Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary – St. Stephen
(Roman Catholic)
Summit Street at Hicks Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11231
http://www.delvecchiorc.com
The Roman Catholic Church of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary – St. Stephen was formed in 1941 when two parishes were consolidated. The combined parishes occupy the building occupied since 1875 by St. Stephen's Church.
St. Stephen's Parish was established in 1866 to serve the area bounded by Degraw Street, Henry Street, Cole Street and Hamilton Avenue to the ferry. The first church, the former St. Paul Episcopal Church on the corner of Carroll and Hicks Street, was purchased by Rev. Father Dorris, the first pastor, for $15,000. Built in the Cottage Gothic style, the church measured 95 feet long by 65 feet wide and could accomodate about 600 persons. Inside, the church was handsomely furnished with cushioned pews and carpeted aisles, and the painted drab color walls were blocked out to imitate stone. On Sunday, July 15, 1866, the church was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin, assisted by Rev. Father Dorris.
As the parish membership increased, plans were made by Father O'Reilly, the pastor, to build a larger church. The cornerstone for the present building was laid by Bishop Loughlin in July 1873, and the new church was opened with "dignity and ceremonial pomp" on October 31, 1875. Patrick C. Keely, the Brooklyn architect who was noted for his many churches, designed the neo-Gothic church. The old church was converted into a school and placed under the care of the Sisters of Charity.
The Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary was established by Fr. Joseph Fransioli in 1882 as the Catholic Mission of the Italian Colony of the City of Brooklyn. This mission was the first Roman Catholic parish community established specifically for Italian immigrants in the Diocese of Brooklyn, which comprised the whole of Long Island, including the counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. Sacred Hearts was established as a national parish that served neighborhood parishioners but also welcomed all Italians. Initially, the new Italian parish occupied space belonging to St. Peter’s church, at the corner of Warren and Hicks Streets. The first permanent church was opened in May 1885 on President Street off of Van Brunt Street. By 1900 the number of Italian immigrants living in the vicinity of the President Street church was the largest single concentration of Italians in the country. Convinced of the need for a larger church, Father Vogel found property on Degraw and Hicks Streets to build a new larger church. Upon completion of the new church in 1906, Father Vogel felt it necessary to keep the prior church building at President Street open to serve the community as a chapel for the parish under the title of Saint Charles Chapel. To make room for what would become known as the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), the Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was condemned by Robert Moses. On the morning of December 7, 1941, a final Mass was celebrated, followed by a grand procession of the parish’s Italian Societies, the statues of their patron saints held aloft, on their shoulders, to their new home at St. Stephen’s Church. Ironically, the same expressway runs in a trench alongside the present church.
On January 10, 1951, a five-alarm fire almost completely destroyed the church building. Fundraising drives were immediately initiated to rebuild the 75-year-old structure, and the reconstructed church reopened in early 1952. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geo. Kilgen & Son
St. Louis, Mo. – Opus 7560 (1952)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 34 registers, 28 stops, 31 ranks
A new organ was installed in 1952, as described in the September 1951 issue of The Diapason:
"The Church ... has placed an order for a three-manual organ with the Kilgen Organ Company, St. Louis, through its pastor, the Rev. Francis del Vecchio. The organ will be placed in the choir gallery at the rear of the new church, with the swell in one chamber, the great and the major part of the pedal in another chamber, and the choir section in an expression box, thus placing the entire instrument under separate expression control. An attractive screen enclosed in display pipes, panel work and grille, will be built by the Kilgen Company to screen the organ. The specifications were drawn up by Benoit Mauro in collaboration with the Kilgen factory branch in New York.
"The new church, on Hicks Street in Brooklyn, will replace an edifice built seventy-five [in 1875] years ago, which was destroyed by fire in January, and it will be one of the imposing church buildings of Brooklyn when completed early in 1952." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
|
16 |
|
Violone |
61 |
4 |
|
Flute d'Amour |
61 |
8 |
|
Open Diapason |
61 |
2 |
|
Waldflöte |
61 |
8 |
|
Doppelflöte |
61 |
|
|
Grave Mixture II ranks |
122 |
8 |
|
Gamba |
61 |
8 |
|
Tuba Harmonic |
61 |
4 |
|
Octave |
61 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
|
16 |
|
Bourdon |
73 |
4 |
|
Flute Harmonique |
73 |
8 |
|
Open Diapason |
73 |
2 |
|
Harmonic Piccolo |
61 |
8 |
|
Stopped Diapason |
73 |
|
|
Mixture III ranks |
183 |
8 |
|
Viole d'Orchestre |
73
|
8 |
|
Oboe |
73 |
8 |
|
Salicional |
73 |
8 |
|
Vox Humana |
61 |
8 |
|
Voix Celeste |
73 |
|
|
Tremolo |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
|
8 |
|
Geigen Diapason |
73 |
8 |
|
Clarinet |
73 |
8 |
|
Dulciana |
73 |
8 |
|
Orchestral Oboe |
73 |
8 |
|
Unda Maris (TC) |
61 |
|
|
Tremolo |
|
4 |
|
Flauto Traverso |
73 |
|
|
Chimes |
GT |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
|
32 |
|
Resultant |
— |
16 |
|
Lieblich Gedeckt |
SW |
16 |
|
Double Open Diapason |
44 |
8 |
|
Flauto Major (fr. Dbl OD) |
— |
16 |
|
Bourdon |
32 |
8 |
|
Violoncello |
GT |
16 |
|
Violone |
GT |
16 |
|
Trombone (ext. GT) |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geo. Kilgen & Son
St. Louis, Mo. – Opus 4793 (1931)
Electro-pneumatic action
This organ burned with the church in January 1951. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hilborne L. Roosevelt
New York City – Opus 17 (1875); rev.
