Walter S. Spencer
1903

From The Weekly Standard (February 26, 1903): The magnificent organ donated to the members of St. James' Church Merriton, through the splendid generosity of Mr. Grantham of Hamilton, a former parishoner of Rev. Mr. Almond's at Yarmouth, N.S., was introduced to the new audience most capably on Friday evening, when W. T. Thompson brough forth all its sweet richness in one of his excellent recitals ... The work of rebuilding the organ was entrusted to Mr. Walter Spencer of Hamilton, and the work has been well done, reflecting great credit on him. The front case was made at the factory of Geo. Wilson & Son, city. It is of oak, harmonizing with the other furniture of the church, and though plain, is very pleasing in appearance. The front pipes are in gold.

It was relayed to me by Peter Snyder, longtime St. Catharines/Thorold organist, that this instrument was originally built by George Stevens of Massachussets and installed in a church in Nova Scotia before being moved to Merriton, and that it survived well to the 1950s or 60s, replaced by an electronic instrument. It is possible that this organ was indeed built for Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Yarmouth, NS, considering both the rector's and donor's connections to that church. Indeed, Casavant Freres was engaged to build a new instrument for the Yarmouth Church in 1902 (Opus 168), and a note in the OHS database for this instrument reads: "present cases and front pipes will be used in the new organ", which would thus require new casework for the Merriton church as described in The Weekly Standard article quoted above.