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MUSIC LIBRARY

The COMMEMORATION of the
FOUNDING of the HOUSE
OF CHICKERING & SONS

^?tu/

/&^ ^^ ry'^lZ^--e^

HE COMMEMORATION OF

THE FOUNDING

OF THE HOUSE OF

QHICKERING & SONS

UPON THE EIGHTIETH ANNI-
VERSARY OF THE EVENT

1823

BOSTON . PRIVATELY PRINTED

^AR m 1904

Arranged and printed by the
Wayside Department of The Uni-
versity Press, Cambridge, U. S. A.

ICKNOWLEDGMENTS are made with
thanks to the following publications for
' extracts from various articles which have
appeared in their columns: ^^The Indi-
cator," "The Musical Age," "Musical
Courier," "The Music Trades," "The Music Trade
Review."

CONTENTS

Page

The Commemoration xi

Dr. Hale's Address 17

Jonas Chickering and his Work 31

The History of the House of Chickering . . 43

The Roll of Honor of the Chickering Piano . 75

Chickering Hall, New York 79

Chickering Hall, Huntington Avenue, Boston . gi

Tribute to the Life and Work of Jonas Chickering 93

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Portrait of Jonas Chickering • • . • Frontispiece

Opp.page

The first Pianoforte made by Jonas Chickering • 22
Bill of Sale of the first Pianoforte made by Jonas

Chickering 28

An early Upright Pianoforte 36

Factory at 334 Washington Street, Boston . . 46

Portrait, David T. Haraden 50

Indenture of Apprenticeship between Chickering j

and Mackay and Haraden 52 -^

An early Grand Pianoforte 5^

Portrait, Thomas E. Chickering 60

Portrait, C. Francis Chickering 64

Portrait, Geo. H. Chickering ........ 68

View of present Factory 70

Tremont Street Facade of the Factory .... 72

Chickering Hall, New York 82

Chickering Hall, Boston 88

THE COMMEMORATION

|HE Eightieth Anniversary of
the founding of the house of
Chickering & Sons was marked
by the holding of exercises in
Chickering Hall, 239 Hunting-
ton Avenue, Boston, on the
evening of April 14th, 1903. The only persons
present were the employees of Chickering &
Sons, with the members of their immediate
families.

The invitation issued to them was as
follows : —

^2j\N TUESDAY, April 14th, wc shall be
mm -^ eighty years old. To celebrate the occa-
^0>^ sion, wc are to have some exercises in
Chickering Hall, at 8 o'clock. There will be music,
and Dr. Edward Everett Hale will tell us something
of what Boston was like eighty years ago, when
Jonas Chickering began his first piano.

Two tickets are enclosed; a limited number of
additional ones may be had by applying at the office
between twelve and one.

CHICKERING & SONS

Jpril gth, igoj

THE COMMEMORATION

The ticket: —

Ctitdiertns ||all

TUESDAY EVENING

APRIL 14th, 1903
ADMIT ONE

On opposite sides of the stage, which was
decorated with flowering .plants and bay
trees, were placed the first piano made by
Jonas Chickering and a modem Concert
Grand. The audience, filling the hall, assem-
bled promptly at eight, at which hour the
performance began.

The programme: —

•VNG BY

Miss MARY OGILVIE

Mrs. S. B. FIELD, Accompamist

I. ^9ce^ von ftelie . g. FAURi

2» iD'Vmt IM^Ott HAHN

THE COMMEMORATION

3. €1^ Xtttle net Xarit . . old irish

4. 9^ Cnie %o\te %it0 ^^Utf m. r. ljng

5. ^toianlHI me'tl ftO. La Bohime PUCCINI

Dr. EDWARD EVERETT HALE

^iatUMtote pieces;

PLATSD BT

Mr. B. J. LANG

on the first piano made by Jonas Chickering, a piece of music
greatly in fiivor about 1823, ^^^ ^^ ^^ Concert Grand of to-day
a composition in vogue at the present time.

Mr. Lang played on the first piano ''The
Battle of Prague," by Kotzwara, and on the
Concert Grand a portion of ''La Benediction
de Dieu dans la Solitude/' by Liszt.

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

|ACH for all, and all for each;
each for all, and all for each/'
That is the fine Christian motto
of the civilization of this new-
bom century, and is there in
the world a better illustration,
a better object-lesson for this great motto of
the civilization of the world than there is in
the co-operation of a great corporation, where
everybody is proud of the position he holds;
everybody does his work gladly, because his
relation to the rest is like that of a member of
one family that comes together on an occa-
sion like this? Why, really, I should not
think that there could be a boy in the Chick-
ering warehouse, who carries a bunch of
newspapers for a packing-case in which is to
be placed a piano for King Mumbo Jumbo in
the heart of Africa, who would not be proud
of his position. "I belong to Chickering &
Sons, and I send this piano to King Mumbo
Jumbo on the other side of the world/' In
such a great organization each man has his
part. One part is really no larger than
another. I well remember my pride when,
as a boy of nine years old, I was promoted
from a little private school and found myself
seated on the green settee of a Boston public
school. I was in the school where John

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

Hancock had learned to write; I was in the
school where Sam Adams had learned Latin.
I was only nine years old, but I was a part
of the concern ; I was counted in ; I was one
of us ; I was one of we ; and from that mo-
ment to this moment I have been glad that
''I trained in the company and was not
fighting on my own hook."

We could not have a better object-lesson
of the way in which America — in which,
thank God, we live — in which America brings
such miracles to pass than we have in the
life of Jonas Chickering, which comes up so
freshly to us on every such occasion as this.
Here is an American mechanic, trained in
what you would say is a humble position —
that is, in a little town in New Hampshire,
one of the smallest of country towns in
southern New Hampshire. There he learns,
and learns well, observe, his trade, which is
nominally that of a cabinet-maker; but he is
a good machinist all the time. It appears that
he had worked upon machinery in the cotton
mills throughout New England. This young
fellow has seen a piano in New Ipswich, and
he comes to Boston and enters the establish-
ment of a man named Osborne, who had
been trained by Benjamin Crehore in Milton,
where, even at that early age they were

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

making pianos and other musical instru-
ments. Chickering came to Boston in 1818,
but as early as 1799 somebody had made a
piano in Boston, and from that time down
the persons who have written the history of
the American piano had been active. They
were coming forward, and this Osborne had
made some American pianos. Jonas Chick-
ering joined him, apparently in a sort of part-
nership; but in the year 1822, that is to say,
just eighty-one years ago, Chickering went
into business on his own account, and I think
in that year's directory he appears as a piano-
maker. No one claims that he made the
first American pianos, but everybody ac-
knowledges that when that house of Jonas
Chickering was established on what we call
Washington Street the beginning was made
of that great national enterprise that is one of
the largest manufacturing enterprises of this
country. He worked, as I say, with Osborne,
and Osborne's home was at 28 Orange Street.
Orange Street — I am speaking to people
who have been brought up here largely —
was a part of what we call Washington
Street, named from the Prince of Orange,
William the Third, and extended northward
from Dover Street and ran up as far as
Newbury Street, which began where the

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

Continental Clothing House is now, at the
corner of Boylston Street. Somewhere along
there was a8 Orange Street, and there was
Osborne's shop where he built and made
pianos.

It is hard for any of you who have been
bom in Boston within twenty years, or any-
body who has arrived here in that time, to
understand what the town was then. It was
a pretty country town ; that is, I should say,
a town of about forty thousand people, with a
very large mercantile connection with all
the rest of the world, but still a commercial
town. The boys and girls had a good com-
mon school education, and many of them
were trained to Latin and Greek in the public
Latin school; and I know, as a boy, that we
were quite familiar with the geography of the
world, used to the Pacific, and used to the
Chinese and other strange peoples, if it was
only through going down and tapping the
molasses casks and seeing the difference
between that from Porto Rico and that from
New Orleans. And I think there were as
many boys who knew the taste of cocoanut
milk in 1822 as there are now who know it
among the boys in Boston to-day. It was
some such town as Portland is now — one of
the prettiest cities in the country — a town of

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

gardens, a town of trees. You know how
closely it is built up now between the State
House and Somerset Street. Somerset Street
was then a comparatively new street, and
between that and the State House were five
large gardens. The garden of Mr. Booth,
whose house stood where the Rev6re House
now stands, had fruits in it which we cannot
grow here now. We had then no Nova
Scotia coal, and consequently no coal troubles
to bother us.

It was a pretty country town, and there
b^^n this young mechanic, who, I suppose,
in building this piano which stands by me,
would have been able to attend to each sep-
arate detail. I don't say that he did, but I
think he could have strung every string and
tuned them; I think he could even have
made the keys; he could turn his hand to
anything, and did turn it to anything.