Tubular-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 33 stops, 37 ranks
The original organ in the present church was built in 1875 by Hilborne L. Roosevelt of New York City. In September 1921, the following specifications were recorded by Louis F. Mohr, an organ service person in the area. Mohr noted the feeders were worked by a 1½ H.P. electric motor that was installed in 1913 by Nilsson Mfg. Co., of Brooklyn. Larry Trupiano, organbuilder from Brooklyn, recalls that an uncle was a member of St. Stephen's and learned to play the organ on the Roosevelt. The uncle mentioned that several stops had been relocated by the organist of the church: the Choir Twelfth was from the Great, the Gt. Quintadena was from the Choir, and the Swell Quint was the original Celeste rank moved to 2-2/3' pitch. The uncle also said the organ had tubular action with a detached console, but this was not confirmed. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes
|
16 |
|
Open Diapason |
58 |
4 |
|
Principal |
58 |
8 |
|
Open Diapason |
58 |
4 |
|
Flute Harmonique |
58 |
8 |
|
Viola di Gamba |
58 |
2 |
|
Fifteenth |
58 |
8 |
|
Doppel Flöte |
58 |
|
|
Mixture, 3 ranks |
174 |
8 |
|
Quintadena [orig. in CH] |
58 |
8 |
|
Trumpet |
58 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed
|
8 |
|
Open Diapason |
58 |
2 |
|
Flageolet |
58 |
8 |
|
Salicional |
58 |
|
|
Cornet, 3 ranks |
174 |
8 |
|
Stopped Diapason |
58 |
8 |
|
Cornopean |
58 |
4 |
|
Octave |
58 |
8 |
|
Oboe |
58 |
4 |
|
____ [Hohl Flöte?] |
58 |
8 |
|
Vox Humana |
58 |
2 2/3 |
|
Quint [Celeste moved up] |
58 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
|
8 |
|
Violin Diapason |
58 |
4 |
|
Rohr Flute |
58 |
8 |
|
Melodia |
58 |
2 2/3 |
|
Twelfth [orig. in GT] |
58 |
8 |
|
Dolce |
58 |
2 |
|
Piccolo Harmonique |
58 |
4 |
|
Gemshorn |
58 |
8 |
|
Clarabella [orig. Clarinet?] |
58 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
|
16 |
|
Double Open Diapason |
27 |
10 2/3 |
|
Quint |
27 |
16 |
|
Bourdon |
27 |
8 |
|
Violoncello |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Couplers
|
|
|
Great to Pedal |
|
Swell to Great Octaves |
|
|
Swell to Pedal |
|
Choir to Great |
|
|
Choir to Pedal |
|
Choir to Great Suboctave |
|
|
Swell to Great |
|
Swell to Choir |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mechanical Accessories
|
|
|
Swell Tremulant |
|
Bells |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pedal Movements
|
|
|
Great Organ Forte ["3 Comb Ped Gt"] |
|
Swell Organ Forte ["2 Comb Ped Sw"] |
|
|
Great Organ Mezzo |
|
Swell Organ Piano |
|
|
Great Organ Piano |
|
Balanced Swell Pedal |
|
|
Great to Pedal Reversible |
|
[Balanced Choir Pedal?] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sources:
"Another New Church. Dedication of St. Stephen's R. Catholic Church," Brooklyn Eagle (July 16, 1866).
The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X, Vol. III. New York: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914.
The Diapason (Sept. 1951). Stoplist of Geo. Kilgen & Son organ, Op. 7560 (1952). Courtesy Jeff Scofield.
Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (Sept. 1921) of Hilborne L. Roosevelt Organ, Op. 17 (1875). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
Morone, Francis. "A Gothic Beauty," The New York Sun (Sept. 13, 2007).
Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn website: http://www.dioceseofbrooklyn.org
Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary –St.
Stephen website: http://www.delvecchiorc.com
"St. Stephen's. Dedication of Father O'Reilly's New Church," The Brooklyn Eagle (Nov. 1, 1875).
Illustration:
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn web site. Exterior |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|