George H. Chickering

Biography

George H. Chickering, the youngest of Jonas Chickering's three sons, was born in Boston on April 18, 1830. After an excellent education he turned to the bench and worked under his father's tutelage, and for many years made every set of hammers used in the firm's concert grands, described as 'an exceedingly neat and artistic mechanic.' After 1853 he took charge of factory management, performing his arduous duties faithfully until his death on November 17, 1896. Like his father and brothers, he took an active part in Boston's artistic life and served in turn as president of the Handel and Haydn Society. A portrait of George H. Chickering accompanies the text. From Spillane (1890): George H. Chickering was born in Boston on April 18, 1830, the youngest of the three Chickering brothers to enter the family firm. Like his brothers he was educated until age seventeen, then placed in his father's factory to be schooled in all departments of practical piano building, becoming a partner in Chickering & Sons in 1852. Among his specialties was hammer-making for grand pianos; under his father's instruction he personally made many sets of hammer-heads for celebrated grands used by virtuosi such as Thalberg, DeMeyer, Gottschalk, and Herz. For many years he presided over the Chickering & Sons factory in Boston, reportedly governing it with the same thoughtfulness toward employees that characterized the firm's founder, with many workers remaining employed there for over thirty years. In musical circles he was elected president of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston after serving twenty-nine years as its vice-president, and was equally esteemed in trade and private life. Chickering, son of Jonas Chickering, ran the Chickering piano factory in Boston at the time Spillane was writing. He corresponded with the author, supplying corroborating information about the fate of John Osborn -- confirming, via information from Edwin Brown, that Osborn died falling from a window in New York -- and about the early history of James Stewart, who had partnered with Chickering's father as Stewart & Chickering before moving to London. Chickering, son of Jonas Chickering, personally supervised manufacturing at the Chickering & Sons factory in Boston as the firm carried its work forward from the days of Stewart & Chickering. Chickering, he is credited by Spillane with upholding 'the genius of the name,' being thoroughly educated in both the manufacturing and commercial sides of the business as well as in art.

Highlights

• Made every set of hammers used in the firm's concert grands for many years
• Took charge of factory management after 1853 and served until his death in 1896
• Served as president of the Handel and Haydn Society, as did each of his brothers
• Son of Jonas Chickering; personally supervised manufacturing at the Chickering & Sons factory in Boston.
• Credited by Spillane, with C. F. Chickering, with upholding 'the genius of the name.'
• Son of Jonas Chickering; ran the Chickering factory in Boston at the time of writing
• Corresponded with the author, supplying information about John Osborn's death and James Stewart's history
• Born in Boston April 18, 1830; placed in his father's factory at seventeen and admitted as a partner in 1852
• Personally made sets of hammer-heads, under his father's instruction, for grands used by virtuosi including Thalberg, DeMeyer, Gottschalk, and Herz
• Long presided over the Chickering & Sons factory in Boston, treating employees with notable thoughtfulness
• Elected president of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston after twenty-nine years as its vice-president

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 275.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 94, 95, 157, 158, 261, 266, 267.

Public domain.