
16 " Trombone (metal—30 pipes)
Mechanical Registers
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Solo to Pedal
Great to Pneumatic, Coupler
Swell to Pneumatic, Coupler
Solo to Pneumatic, Coupler
Swell to Solo
Tremolo to Swell
Tremolo to Solo
Blowers Signal
Wind Indicator over Manuals
Pedale Movements
Forte, Great Organ and Pedal
Mezzo, Great Organ and Pedal
Piano, Great Organ and Pedal
Forte, Swell Organ
Piano, Swell Organ
Reversible Pedal to operate Great to Pedal
Balanced Swell Pedal—Swell Organ
Balanced Swell Pedal—Solo Organ
Pedal Check
Recapitulation
Great Organ 10 Stops 793 Pipes
Swell Organ 13 " 839 "
Solo Organ 7 " 427 "
Pedal Organ 4 " 120 "
Mechanicals 10 "
Total 44 Stops 2,179 Pipes
The First Church organ was replaced in 1922 by Opus 348 of the Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Philo Adams Otis, chair of the church’s music committee since 1875, was chair of the organ committee for this project. The contract with Skinner was signed in the last week of July 1921.9 The specification, printed in the September 1, 1921, issue of The Diapason,10 was drawn by Francis S. Moore.11 The Solo 8′ Stentorphone was originally to be prepared, but correspondence dated March 6, 1922, provided for the rank to be installed.
The Steere façade was again retained and brought forward for the new organ. The E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings organ was listed for sale in the September 1, 1921, issue of The Diapason12 and was eventually relocated and rebuilt in 1925 by Casavant Frères of Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, as a four-manual instrument, their Opus 1106, for H. R. Austin of Beach Bluff, Massachusetts. In 1937 this organ was again relocated and altered for Saint Matthew Catholic Church of Central Falls, Rhode Island, where it was still extant in 2018. The church is now Holy Spirit Parish.
The Skinner organ was opened with a great fanfare of recitals in November of 1922. Eric DeLamarter, organist of Fourth Presbyterian Church, presented the inaugural recital on Wednesday, November 1. Ernest M. Skinner presented an “illustrated lecture on modern organ design.” DeLamarter’s program was as follows: Chant de Printemps and Angelus du Soir, Bonnet; Chorale [sic] in A Minor, Franck; “Scherzo,” Sonata V, Guilmant; Reverie Pathetique, Godfrey; Fantasia on Scottish Airs, Mansfield; Scherzo, Rousseau; Carillon, DeLamarter; “Final,” Symphony VI, Widor.
The following evening featured a program by Herbert E. Hyde of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, Evanston, and a lecture by Frederick A. Stock of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Hyde’s program: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Bach; Cradle Song, Grieg; Vision, Rheinberger; Chromatic Fantasie, Thiele; Romance sans Paroles, Bonnet; Bourree [sic], Bach; Menuet a l’Antico, Seeboeck-Hyde; and Caprice Héroïque, Bonnet. Friday’s (November 3) program focused on a lecture on music in the church by Dr. William Pierson Merrill of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York City (and of the former Sixth Presbyterian Church of Chicago) in the presence of the pastors of First Church since 1893. Frances Anne Cook, organist of the former Sixth Church, played a brief program preceding the lecture. Her program: Marche Russe, Schminke; Autumn Sketch, Brewer; Angelus du Soir, Bonnet; Toccata, Frysinger. On Sunday, November 5, the organ was dedicated in service, and that evening Helen W. Ross, assistant organist to the church, gave a recital. Francis Moore was rather ill through all the celebrations and therefore unable to participate actively.13
The church interior and organ were pictured in the February 1, 1923, issue of The Diapason,14 wherein the same issue a series of three organ recitals was announced for the upcoming months.15 On February 23 William Zeuch, formerly of Chicago and then in Boston as an employee of Skinner, performed. Mr. Zeuch’s program included: “Allegro maestoso,” from Symphonie VI, Widor; Cantabile, Jongen; Rigaudon, Rameau; Prelude and Fugue in B Major, Dupré; Within a Chinese Garden, Stoughton; Scherzo Pastorale, Federlein; Serenade, Rachmaninoff; Marche Marocaine, de Meyer; Gesu Bambino and Minuet Antico, Yon; Liebestod and Ride of the Valkyries, Wagner.16 On March 10 Marcel Dupré performed. His program included “Allegretto” and “Toccata” from Symphonie V, Widor; Final in B-flat, Franck; and an improvisation for the second half on themes submitted by Adolf Weidig, Francis Moore, Philo Otis (Adeste Fideles), and the Reverend William Chalmers Covert (Saint Anne), pastor.17 The series concluded on April 10 with a program by Mr. Moore.
