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In spite of this organ being one of the few remaining unaltered Midmer tracker organs, this organ was unrecognizably altered tonally either before it left Boylston or while in Turners Falls. I have unsubstantiated correspondence that states the organ was altered by the party who removed it from Boylston. The organ is now irreversibly altered. I examined the organ in Turners Falls prior to my trying to find a home for it, and the following are the alterations I observed:
Following its relocation to St. Joseph's R.C. in Claremont, N.H. it has been tonally altered yet again.
The organ was acquired by Ed Boadway through the Organ Clearing House in 1978 for the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church In Claremont, N.H. where he was organist-- the organ replacing an aging Conn electronic. The organ was restored by Ed Boadway and Scot Huntington with no changes except the redecoration of the facade. Ed retained ownership of the organ and it was "on loan" to Prince of Peace during its time there, including after Ed moved to another organist position in Claremont. The Lutheran Church closed in 1985 at which time the organ was sold through the OCH to the Lutheran Church in Boyleston, Mass. and moved there without change. At an unknown time thereafter, Jeremy Cooper substantially altered the organ, including replacing the Dulciana with a double-draw mixture and expanding the pedal Bourdon to full compass.
The Boyleston church replaced the Midmer with a 2-manual George Reed organ obtained through the OCH in 1999, the organ was sold to St. Andrew's Episcopal in Turners Fall, Mass. and was moved there by David Hagberg who states he moved the organ without further changes. The Turners Falls church closed in 2018 (the parish merged with a church in neighboring Greenfield), and the building was acquired by a developer to become an Air B&B guest residence, the organ was consequently given by the developer and the St. Andrew's congregation to St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Claremont, N.H. where it was moved and restored by volunteers under the direction of Lubbert Gnodde in time for Easter 2018. At some point after its time at Prince of Peace, the right side of the case unfortunately disappeared.
Identified through on-line information from David Hagberg
Related Instrument Entries: Jeremy Cooper (1985 ca.) , Edgar Atkinson Boadway & Co. (1978 ca.)
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