Calvin Whitney

Biography

Calvin Whitney assumed management of the A. B. Chase Company of Norwalk, Ohio, after the death of founder A. B. Chase in 1877. Born at Townsend, Ohio, on September 25, 1846, he started in business at age 19 with $400 capital saved from his earnings as a store clerk. Described as a strong character of lofty ideals who impressed his personality on the enterprise, he is said to have overcome the difficulties facing western pioneer manufacturers with unfaltering faith, achieving the satisfaction of seeing his company rank among the leading high-class piano manufacturers. A portrait of Calvin Whitney accompanies the text. Referred to in the text simply as Whitney, he was among the earliest to pursue the player piano in earnest, and in 1905 his firm produced the Aristano grand player piano. He is identified as the father of W. C. Whitney, who was educated in the factory and office of the Chase Company. Whitney died on June 6, 1909, described by the author as having lived a strenuous but very useful life. The surrounding text (continued from a preceding page not included here) suggests he was a principal of the Chase Company, though his exact role is not fully stated in this excerpt.

Highlights

• Assumed management of the A. B. Chase Company after A. B. Chase's death in 1877
• Started in business at age 19 with $400 saved from his earnings as a store clerk
• Built the company into a leading high-class western piano manufacturer
• Among the first to take up the player piano earnestly, producing the Aristano grand player piano in 1905.
• Died June 6, 1909.

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 374, 375.

Public domain.