Church of the Holy Trinity

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Joseph E. Temple offered a carillon of 25 bells to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia in 1880. The church accepted the gift and the bells were ordered from the van Aerschodt Bell Foundry in Louvain, Belgium. A proposal was introduced in the House of Representatives to exempt the import tariff on the bells, but it did not pass. This carillon is notable for having the first traditional keyboard installed in the United States.

The carillon was first played at the opening of the Protestant Episcopal General Convention on October 3, 1883.

Many consider this to be the first true carillon in America since it had a traditional keyboard, while others question the harmonious qualities of the bells.

References
1880 "Gift of Chimes to the Holy Trinity," The Philadelphia Times, May 23, 1880, Page 1.
Joseph E. Temple, whose recent endowment of tho Academy of Fine Arts secured to the public gratuitous admission one day in the week, has offered to present the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity with a complete chime of bells. The vestry of the church have accepted the gift and taken measures to secure the chimes without delay.

1882 Duty on a Chime of Bells for the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, Pa., July 15, 1882, House Report 1632, 47th Congress, 1st Session.
This proposal was not passed by Congress.

1882 "The Chime of Bells for Holy Trinity," The Philadelphia Times, July 16, 1882, Page 1.
Remission or refunding of duty on a chime of bells.

1883 "Whiskey and the Tariff," The Philadelphia Times, January 26, 1883, Page 1.
As fast as bills were read Mr. Kelley would rise and object, and on one occasion he created a laugh by opposing a bill to admit free of duty a chime of bells for the Church of the Holy Trinity at Philadelphia.

1883 "New Bells for Holy Trinity Church," The Philadelphia Times, July 26, 1883, Page 3.

1883 "Holy Trinity Chimes," The Philadelphia Times, September 23, 1883, Page 2.
At present they are manipulated bv a key-board, or bank of smell levers, in the tower, but It is intended to put In an electric attachment with a key-board in the organ loft, so that the hells can he rung without so much manual effort. They constitute, in fact, a musical instrument which in skilful hands cannot but give delight.

1883 The Philadelphia Times, September 23, 1883, Page 8.
Holy Trinity's new chime of bells, will be rung at the opening of the Protestant Episcopal General Convention.

1925 Carillon music and singing towers of the Old world and the New, by William Gorham Rice | Also here |
Page 279-280: So far only modern carillons of American have been mentioned in the chronological record of installations. Four other American carillons exist which are hardly to be included in a detailed list of modern, scientifically tuned instruments. These carillons are as follows: St. Joseph's Cathedral, Buffalo, New York; University Chapel, Notre Dame, Indiana; Trinity Church, Philadelphia, Pa.; and St. Paul's Church, Minneapolis, Minn.

1930 Carillon Music and Singing Towers of the Old World and the New, Revised and Enlarged, by William Gorham Rice
Page 278c: The first carillon to exist on the America continent was the group of tuned bells placed in the Metropolitan Church spire at Toronto, Canada.

1948 Carillon. An Account of the Class of 1892 Bells at Princeton, with Notes on Bells and Carillons in General. [With Plates.], by Arthur Lynds Bigelow | also here |
Pages 60-61: In 1882, Van Aerschodt at Louvain cast 25 bells for the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia.
It may be true that some of these instruments were not tuned according to the standards of earlier centuries, but they were the first carillons on this side of the water and as such deserve recognition.

1956 A Hundred Years in His House: The Story of The Church of The Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, 1857-1957. by Marguerite Aspinwall
Pages 66, 71-72. These consist of twenty-five bells, cast in Louvain, Belgium, and given to the church by Mr. Joseph E. Temple, in 1880, as a memorial to his wife.
Before being brought to this country, the bells were tested by Sir John Stainer (composer of “The Crucifixion”), who was Her Majesty’s Inspector of Music, and organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
The larger bells have a medallion likeness of Mr. and Mrs. Temple, cast upon them, and this inscription:
Presented to The Church of The Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, by Joseph E. Temple, in memory of his wife, Martha Anna Kirtley. Born in England, May 11th, 1821. Died in Philadelphia Dec. 7th, 1864.
Cast by Severin Van Aerschodt Louvain, Belgium 1882
The bells arrived on the S. S. Zeeland, from Antwerp, on July 18, 1883, and a skilled machinist was sent with them to supervise the installation of the attachment connecting the clappers of the bells with the keyboard.
The bells were first rung at the opening session of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which met on October 3, 1883, at Holy Trinity.
The man who is outstandingly associated with the chimes is Charles W. H. Bancroft, who was carillonneur for forty-five years. He is now, in this Centennial year, Secretary of the Vestry, and has given up the bells, but we suspect his heart is still up there in the tower when they peal out on Sunday mornings.
The chime of bells was restored in 1954 under the supervision of Professor Arthur L. Bigelow, Bellmaster of Princeton University, who played the carillon at the service of their dedication. This is the oldest carillon in use in the United States, and there were originally twenty-five bells in the chime. Ten were not restored, leaving fifteen which are now pealed by individual motors instead of, as formerly, by hand.
The restoration is a memorial to Dr. Floyd W. Tomkins.

1991 "In Search of North America's First Carillon," by Jeffery A. Bossin, Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America 45:35-38 (1991)
The author believe that the Holy Trinity instrument qualifies as the first true carillon in North America.

1992 "Letter to the Editor," by James B. Slater, Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America 46:96 (1992)
This author disagrees.

1996 Carillon: the evolution of a concert instrument in North America, by Karel and Linda Keldermans | also here |
Historical Instruments to 1922
The other two carillons were both located in the Philadelphia area. One was at the Holy Trinity Church, where Severinus van Aerschodt had installed a 25-bell instrument in 1883. Many scholars consider this instrument to have been the first carillon in North America.2 Because it had a mechanical-action keyboard, it was closer to the modern perception of a carillon as a set of bells on which music could be played, rather than an automatic instrument only capable of sounding pre-programmed melodies.

"Milestones in North American Traditional Carillons," by Carl Zimmerman, towerbells.org
Holy Trinity Church, Philadelphia, PA
The third carillon-sized tower-bell instrument (25 bells), and the first to have a traditional keyboard, was cast by van Aerschodt of Belgium. Because its tuning left much to be desired by modern standards, it was largely ignored by the culture which grew up around the later instruments (see below). Nevertheless, It deserves to be called the first true carillon in North America.