1922 Skinner Organ Company Opus 348
GREAT (Manual II)
16′ Bourdon 61 pipes
8′ First Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Second Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Claribel Flute 61 pipes
8′ Erzähler 61 pipes
4′ Octave 61 pipes
2 2⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes
2′ Fifteenth 61 pipes
8′ Tromba 61 pipes (enclosed with Choir)
Chimes (from Echo)
2 blank knobs
SWELL (Manual III, enclosed)
16′ Bourdon 73 pipes
8′ Diapason 73 pipes
8′ Gedeckt 73 pipes
8′ Salicional 73 pipes
8′ Voix Celeste 73 pipes
8′ Aeoline 73 pipes
8′ Unda Maris (TC) 61 pipes
4′ Flute 61 pipes
2′ Flautino 61 pipes
Mixture III 183 pipes
8′ Cornopean 73 pipes
8′ Flugel Horn 73 pipes
8′ Vox Humana 73 pipes
Tremolo
CHOIR (Manual I, enclosed)
8′ Diapason 61 pipes
8′ Concert Flute 61 pipes
8′ Dulciana 61 pipes
4′ Flute 61 pipes
2′ Piccolo 61 pipes
8′ Clarinet 61 pipes
8′ Orchestral Oboe 61 pipes
Tremolo
3 blank knobs
SOLO (Manual IV, enclosed)
8′ Stentorphone 73 pipes
8′ Gamba 73 pipes
8′ Gamba Celeste 73 pipes
8′ French Horn 61 pipes
8′ Tuba Mirabilis 73 pipes
Tremolo
1 blank knob
ECHO (Manual IV, enclosed)
8′ Cor de Nuit 61 pipes
8′ Vox Humana 61 pipes
Tremolo
Chimes 30 tubes
2 blank knobs
PEDAL
32′ Diapason (fr 16′ Diapason, resultant in bottom octave)
16′ Diapason 44 pipes
16′ Bourdon (fr Great)
16′ Echo Bourdon (fr Swell)
8′ Octave (ext 16′ Diapason)
8′ Gedeckt (fr 16′ Bourdon)
8′ Still Gedeckt (fr Swell 16′)
4′ Flute (ext 16′ Bourdon)
16′ Trombone 44 pipes
8′ Tromba (ext 16′ Trombone)
Couplers
Great to Pedal 8
Swell to Pedal 8
Swell to Pedal 4
Choir to Pedal 8
Solo to Pedal 8
Solo to Pedal 4
Great to Great 4
Swell to Great 16
Swell to Great 8
Swell to Great 4
Choir to Great 16
Choir to Great 8
Choir to Great 4
Solo to Great 16
Solo to Great 8
Solo to Great 4
Choir to Choir 16
Choir to Choir 4
Swell to Choir 8
Solo to Choir 8
Swell to Swell 16
Swell to Swell 4
Solo to Solo 16
Solo to Solo 4
Great to Solo 8
Accessories
6 Great Pistons (thumb)
6 Swell Pistons (thumb)
5 Choir Pistons (thumb)
5 Echo and Solo Pistons (thumb)
6 Pedal Pistons (toe)
General Cancel (thumb)
Combination Setter (thumb)
Pedal to Great Combination On/Off (thumb)
Pedal to Swell Combination On/Off (thumb)
Great to Pedal Reversible (toe)
Solo to Great Reversible (toe)
Swell Expression Shoe
Choir Expression Shoe
Solo and Echo Expression Shoe
Crescendo Shoe
Sforzando Reversible (toe)
The Swell, Great, Choir, Solo, and Pedal divisions are located behind the Steere façade (Great at lower left; Choir at upper left; Pedal at center; Solo at lower right; Swell at upper right). The Echo division is located in a room off the second-floor rear balcony.
The merger with Woodlawn Park Presbyterian Church and the construction of the present church
First Church did not remain on Grand Boulevard for very long. By the mid-1920s, demographics of church membership prompted plans for another move south. In October of 1924 negotiations began toward merger with Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, then located at South Kimbark Avenue and East Sixty-Fourth Street. On January 27, 1926, a committee recommended merger with Woodlawn Church, or, if this did not work, a merger with Hyde Park Presbyterian Church. The merger with Woodlawn Church occurred on October 20, 1926, at which time the Grand Boulevard property was sold to Metropolitan Community Church.
