Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 252
Scan 252
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
11 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 226. See the scan on archive.org.
1had had to be imported. Unfortunately at Mr. Lehnert's death the secret of the cymbal specifications passed on also. Mr. Richardson then turned to the making of music stands, thus being possibly the earliest such manufacturer in Boston. He was listed in this business from 1880 to 1895.
3About 1852 the firm which may have been the oldest manufacturer of brass instruments in the United States, Graves & Co. (also known as Samuel Graves & Sons) was listed in Boston at [address hidden] This company had been established at Winchester, New Hampshire, and in 1864 advertised itself as the oldest musical instrument makers in the country, in this business for the past forty years.13 Since the Winchester factory was burned some time after 1845 (exact year is not obtainable) the business may have been moved to Boston about 1852 or this may have been at first only a branch. The names of the sons were Alpha, Geo. M. and Cyrus. This noted firm made all kinds of brass and reed band instruments. "Its products were made use of in all parts of the country, and many very fine pieces were made on foreign orders."14 They were the makers of the E-flat copper bugle used in 1837 by Edward (Ned) Kendall with the Boston Brass Band, which bore his name engraved on the bell. A copper keyed Bugle in B-flat used in the band in 1835 and an E-flat Alto made by this company in 1830 with three double slide valves and compensating pistons were also shown in the Chickering & Sons' Exhibition in 1902. Dr. Dayton C. Miller has in his collection a flute and a clarinet made by this firm.
5In [address hidden] became a partner in this company, which then was called Gilmore, Graves & Co. His duty was to examine and test personally every instrument made by the new combination. In 1866 the firm was listed just as Gilmore & Co. and the following year it was changed to Wright, Gilmore & Co., becoming simply E. G. Wright in 1868. This firm in turn was probably succeeded about 1870 by the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory, makers of the Three *** Star cornets and trumpets. The firm members in 1874 consisted of Henry Esbach, L. F. Hartman and W. G. Reed.
7This company and the Standard Band Instrument Company started in 1884 by Thompson & Odell Company, after the demise of Quinby Brothers, in the factory which had been used by the
913 Boston Directory 1864, Advertising Department, p. 109.
1014 Pierce, George W. Winchester. The Granite Monthly, November 1896, pp. 280-1.
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