I am speaking to many people who, like
myself, remember Jonas Chickering as an
old man. I have here a charming note
which the Irish singer Phillips left in regard
to him. It is pathetic with the enthusiasm
with which he speaks, saying that Chickering
was not expecting him, with one of the musi-
cal people, and came from his warehouse
just as he was dressed for work there, apol-

DR. HALB'S ADDRESS

ogizirig that he was dirty, and asking Mr.
Phillips to excuse him. '* I am not dressed,
you see, for the evening," he said, "but
Mrs. Chickering will perhaps be well enough
dressed to answer for both of us." And
Phillips says, " How I like to speak of this
man, and of his humility, who built up this
great business in America." *

There are, perhaps, other piano manufac-
tories as old as Chickering's, but every person
recognizes the fact that to the house which
thus b^;an, afterwards named the house of
Chickering & Mackay, is due the fact that
the American piano is known all over the
world.

In 1854 I was on the board of directors of
the New England Emigrant Aid Association.
I was sitting in my office one day, when a
pale, consumptive-looking man, whom no life
insurance company would give two years to
live, came in and said he wanted to go to Kan-
sas. At that time the Territory was unsettled
and nobody lived there but Indians. He said
he would like to go to Kansas to keep out
the slaveholders. And I said to him: "You
do not look as if you had lived in the woods
much." " No," he said, " I have been brought

*A friend, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, proposed for Jonas
Chickering's epitaph^ ** He was a grand, square, and upright man.'*

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

up in the Chickering piajioforte works. My
business is covering |the hammers with
leather." I knew what was before us, and I
looked at him and said, " I am afraid there
won't be much covering of pianoforte ham-
mers with leather in Kansas just now."
" Yes," he said, " I Jmow that, but I think we
shall make a fine State there before a great
while. I know Mr. Chickering very well, and
we shall need pianos there, and I thought
that if I should get in there first I could get
the business; you know, of selling pianos in
Kansas." I gave him letters of introduction
to people I knew would help him, but did not
see him again for ten years. One day I met
on the street a great, tall man who could
have thrown me over his head without any
trouble if he had wanted to. He stopped me
and said, <^ I beg pardon, but I am the piano
hammer coverer, but I don't do that work
now. I have charge of one of the largest
piano establishments of the West, and am in
correspondence with all the principal houses
now."

At the present moment the output of the
piano manufactories of the United States is
about two hundred thousand in a year. By
far the larger part are sold within the United
States. Two hundred thousand in a year —

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

that is to say, one new American piano for
every thirty-five houses in the country. And
abroad! There are many here who know
better than I do how many of these pianos
go to King Mumbo Jumbo or to Marchioness
This or Marchioness That.

Now what is it that brings this to pass?
Have you got men now who can cover the
piano hammer and string the wire and attend
to all the other details of manufacture? No,
of course you have not. You have dif-
ferent skilled artisans to attend to different
details, but for so many different hands there
is one heart and one head. It comes about
by the majesty of '' Each for all and all for
each;" and when we look forward to the
coming of God upon earth, it is where each
one of us bears each other's burdens, when,
as it says in the Book of Isaiah, '^The Car-
penter encouraged the goldsmith, and he
that smootheth with the hammer him that
smiteth the anvil." Such co-operation I am
led to believe exists in this happy family
which I am addressing here. Each man
does not attempt to do the whole, but each is
for all and all for each. As I sat on Sunday
night on the other side of the street, listening
to those magnificent choruses, and as those
hundreds of people, men and women, old

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

men and young women, rose together to sing
with one heart and one voice, I could not
help thinking of the workshop that is repre-
sented here to-night, where the boy or woman
or girl or man each bears his part or her part
of the perfect whole which comes out from the
great enterprise, each for all and all for each.
You have the opportunity of bringing into
life what I call the finest object-lesson in the
organization of the Christian socialism. It is
like the harmony which all those voices bring
together as they sing before us in the great
auditorium ; it is like the beating of the differ-
ent pulses of the body from the head to the
feet, all obe}ning the direction of the majestic
heart; it is like the movement of a great
pilgrimage, led by some Moses across the
desert where man marches with man and the
woman supports the child. In such an en-
terprise as yours, there is nothing great and
there is nothing small — many members, but
one body.

I know perfectly well where I am standing;
I know perfectly well the meaning of an in-
dustry like this. Take the great industry of
a man of war. There are as many people
on a man of war as there are engaged in
Chickering's factory. The difference is that
each one here is, to a certain extent, an

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

artist, and has been attracted by an interest
in what is beautiful and what is pleasing —
by a love of music. I know it is more with
some and less with others. But the people
who have to deal with you know that this
aesthetic feeling runs through all, and that
makes my object-lesson all the better. What
we need to-day is the intelligent sympathy
between each and all of the workmen, as I
believe it exists in the happy family here.
"Each for all and all for each." It is the
motto of the confederated republic of Switzer-
land. It is more familiar to us as the motto
which our good friend D'Artagnan gave to
the Three Musketeers. The four of them
were to live each for all and all for each. Let
it be the motto of our happy family. Let it
be the motto of the boy who carries the paper
to the packing cases, and of the man who
stretches the string, and the man who covers
the hammer — each for all and all for each.

Let there be one heart and one soul, one
wish to live for the purpose of the God whose
children we are. This is the purpose of co-
operation, co-operation which is corporation,
and corporation which is co-operation — one
heart, one soul, one mind, and one strength.
We have our country's interests at heart in
such hope and endeavor; we have the in-

DR. HALE'S ADDRESS

terest of every race and every continent at
heart, for a lesson like that goes out through
the whole world. We have all the interests
of the future at heart as each man bears his
brother's burdens, and it is to another century
like this that I commend the Chickering in-
dustries, as I suppose some angel of light
may have commended them eighty years
ago.

Eighteen twenty-two was for me a year of
wonders. It was the year in which General
Grant was bom. For us Boston people it
was the year in which our great philanthro-
pist and financier, Henry Kidder, was born.
For the world at large — far more important —
it was the year in which the Chickering
manufactory began, which through the world
is carrying — I don't merely say harmony in
music — but is giving this object-lesson of
man working for man, each for all and all for
each. I have the good fortune to have been
born in that year myself, and it is that good
fortune which gives me the happy opportu-
nity of addressing you this evening, of con-
gratulating you that you are the members of
one great family, and of reminding you that
in such a family the one prayer, the one
wish, the one hope, and the one certainty is
that we can bear each other's burdens.

JONAS CHICKERING AND HIS WORK

JONAS CHICKERING AND
HIS WORK • By Louis C. Elson

[N April, 1798, there was bom
in New Ipswich, N. H., a
boy who was to exert a tre-
mendous influence upon the
manufacture of pianos in this
country and in Europe. Jonas
Chickering received the good common-school
training of the town. His father, a farmer
who was also the village blacksmith, ap-
prenticed him in his seventeenth year to
John Gould, the cabinet-maker of New Ips-
wich. The boy pursued his work faithfully,
having few recreations except the occasional
chances at song which came through sing-
ing school or Divine service.

New Ipswich was not especially musical,
but it possessed one instrumental rarity, a
piano ! This single ^ piano was a London-
made affair, by Christopher Ganer, and had
been used by royalty abroad. It was the
piano of the Princess Amelia, daughter of
George III. Not a new instrument when it
was first imported, the piano soon got out
of order. There was consternation at this,
since even Boston had at that time no regu-
lar workman in this branch of repairing.
The musical cabinet-maker was called in as
the only resort and offered to attempt to

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

restore the instrument. The task was accom-
plished successfully, and the youth returned
to his cabinet-work longing for more pianos
to exercise his powers upon.

At the age of twenty the young man came
to Boston with a light heart and an almost
empty pocket-book. Some historians give
the age of Chickering, at his advent in Bos-
ton, as twenty-three, but he must have been
much younger than that, for he was ad-
mitted to the Handel and Haydn Society on
October 4th, 1818, when he was but twenty
years old. It is pleasant to think of the
young musical enthusiast immediately seek-
ing congenial surroundings. He joined the
choir of Park Street Church and was a valued
member of that organization for a long time.
He immediately sought for employment in
piano-making.

A bird's-eye view of the piano industry at
the time that Chickering entered it may give
some idea of what he achieved in this branch
of manufacture in later years. John Beh-
reht, of Philadelphia, in 1774, made what
probably was the first piano constructed in
America. Benjamin Crehorne, in Milton (a
suburb of Boston), made a piano in 1803, and
many claim this as the first authenticated
American piano. In 1806 we find advertise-

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

ments of American pianos which were made
in Boston.

The first upright pianos seem to have been
made in Boston about 1810. From 1813 to
1819 the '^ Franklin Music Warehouse " was
making uprights at No. 2 Milk Street, Boston.
None of these, however, seem to have been
practical instruments. The real founder of the
piano industry in America, in grand, square,
and in upright pianos, was Jonas Chickering.