Woodlawn Presbyterian Church was formally organized January 19, 1885, a mission of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church (now United Church of Hyde Park), with a membership of thirty-nine. Early activities can be traced to 1865, with sponsorship by Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches. After organization, it was initially known as First Presbyterian Church and Society of Woodlawn Park. A small building was erected at a cost of $3,000. Under the third pastor, the Reverend Edward Harvey Curtis, a brick church was constructed at a cost of $25,000. In 1924 the Reverend William Henry Boddy became pastor of Woodlawn Church, remaining until the merger with First Church and beyond as pastor of the united congregation.
The congregation then numbered 1,400 persons and had begun plans for building a new church, having raised $300,000 for this purpose. The plans were redrawn on a larger scale for the union of the congregations. The 1900 church building, which was demolished when the present First Church was constructed, contained a two-manual organ of tubular-pneumatic action, built by W. W. Kimball of Chicago. From a letter by George W. Ford, Chicago representative of M. P. Möller, to the factory, dated October 23, 1934, we learn that the organ had approximately eighteen ranks.18 For several months after the merger, worship was held in the 1900 Woodlawn building. The last service there was held on May 1, 1927. Until the present church was completed, worship occurred at the Wadsworth School at University Avenue and Sixty-Fourth Street. Midweek services were held in conjunction with Woodlawn Park Methodist Episcopal Church, virtually across the street at the northeast corner of South Woodlawn Avenue and East Sixty-Fourth Street. Sunday Vesper services were held at Immanuel Lutheran Church, two blocks east on Sixty-Fourth Street at Kenwood Avenue. (The Methodist and Lutheran churches have been demolished.)
The cornerstone of the present building was laid on September 25, 1927. John Knox Hall was occupied and used for services beginning on December 18 of that year. On April 22, 1928, the first services were held in the new church.
The present Gothic building of Indiana limestone was designed by Tallmadge & Watson of Chicago. Construction cost was $750,000. The great tower stands 125-feet high and is surmounted by representations of the four archangels. Within the tower, a set of Deagan chimes were in place at the dedication, a memorial to Ina Law Robertson. The nave of the church measures ninety-five feet long, sixty-two feet wide, and forty-nine feet high, and originally seated 1,200 persons. It has a stone in the center floor from the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome; another stone within the walls came from the Temple of Karnak, Egypt. The floor of the nave at the front has a stone from the Church of the Waldensians, Chabas. The reredos behind the altar rises forty feet high. Windows near the top of the reredos were executed by the Willet Studios of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The windows of the nave, featuring events in the life of Christ, were completed by R. Toland Wright of Cleveland, Ohio. The desk of the pulpit was retained from the Indiana Avenue church. The church was dedicated on Sunday, October 14, 1928, with celebrations continuing for the week following.
The chapel is named for Lafayette McWilliams and Mary Goodman McWilliams, given by their children. The room features fascinating quarter-sawn white oak paneling, accomplished by the American Seating Company of Chicago, and an ornamental plaster ceiling. It has a stone in the floor from the Basilica of Saint Peter, Vatican City. The windows of this room were executed by Willet. The exterior walls along the nave facing the central courtyard include stones from First Church (Indiana Avenue); Forty-First Street Church; Sixth Church; Woodlawn Park Church; Reims Cathedral, France; Chester Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, England; Saint Andrew Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Saint Olave Church, London, England; Saint Peter Church, Geneva, Switzerland; Solomon’s Quarries of Jerusalem; Bethlehem; Nazareth; and Old Rehoboth, Maryland.
At that time the Grand Boulevard church was sold to the Metropolitan Community Church, the First Congregational Church of Evanston considered purchasing the Skinner organ from the Presbyterian church. The Congregational church had by that time signed a contract with Skinner for a new instrument and would have broken this contract. The Congregational church went through with the purchase of Skinner Opus 616, and Opus 348 remained in the Grand Boulevard church. Curiously, it appears that the Presbyterian congregation did not consider moving the Skinner organ, less than a decade old, to its Woodlawn building. The building is now Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church, and the Skinner organ is extant, though unplayable.
