Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 178
Scan 178
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
11 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 152. See the scan on archive.org.
1hung over his desk, from which he probably obtained his idea of the famous reed. His shop turned out about 160 organs of different kinds and sizes. Among the large church organs was one each for Dover, New Hampshire; [St. Anne's, Lowell] [address hidden]; [the Catholic Church on [address hidden]] [address hidden]; Scituate, Massachusetts; Nashua, New Hampshire; a church in Watertown, Massachusetts, afterwards destroyed by fire; and a Catholic Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was intimately acquainted with Bishop Cheverus, first Catholic Bishop of Boston, and through his influence secured contracts for several organs for Catholic churches largely in the South. His first reed organ was presented to Gilbert Stuart, the most eminent portrait painter of his time. This was the first reed organ ever made [in the United States], and a few years ago [before 1902] was still in existence in Newport, Rhode Island… Eben Goodrich died [May 13] 1841." 36 To support the family his widow gave pianoforte lessons and played the organ in the old Second Church of Boston, thus being an early woman organist.
3Thomas Appleton was born in [address hidden], Boston, December 26, 1785. He served his time as apprentice with Elisha Larned, cabinet maker, corner of Salem & [address hidden]. When he was twenty years old he became acquainted with William Goodrich and went to work with him building organs in a shop on [address hidden]. Mr. Appleton was not a musician, but had a good ear for music. In his later years, when he supposedly was engaged in reading the Boston Transcript by the light of a tallow candle, he used to exclaim "Tut, tut, tut," if anyone made mistakes in playing the pianoforte.
5In 1810 he joined in Hayts, Babcock & Appleton. After the firm's dissolution in 1820 Mr. Appleton carried on organ building on [address hidden] first with Ebenezer Goodrich and later Corri as voicer and tuner. Later (1848-1851) he manufactured organs in company with Mr. Warren, at [address hidden], the latter subsequently moving to Montreal where he carried on the business. [address hidden], who has been called "The Father Smith of New England," and Warren probably built the first organ in Appleton
734 Information supplied by William B. Goodwin, Lowell organ builder.
835 Oliver, Henry K. The Organist's Quarterly Journal and Review April 1875 p. 5.
936 Goodrich, Henry A. Church Organs: Some of the Early Builders in New England pp. 9-11.
1037 A Hundred Years of Music in America p. 326.
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