- Johnson Organs
The William A. Johnson Organ Company of
Westfield, Massachusetts , which later became Johnson & Son Organ Company was a highly respected firm which built 860pipe organs throughout the United States and in Canada and Bermuda. The company operated from 1844 through 1898. All Johnson organs were completly mechanical (tracker action ) organs, withBarker lever tracker-pneumatic actions utilized in larger organs after 1871History
In 1843, William Allen Johnson (1816-1901) was operating a contracting business in Westfield, Massachusetts. While completing the construction of a new church building for his own Westfield church, an organ builder of the firm
E. and G.G. Hook & Hastings arrived with wagon loads of parts, pipes and materials which were to be installed in the new church. When asked about the availability of a worker to help set up the organ, Mr. Johnson readily applied for the job.During the construction of the Hook organ, Johnson became interested in the art of organ building. The following winter he decided to try his hand, building a small parlor organ of just one rank. He continued his new craft, building seven more parlor organs in the next five years. In 1848, he built two small one manual church organs of five or six ranks.
Continuing with church organ construction, Johnson built organs of increasing size. His first two manual organ was
Opus 13, 1849, at the Westfield, Mass. Congregational Church. This organ contained about 15 ranks. Further expanding his territory and size, Opus 40, a 34 stop three manual organ was built in 1855 for the Park Presbyterian church inTroy, New York . Another 1855 organ is believed to be the oldest Johnson organ which still exists in it's original form. It is Johnson's Opus 43, built at the First Ward Presbyterian Church (now the Westminster Presbyterian Church) inSyracuse, New York .In 1871, a devastating fire destroyed the Johnson factory, tools and materials. Subsequently, an old church building was utilized for a factory. It was about that time that William A. Johnson's son William H. Johnson became an official member of the firm, although he had worked in the shop since he was 16. With a new name, "Johnson and Son", The company was back in operation soon enough to produce 52 new organs in Chicago, Illinois after the
1871 Great Chicago Fire .A new factory was built in 1873, and another in the mid 1880's. Johnson and Son continued the work of the William A. Johnson Organ Company, building an additional 500 organs. Their largest organs were of around 55 ranks.
Throughout the years, Johnson organs were well known for their "excellent balance, splendid dignity, and beautiful voicing". Highest quality materials and workmanship were used, and Johnson's
Organ pipes were always of the finest quality.As tracker organs became less popular, and not wishing to switch to tubular-pneumatic or
Electro-pneumatic action organs, the company ceased operations in 1898. Their last organ was a large 3 manual organ, opus 860, at St. Paul's Church in Chicago.References
* Elsworth, John Van Varick. "The Johnson Organs", 1984, published by The Boston Organ Club of the Organ Historical Society.
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