The organ in the present sanctuary was built in 1928 by M. P. Möller of Hagerstown, Maryland, as their Opus 5001, a four-manual, electro-pneumatic-action instrument. The contract, signed by Oscar E. Aleshire, chairman of the First Church building committee, was drawn on April 27, 1927, and received in Hagerstown on May 3. The price was $22,050.00, plus the Kimball organ in the former Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, which was junked. (Fifty dollars was for the connection between the organ and the tower chimes system.) One-half the price was due upon completion of the organ, with one-quarter due after each of one and two years, at six percent interest, though the congregation could pay off the debt earlier at its convenience.19 (With the Great Depression beginning one year after completion of the church and organ, the church was unable to honor this debt for a number of additional years.) The organ was to be delivered by November 1 of that year, although it would be an additional eleven months before it was actually finished.
Möller announced the contract in its full-page advertisement in the June 1, 1927, issue of The Diapason, including a rendering of the exterior of the new edifice. The specification was printed in the October 1, 1927, issue.20 Before the organ was completed, some changes were made in the specification, which were requested by the church organist, Anne P. Maryott, in consultation with William H. Barnes, noted organ architect. (Barnes included the church in a list of his clients in his advertisement in the February 1, 1928, issue of The Diapason.) Installation of the church and chapel organs was carried out under the supervision of D. S. Wentz of Chicago.
The Möller organ in the church was dedicated in recital by Palmer Christian, formerly organist for the nearby Kenwood Evangelical Church, on Sunday, October 21, 1928.21 (Palmer was responsible for the installation of the Skinner organ there, the first Skinner contract in the state of Illinois.22) A letter from Ford & Reynolds, the Chicago representative for Möller, dated October 11, 1928, sums up the importance of the event for the company:
. . . and we certainly want to make an impression on Palmer Christian as he has great influence in this territory, and this is the first Moller [sic] Organ of a respecitible [sic] size that he has ever played.
He is a Skinner man, and Skinner just installed a new $50,000 organ in the College where he is located [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor]. I understand, however, that he is not satisfied with the organ, so we hope to have our organ in the best of shape to see if we can’t win him over to a Moller.
. . . This is important enough that Mr. Moller should make a special effort to be here. It would be a nice thing for him to get here the day before if possible so as to meet Dr. Boddy [pastor] and get acquainted.23
The organ was dedicated during an entire week of festivities for the congregation and its new building. The period began with dedication of the church itself on Sunday, October 14.24 That afternoon, the chapel was also dedicated. Other events followed during the week. The following Sunday, the organ of the main church was dedicated. The program follows:
The Processional—No. 166
“Crown Him With Many Crowns” The Choir
The Invocation
Organ Group—Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C Bach
An Anthem—“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem” Maunder
Organ Group—Prelude on an Ancient Flemish Theme Gilson
Allegro con spiritu (Sonata III), Borowski
Impression, Karg-Elert
An Address—“The Place of Music in Worship” Reverend Harold L. Bowman, d.d.
Organ Group—
Up the Saguenay (St. Lawrence Sketches) Russell
Scherzo Rousseau
Pilgrims Chorus (Tannhauser)* Wagner
Ave Maria Schubert
Rhapsody Catalane Bonnet
*—By request.
That afternoon, the Ina Law Robertson Memorial tower chimes were dedicated.25
D. S. Wentz corresponded with the Möller office regarding the events:
The recital at the First Presby. Church here was a very big success, as everything went off in “tip-top” shape and we had no troubles at all. There was a big turn-out of organists from around town—some that play big Skinners and Cassavants [sic], and I heard nothing but praise everywhere. In fact, Mr. Christian remarked that it was a very good toned church organ, and Miss Tina Mae Haines, who plays the big Cassavant in St. James M. E. Church here, said: “There is one organ you do not have to make any excuses for.”
Sunday morning about five minutes of eleven—(just five minutes before services began) one of our men whom I had at the church called me and said they could not get the motor started and could not find the fuses that was [sic] burned out. I rushed over and we finally located the trouble and got the motor going, altho they had to hold up the services about five minutes. They had electricians there Saturday afternoon and evening to fix this starter as it caused trouble before, and they were the last men to be at church, so the church people did not blame us at all for it.
Yesterday morning when we went over to the church and started to work, we blew at least six fuses before we got the motor started. We are going to have the Century Motor people come and tear out the motor as it is either the motor or ground jumping over somewhere cause the trouble, as we have fuses twice the size as ordinarily supposed to be used.
At any rate, just wanted to let you know that everything went along fine at the recital.26
Mr. Möller had not attended the program.
