Isaac Woodward

Biography

Isaac Woodward, father of the house of Woodward & Brown, was born in Roxbury, N.H., on June 10, 1810, and educated there. Like Dunham, the Gilberts, and other well-known American piano makers, he began his career learning cabinet-making at Keene in his native state while still young. He came to Boston seeking better opportunities and entered the case-making department of Brown & Hallet, where he gained a thorough grounding in piano making. In 1843 he began business as Woodward & Company, and in 1845 formed a partnership with fellow workman John Brown (a member of Edwin Brown's family), continuing as a manufacturer until his death. Numerous patents for pianoforte improvements were credited to him and others connected with the firm. Personally noted for his love of music, he was one of the oldest members of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston. He died at Brookline on March 10, 1883, of Bright's disease, generally mourned, and the business passed to his son Arthur S. Woodward and to John P. Brown.

Highlights

• Learned cabinet-making at Keene, N.H., like Dunham, the Gilberts, and other noted American makers
• Founded Woodward & Company in 1843, later Woodward & Brown with John Brown in 1845
• A longtime member of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston; died 1883 of Bright's disease

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 168, 169.

Public domain.