Albert Steinway

Biography

Albert Steinway, the youngest son of Henry Engelhardt Steinway, was born on June 10, 1840. Like his brothers he chose piano making as his life's work, and after the death of his brother Charles he assumed management of the factories. He made a special study of applying machinery to manufacturing and of modern heating and lighting systems, keeping the Steinway factories at the industrial forefront. He was mainly responsible for developing the village of Steinway, personally overseeing the planning and erection of the sawmills, iron foundry, metal shops, and case factory. Sharing the family's characteristic restless zeal, he pushed himself beyond his physical strength and undermined his constitution, dying at age 37 on May 14, 1877. Albert Steinway, uncle of Frederick T. Steinway, is credited in the text with training Frederick in the management of the large Steinway & Sons factories. Under Albert's guidance, Frederick became an acknowledged expert in piano materials, including lumber and veneers, and in the effective organization and equipment of factories. No further biographical detail about Albert Steinway is given within this portion of the text. The late Albert Steinway came into personal contact with Nahum Stetson through Steinway and Sons' special exhibit of metal productions in the machinery department of the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, an acquaintance that led to Stetson's engagement as a Steinway retail salesman later that year. From Spillane (1890): Albert Steinway was the youngest member of the Steinway & Sons house. He had arrived in New York as a ten-year-old with the family and had reached twenty-five years of age by 1866. He died suddenly on May 14, 1877, in New York City, at the age of thirty-seven, an event described as "another private affliction of a sad character" for the family, which won them sincere sympathy from the trade.

Highlights

• Youngest son of Henry Engelhardt Steinway; took over factory management after brother Charles's death
• Applied machinery and modern heating/lighting systems to manufacturing
• Chiefly responsible for developing the village of Steinway, Long Island
• Trained his nephew Frederick T. Steinway in the management of the Steinway factories
• Guided Frederick T. Steinway to become an acknowledged expert in piano materials and factory organization
• Came into personal contact with Nahum Stetson via Steinway's metalwork exhibit at the 1876 Centennial Exposition, leading to Stetson's hiring
• Youngest member of the Steinway & Sons house.
• Arrived in New York as a ten-year-old with the family.
• Died suddenly May 14, 1877, in New York City, aged thirty-seven.

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 311, 312; Vol. II (1913), pp. 181, 189.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 220, 221.

Public domain.