Trinity Episcopal Cathedral was ready to rededicate its 10 bells in December, after refurbishing its steeple. Forty trash bags of guano had been cleared out, screens had been put up to keep out the pigeons, the bells had been safely rehung, and a new programmable system to play them had been installed after the 60-year-old electric keyboard had broken the previous year.
After work on the tower was finished, the new superintendent turned his attentions to a corner in the basement that had been used as a dumping site for building materials. Amid the debris of bags of cement and mortar, Ken Alexander found one crate too heavy to move. He pried open the box, made out of heavy hardwood planks, and found an 11th bell.
It had been made by the same long-closed Meneely Foundry, of Watervliet, N.Y. that manufactured the other 10 bells. As far as anyone knows, it never has been in the steeple. Maybe it was supposed to be, but the cathedral staff does not know that either.
The bell, while smaller than all 10 in the tower, seems to fit the set, a half-step above the current highest pitch. But the church had no records of ever having it, and has been unable, so far, to identify how or why it ended up in the basement.
So when the church rededicated the bells Wednesday, Bishop Dorsey McConnell rang the newly found 11th by hand, since church officials still don’t know if it’s part of the original set.
The current best guess, said Choirmaster and Organist David Schaap, is that it was a railway bell. This comes from a representative of Verdin Bells and Clocks, the Cincinnati-based company that set up the new bell controls during the renovation. "One of the contractors came through to make sure everything was working, and his opinion was that it's a railroad bell."
They have a story that fits, too, said Mr. Schaap. Apparently at one point a vice president of US Steel, responsible for railroads, had been an active member of the church. They theorize he might have received it as a retirement gift. "What else do you do with a heavy bell but give it to your church?"
If it was a gift, it was not much appreciated. “The crate looked like it was never opened," said Mr. Schaap. After a family split, there were eventually two different Meneely foundries operating, but both of them closed prior to the belfry's last renovation in 1955.
Mr. Schaap has also shown the bell to various friends in the church and to people in the foundry community, with no luck. He has not had it appraised.
The next step, he said, is to take high-quality recordings of the sounds of all the bells, and to send them to a friend of his at a foundry, to analyze the pitches. "Bells have a complex sound, not just one pitch."
If the sound is right, they will bring back Verdin Bells and Clocks to install the 11th bell with the others in the bell tower.
Meneely was at one point a prominent bell foundry, appearing in Jules Verne's “From the Earth to the Moon” and providing bells to churches across the country, like the "Justice Bell" in the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge.
Mr. Schaap would love to have another bell to play. "We only have 10 notes, which causes big restrictions on what we can play," he said.
Until they know for sure, however, it will continue to be on display in the parish hall. "Everyone in the congregation is really excited about it," said Mr. Schaap.
"It's a great story," said Bishop McConnell.
The "new" bell provided Bishop McConnell with a joke for the rededication of the original 10. Opening an outdoor, multi-denominational rededication service Wednesday, he commented that there was one bell to be seen but not heard, while the others could be heard but not seen.
"There's something terribly profound and sacramental about that, but I'm not smart enough to say what it is," he said to laughs.
At the end of the service, Bishop McConnell blessed the 11th bell with holy water and rang it by hand. Finally, the 10 bells in the tower rang, and eight other churches across Western Pennsylvania, organized via group text, rang their bells in unison.
The Rev. Brian Evans, of nearby First Lutheran Church, said that ringing bells in unison "represents our unity in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Even though they were just dedicated this week, the bells have been chiming hourly during the day since December and daily hymns are programmed in.
Cathedral spokesman Rich Creehan said, "Very often in church life, you do things and then go back and bless them later."
Christopher Huffaker: 412-263-1724, chuffaker@post-gazette.com, or on Twitter @huffakingit.
First Published: May 3, 2018, 2:06 a.m.
Updated: May 3, 2018, 2:06 a.m.
