James H. Butler

Biography

James H. Butler was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1867. He learned piano making from the German pioneer makers Hinzen and Rosen of Louisville, Kentucky, then took a position in the repair shop of Smith and Nixon in Cincinnati. His curiosity about the construction of leading American pianos led him to study physics at the Mechanics' Institute of Cincinnati and to travel to New York to study scale drawing under Henry Kroeger. In 1893 he was made superintendent of the Smith and Nixon factory, a post he held until the firm went out of business in 1909, after which he began manufacturing pianos under his own name (Butler Brothers Piano Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati). Seeking better tone quality, he developed and patented a palette-shaped soundboard frame with a treble slot (1896, patented 1898), a soundboard bridge with curved recesses to reduce fundamental tones (patented 1900), and a pedal-lifting pianissimo device (patented 1903). His brother, R. H. Butler, managed the commercial side of the business.

Highlights

• Learned piano making under German pioneers Hinzen and Rosen of Louisville, Ky., then studied scale drawing in New York under Henry Kroeger
• Served as superintendent of the Smith and Nixon factory in Cincinnati from 1893 until the firm closed in 1909, then started his own piano-making business
• Patented a soundboard frame (1898), a soundboard bridge with curved recesses (1900), and a pedal-operated pianissimo device (1903)

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 54, 55, 56, 57.

Public domain.