The tops of the façade pipes are decorated in hand-wrought sheet lead furnished by National Lead Company, which also made Hoyt metal for organ pipes. The lead sheets were fashioned into the decorative patterns by H. R. Bonnewitz of Van Wert, Ohio. (The façade pipes of the 1926 Casavant organ at Saint James Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago, designed by the same architect, Talmadge & Watson, were treated with similar decoration.)27 The Presbyterian façade was pictured in the June 1931 issue of The American Organist with a brief article about the process. Bonnewitz remarked:
Lead, being neutral in color, blends into any surroundings and does not clash
wherever you use it. Owing to the nature of the material it is susceptible to feeling and on account of its rapid oxidation it takes on a beautiful effect that is impossible in any other medium, and it grows more beautiful with years.
In the Chicago example the caps are 27′′ high and 9′′ wide, and there are two designs that alternate. They were all cut by hand, bent around the pipes, and laced on the back by means of studs and soft copper wire. The weight is carried by small clips over the top of the pipe. The lead used weighs five pounds to the square foot.28
Several sets of pipes proved unsatisfactory and were shipped back or replaced. These included the Great 8′ Trumpet, found to be “entirely too thin” and replaced during installation with a new set with Tuba quality. Several years later, the Solo Tibia pipes were shipped back to the factory for further work. The diapasons would also prove problematic. In an August 26, 1931, letter from W. H. Strock in the Chicago office of Möller, we learn:
Referring to the Diapason pipes in the large four manual organ, First Presbyterian Church, Chicago.
They certainly are a mess. We could boost them up a little more and make them louder, but that will not enrich the tones. Guest organists have voiced their complaints about them, and Mr. Ford advises that every prospect he has had over there seems to like the organ, but voices disapproval about the Diapasons. Even our competitors know about this, and when they demonstrate to a prospect they tell them to take particular note to their Diapasons—and then listen attentively to those in the Presbyterian Church.
I believe there remains only one thing to do—and that is to replace the Diapasons.
Please let me hear from you.29
It is unclear from the builder’s records what happened regarding this issue.
The four-manual console of stopknob control is situated within the chancel to the left (south) of the altar. Manual compass is the standard 61 notes (C–C); pedal compass (concave, radiating pedalboard) is 32 notes (C–G). The instrument was powered by a fifteen-horsepower Spencer Orgoblo. The Great and Choir divisions are located at the front of the chancel to the left (south) of the altar; the Swell and Solo divisions are located to the right (north) of the altar. The Choir is located above the Great; the Swell is located above the Solo. The Echo division is located at the rear of the nave in a chamber at the southwest corner of the gallery.
1928 M. P. Möller Opus 5001
GREAT ORGAN (Manual II, enclosed with Choir, 7-inch wind pressure)
16′ Open Diapason 85 pipes (scale 44, 24 wood basses, 61 metal trebles)
8′ First Open Diapason 73 pipes (scale 40, 12 wood basses, 61 metal trebles)
8′ Second Open Diapason 73 pipes (scale 42, 12 wood basses, 61 metal trebles)
8′ Doppel Flute 73 pipes (61 wood basses, 12 metal trebles)
8′ Clarabella 73 pipes (49 wood basses, 24 metal trebles)
8′ Gemshorn 73 pipes (tapered, 12 zinc basses)
4′ Octave (ext 16′ Open Diapason)
4′ Flute (ext 8′ Clarabella)
2 2⁄3′ Twelfth 61 pipes (originally to be 4′ Flute Harmonic, metal)
2′ Fifteenth (metal) 61 pipes
8′ Trumpet (metal) 73 pipes
Tremulant
Chimes (originally to have played Choir Harp, from Echo)
Tower Chimes (not effected by combination action)
SWELL ORGAN (Manual III, enclosed, 7-inch wind pressure)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt 97 pipes (wood, at side of chamber)
