James A. Gray

Biography

James A. Gray was born in New York in 1815 and learned piano making with Firth & Pond of New York from 1831 to 1835. He was then called to Binghamton, N.Y., to superintend Pratt's piano factory. In 1836 William Boardman of Albany brought him in to take charge of his establishment, and two years later the firm became Boardman & Gray. A talented inventor, Gray experimented with an isolated iron rim and frame and a corrugated soundboard, even exhibiting pianos with these features in London in 1850, before abandoning them in favor of conventional construction. He remained active in the business until his death on December 11, 1889. His sons, William James Gray and James Stuart Gray, continued the firm. From Spillane (1890): James A. Gray was born in New York City in 1815. He received a good education and, in 1831, apprenticed to Firth & Hall, where he quickly excelled at tuning and toning. After briefly superintending a piano factory in Binghamton, N.Y. for a Mr. Pratt, he returned to New York before his growing reputation drew the attention of William Boardman in Albany, who hired him. Within two years Gray became Boardman's partner, forming Boardman & Gray, with Boardman supplying capital and business direction and Gray driving instrument development. Gray was a prolific inventor, patenting the 'insulated iron rim and frame,' the 'corrugated sounding-board,' and the 'Dolce Compana' effect. In 1850 he traveled to England with instruments of his own make, exhibiting before English musicians and helping demonstrate that American piano construction could rival European craftsmanship. In 1877 he brought his son, William J. Gray, into the partnership after training him in shop practice. At the time of his death the firm comprised James A. Gray, W. J. Gray, W. H. Currier, and W. W. Whitney. He corresponded with the author on Albany's piano history shortly before his death and died December 11, 1889, at age seventy-four. Gray was, at the time of his death, the oldest and most representative piano-maker in Albany, New York. Shortly before he died, he wrote to the author in reply to inquiries about the early history of piano-making in Albany, stating his belief that the first organized maker in the city was Meacham & Company, musical instrument-makers whose pianos were actually built for them by John Osborn. Gray also recalled having heard of an earlier maker named Stewart working in Albany. Gray is named by Spillane, alongside Jonas Chickering, Henry F. Miller, and Henry Hazelton, as one of the American piano men whose character exemplified the best qualities produced by the nation's democratic institutions. No further biographical detail about Gray is given in this section. Gray was one of a half dozen young piano-makers of marked ability who, on May 9, 1838, left New York in company with Henry Hazelton to seek opportunity in Albany, entering the shop of William G. Boardman shortly after arrival. No further biographical detail is given. Gray, later of the Albany firm Boardman & Gray, learned the trade of tuning and practical piano-making in the workshop of Firth & Hall in New York between 1831 and 1835, during the period when that firm was manufacturing pianos.

Highlights

• Invented an isolated iron rim and frame and a corrugated soundboard
• Co-founder of Boardman & Gray
• Exhibited experimental pianos in London in 1850
• Learned tuning and practical piano-making at Firth & Hall's New York shop between 1831 and 1835.
• Later associated with Boardman & Gray of Albany.
• At his death, was the oldest and most representative piano-maker in Albany
• Shortly before his death, corresponded with the author on early Albany piano-making history, identifying Meacham & Company as the first organized Albany maker
• Co-founder, with William Boardman, of the Albany firm Boardman & Gray
• Patented the 'Dolce Compana' effect, the 'insulated iron rim and frame,' and the 'corrugated sounding-board'
• Exhibited American-made pianos in England in 1850, one of the earliest attempts to export American pianos there
• Named by Spillane among exemplary American piano-trade citizens, alongside Chickering, Miller, and Hazelton
• One of about half a dozen young piano-makers of marked ability who left New York for Albany with Henry Hazelton on May 9, 1838

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 277, 278.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 107, 137, 138, 141, 142, 143, 144, 200, 201, 202.

Public domain.