In the town of Boston, when the young
Chickering arrived there, only one piano-
maker existed, — Mr. John Osborne. With
him the young man at once took service.
This was in 1819. Within the next five
years Jonas Chickering had mastered every
detail of the work and had made many
improvements of his own. He associated
himself with James Stewart, a Scotchman,
who, however, soon returned to Europe. In
1823 Chickering began business upon his
own account. By 1830 he had advanced far
beyond his competitors. He was practically
the pioneer in the business, for the few spo-
radic attempts at piano-building which had
preceded him came to naught. Jonas Chick-
ering began his experiments in 1822, and in
1823 his first instrument was offered for sale.
From that on there was constant advance.

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

Jonas Chickering soon associated with
himself a sailor, master of a fine sea-going
vessel^ Captain John Mackay. There was
much advantage in this partnership, for Cap-
tain Mackay made frequent voyages to South
American ports in the interest of the firm.
He genersdly sailed with his hold full of
very sweet-toned, six-octave pianos, which
he sold in the different ports, after which he
would return laden with rosewood and ma-
hogany, which was again used in the factory,
so that the trips paid the firm on both voy-
ages, outward and homeward bound. In,
1841 Captain Mackay determined that he
would make one more, last, voyage, and set
sail from Boston with his usual piano cargo.
Neither he nor his ship were ever heard of
more. Many six-octave pianos can be found
to-day in Buenos Ayres, still sweet-toned
after sixty odd years, to attest to the success
of the voyages of Captain John Mackay.

After his death Jonas Chickering bought
out the interest of the son and ever after
kept the business in his own family. The
firm speedily became the leading one in this
country. Certain inventions made by Jonas
Chickering not only placed his instruments
at the head but absolutely revolutionized the
piano-maker's art. The chief of these was

An early upright pianoforte, made by Jonas Chickering about 1830

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

patented in 1837. It was the first practical
casting of an iron frame built to sustain the
great tension necessary to a piano of good
quality that should stand for any time with-
out constant retuning. Many attempts in
this direction had been made before that time,
but it was in 1837 that the house of Chicker-
ing made the first grand piano with a full
iron frame in a single casting, an improve-
ment which at once placed the American
grand piano, in many respects, ahead of its
European competitors. At the first World's
Fair, at the London Crystal Palace, these
pianos attracted great attention. Subse-
quently other improvements were patented.
In 1843 the house patented a new deflection
of the strings, by which strength was added
to the frame. In 1845 Mr. Chickering in-
vented the first practical method of over-
stringing for square pianos. In 1849 he
applied the principle to his uprights, — a prin-
ciple which gave the American upright a
tremendous advantage over those of foreign
make, in the matter of resonance and staying
in tune. Other valuable inventions were
made by this born genius of piano construc-
tion, but our object is rather to give a
life-sketch than a technical record.
It is delightful to note that with all his ap-
37

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

plication to his great business interests Jonas
Chickering yet found time to indulge in the
art of music. We have seen that his first
thought, on becoming a citizen of Boston, was
to join the Handel and Haydn Society and the
Park Street Church choir. In the Handel
and Haydn Society he speedily rose. His
tenor voice was an acquisition, and his
knowledge of music was sufficient to make
him much better than the amateur music
reader. In 1839 we find him chosen to sing
the principal role in Neukomm's "David/*
an oratorio which created as much of a craze
in Boston over sixty years ago as "Pina-
fore " did at a later period. The work was
performed times innumerable, although now
it is permanently placed upon the shelf.

Jonas Chickering was a slight and some-
what undersized man ; and we read that his
appearance was in vivid and appropriate
contrast with the Goliath of the occasion, Mr.
Samuel Richardson. As regards the quality
of the performance, we may not at this late
day be enlightened. Criticism at that time was
very unsatisfactory in Boston. Either it con-
sisted of a meaningless outburst of rhapsody
from some enthusiastic auditor who gave it
in the form of a " letter to the Editor," or it
was one of the briefest of reportorial notices.

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

Looking over the files of the "Transcript'*
of this time, we are unable to find any notice
of Mr. Chickering's performance; only a
statement that the hall was crowded and that
hundreds were turned away from the fourth
performance. In the files of the "Adver-
tiser*' (then a tremendous "blanket-sheet"
about four times the size of the " Transcript ")
we find no mention whatever. Even the
scant notice of the " Transcript " was made
two days after the concert.

The singer had, however, been vice-presi-
dent of the Handel and Haydn Society in
1834, ^835' ^^d ^837' d^d ^ trustee almost
continuously from 1831. From 1843 to 1849
Mr. Chickering was president of the Society
and in this capacity filled the post of conduc-
tor for a time, leading the chorus and some-
times singing himself. In 1850 he declined a
renomination, because of increasing business
occupations, whereupon the board of govern-
ment expressed their " deep sense of obliga-
tion to him for the zeal and intelligence with
which he has discharged the very respon-
sible duties of his office," and also passed the
following resolution, —

" Resolved, That the thanks of this hoard be pre-
sented to Jonas Chickering, Esq., for the able and
impartial manner in which he has presided over the

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

meetings of the Society and the Board of Trustees ;
also for his liberality in permitting the Society and
the Board to hold their numerous meetings at his
extensive warerooms during the past seven years of
his administration."

It is through his official capacity in the
Handel and Haydn Society that we obtain
a glimpse of the man as he was, written by
one of the artists engaged by the Society.
Mr. Henry Phillips, in his " Musical and Per-
sonal Recollections during half-a-century/'
speaks of his Boston engagement with the
Handel and Haydn Society, and gives an
account of his first visit to the home of Jonas
Chickering, then the president, who had in-
vited him to dinner. He came to the house
at the appointed hour, but Mr. Chickering
had been detained and entered a little later.
Phillips says : —

'^ I had conceived Mr. Chickering to be a
tall, stout man, somewhat proud and austere ;
good-hearted, but with an odd way of show-
ing it. . . . Judge of my astonishment when
a little, thin person walked into the room,
with a modest, almost bashful cast of feat-
ures, who shook me by the hand as if he had
known me all his life, whose hard palm bore
the evidence of labor."

Mr. Phillips, precise in social matters, as

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

most Englishmen are, was astounded to find
Mr. Chickering with the dust of the factory
still upon his clothes. He goes on: —

"He apologized for not having been at
home when I arrived ; hoped I would pardon
his appearance, for he had been hard at work
at the warehouse. *Mrs. Chickering will
make up for my want of dress/ said he with
a smile, ^ so I '11 just polish my hands and
we '11 have dinner.' "

Spite of the informal reception, or perhaps
because of it, Phillips was wonderfully im-
pressed with Jonas Chickering, and speaks of
him later in his book as

"This man whose affability, charity, hos-
pitality, industry, humility, honor, and so-
briety all combined to render homage but a
slight acknowledgment of his virtues."

One cannot but agree with the toast that
was drank to the manufacturer at a Boston
banquet soon after. It ran : " Jonas Chick-
ering! like his own pianos, — upright, grand,
and square!"

Nor was music the only avocation in
which his virtues shone. He was a valu-
able member of the Massachusetts Charit-
able Mechanics' Association, and became
president of that organization. His ware-
rooms, and afterwards his hall, became the

JONAS CHICKERING and HIS WORK

gathering-place of all the artists and music-
lovers of Boston. In 1852 his great factory
was burned ; with characteristic energy Mr.
Chickering at once laid the foundation stone
of another and larger establishment, the pres-
ent building on Tremont Street, at North-
ampton Street, in Boston. He did not live
to see it completed, for he died soon there-
after, in December, 1853.

A man who loved his vocation, who de-
lighted in music, who was of assistance to
his kind. A true citizen, patriotic and pub-
lic-spirited. A thorough American, who de-
tested humbug and was never above his
calling. A model to his friends, to his fel-
low-citizens, and to his workmen, — that was
Jonas Chickering.

THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE
OF CHICKERING

THE HISTORY OF THE
HOUSE OF CHICKERING

\E are all perfectly familiar with
Hogarth's series of pictures
of the industrial apprentice.
Perhaps no better illustration
can be given of the persistence
and concentration of such a
character than that which was exhibited in
the life of Jonas Chickering, the founder of
the world-famed house of Chickering &
Sons. In looking through a biographical
sketch of Jonas Chickering, published nearly
fifty years ago/ the underlying principle of
his life is disclosed in the following quota-
tion : " He never wasted a moment." This
principle of the constant utilization of time,
combined with high moral attributes, may
be readily accepted as the true foundation
upon which the subsequent magnificent in-
dustry was to be erected.