8′ First Open Diapason 73 pipes (lower front chest, scale 40, 12 wood basses, 61 metal trebles)
8′ Second Open Diapason 73 pipes (lower front chest, scale 44, 12 wood basses, 61 metal trebles)
8′ Stopped Diapason (ext 16′ Lieblich)
8′ Salicional (metal) 73 pipes
8′ Viole d’Orchestre 73 pipes (lower front chest, scale 64, tin)
8′ Viole Celeste 73 pipes (lower front chest, scale 62, tin)
4′ Fugara 61 pipes (addition to contract, metal)
4′ Flute d’Amour (ext 16′ Lieblich)
2 2⁄3′ Nazard (addition to original specification, ext 16′ Lieblich)
2′ Flautina (ext 16′ Lieblich Gedeckt)
Dolce Cornet IV Rks 292 pipes (elevated at front of chamber, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th, metal)
16′ Posaune 73 pipes (lower front chest, metal)
8′ Cornopean (metal) 73 pipes
8′ Oboe (metal) 73 pipes
8′ Vox Humana 73 pipes (“SSB,” metal)
4′ Clarion 61 pipes (addition to original contract, metal)
Tremulant
CHOIR ORGAN (Manual I, enclosed, 7-inch wind pressure)
8′ English Diapason 73 pipes (scale 46, zinc bass, metal)
8′ Concert Flute (wood) 73 pipes
8′ Gamba (metal) 73 pipes
8′ Dulciana (metal) 73 pipes
8′ Unda Maris 61 pipes (TC, draws 8′ Dulciana, metal)
4′ Flute (extension, 8′ Concert Flute)
4′ Dulcet (addition to original specification, ext 8′ Dulciana)
2′ Piccolo 61 pipes (“Harmonic,” metal)
8′ Clarinet (metal) 73 pipes
8′ French Horn (metal) 73 pipes
Tremulant
Harp (Deagan, TC) 49 bars
SOLO ORGAN (Manual IV, enclosed, 15-inch wind pressure)
8′ Stentorphone 73 pipes (38 scale, “Heavy,” wood bass, metal trebles)
8′ Tibia Plena 73 pipes (originally to have been on the Great, “Leathered Lip,” wood)
8′ Gross Gamba 73 pipes (scale 56, metal)
8′ Gamba Celeste 73 pipes (scale 56, metal)
16′ Ophicleide 85 pipes (10′′ scale, metal)
8′ Tuba (extension, 16′ Ophicleide)
8′ Orchestral Oboe 73 pipes (originally to have been a 4′ Suave Flute, metal)
4′ Clarion (extension, 16′ Ophicleide)
Tremulant
ECHO ORGAN (Manual IV, enclosed, 5-inch wind pressure)
8′ Spitz Flute 73 pipes (originally to have been an 8′ Viole Celeste, metal)
8′ Flute Celeste 61 pipes (TC, metal, originally to have been 16′ Bourdon, playable in Pedal)
8′ Echo Flute 73 pipes (“concert scale,” wood)
8′ Muted Viole 61 pipes (tapered, scale 68, metal)
4′ Forest Flute (ext 8′ Echo Flute)
8′ Vox Humana 61 pipes (“S.S.B.,” metal)
Tremulant
Chimes 25 tubes (Deagan, Class A, fr TG)
PEDAL ORGAN
32′ Resultant
32′ Contra Bourdon (wood) 68 pipes
16′ First Open Diapason 44 pipes (wood)
16′ Second Open Diapason 32 pipes (scale 32, metal)
16′ Bourdon (ext 32′ Contra Bourdon)
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (fr Sw 16′ Lieb.)
8′ Octave Bass (ext 16′ First Open)
8′ Cello (from Solo, 8′ Gross Gamba)
8′ Bass Flute (ext 32′ Contra Bourdon)
4′ Flute (ext 32′ Contra Bourdon)
16′ Ophicleide (fr Solo, 16′ Ophicleide)
16′ Posaune (fr Swell, 16′ Posaune)
8′ Tuba (fr Solo, 16′ Ophicleide)
4′ Clarion (fr Solo, 16′ Ophicleide)
1 blank knob (to have been a 16′ Small Diapason)
Couplers (by tablets above Manual IV)
Great to Pedal 8
Great to Pedal 4
Swell to Pedal 8
Swell to Pedal 4
Choir to Pedal 8
Choir to Pedal 4
Solo to Pedal 8
Solo to Pedal 4
Great to Great 16
Great to Great 4
Swell to Great 16
Swell to Great 8
Swell to Great 4
Choir to Great 16
Choir to Great 8
Choir to Great 4
Solo to Great 16
Solo to Great 8
Solo to Great 4
Choir to Choir 16
Choir to Choir 4
Swell to Choir 16
Swell to Choir 8
Swell to Choir 4
Solo to Choir 8
Solo to Choir 4
Swell to Swell 16
Swell to Swell 4
Solo to Swell 8
Solo to Solo 16
Solo to Solo 4
Great to Solo 8
Swell to Solo 8
Choir to Solo 8
Echo On/Solo Off
Echo to Solo 8
Accessories
5 Full Organ pistons and Cancel (thumb and toe)
7 Great pistons and Cancel (thumb)
7 Swell pistons and Cancel (thumb)
7 Choir pistons and Cancel (thumb)
7 Solo pistons and Cancel (thumb)
7 Pedal pistons and Cancel (thumb)
4 Echo pistons and Cancel (thumb)
Coupler Cancel (thumb, below Manual IV)
Key operated combination setter above Manual IV
Pedal to Great Manual pistons on/off (in left keycheek)
Pedal to Swell Manual pistons on/off (in left keycheek)
