Isaac T. Packard

Biography

Isaac T. Packard, described as an expert reed-organ builder, interested a number of capitalists in starting an organ factory at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1871. The text calls him a fine mechanic and inventor who produced an instrument of superior quality. Under the subsequent conservative guidance of company president S. B. Bond, the firm made steady progress, relying more on the superior quality of its product than on ordinary business promotion. Packard is identified as the organ-maker whose name is attached to the Packard Piano, though the text states he 'never knew how to build a piano.' He is credited with building some very fine cabinet organs before his death, after which the piano bearing his name was actually made by Albert Sweetser Bond.

Highlights

• Interested a number of capitalists to start a reed-organ factory at Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1871
• Regarded as a fine mechanic and inventor who produced instruments of superior quality
• Made fine cabinet organs but, per the text, 'never knew how to build a piano' despite his name being on the Packard Piano

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911); Vol. II (1913), p. 162.

Public domain.