(b New York City, 21 Dec 1849; d New York City, 30 Dec 1886). American organ builder. He was a member of the prominent New York family which included President Theodore Roosevelt (a second cousin). Roosevelt apprenticed himself to the organ building firm of Hall & Labagh, much against the will of his well-to-do parents, and his first organ was built in their shop in 1869. This was unique in that it was the first in America to be built with electric action. Shortly afterwards he opened his own factory with his brother Frank (b Flushing, NY, 2 June 1862; d 2 Feb 1895) and quickly established a reputation for high quality and avant-garde ideas. It is doubtful whether the Roosevelts ever had to worry about financial solvency, and were thus able not only to experiment freely but also to use the costliest materials and most skilled craftsmen. Hilborne had an undeniable mechanical gift, making many improvements in mechanical, pneumatic and electrical actions, including the development of a practical combination mechanism. Tonally, Roosevelt organs were influenced by the European Romantic tradition, to the point where some even contained reed stops imported from Cavaillé-Coll, and were among the best American examples of this genre. After Hilborne’s death, the business was continued until 1892 by Frank Roosevelt, who then sold his patents to Farrand & Votey. Among his notable instruments were those built for Grace Episcopal Church (1878) and Carnegie Hall (1891) in New York, Incarnation Cathedral, Garden City, New York (1885), and the Auditorium, Chicago (1890).
E. Richards: ‘Roosevelt’s Place in Organ History’, American Organist, xxxiii (1950), 415–16
F.R. Weber: ‘Hilborne Roosevelt and his Remarkable Career as a Builder’, The Diapason, xl/3 (1950), 18 only
G. Döhring: ‘The Roosevelt Organ Works’, American Organist, xxxv (1952), 331–4
O. Ochse: The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington, IN, 1975)
B. Owen: ‘Organs at the Centennial’, The Bicentennial Tracker, ed. A.F. Robinson (Wilmington, OH, 1976), 128–35
J. Ogasapian: Organ Building in New York City, 1700–1900 (Braintree, MA, 1977)
BARBARA OWEN