Jonas Chickering was the second son of
Abner Chickering, a blacksmith and an ex-
cellent farmer, of New Ipswich, in the State
of New Hampshire, a town which can boast
of its Farrars, its Appletons, its Goulds, and
many others distinguished alike in the annals

1 '* A Tribute to the Life and Character of Jonas Chickering,"
by Richard G. Parker, Boston, February, Z854.

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

of law, of science, of medicine, and of di-
vinity, as well as in the pursuit of honest,
honorable, and successful commercial enter-
prise. The father resided for several years
at Mason village, and shortly after the birth
of Jonas, in the year 1798, he purchased the
farm known as the Knowlton Place in New
Ipswich, where he resided until his death in
the year 1841, at the age of seventy-four
years. His children were Mary, Samuel,
Jonas, Melinda, Eliza, Rebecca, and Charles.
He is described in the annals of the town as
'^an excellent farmer, an amiable and in-
dustrious man, and a useful citizen.'^

In those days a poor man's wealth was in
his children, and more especially the boys,
who could assist their fathers in the field;
the subject of this biography was, like others
of his age, required to eat the bread of useful-
ness, and earn it " by the sweat of his brow."
But, dutiful as he was, and willing to take
his share in the business of the field, it soon
became apparent that his heart was not in the
work. This ruling passion was of early birth,
and it was plainly shown by little circum-
stances which continually occurred; and,
although he did not shrink from the labors
of the field, his genius was more inclined
toward the construction of the implements

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HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

of agriculture than to the use of them. The
action of one mechanical agency upon
another had more attractions to him than
their mutual action on the soil, and it soon
became apparent that there was too little of
mental opportunity in practical agriculture
in those days to give activity to the buoyancy
of his intellectual powers.

In such a state of affairs, the implements of
husbandry were handed down from father to
son without a suspicion that they were sus-
ceptible of improvement. The simple con-
trivances which had subserved the purposes
of one generation were quietly accepted by
its successor, unquestioned and unsuspected,
and the only solicitude with regard to them
was that they should be kept in decent repair.
As agriculture, therefore, presented but a
small field for the display of mental activity
or mechanical talent, it was followed by our
young friend only so far as it was an impera-
tive duty; faithfully, it is true, but with an
aversion which was but awkwardly con-
cealed. His bent was to a different occupa-
tion, and accordingly, at the age of seventeen,
he went to Mr. John Gould, to learn the art
of cabinet-making, and with him he remained
for a period of three years.

By a further reference to this biography we

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

discover that Jonas Chickering was punctual
and systematic, and that, during the whole of
his working time, he conformed quite as
closely to the rules established for his work-
men as any of those who were engaged with
him. We find also that Jonas Chickering
was, in his early days, regarded as one of the
rising and most useful citizens of Boston, a
promise which he in his later days fulfilled
to the uttermost.

In this year, 1903, the house of Chickering
& Sons is celebrating the eightieth anniver-
sary of the founding of an establishment by
the celebrated man who first saw the light
of this world over one hundred years ago.
It may be very much doubted if Jonas Chick-
ering, in his simple integrity of character,
ever dreamed for a moment of the superb
position in the musical world which his
name was destined to occupy. It could
not be said that with him a temporary or
fleeting reputation was a thing which he
sought. He was one of those who builded
better than he knew, and, while there is no
doubt that he laid down his lines in the ablest
manner, and with a desire to establish his
name as one of the prominent musical factors
of the country, he could not have foreseen the
successes which were to follow through such

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

a long series of years. Although the founder
of the concern could not have known that his
establishment was to become one of the
largest in existence, this very result was made
possible by the intelligent plans which he laid.
He had a simple faith in his own work, and
it was the kind of faith that endures. As a
witness to this, view the Chickering establish-
ment as it exists to-day. In Boston this
house has one of the most magnificent piano-
manufacturing plants in the world.

Jonas Chickering may well be regarded as
the father of the American piano-manufac-
turing industry. Although others had pre-
ceded him in this line of work, such as
Hawkins, Babcock, Mackay, and others who
might be named, the true American piano
was the outcome of the studious and inven-
tive mind of Jonas Chickering. From the
inception of his first piano down to the pres-
ent time, the name of Chickering has been
inseparably identified with the progress of
the American piano.

Jonas Chickering was not only a musician
by instinct, an inventor by force of inborn
genius, but he possessed the rare faculty of
being able to subordinate science and art to
a harmonious end. We find that, by his
application to the pursuit of knowledge in

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

whatever parts he could find it. He was not
only industrious, but absolutely severe. He
was unsparing of himself in his determina-
tion to acquire knowledge. Music had for
Jonas Chickering a peculiar charm, yet, could
a forecast of the position which he subse-
quently occupied have been shown to him,
it would, no doubt, have excited very great
surprise in his own mind.

Up to the age of nineteen Jonas Chickering
had been an apprentice to a cabinet-maker,
and the testimony still exists to show that
only absolute thoroughness and exactitude of
work were looked upon by him as a fitting
result. About the time that Jonas Chickering
reached his twentieth year, still a youth, he
began to study the internal construction of
the piano. There was only one piano in the
town where he was living, and this had fallen
into disuse through injury to some portions
of its mechanism. Young Chickering under-
took to restore it, and it was this old piano
which furnished the solution of his life-work.
He became immensely interested, and the
successful completion of his repairs on this
old instrument was really the turning-point
in his career. From that hour he determined
to become a piano manufacturer.

About the year 1823 Jonas Chickering began

DAVID T. HARADEN
From 1823 to 1900 continuously in the employ of the House

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

the manufacture of his first piano. The ven-
ture was looked upon with distrustful eyes by
his friends and associates, but, notwithstand-
ing, he pursued his course steadily. In those
days the pianos used in the United States
came mostly from Broadwood, Clementi, and
the long-since extinct firm of Longman & Co. ;
to these may be added the French and German
instruments which were exported to this coun-
try. The piano at that time was regarded as
a piece of wondrous mechanism, and it was
thought impossible to reproduce it in so new
a country, where the facilities for such work
were of the most meagre description. The
first piano was a success, and has had a very
eventful history, which it is not to our pur-
pose to enter upon now. This much, how-
ever, may be said — that, through an accident
a few years since, Mr. George H. Chickering
came across the original piano No. i in a
small town near Boston. Representations
were made to the owner of this old piano,
who had come to regard it as a family relic,
but finally consented to part with it to Mr.
George H. Chickering. This instrument
was in an excellent state of preservation,
and may now be seen in the warerooms of
Chickering & Sons in Boston. In showing
visitors through the factory, one's attention

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

is called with pride to this original concep-
tion, from which the great house took its
growth. The old piano was certainly a
wonderful piece of cabinet work, for all the
joints and parts are as intact and well
united as if joined together in the factory
only yesterday.

The next ten years we find Jonas Chick-
ering was associated at various times with
Mr. Osborne and Mr. Stewart, all the time
steadily qualifying himself for what was to
become his life-work. In the year 1830
Mr. Chickering entered into business with
Mr. John Mackay, who furnished what the
young piano manufacturer sorely needed —
capital. The association with Mr. Mackay
was productive of very happy results. Mr.
Mackay was a capitalist, a man of discern-
ment, who saw in young Chickering great
possibilities for future development. With-
out hesitation he invested largely in Chicker-
ing's plans, and, while this proved very
profitable to Mr. Mackay, it freed Jonas
Chickering from the toilsome labor invariably
associated with the capitalization of a busi-
ness, and left him free to pursue his acousti-
cal and technical studies.

Jonas Chickering made a thorough study
of scale-drawing, and his efforts in this

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HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

direction show him to have been a man of
genius ; but there was to follow the invention
of a device the claim for originality to which
has been much in dispute, but to the true
development of which Jonas Chickering's
name has been indissolubly attached. The
name of the younger Babcock has always
been more or less associated with the intro-
duction of the iron frame, but it was to the
fertility of Jonas Chickering's mind that its
real development may be traced. This is
now very generally conceded, and, perhaps,
no stronger emphasis or testimony may be
asked for than the statements made by the
subsequently great piano manufacturer,
William Steinway, who, at a trade dinner of
the Piano Manufacturers' Association held
in New York in 1895, spoke as follows:

^^ Samuel Babcock made the iron frame in
the form of a harp, very ingenious and very
simple, and Jonas Chickering brought the
iron frame to perfection during the years
from 1820 to 1840, and in 1840, for the first
time in American history, applied the iron
frame to the grand piano. I therefore here
say that too much honor cannot be given to
Jonas Chickering, the father of American
pianoforte-making." Such a voluntary tes-
timony from one of the greatest scientific

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

piano manufacturers which this century has
seen is a noble tribute, generous and unaf-
fected, to the genius of his predecessor.
Aside from that, Mr. William Steinway was
a man with profound knowledge of the his-
tory of piano-manufacturing, and a state-
ment from him bears all the impress which
can be given to the wisest commendation.

