Fernando A. Wessell
b. January 5, 1877 · American
Biography
Fernando A. Wessell, son of Otto Wessell, was born in New York on January 5, 1877. Directed by his father toward a career as a piano action maker, he graduated high school in 1893 with a special diploma for craftsmanship. At sixteen he began his apprenticeship in the shops of Wessell, Nickel and Gross, becoming proficient in all branches of the trade. He was appointed assistant superintendent and elected director of the corporation in 1898, became treasurer in 1899, and was elected president in 1912. Representing what the text calls 'the young school' in industry, he applied mathematical and scientific principles to designing new devices and automatic machinery, directing construction of equipment in the company's own machine shop, and is credited with maintaining the Wessell action's forty-year reputation for reliability by favoring proven improvements over untested novelty.
Highlights
- Apprenticed in the Wessell, Nickel and Gross shops at sixteen, rose to president by 1912
- Applied mathematical and scientific principles to designing manufacturing devices and automatic machinery
- Credited with maintaining the Wessell action's forty-year reputation for reliability
Source
Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 225, 226.
Public domain.