J. H. & C. S. Odell - History

History

Any discussion of the early work of the Odells must include the Robjohn brothers, Thomas and William. It was while working for Richard Ferris that the Odells met the Robjohns, who had both worked as organbuilders in England before coming to the United States.

Of the two brothers, Thomas Robjohn was the first to come to America. During the early nineteenth century he built many organs of his own, supplementing his income working for other New York organ builders. Prior to his work for the Odells, Thomas was probably best known for his work in completing the Firth and Hall organ for Trinity Church, Wall Street in 1840* as well as organs for South Dutch Church and Rutgers Street Presbyterian.

Thomas' brother William Robjohn had been a foreman for Gray and Davison in London, and emigrated in the late 1850s at the insistence of Thomas. Unfortunately, by 1860, the Robjohns had given up independent organbuilding due to financial difficulties and went to work for the Odells full-time as voicers, taking Levi Stewart with them when they left Richard Ferris. Indeed, the organ listed as Odell Opus 1 was actually commissioned to Thomas Robjohn, and its construction is credited to Stewart.

Despite fierce competition, the firm was well established by the end of 1860; in fact, the Odells seemed to enjoy a near-instant popularity, turning out an average of 10 to 12 organs a year by 1870. It has been argued that their early success came more from a tonal character "eminently suited to the late-nineteenth century taste."* rather than their solid and reliable mechanism or their many improvements to the control of the organ.

It was at the 42nd Street works in Manhattan that the Odells built all of their mechanical action organs, and also where John Henry Odell conceived the tubular--pneumatic action system he patented in 1872 and 1898. As one of the only organ building firms to remain active in Manhattan past 1900, it is no coincidence that at one point, the Odells had over 200 organs up and playing in New York City.

Among the largest organs built by J.H. & C.S. Odell were: Temple Emmanu-El, Fifth Avenue and Forty-Third Street (Op. 386 IV/65, 1901), the Church of St. Nicholas, Fifth Avenue and Forty-Eighth Street (Op. 368, IV/50, 1899) and St. Joseph's Church, Albany, New York (Op. 483 IV/59, 1912).

The company operated from the works on west 42nd Street well after the turn of the century. By the time the company signed the contract for a new factory to be built in Mount Vernon in January 1928, the opus list had already grown to over 580 organs. Unfortunately this investment will ill-timed: the infamous 1929 stock market crash came 21 months later, and for the next few years production was a mere fraction compared to the boom of the teens and twenties.