Pedal to Choir Manual pistons on/off (in left keycheek)
Pedal to Solo Manual pistons on/off (in left keycheek)
Great Unison On/Off (in right keycheek)
Swell Unison On/Off (in right keycheek)
Choir Unison On/Off (in right keycheek)
Solo Unison On/Off (in right keycheek)
Great to Pedal Reversible (toe)
Swell to Pedal Reversible (toe)
Solo to Pedal Reversible (toe)
All Swells to Swell reversible (thumb, with indicator light, below Manual II)
Great and Choir Expression Shoe
Swell Expression Shoe
Solo Expression Shoe
Echo Expression Shoe
“Grand” Crescendo Shoe (with indicator bar: p/mf/ff)
Tower Chimes Start/Stop
Sforzando reversible (thumb and toe, with indicator light, below Manual III)
The chapel contains a two-manual, seven-rank organ of electro-pneumatic action, built in 1928 by M. P. Möller, Opus 5175. The contract for the organ, signed by Oscar E. Aleshire on behalf of First Church, was drawn on December 6, 1927, and was received signed in Hagerstown on December 31. The instrument was to be delivered on or before April 1, 1928. (The organ was actually shipped from the factory in early June.) The cost was $3,100.00, with one-half the amount due in cash upon completion of the organ and the balance due within the next two years.30 As with the organ in the main church, the Great Depression made it impossible to pay the balance of the cost until much later. The organ was placed on five-inch wind pressure. The instrument is enclosed in one expression chamber behind grillework at the rear of the chapel. Manual compass is 61 notes (C–C); pedal compass is 32 notes (C–G). Stop control is by stopkeys. Pitch is A=440 Hz. The pedalboard is concave and radiating.
When this instrument was installed, construction details and operations caused several items of controversy between the congregation and the builder. The console was agreed to be finished as the one in the main church. However, when this console arrived, it did not match the woodwork of the chapel. The congregation insisted that the console be refinished to match the lighter fumed oak of the chapel. In addition, some nails were mysteriously driven into the woodwork surrounding the organ chamber openings, and arguments pursued as to who was responsible, the organ builder or the building contractor. In the end, Möller ended up paying for both these items, as they clearly wanted these two installations (as well as their 1925 three-manual Opus 4210 in Saint Clara Catholic Church, immediately behind First Presbyterian) to be showcase organs for the Chicago area.
The First Presbyterian and Saint Clara organs were important enough to Möller that they took a full-page photo advertisement in the June 1, 1927, issue of The Diapason, trumpeting that some fifty-seven Möller organs were to be found in Chicago alone, of which thirty-two were of three or four manuals in size.
1928 M. P. MЪller Opus 5175
GREAT ORGAN (Manual I, enclosed)
8′ Open Diapason 61 pipes (44 scale, wood bass, metal trebles)
8′ Stopped Diapason (wood) 73 pipes
8′ Dulciana (56 scale, metal) 61 pipes
4′ Flute d’Amour (ext 8′ St Diap)
SWELL ORGAN (Manual II, enclosed with Great)
8′ Flute (fr Great 8′ St Diap)
8′ Salicional 61 pipes (60 scale, metal, now 4′)
8′ Dolce (fr Great 8′ Dulciana)
4′ Flute (fr Great 8′ St Diap)
8′ Oboe (metal) 61 pipes
8′ Vox Humana 61 pipes
PEDAL ORGAN
16′ Bourdon 32 pipes
16′ Lieblich Gedeckt (fr 16′ Bourdon)
Couplers
Great to Pedal 8
Swell to Pedal 8
Great to Great 16
Great to Great 4
Swell to Great 16
Swell to Great 8
Swell to Great 4
Swell to Swell 16
Swell to Swell 4
Accessories
3 Great and Pedal pistons (thumb)
3 Swell and Pedal pistons (thumb)
Setter bar for combinations
Great to Pedal Reversible (toe)
Tremulant (entire organ, with Swell stops)
Balanced Swell expression shoe
“Grand” Crescendo shoe with indicator bar (5 grades—pp/mf/ff)
Test light
The congregation celebrated its centennial from June 25 through July 2 of 1933. Former First Church organists Francis S. Moore and Clarence Eddy participated in services on Monday, June 26.
