Organ history from the 1993 Organ Handbook of the Organ Historical Society, Alan Miller Laufman, Editor
James Madison, President of the United States, granted to John Paul and Jonathon Lyon in 1815 the land on which the former Second Presbyterian Church building now stands. The church acquired the land in 1833, and built the present building, to plans of Edwin J. Peck, in 1835.
In August 1866, the Second ("New School") Presbyterian Church removed th enrear gallery in the building and, and soon installed the Johnson organ at a cost of $2,000. New School Presbyterians used organs; others did not. The Madison Courier of April 10, 1867 reported that "A very large number of people attended last night at the trial of the New School organ. The loud notes were not used, but the trial was satisfactory - the splendid organ breathing out those sweet strains which always filled the mind of the hearer with religious feelings, and raise the thoughts of him whose spirit is attentive above all earthly considerations".
In 1883, according to the Courier of June 12, Charles Pierce was "sent by the great organ builders, Johnson and Co. of Westfield, Mass." to move the organ "to the place prepared for its use at the rear of the church." (that would have been the interior front, its present location.)
Second Presbyterian Church rejoined First Presbyterian Church in 1923, and the Second church building was used for a time as a funeral home. Later it was owned and used by St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In 1960 the building was purchased by its present owners, Historic Madison Inc. John T. Windle, founder of the HMI, purchased the organ, separately, and donated it to HMI in 1985.
The casework, which had been painted white around 1940, was stripped in 1984 by Dougless Lee of Madison
The same summer, Daniel Bickel of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, worked on the organ; the next summer, the case pipes were painted and stencilled by J. David Wagner of Hanover, Indiana. John Ball, a member of the Kentuckiana Chapter of the O.H.S., maintains the organ on a volunteer basis.
From Historic Madison, Inc; The Johnson tracker organ has had a fascinating history. Names of individuals, prominent in Madison history, are recorded for posterity on wooden pipes and framing members of the instrument. William A. Johnson's name is inscribed on the lowest wooden pipe on the west side of the instrument.
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