Chester A. Raymond
1952

My most recent research has answered questions about this organ's origins. Congress deliberated and kicked the can down the road regarding a Chapel for the new Coast Guard campus under construction during the early 1930s, and the Coast Guard was always at the end of the military academy gravy train of Congressional appropriations, generally receiving the left overs. The Chapel was downsized from its earliest vision, and construction was begun in 1938 on top of the highest hill in New London, Conn. making it visible from any point along the Thames River. The construction was paused during the WWII as its financing was frozen, and finally completed in 1948. The Morgan F. Plant estate in Groton, across the river, contained a large 1915 Aeolian which was rebuilt by Aeolian with new pitman chests in 1929. Henry Bradford Plant inherited the property upon his father's death in 1918. When he died suddenly in 1938, his wife gave the entire estate property to the State of Connecticut which in turn leased it to the Coast Guard from 1942-1967 for officer training. It was during this early period of Coast Guard occupancy that the organ from the Plant estate was relocated to the Coast Guard Chapel. The exact date of the relocation is yet to be determined and whether Raymond removed the organ from the estate and installed it in the Chapel all in 1952, or he rebuilt the Aeolian already in place. The rebuilt organ bore no resemblance to the original Aeolian ethos. Marilyn Mason played one of the New London AGO annual chapter recitals here in the mid-1990s to a packed house, with the console moved to the front center of the chancel. Otherwise the organ was rarely seen in public events--the Moller/Skinner in St. James being the traditional venue. In a city full of mediocre organs, the Coast Guard organ was the second-largest in the city, and described as "OK".

According to the local organ service technician who maintained the organ for decades, it was originally the Aeolian Nr. 1328 (1915) originally built for Morton Freeman Plant, railroad magnate with a large estate across the river from the Academy in Groton, Connecticut. After Plant died in the Swine Flu epidemic of 1918, the estate was inherited by his 23-year old son Henry Bradley Plant, who had the organ sent back to the Garfield, N.J. factory in 1929 to be re-actioned with all new chests--the original Aeolian ventil chests being notoriously troublesome and prone to ciphers. Henry died in 1938 at the age of 42 and the estate was inherited by his wife and two daughters. The organ was given to the Coast Guard at an unknown date and the person who maintained the organ until its removal believes the organ was already in place when it was rebuilt and modernized by Raymond. The construction of the chapel was a somewhat prolonged and shoestring affair with the Academy always at the end of the congressional financial gravy train behind its more famous and luxuriously-appointed Navy and Army institutions for which no expense was spared for buildings or organs. There is no mention of an organ in any of the public articles about the chapel's early history and construction, and the Raymond rebuild is the only "official" record of an instrument in this chapel. It is probably the Class of 1950 gift of a fake organ was to replace a failing pipe organ for which there were no available government funds for a rebuild or restoration, just as there are no funds available now to replace the failing imitation. What is regrettable is the money spent on a flagship imitation organ in 2000 would have paid to restore the Raymond organ.

Following the pipe organ's untimely removal in 2000, the organ chamber on the south side was broken up for an elevator and stairwell down to the undercroft level (there were originally wide and shallow chambers on each side of the divided chancel and the Raymond organ was disposed in both). The remaining chamber on the north side is currently occupied by speakers and amplifiers. The present console is at the altar end of the choir pews on the south side of the chancel, situated with the organist facing north towards the opposite side choir seating. The original Klann console for the Raymond organ was in the same location, but with the organist facing south and his back towards the choir. Concert organist Marilyn Mason played one of the annual New London AGO chapter concerts on this organ in the early 1990s. The chapel is currently used for a non-denominational service on Sunday, a Catholic service on Saturday evening, and Jewish services are held in the undercroft.

While the original plans for the Academy drawn up in 1930 show a chapel as the centerpiece of campus, suggesting the church dates from this period, actual construction was delayed first for lack of funding then by the World War. The brick chapel in the pseudo-Colonial style was finally completed in 1948. There is no organ listed for this chapel on any of the major organ factory opus lists, but the Chester Raymond organ of 1952 was a rebuild of an older organ. This would suggest either that Raymond rebuild a second-hand organ for a new installation here, or a second-hand organ was installed in the new 1948 building and subsequently modernized by Raymond 4-years later, or an organ was assembled here in 1948 from unknown sources and it was unsuccessful, being put to rights by Raymond in 1952.

The building is acoustically poor, having reflective quarry-tile aisles but plush wall to wall carpet under the thickly over-padded pews, thereby requiring an extensive amplification system to overcome the layers of acoustical handicaps. It would be such an easy problem to fix, and the treatments appear to be recent upgrades rather than older. People who knew the Raymond organ said it was adequate for the room with a typically American-Classic ensemble grafted on to older symphonic-style foundational color registers.

The brick chapel stands on the highest hill on the Academy grounds and is built in the pseudo-colonial style popular int he 1920s, with the organ located behind plain grills in the divided chancel chambers. There were heresay reports the organ was enlarged in the early 1980s by a local tuner, but was unfortunately discarded without a trace in 2000, just shy of its 50th anniversary. The Raymond organ was replaced with a particularly unmusical flagship model made by one of the standard imitation companies, given by the Class of 1950 on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The pipe organ was parted out, and the unused components were junked. The Chapel is used for both Catholic and non-denominational weekly services, and is a busy venue for cadet weddings and alumni memorial services.

Dedicated June 6, 1952; some old pipes used, Swell reeds and strings and Great Mixture were new; Great Fourniture was imported from Europe and the Choir mutations were made and voiced in Mr. Raymond's shop by Mr. Van Camp; the console was built by Reisner.