As of interest, we may quote the following
remarks from the pen of Lowell Mason, Esq.,
written at the time of the death of Mr. Jonas
Chickering in 1853 : " It may be safely said,
without in the least degree undervaluing the
important labors of others, that no man has
done more toward perfecting the instrument
which has now become indispensable in
almost every dwelling than he whose deeply
lamented and sudden death has recently been
announced. The pianoforte has grown
up and come to maturity in this country
under the care and direction of Mr. Jonas
Chickeringj late of Boston. The very
great change which he has made in the capa-
city of the instrument cannot be realized by
any but those who have actually on hand one
manufactured a quarter of a century ago,
and who have thus the means of an actual
comparison of the old and the new. The
improvements in travelling, by rail and by

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHIGKERING

steam, are hardly greater than has been the
growth and development of the instrument
under the administration — as we believe
the pianoforte manufacturers will permit it
to be called — of Jonas Chickering."

In 1841 Mr. Mackay died, through which
event was thrown upon Jonas Chickering the
additional responsibility of managing the
financial affairs of the firm. It will be recol-
lected that Jonas Chickering entered into this
establishment with little more of capital than
a fair character and a skilful hand. Ten years
were but a short period for building up a
capital based on anything less than the lion's
share of the profits of the concern. On the
settlement of Mr. Mackay's interest in the
concern,amounting to a sum counted in hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars, Mr. Chickering
was the purchaser of the whole estate ; and
the administrator, at the request of Mr. C,
made the notes payable on ^^ or before'' a cer-
tain day. The papers having been mutually
exchanged, the agent of Mr. Mackay, one of
the most shrewd as well as distinguished and
upright lawyers of our city, playfully asked,
" Do you ever expect to be able to pay these
notes, Mr. Chickering?" His answer was
characteristic. "If I had not," said Mr. C,
" I should not have given them." The notes

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

were for large sums, but many months before
they had become due they were respectively
paid, until the agent, more than satisfied with
the promptness with which they were met,
begged him no more to anticipate the pay-
ments, as he could find no better investment.

The above quotation from the before-
mentioned biographical sketch serves to show
that, in addition to being a great piano manu-
facturer, Jonas Chickering was also a financier
of no ordinary ability, and his powers in this
direction are quite as unusual as the gifts
which brought him into early prominence,
and have indelibly associated him with all
that is noblest in this industry.

Jonas Chickering's musical knowledge,
taste, and discrimination were acknowledged
by his association with the Handel and Haydn
Society, over which he presided for some
seven or eight years. While he was at their
head the association enjoyed a remarkable
degree of prosperity.

His mechanical talents received also an
equal appreciation, in the appointment of
President of the Massachusetts Charitable
Mechanics' Association.

Jonas Chickering died on December 8th,
1853, and the public press at that time paid a
great and deserved tribute to his life's work

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

and character. The Mechanics' Association
passed the following resolutions :

** Resolved^ That we deeply deplore the
death of Jonas Chickering, the President of
our Association — a man who, in all his rela-
tions with us, bore his faculties with unaffected
modesty, and cheerfully aided all projects
designed to promote its usefulness and secure
its respectability ; whose persevering indus-
try, mechanical skill and ingenuity, upright-
ness in dealing, and urbanity in deportment,
attained universal respect and confidence;
whose manly fortitude enabled him to meet
misfortune without repining, and whose
ever active energy, undismayed by the occa-
sions of desponding calamity, was the theme
of public admiration ; in short, whose whole
intercourse with the world was regulated by
a strong and universal spirit of humanity,
which will give to his memory an enduring
fragrance in the hearts of his associates, and
demand respectful commemoration from the
community which he served, honored, and
adorned."

It is a very remarkable fact that an instru-
ment requiring so much skill, nicety of work-
manship and artistic taste, should have been
so early perfected in America and have taken
a lead in high-class industries, and to no one

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

is this fact more due than to Jonas Chicker-
ing. It was he who made the first inno-
vations in the piano of the time, with its
five-and-a-half octaves, and who, once for all,
introduced those peculiar features of nicety
in interior workmanship, purity and limpidity^
of tone, a quality of register and soundness of
construction, for which the American piano
has been known ever since. It was he,
also, who gave the American piano a wider
compass and developed its tonal resources.
From these first endeavors to make an
American instrument of peculiar excellence,
and from all the later inventions and im-
provements constantly completed by this
house, there has arisen the peculiarly artis-
tic character of the American piano which
has since been adopted by so many other
manufacturers.

The great excellence of the Chickering
piano from the start has been brought about
by the strict personal supervision it has re-
ceived. In this same constant care, which
has attended the manufacture of every in-
strument sent out, is found the reason why
the Chickering instrument has never re-
ceded from its first eminence, but has
retained its lead during the eighty years of
the firm's existence. During this time over

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

one hundred thousand pianos have been
manufactured and sold by the house.

For fourscore years Jonas Chickering, and
subsequently his firm, have been honored
and distinguished by learned societies, by
World's Expositions, by States and Sover-
eigns, and by the greatest contemporaneous
musicians, who have bestowed upon Chick-
ering & Sons the highest testimonials,
awards, and decorations, embracing every
known method of publicly recognizing dis-
tinguished merit.

Eschewing all commendations in any
sense personal in character, it is purposed to
present, and in the briefest possible manner,
a few only of the public honors extended to
the Chickering pianos.

First prize medal awarded at the great
Crystal Palace Exhibition in London.

First grand gold medal, and a special
diploma of distinction, at the Exposition in
Santiago de Chili.

Grand medal and diploma at Philadelphia.

First award and diploma at the Inter-
national Exhibition at Sydney, N. S. W.

First medal and diploma at the Crreat Ex-
hibition in Cork.

First gold medal and diploma at the Crys-
tal Palace, London.

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

Four first gold medals at exhibitions in
the United States.

In all, the recipients of one hundred and
twenty-nine first medals and awards, includ-
ing the supreme recompense, the Cross of
the Legion of Honor, and the crowning
American triumph, the greatest award at the
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago.

The principal reason why the Chickering
piano has never fallen back in its character-
istic lead consists in the fact that Chickering
& Sons is a progressive house. It has never
been content to rest on its laurels, but has
constantly progressed; it has never lacked
in inventive ability, and has never ceded to
other firms its position as leader. It has
maintained its stand by actively competing
for excellence wherever opportunity offered.
It has been as brilliant and active as the
newest house and has always lent an ear
to the patentee of improvements. There is
no standing still in piano-manufacturing,
and Chickering & Sons have never stood
still, but have been ready to adopt new
ideas and try new methods and improve-
ments whenever they were afforded the
opportunity.

In the biographical sketch, from which we
have made several excerpts, it is stated that,

THOMAS E. CHICKERING

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

in the olden days, a poor man's wealth was
in his children, and more especially in the
boys, who could assist their father in the
field. This same theory is adaptable to an
entirely different position, and applies with
much force to the prosperous condition in
which Mr. Jonas Chickering found himself
many years later. He was blessed with the
care of three sons, all of whom received not
only the education which the colleges of the
time afforded, but the supplementary breadth
of view and polish of mind which comes
from foreign travel. One at a time, as they
reached maturity, Mr. Chickering admitted
them into partnership. The eldest of the
three sons, Thomas £. Chickering, and the
first one in the firm, died in Boston, iSyi.
He had received a thorough training, both
commercially and practically, from his father,
and followed the interests of the concern
with great assiduity. He was not only an
accomplished piano-maker, but a student, a
man of wide reading and broad grasp of
affairs. While the elder Chickering devoted
himself to the development of the piano as a
work of art, the son, Thomas, attended prin-
cipally to the wholesale enlargement of busi-
ness. He was a man widely beloved in the
circles of Boston, and, at one time or another,

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

occupied every position of importance which
the Handel and Haydn Society could offer.
When this gifted man was removed from his
sphere of activity his loss was very severely
felt. There was a peculiar bond of affection
and unity always existing between the Chick-
ering brothers, and the severance of this
bond by death was most keenly felt by the
survivors.

C. Frank Chickering first opened his eyes
on the world in the year 1827. While his
honored father was busily engaged in laying
the foundation of the celebrated firm, this
son passed through his boyhood with scho-
lastic distinction, finally winning his gradu-
ating degrees with special approval of his
instructors. Once freed from the mingled
study and pleasure of college life, he entered
into his father's factory, and immediately
demonstrated his marked capacity with the
initiatory studies in which his father had
proved himself a proficient.

