John Van Varick Elsworth was born on November 24, 1905, in Watertown, New York. A graduate of Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, he was for many years a mechanical engineer for the New York Air Brake Co. in Watertown, and head of its test laboratory. He married Miss M. Lois Hunt of Deerfield, Massachusetts, on April 25, 1929, at Deerfield. He served as Vestryman, and Junior and Senior Warden at Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown, and was twice Dean of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. A long-time member of the Organ Historical Society, he was also an avid mountain-climber. He was particularly interested in the organs of William A. Johnson of Westfield, Massachusetts. Elsworth died in Watertown on July 16, 1971.
From the description of Correspondence between John Van Varick Elsworth and Barbara Owen, 1963-1972. (Organ Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 665170771
