First published in The Winchester Press, Wednesday, October 22, 2014 by Sandy Casselman.

Thanks to a rather special organ, the South Mountain United Church may soon see an influx of visitors to the County Road 3 house of worship.

Inside, visitors will find a S.R. Warren tracker organ, which is more than a century old.

“The fine instrument was built by one of the most talented organ builders in Canada,” Sylvain Bris- son, owner of Orgues S. Brisson Pipe Organs in Embrun, said, after examining the unit earlier this year. “In our opinion, this organ should be preserved and also recognized as a great historical heritage for your community.”

Samuel Russell Warren was a popular organ designer and builder in Montreal in the mid 1800s. In 1866, he registered his own firm, S.R. Warren and Company. Then, in 1876, his son, Charles, joined the business. In 1878, Charles moved the family company to Toronto.

With no date on the South Mountain instrument, organist Jane Boyd said the only real lead she had in determining the age of the organ was the nameplate, which read “S.R. Warren and Son, Montreal.” After researching the company’s history, she found the organ must have been built sometime in the two years Charles was part of the Montreal- based business, between 1876 and 1878, making the rather large musi- cal instrument roughly 138 years old.

The organ, however, did not make its way to South Mountain until 1929 when it was purchased from the United Church in Prescott. The South Mountain religious facility began as the village’s Methodist Church, having been built in 1892. (The United Church of Canada, which brought together the Methodist Church of Canada, the Congregational Church of Canada, and 70 per cent of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, was founded in 1925.)

A complex instrument, Boyd was taught to play the organ by her mother-in-law, Ruby, who had been the church’s organist for 40 years before her retirement in 1986.

It was Boyd who contacted Brisson in the spring for what she thought was just a tune-up of the instrument. After examining the organ, Brisson recommended it be shut down immediately, “because of excessive air loss that could damage the blower.”

The organ was repaired in August, when the church was closed. Brisson removed the main double rib reservoir, taking it to his Embrun-based shop where he cleaned all the parts, made all the necessary repairs, and re-leathered all the components. He cleaned the organ floor, re-installed the bellow, re-established pressures, and tuned the organ. Brisson also re-leathered the wind sleeves and joint strips, replaced the gaskets, and re-built the wind regulator.

Although the repairs cost the church roughly $4,000, Boyd said there was no question about whether it would be fixed. The church executive never entertained the possibility of replacing it with a newer model.

Unsure of how many century-old S.R. Warren organs remain in use today, Boyd said she is pursuing Brisson’s recommendation to have the South Mountain antique registered with the Royal College of Church Organists.

“Brisson was very impressed that we have the original organ,” she said.

He has repaired similar organs in the past that have gone on to be clas- sified as historical, he said. At the time South Mountain’s organ was created, Brisson said there were only two major organ builders in Canada – Warren and Freres Casavant.

“Most of the pipe organs seen in churches [in that period] were built by those two,” he said. “But mostly by Casavant.”

This, he explained, makes the Warren pipe organs that are still in use today unique and rare.

To be considered for historical designation, the organ must be at least 100 years old with its original parts intact.