Immersed in his studies at the factory he
became a highly cultivated draughtsman,
seizing, a^ if by inspiration, the elaborate
and intricate science of acoustics, with which
he soon became expert. The elder men of
the piano trade will recall how the father,
Jonas Chickering, pointed with pride to the

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

son whose name was to become one of the
most distinguished in the annals of piano
history.

Soon after entering upon his studies at the
factory young Chickering's health became
impaired by too intense application, and in
his seventeenth year he voyaged to distant
India, — in that day infinitely farther than
at the present day, — returning after several
months' absence, restored to his usual vigor.
That his trip to the East might not be alto-
gether an idle one he took with him several
Chickering pianos, which he disposed of in
various places, and these same instruments
are to-day recognized by the English in India
as remarkable examples of the permanency
of the work embodied in their construction.
It is safe to say that there were few travellers
at that time who ventured around the world
at the early age of seventeen.

In his twenty-sixth year, in 1853, the sub-
ject of these lines appeared in London at the
great International Exhibition, which was
opened by the Queen in state. The Chicker-
ing pianos became at once the centre of study
among the piano-makers of London, and the
ideas they contained have been repeatedly
copied from that day to this. At the time of
this exhibition, the Crystal Palace, in which

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

it was held, stood in Hyde Park, the now
fashionable quarter of London. It was a
huge building, no less than a quarter of a
mile in length, which, after the termination
of the exhibition, was removed to Sydenham.
As a feat of engineering this may be noted
as altogether marvelous. This is aside from
the point, but is an interesting item of
history.

On his return from Europe, where he had
been received with great cordiality and dis-
tinction by the leading musicians and practi-
cal men of that day, Mr. Chickering at once
plunged into his work. From time to time it
became known that a new '' scale '' had been
created — we use that word advisedly — and
soon the name of Frank Chickering was
whispered among experts as a master of the
science which he pursued. With each scale
fresh comment was caused, and the accuracy
and ingeniousness by which wood and iron
were subjugated to the control of his master
mind made him one of the wonders of the
piano-manufacturing world fifty years ago.
In the year 1867 Mr. C. Frank Chickering
visited Paris to attend the International Ex-
position, which was at that time being held.
Not only did the Chickering piano receive the
grand gold medal of honor, but Mr. Chicker-

C. FRANCIS CHICKERING

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

ing himself was distinguished by Napoleon
III. with the valued ribbon of the Cross of
the Legion of Honor.

Mn Chickering was a man of remarkable
appearance, and bore a striking resemblance
to the Emperor who had honored him by
the bestowal of the much-coveted ribbon.
Of striking personality, with much physical
beauty, and a graceful bearing which aroused
instant attention in any company, Mr. Chick-
ering became one of the best known men in
this country and Europe. He belonged to that
type of man whose motto is noblesse oblige.
There was one very remarkable event in Mr.
Frank Chickering's career which brought him
into very great prominence, although he him-
self always passed it by as a matter of simple
duty in which atiy other person would have
acted in a similar manner. We refer to that
extraordinary incident which created such
an excitement at the time it became publicly
known, and is, without doubt, one of the
most remarkable episodes on record in rela-
tion to the integrity of a business firm or the
individuals composing it, and is shown in the
fact that, for nearly eighteen years, Chicker-
ing & Sons kept in one of their safes in New
York about four hundred thousand dollars in
bonds and currency, placed in their keeping

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

by J, H, Paine, known as "Miser Paine,"
who was a grandson of a signer of the Dec-
laration of Independence. This wealth was
tied up in a handkerchief, and its existence
was unknown to Paine's friends. When
Paine died Mr. C. F. Chickering immediately
sent for Paine*s lawyers, and revealed his
knowledge of the miser's astonishing wealth.
In the meantime, Paine had lived and died
in the most abject poverty, and left no clue
to this accumulation of money or to its
whereabouts. The inference that can be
adduced from the foregoing circumstance
clearly serves to illustrate the great moral
strength and character of the house of Chick-
ering & Sons. Hence the introduction here
of this dramatic incident. But the principal
actor in the drama was Mr. C. F. Chickering.
At the time Mr. Chickering was in Paris,
invitations had been extended by him to
Liszt to visit the Exhibition. But Liszt was,
at that time, in a state of retirement, and
could not be induced to leave his residence
in Rome. Mr. Chickering was, naturally,
very anxious that Liszt should make the
acquaintance of the Chickering piano, and,
as he could not be persuaded to emerge from
his retirement, Mr. Chickering shipped one
of the magnificent concert grands to Rome,

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

and, in company with Mr. Joseph Poznanski,
who represented the house of Chickering at
the great World's Fair, made a rapid trip to
Italy. Upon the presentation of credentials,
Liszt received Mr. Chickering and Mr. Poz-
nanski with great urbanity, and the object of
their mission was made known. Liszt very
cordially accorded permission to have the
piano placed in his residence. The follow-
ing is taken from a letter which Mr. Poz-
nanski wrote to his wife about Liszt and the
Chickering piano.

" Yesterday, immediately after mailing my letter
to you, I went to the custom house, whence I took
the piano and caused it to be transported without
delay to Liszt's residence. Then I unpacked and
installed it in the parlor of the maestro. Mr. Chick-
ering was ^th me. As soon as the piano was on its
legs the celebrated pianist seated himself before it,
and the harp-like arpeggios, the bird-like trills, the
thundering octave passages, which rolled from the
noble instrument were most marvelous. About half-
way in this tremendous test the maestro ceased play-
ing and spoke thus (I give you his words verbatim) :
^ C'est imp6rial ! Je n'ai jamais cru qu'un piano
pouvait poss6der de telles qualit6s.' (It is imperial !
I never thought that a piano could possess such qual-
ities.) Then, taking Chickering by both hands, with
most hearty handshakes, he said to him : ' Cela vous
fait honneur, monsieur ! Ce piano me donne envie
de toucher du piano. Je vous en remercie, et j'en
aurai un soin jaloux/ (This instrument does you

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

honor, sir i This piano makes me feel like pla}ring
the piano. I thank you for it, and will take most
jealous care of it.)"

After a stay of a few weeks in Rome, dur-
ing which time Liszt showed many friendly
courtesies to both Mr. Chickering and Mr.
Poznanski, the two friends who carried Ma-
homet to the mountain returned to Paris
much gratified with the result of their
December trip over the snow-capped Alps.
This piano was subsequently moved to Liszt's
home at Weimar, which is to-day preserved
as he left it. In the main room of the musical
shrine this old piano stands — still occupying
the place of honor in that silent household.

For a number of years Mr. C. Frank
Chickering remained at Chickering Hall,
New York, which was, up to the time of his
death, in 1891, the headquarters of the busi-
ness of the institution, which are now in
Boston.

Who that has ever known George H.
Chickering can think of him without a glow
of warmth pervading his heart? He had
one of those peculiarly lovable natures which
are rarely met with in life, and which have
been seldom paralleled, even in fiction. He
was the embodiment of the courtly graces
of manner and nobility^ of thought which

GEORGE H. CHICKERING

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

characterize the cultivated man of the world.
Courtliness, savoirfaire, and the God-sent
gift of arousing affectionate regard are attri-
butes beyond the lot of common men. The
serenity of temperament which was vouch-
safed to him has never failed him; it has
enabled him to pass through the trying
scenes and complications which come to all
large business establishments, and left him
strong and undisturbed as at the beginning.
Of his personal characteristics we think all
who read these lines will agree that the
following quotation from "Julius Caesar"
describes him with peculiar and graceful
aptitude :

'^ His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world, ^ This was a man ! ' "

He manifested the keenest interest in the
vast ramifications of the company's business,
and had at a moment's command all the in-
terweavings and convolutions which so vast
an industry creates.

Mr. Chickering was regarded as one of the
first citizens of Boston, in which city he had
lived practically all his life. He had been
President of the Handel and Haydn Society
after having been its Vice-President for

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

twenty-nine years; indeed, the name of
Chickering had been immediately identified
with the history of the Handel and Haydn
Society since its inception. Mr. George
Chickering died at his country home in
ReadviUe, Mass., on Nov. 17, i8gg.

The aim of Messrs. Chickering & Sons has
ever been to produce pianofortes in which
quality of tone is not sacrificed to volume,
and throughout their career all improvements
brought out by them in the region of '^ sounds
and tones " in their instruments have been
conditioned to this artistic end. Passing
over the great commercial and artistic sphere
they have filled as leading piano manufac-
turers, it is impossible to examine the history
of this honorable house and not observe
throughout the modem epoch of their career
a restless, persistent, and successful endeavor
to associate their pianos with the highest ex-
pressions of musical art and the genius and
virtuosity of the best pianists of the century,
while every new development brought for-
ward in the "Chickering" piano, in its me-
chanics and acoustics, sprang obviously from
high scientific and technical knowledge on
the part of the initiators. Conscientious and
high-minded endeavor of this nature surely
deserves special emphasis!

