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Vol. 86 July 18, 2026 No. 19

Herman D. Cable

d. winter of 1900

founder of Chicago Cottage Organ Company president of Cable Company
  • Chicago Cottage Organ Company
  • Cable Company

Biography

Herman D. (H. D.) Cable founded the Chicago Cottage Organ Company, which the text calls the alma mater of several men who became leaders in the piano industry, including his brothers Hobart M. Cable and Fayette Shepard Cable. In 1892 his attention was drawn to J. Frank Conover's growing reputation as a designer of scientific piano scales, and Conover merged his business into The Cable Company, of which H. D. Cable was president. He died in the winter of 1900, after which his brother Fayette Shepard Cable was elected to succeed him as president of the Cable Company.

Highlights

  • Founded the Chicago Cottage Organ Company, described as the training ground of several later piano-industry leaders.
  • His attention to J. Frank Conover's scale-designing reputation led Conover to merge his business into The Cable Company in 1892.
  • Died in the winter of 1900, succeeded as Cable Company president by his brother Fayette Shepard Cable.

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 61, 65, 66.

Public domain.

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