The Erben organ was purchased by Mrs Alexander Hamilton and sent to the 
newly formed Episcopal Mission in Galena. The date on the key bed of the 
organ is May 1837. It went from NYC by ship to New Orleans, then up the 
Mississippi by steam boat to Galena. (The Galena river was at that time 
navigable from the Mississippi; such is no longer the case.)
 
The organ was installed in the old church and moved to the new one in 
1849. It has been in that building since: first in a rear loft that has 
since been removed and now in an alcove in the chancel. The organ 
was badly butchered when I got to it in 1997 -- barely playable and looked 
awful. Its sound was almost entirely lost because most of the sound 
exits from the top, not through the facade (faux wood pipes). The 
original wind system was missing and a wacky sort of schwimmer had been 
put into the chest; the bottom line: it didn't function.
 
We removed the organ to our shop and completely restored it, including 
re-surfacing the keys with recycled ivory, refinishing the case (faux 
grain) and building a new single rise wind regulator with hand-pumping 
capability as well as a blower. The wind chest was restored so that it 
now functions flawlessly and reliably throughout the entire year.
 
The alcove was revised a bit (now more so since the building was 
subsequently remodeled) and fitted with a "tympanum" to project the 
organ into the room. This works nicely and the little six stop organ 
actually has quite a fine presence throughout the church.
 
The pipework was in terrible condition, necessitating a lot of work to 
return the instrument to something approaching its original state. As we 
worked with the pipes, we made some changes to the wind pressure (it now 
speaks on 55 mm wind) and revoiced the instrument at this pressure. The 
pipework seems to speak most securely and compares favorably with other 
Erbens.
 
Funding was largely by one individual who was in her late 80s and who 
died shortly after the organ restoration was finished. She pronounced it 
as sounding better than she had ever heard it (she was baptized and grew 
up in the congregation).
 
We tune this organ one time each year, in the fall, and it rarely needs 
more than an hour of attention. Mechanical reliability has been 
excellent, especially for an organ built more than 160 years ago. We 
were approached to do this project following our restoration of the 1897 
Farrand & Votey in St Luke United Methodist Church, Dubuque, Iowa.
 
The organ has six stops. Here’s the specification.
 
8' Diapason (bottom octave shared with Stopped Diapason)
8' Stopped Diapason (Rohrflute trebles)
8' Dulciana (bottom octave shared with Stopped Diapason)
4' Principal (full compass)
4' Rohrflute (treble only)
2' Piccolo (really a principal, full compass)
 
There is no swell box. The organ has a slide-in keyboard and fall board 
console closure. Low voltage lighting is fitted for the music desk, 
neatly hidden.
 
The organ is used in the service but is not the principal instrument in 
their services. The main organ is an electronic, but we do keep 
suggesting a nice replica or an appropriately-restored 19th century 
organ. Grace is a small congregation and has worked very hard to 
preserve this treasure in their stewardship.
 
The church was renovated a few years ago, we dismantled the organ and 
put it into safe storage. The did a nice job on the restoration, 
although I wish they had not used so much carpeting. Galena is a lovely 
town in the northwest corner of Illinois as is the surrounding area. If 
you have a chance, go see this charming 19th century town and then go 
over to Dubuque and check out St Luke's. It has a magnificent building 
with some of the most wonderful Tiffany windows you can see most anywhere.
 
The organs are nice, too!
 
Brian M. Fowler, President
Fowler Pipe Organ Builders
Lansing, MI

[Posted to PIPORG-L June 12, 2009 by Ben Baldus]