S 5

6«
is 6

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

The foregoing emphasizes sufficiently the
progressiveness of Chickering & Sons, while
the exemplification given hardly does justice
to the intellectuality of the authors ; but the
most valuable results are demonstrated in
the tone, individuality, and musical char-
acter of their instruments. A grand piano
containing an application of the Chickering
improved iron plate was exhibited in Boston
in 1887. A critical writer on one of the city
papers says of this instrument : " The diffi-
culty of overcoming the tendency to disrupt
that part of the iron frame bordering on the
line of the agraffes has seemed insurmount-
able. That such a serious and perplexing
obstacle has been completely overcome
should be credited to the house of Chicker-
ing." The Chickering upright action at pres-
ent in use is another development that is
largely commented on as equal in results to
the grand. In relation to the large number
of medals, premiums, and honors bestowed
on the Chickering & Sons instruments during
past years much could be said. The highest
distinction, however, is probably the French
Cross of the Legion of Honor, bestowed
upon these instruments, which is regarded as
priceless in every respect, coming from such
a source as the French Government.

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

In the "History of the American Piano-
forte," the following just and deserved tribute
is paid to the Chickering house :

"There is some contrast afforded by the
present Chickering & Sons' producing factory
in Boston (which is said to be the largest
factory under one roof on this continent) and
the modest shop in which good Jonas Chicker-
ing — once styled ^ upright, square, and gp*and,
like his own pianos' — began business on
Common Street in 1823. In this vast manu-
factory there is an accumulation of the most
effective and modem machinery known in
piano-manufacturing, in addition to every
facility for making pianos of the highest
excellence. Back of these conditions stand
a legion of highly trained workmen and a
staff of eminent foremen, each specially
skilled in a separate field. This tells its own
tale. And of the house of Chickering & Sons
itself, what can be said? Clearly the present
aspect of the house, or the character of the
instruments produced by Chickering & Sons,
requires no critical analysis here, even were
such a proceeding in order. The firm has
existed and come upward to this time through
eighty years of national history as an impor-
tant factor in our civilization, as the patron
and friend of artists and art, and as a sym-

'* Iwf

'fl

lll^^l^K

l^Sr^SWKI^^^^^M

Tremont Street facade of the factory, showing treatment of the grounds

HISTORY of HOUSE of CHICKERING

pathetic supporter of musical literature. It
has passed unscathed through panics, social
revolutions, and the commercial depression
of three great wars, and throughout all these
years the name of ^Chickering* has been
and remains an American household word in
relation to music and the peaceful joys of
home life."

The Eightieth Anniversary of the Chick-
ering Piano is an event in the annals of the
piano trade of the United States.

Prom 1823 to 1903 the name of Chickering
has occupied the foremost position in the
history of the musical world.

The world-renowned house of Chickering
& Sons has been identified, from its founda-
tion, with the noblest and highest phases of
the musical art and the unprecedented
triumphs of the American piano in all quar-
ters of the civilized world.

THE ROLL OF HONOR OF
THE CHICKERING PIANO

THE ROLL OF HONOR
OF THE CHICKERING PIANO

MONG the world*s most emi-
nent musicians, whose public
performances and use of the
Chickering piano render their
verdict of genuine value, ap-
pear prominently these names:

Max Alvary

Frederic Archer

Adele Aus Der Ohe

Conrad Ansorge

Jules Benedict

Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler

F. Boscowitz

Hans Von Bulow

Theresa Carreno

William R. Chapman

William Russetl Case

Mme. Amalie Joachim

Vladimir De Pachmann

Mme. De Pachmann

Walter Damrosch

Suza Doane

Jessie Dovrner Eaton

Mile. Clementine De Vere

Mme. lima Di Murska

Rafael Joseffy

Mme. Julie Riv6-King

Henri Ketten

Mme. Marie Krebs

Franz Liszt

B. J. Lang

Alexander Lambert

Mme. Lilli Lehmann
Henry Litolff
A. Marmontel
Victor Maurel
S. B. Mills
J. Moscheles
Emanuel Moor
Mme. Emma Nevada
Edward A. MacDowell
Arthur Nikisch
F. Van Der Stucken
Caril Florio
Emil Fischer
A. Friedheim
Arthur Foote
Mme. Fursch-Madi
Mme. Arabella Goddard
Robert Goldbeck
L. M. Gottschalk
Charles Gounod
Sir Charles Halle
Georg Henschel
Asger Hammerick
Stephen Heller
Richard Hoffmann
Charles H. Jarvis

THE ROLL OF HONOR

Alfred Jaell
Teresina Tua
Edmund Neupert
Geo. W. Warren
Louis Plaidy
Jos. Poznanski
George Proctor
Carl Reinecke
Mme. De Roode-Rice
Theodore Ritter
Ernst Perabo
Joseph Rummell
Lillian Russell

Anton Seidl

Mme. Madeline Schiller
August Sauret
Wm. H. Sherwood
Xavier Scharwenka
Sir Arthur Sullivan
Antoinette Szumowska
S. Thalberg
Theodore Thomas
Clara Thoms
H. G. Tucker
Amy Fay
Franz Rummel

CHICKBRING HALL, NEW YORK

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK
Chmer of 5th AVENUE & i8th STREET

|T is difficult to estimate the
immense influence on the mu-
sical life of a great city exerted
by an institution like Chicker-
ing Hall in New York, which,
for a quarter of a century, was
the central figure in the musical life of the
metropolis. Built for the double purpose of
the home of the Chickering & Sons' business,
and that of a suitable place in which to ex-
ploit the countless musical enterprises of the
house, it made for the people of New York
the centre of their musical life, and continued
so until the march of time and change left it
too far down town to serve the purposes for
which it was so singularly fitted at the time
of its erection.

The musical public of New York regarded
it as the chief of the temples of art and, too,
a school from which emanated a great and
subtle influence on their musical education.
Many a notable virtuoso has appeared there,
and a long list of orchestras, choruses, quar-
tets, lecturers, preachers, etc., etc., have filled
its four walls.

It is impossible to give consideration to the
history of music in New York, during the
twenty-five years of its existence, without ob-

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

serving that Chickering Hall has been one of
the most potent factors in the making of that
history. It received a notable dedication to
its career of musical service. In the autumn
of 1875 Hans von Bxilow came to America
for the first time. All his New York concerts
were given in Chickering Hall, and it was for
his first appearance that the Hall was thrown
open to the public on November 15th of that
year, with an orchestra under the direction of
Dr. Leopold Damrosch. The program was
confined to the works of Beethoven, and the
great pianist performed the master's fourth
concerto in G, the so-called ''Appassionata**
Sonata, and the Fifteen Variations. Von
Bulow gave no fewer than eight New York
concerts in November, in addition to four
"chamber music soirees," in which Dr. Dam-
rosch, George Matzka, and Frederick Bergner
assisted as first violin, viola, and 'cello, re-
spectively. The deep impression made by
this remarkable series of concerts was well
remembered by those fortunate enough to
hear them. These were followed by several
other notable concerts by von Biilow in De-
cember of the same year, at one of which he
and Dr. Damrosch played the '' Kreutzer Son-
ata." In March the great pianist returned for
his adieu, and gave seven concerts in that

Chickering Hall, New York, corner Fifth Avenue and i8th Street

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

and the following month. Among these were
three "Beethoven Soirees/* a "Chopin Soi-
ree," a "Schumann-Mendelssohn Soiree," and
a "Schumann-Liszt Soiree."

No pianist who has ever come to America
since von Biilow has given so many concerts
in so short a space of time in one hall, and it
was thus, with this remarkable series, tiiat the
first season of the life of Chickering Hall was
inaugurated, and it created a mighty impres-
sion on the American musical public.

In December, 1875, there were two concerts
of which the record will be read with interest
by present-day concert-goers. They were
announced as "popular and classical con-
certs," by Mme. Carreno-Sauret and M. Sau-
ret, with other assisting string players. Both
of these distinguished artists were heard later
in other concerts in Chickering Hall.

