C. B. Rutenber

Charles Blackmer Rutenber was an organist, conductor, and composer born in Newburgh, New York in 1849. He was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists, and served as organist at the Second Reformed Church in Harlem for a number of years. He organized the Oratorio Society in Poughkeepsie in 1894. His published works include the cantatas Jesus of Nazareth (Biglow & Main, 1888), Divine Love (Novello, 1889), The Christ (Oliver Ditson, 1892), Alpha and Omega (Oliver Ditson, 1896), and The Nazarene (Oliver Ditson, 1903), as well as anthems. He died in 1918.

Sources:

American Guild of Organists. Charter, Constitution and By-Laws. New York: Eagle Press, 1909. (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433085565434">https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433085565434)

Andrus, Helen Josephine. A Century of Music in Poughkeepsie: 1802-1911. Poughkeepsie, New York: Frank B. Howard, 1918. (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951002319344t">https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951002319344t)

FamilySearch, "The Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 March 2025), Charles Blackmer Rutenber (2HQJ-N4L), Details. (https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/2HQJ-N4L)

"Musical notes," New York Tribune, Dec. 16, 1888, page 13. Newspaperarchive.com.

Worldcat.org. (https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3Arutenber&itemSubType=msscr-digital%2Cmsscr-mss&itemType=msscr&limit=10&offset=21")
--David Russell Hamrick