Mack, Forrest C., 1942-2006.

The firm E. & G.G. Hook, church organ builders, was founded in 1827 as a partnership between two brothers, Elias Hook and George G. Hook, of Salem, Massachusetts. In 1831, the firm relocated to Boston where they set up shop on Friend Street. By 1872, Francis H. Hastings had become a partner, and the corporate name was changed to E. & G.G. Hook & Hastings. Following the death of the founders in 1880 and 1881, the corporate name was shortened to Hook & Hastings. In 1889, the firm relocated to Kendal Green, Massachusetts, and continued to produce church organs there until 1935, when its assets were dispersed. In 108 years, the firm manufactured 2614 instruments, and is universally regarded today as the most significant producer of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century church organs in New England.