An important announcement was made for
January 21, 1876, when there was a private
exhibition of the new oigan, built by Roose-
velt. This instrument, an important addition
to the city's still very meagre supply of con-
cert organs, was played on that occasion by
George William Warren, S. B. Whitney, Dr.
S. Austen Pearce, Samuel P. Warren, George
W. Morgan, and Dudley Buck. From the
moment of its installation the organ proved

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

itself one of the most important adjuncts of
Chickering Hall, and for many years was in
frequent public use. Local organists gave
many series of recitals on it, and in 1881
Frederic Archer, the English organist, then
newly arrived in America, gave his first per-
formance upon it. The annual organ and
harp recitals of George W. Morgan and Miss
Maud Morgan were a feature there for many
seasons. Chickering Hall was eagerly
claimed as its home by a large number of
choral societies, as soon as its excellencies for
such a purpose were disclosed. The oldest
and most famous chorus, the Mendelssohn
Glee Club, gave its concerts there for many
years, and the Hall has witnessed the rise and
fall of numerous other similar organizations
within its walls. There have been, for in-
stance, the English Glee Club ; the New York
Vocal Society, which began its sixth season
in the Hall's first year; the Harlem Mendels-
sohn Union, under Dr. Damrosch, whose
history began in the season of z88o-8i ; the
Manhattan Choral Union, of the same date;
the Choral Club, at one time under Anton
Seidl; the Musurgia, dating from 1884; the
St. George's Glee Club; the Gounod Vocal So-
ciety; the Orpheus Glee Club, under Dudley
Buck; the Banks Glee Club, the Lenox Hill

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

Vocal Society; the Metropolitan Musical
Society; the Palestrina Choir; and the Ru-
binstein Club.

String quartets soon found an abiding-place
in Chickering Hall. One of the earliest to do
so was the New York Quartet, composed of
E. MoUenhauer, M. Schwarz, George Matzka,
and F. Bergner, which appeared for the first
time there in the autumn of 1875; ^t their
concert on April 15, 1876, William Mason
was the assisting artist. On April 30, 1878,
there was an interesting chamber music
performance, the first appearance since the
season of 1867-68 of the quartet composed of
Theodore Thomas, Joseph Mosenthal, George
Matzka, and Frederick Bergner. In the next
season the Philharmonic Club began its long
series of concerts in Chickering Hall that did
much to educate the New York public in
chamber music; there were for several years
six, then four concerts each season. As is
well known, Richard Arnold was the leader
of this organization. The Beethoven String
Quartet, led by Gustav Dannreuther, first ap-
peared in the season of 1885-86. The dis-
bandment of Theodore Thomas' orchestra in
Z878 led to a public-spirited effort by Messrs.
Chickering & Sons to establish a permanent
orchestra. Its concerts were given during

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

the season of 1878-79 in the Hall, by an
organization comprising many of Thomas'
men, under a young conductor named G.
Carlberg. Prominent soloists were engaged,
including Remenyi and Wilhelmj.

Among other appearances that year were
Mme. lima di Mur^a, with the Philharmonic
Club.

The next notable event that Chickering Hall
witnessed was the d6but of Rafael Joseffy,
which occurred on October 13, 1879, with
an orchestra under Dr. Damrosch's lead.
Mr. Joseffy began his long and brilliant
career in America by playing Chopin's
concerto in E minor and Liszt's in E flat. His
success was great, and the records note his
frequent reappearance that season. He gave
three more concerts that month, and return-
ing in December, gave seven recitals in rapid
succession. Again he returned in March and
gave nine concerts, some with orchestra, and
including four chamber concerts. In May he
gave two recitals and an orchestral concert.
These appearances are among the most bril-
liant episodes of Chickering Hall history.

The season of 1882-83 ^^ marked in Chick-
ering Hall annals by the d6but of Edmund
Neupert, the Norwegian pianist, who played
Grieg's concerto, dedicated to himself. There

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

were also given during that season six popu-
lar orchestral concerts, conducted by Philip
Herfort. An interesting series of vocal con-
certs was projected by Maurice Strakosch,
called a "Historical Cyclus." The singers
were Miss Thursby, Miss Winant, and
Messrs. Toedt and Holst-Hansen. There
were four of these concerts. In the next
season Mr. and Mrs. Henschel gave the first
of their joint song recitals, that interested
lovers of the best in song then and many
times since in the same place. On Novem-
ber 5, 1885, Mme. Emma Nevada made her
first American appearance with success.

That energetic young conductor, Mr.
Frank Van der Stucken, signalized the sea-
son of 1886-87 by starting a series of sym-
phonic concerts, in which he brought forward
several novelties, among them MacDowell's
symphonic poem, ''Ophelia," part of J. K.
Paine*s " Nativity,'* and Berlioz's "Trojans in
Carthage." There were five evening concerts
and three matinees. The following season
the same enterprising hand carried through
a series of five concerts, devoted solely to the
works of American composers. A host of
novelties appeared on the programs, and the
New York public got an insight into what
their fellow-countrymen were doing, such as
they had never had before.

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

Another important contribution to theChick-
ering Hall record of 1887-88 is contained in
Anton Seidl's three orchestral concerts. In
addition to disclosing his original and ad-
vanced ideas in symphonic conducting, he
brought forward such novelties as Wagner's
symphony in C and Bruckner's fourth sym-
phony. Much food for thought was offered
the critics in this brief series.

Interest was also aroused by the appear-
ance of the young Italian violinist, Teresina
Tua, and by the return of Signor Campanini
and Mme. lima di Murska.

The season of i888-8g was signalized by the
large number of orchestral concerts given in
Chickering Hall. Mr. Van der Stucken started
it with a series of four classical afternoon
concerts. Then in January a series of con-
certs by Theodore Thomas was begun.

Among the interesting novelties that New
York heard for the first time in Chickering
Hall were Mr. Thomas' own "Festival
March," Brahms' double concerto, part of
Saint-Saens' ''Samson and Delilah," Bee-
thoven's "Hitter-Ballet," Grieg's "Autumn"
overture, Rubinstein's " Don Quixote," Grieg's
"Peer Gynt" suite, Arthur Foote's suite, Mac-
Dowell's second concerto, and Tschaikow-
ski's fifth symphony. William H. Sherwood

Chickering Hall, Boston

CHICKERING HALJ^, NEW YORK

also was heard this seaison. Mr. and Mrs.
Henschel gave their song recitals, and from
the New York Reed Club was heard some
chamber music for wind instruments.

The following season, that of 1889-90, was
to be distinguished by the appearance in
Chickering Hall of one of the most remarka-
ble pianoforte virtuosos that have ever vis-
ited New York^ — Vladimir de Pachmann.
He gave recitals on April 7th, 8th, and 9th,
and on April nth an orchestral concert with
Mme. de Pachmann. Chopin formed the bulk
of M. de Pachmann's offerings, which were
a revelation of a certain side of the art. Mr.
Van der Stucken kept up his work this season
with three more classical afternoon symphony
concerts; and another interesting offering
from the stage of Chickering Hall was the
illustrated lectures on music by Dr. F. L.
Ritter.

The next year the Boston Symphony Or-
chestra gave their New York concerts, four
in number, in Chickering Hall, concerts that
have always been among the most influential
and carefully followed of any heard in that
city. The Manuscript Society, founded to
encourage American musicians by giving per-
formances of their composition, made its bow
in Chickering Hall on December loth.

CHICKERING HALL, NEW YORK

During the season of 1898 Chickering Hall
was the scene of a most important series of
orchestral concerts, under the management of
Chickering & Sons, and with the conductor-
ship of Anton Seidl. Among the soloists were
Franz Rummel, who made his appearance
under the most auspicious circumstances,
Xavier Scharwenka, and Richard Hoffman.

The remarkable facts chronicled above
show what a potent musical influence has
emanated from Chickering Hall. This estab-
lishment has proved a momentous factor in
the musical life of New York. It is a record
that should be borne in mind in this anniver-
sary of the house of Chickering & Sons.

In December, 1901, the Chickering Hall
property was sold to the Alliance Realty Com-
pany of New York.

It is interesting to note that just before the
closing of the Hall, Richard Hoffman, the
veteran pianist, gave a recital there. He had
at that time been playing the Chickering
piano, and no other, for fifty-two years.
Among the last and most brilliant of recent
concerts given there were those of the Mad-
rigal Singers, under the direction of Mr.
Frank Taft.

CHICKBRING HALL
HUNTINGTON AVENUE, BOSTON

^HE fourth of its name, was
opened on the evening of
Friday, February 8th, igoi.
The artists making notable
the opening concert were
Mme. Antoinette Szumowska,
M. Pol Plangon, the Kneisel Quartet, Franz
Kneisel, K. Ondricek, Louis Svecenski, Alwin
Schroeder. Accompanist, H. M. Goodrich.

jN interesting tribute to the life
and work of Jonas Chickering is
the selection of his name with
nine others, for peculiar honor in
the Colonnade of the Industries
Building at the World's Fair, to be held at
St. Louis in 1904. The directors have ar-
ranged for ten statues of heroic size, of the
great inventors of the world, to adorn the
Colonnade above mentioned. Those se-
lected are Jonas Chickering, Howe, Fulton,
Bessemer, Ericsson, Watts, Clark, Hoe, Colt,
and Goodyear.

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Full text of "The commemoration of the founding of the house of Chickering & Sons upon the eightieth anniversary of the event, 1823-1903"

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