Henry Behning, Jr.

Biography

Henry Behning, Jr. was the son of piano manufacturer Henry Behning, admitted to partnership with his father in 1880 under the firm name Henry Behning & Son. After his father's retirement in 1894, the business was incorporated as the Behning Piano Company, which Henry Behning, Jr. managed jointly with Gustav Behning, continuing operations following his father's death in 1905. From Spillane (1890): Henry Behning, Jr. was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on November 26, 1859, son of manufacturer Henry Behning, Sr. At fourteen he entered his father's New York factory, where he acquired a thorough grounding in both the practical and artistic departments of piano construction, later adding a commercial training. Between 1877 and 1880 he entered the firm, and the addition of his 'young energy and intelligence' led to the creation of Behning & Son, which gave new stimulus to the business. Under the reorganized firm the company moved in May 1885 to a large new factory at 57 and 59 East One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Street. The text describes him, at just past thirty, as possessing every qualification requisite for his position in the firm.

Highlights

• Admitted to partnership with his father in 1880 as Henry Behning & Son
• Co-managed the Behning Piano Company with Gustav Behning after his father's 1894 retirement
• Entered his father's factory at age fourteen and gained a thorough knowledge of the practical and artistic sides of piano construction.
• Joined the firm between 1877 and 1880, creating Behning & Son with his father.

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 320.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 245.

Public domain.