History in the air: Sunday concert in Adams to highlight two historical organs

Sep. 10—ADAMS — The Historical Association of South Jefferson will highlight two of its musical treasures on Sunday and at the same time, the light will shine on a restoration project at its Six Town Meeting House.

The historical association has maintained the historic Six Town Meeting House at 33 E. East Church St. in Adams for several years. The original structure, once a church, was dedicated in 1826 and, over time, has become a valuable community asset to southern Jefferson County residents. Six townships make up south Jefferson County: Adams, Ellisburg, Henderson, Lorraine, Rodman and Worth.

In 1950, the Presbyterian church at the structure dissolved, and the building was purchased by the Masonic Lodge. The Masons removed its bell tower because it was structurally unsound, according to Watertown Daily Times' files. The Masons owned the structure until 1984, when it was acquired by the Historical Association as a gift from the Masons.

There are two historic Jardine pump organs at Six Town Meeting House, which will be the focus of a concert on Sunday. Those attending the concert will also be able to see the five original stained-glass windows (circa 1860) that were recently rebuilt and restored after being boarded up for over 60 years. The Jardine Church Organs company was founded in 1780 in Preston, Lancashire, northern England. George Jardine arrived in New York City in 1837, where he began making organs.

One Jardine organ at Six Town Meeting House was installed in 1858 when it was a Presbyterian church and served the congregation for nearly 100 years until the church closed. But the organ continued in service when the building was used as a Masonic temple, and now as a gathering spot for the historical association and the community.

The second organ, a rarity, is a relatively recent acquisition that was gifted to the historical association by the Zion Episcopal Church of Pierrepont Manor following its closure in 2020.

The organ was a gift to the church from William Constable Pierrepont, (1803-1885) who was also instrumental in building the church. The organ was built by George Jardine, New York City, and was brought to Rome through the Erie Canal system. From Rome, it was taken to the church by ox cart in 1840. The barrel organ was created for the purpose of having fine church music available in a frontier area where it was supposed that trained organists could not be found. By turning the crank handle of the barrel organ, even those illiterate in music could be instantly transformed into virtuosos.

Following the church's closure in 2020, the organ, with its 159 pipes, was disassembled and relocated by an Albany-area firm to the Six Town Meeting House. The organ has two cylinders ("barrels") about 4 1/2 feet long and 10 inches in diameter that can be engaged when there is no organist available, which was often the case in early times. By turning the "barrel" with a crank, the organ becomes a large music box. The two "barrels" with this organ each have 11 different hymns.

The instrument has a two-track system that can be played either conventionally or by the barrel mechanism. The barrel mechanism will be briefly demonstrated during Sunday's concert. The featured organist will be Jason D. Comet of Watertown, who will perform on both instruments. Mr. Comet, a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., is also a choir director, church musician and educator. He has a fondness for historic organs. He calls the organs at Six Town Meeting House, which sit side-by-side, "the Jardine sisters." The barrel organ is the smaller sister.

Mr. Comet will begin the concert by playing a few tunes on the barrel organ, with its barrel system disengaged.

"There's a lot of music written for mechanical instruments, especially musical clocks and items like that," Mr. Comet said. "So, I'll be doing some pieces that were written for musical clocks."

Mr. Comet said there's only a handful of barrel organs that survive in North America.

"If there are many, I don't think they're playable much anymore," he said. "They're probably museum pieces."

He plans to give a brief demonstration of the barrel element of the instrument before switching over to the organ originally installed at the Six Town facility.

"I'm also looking to play music from when the organs were built — the early Romantic period," Mr. Comet said.

His repertoire will also include at least one selection to honor Patriot Day — 9-11.

He noted that in the 1970s, the late E. Power Biggs, a British-born American concert organist and recording artist, recorded tunes he played on the Zion organ. They were then played on the long-running radio show "Pipedreams" produced and distributed by American Public Media.

Mr. Comet said it will be an honor to perform on both instruments.

"It's certainly a little piece of history for the north country," he said.

Also performing at Sunday's concert will be former Zion church organists Sally E. Jerome and Laura Whitehead.

Ms. Jerome said she began playing Zion's barrel organ (with the barrel system off) when she was 12, and would continue those duties for nearly 45 years, until Ms. Whitehead took over in 2016.

Ms. Jerome recalled the church needed an organist, and since she had taken piano lessons since age 7, she got the job.

"Because I was a piano student, it was easy for me to switch because it doesn't have pedals," Ms. Jerome said of the Zion organ. "On my very first Sunday, I couldn't get there because it was snowing too hard. I was so disappointed."

She said "the barrel wasn't rolled" very often, except for special events such as recitals. One reason is that few of the mechanism's hymns are in the modern hymnal.

Ms. Jerome continues to be organist at Emmanuel Church in Adams, where she's served for over 40 years. That church was once "yoked" with Zion. But she admitted feeling a bit nervous to be listed as an organist at Sunday's program.

"I have to tell you — I'm not a concert organist," she said. "I'm just a mediocre church organist. When I signed up for the event, I honestly thought we were playing background music while people were walking through during some sort of open house."

Zion Episcopal Church, she said would often hosts things like flower and quilt shows, where she would play the organ as background music.

"The organ was such a unique instrument and they liked to show it off when they had the opportunity," Ms. Jerome said. "I'm not a concert organist by a long shot. I'll play quickly and then, people can enjoy Jason Comet because he's phenomenal."

Rebuilt stained-glass windows

In 2012, the Six Town Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation was created to enhance the quality of life in the towns of Adams, Ellisburg, Henderson, Lorraine, Rodman and Worth.

The fund was established through the generosity of many donors, matched by the community foundation, as a permanent, charitable resource to support nonprofits serving the southern Jefferson County area. Since the fund began awarding grants in 2015, it has provided more than $35,000 in support to assist with 34 different community service projects and programs.

Last week, the Six Town Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation announced it will award up to $7,500 in grant funding this year to nonprofit organizations serving the southern Jefferson County region.

In 2021, the fund, among other awards, awarded a $1,000 grant to the Henderson Harbor Historical Association to fund a study to determine the feasibility of developing a performing arts venue on the former Mark Hopkins Inn property the association owns.

In 2019, the Historical Association of South Jefferson received $5,000 through the Charles and Fern Brown Fund at the NNYCF to repair Six Town Meeting House's stained-glass windows, installed in the mid-1800s.

Bilkey L. Moore, association vice president, said the window project began in 2019.

"We've been doing them one at a time," he said. "They were boarded up for 60 years. We couldn't take the boards off until we had them redone because they were in such terrible shape that the wind could blow them right out and they were missing pieces of glass and so forth."

The five windows were removed and transported to Martville, Cayuga County, for restoration with Edward J. Dehors and the nonprofit Historical Restorations Foundation.

In 2019, Mr. Dehors, explaining background on the windows, told the Times, "During the 1800s in America, the glaziers were apprentices, and these were most likely built by apprentices who came from other countries." "It's much more impressive than it used to be," Mr. Moore said. "Before, there were no windows, no openings exposed. At this point, four of the windows are exposed. We had to cover one of the windows on the outside because the snow and ice, when it comes off a roof, would destroy it. We had to protect it. We backlit it. We have lights we turn on so it looks like it's receiving natural light."

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The details

n WHAT: Concert featuring two Jardine pump organs hosted by the Historical Association of South Jefferson.

n WHEN/WHERE: 3 p.m. Sunday at the Six Town Meeting House, 31 E. Church St., Adams.

n COST: No charge and light refreshments will be served after the concert.

n OF NOTE: Those attending will also be able to see the building's five original stained-glass windows that have been restored after being boarded up for over 60 years.