In less than twenty years, First Church once again found itself in a neighborhood that was quickly changing. This time, under the Reverend Bowman’s leadership, the congregation stayed and racially integrated. While membership is a shadow of the 2,200 persons on the rolls in 1949, the congregation has experienced some growth in recent years, and redevelopment in the Woodlawn area raises hope for continued renewal. The unaltered Möller organs remain in the church, though mute, also awaiting renewal.
Notes
1. The early history of the First Presbyterian Church, and much of Chicago as well, is chronicled in The First Presbyterian Church: A History of the Oldest Organization in Chicago With Biographical Sketches of the Pastors and Copious Extracts from the Choir Records, by Philo Adams Otis, published in 1900 by Clayton F. Summy Co. of Chicago. A “second and revised edition” was published in 1913 by Fleming H. Revell Co. of Chicago. Both editions contain a wealth of information regarding organ and church music in Chicago in the nineteenth century.
2. The First Presbyterian Church: A History of the Oldest Organization in Chicago With Biographical Sketches of the Pastors and Copious Extracts from the Choir Records (1900), pages 25–26.
3. Ibid. (1900), pages 49–51.
4. Ibid., pages 51–52.
5. The First Presbyterian Church: A History of the Oldest Organization in Chicago With Biographical Sketches of the Pastors and Copious Extracts from the Choir Records (1913), pages 146–147.
6. “Frances Moore’s Church Closed,” The Diapason, volume 4, number 2, January 1, 1913, page 10.
7. “Takes Organist and Organ: New First Presbyterian Church of Chicago Has Moving Plan,” The Diapason, volume 4, number 3, February 1, 1913, page 1.
8. Organ specification from contract ledger book in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
9. “Four-Manual for Chicago,” The Diapason, volume 12, number 9, August 1, 1921, page 17.
10. “Organ of 45 Stops for First Presbyterian,” The Diapason, volume 12, number 10, September 1, 1921, page 2.
11. “First Presbyterian to Open Its New Organ,” The Diapason, volume 13, number 12, November 1, 1922, page 1.
12. Ibid.
13. “Week of Exercises for New Chicago Organ,” The Diapason, volume 14, number 1, December 1, 1922, page 3.
14. “New Organ in First Presbyterian Church, Chicago,” The Diapason, volume 14, number 3, February 1, 1923, page 2.
15. “Series of Three in Chicago: Zeuch, Dupré and Moore to Play at First Presbyterian Church,” The Diapason, volume 14, number 3, February 1, 1923, page 1.
16. “Good Start by Zeuch; Dupre [sic] Will Play Next: Series in Chicago Church,” The Diapason, volume 14, number 4, March 1, 1923, page 22.
17. “Moore will close series: To Play at First Presbyterian April 10—Dupre [sic] Draws Crowd,” The Diapason, volume 14, number 5, April 1, 1923, page 7.
18. Correspondence in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
19. Organ contract in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
20. “First Presbyterian Orders Large Organ,” The Diapason, volume 18, number 11, October 1, 1927, page 11.
21. “Chicago Organ Is Opened,” The Diapason, volume 19, number 12, November 1, 1928, page 8.
22. Stephen Schnurr, “Ernest M. Skinner in Chicago: The first contracts,” The Diapason, volume 112, number 4, whole number 1337 (April 2021), pages 14–20.
23. Letter from Ford & Reynolds to M. P. Möller Company, October 11, 1928, in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
24. “To Open Chicago Church,” The Diapason, volume 19, number 11, October 1, 1928, page 41.
25. “Dedication Services: The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Illinois,” published by the church, October 1928, Chicago, Illinois.
26. Letter from D. S. Wentz to E. O. Shulenberger, M. P. Möller Company, October 23, 1928, in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
27. For more on the Casavant organ, see “A history of the organs of Saint John Cantius Catholic Church, Chicago, Illinois,” by the author, in The Diapason, January 2022, pages 12–19.
28. “Pipe Ornamentation: Hand-Wrought Lead Caps for New Effect in Case-Work,” The American Organist, June 1931, volume 14, number 6, pages 350–351.
29. Letter from W. H. Strock to M. P. Möller, Jr., August 26, 1931, in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
30. Organ contract in the Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
First Presbyterian Church website
