James H. Grovesteen

Biography

James H. Grovesteen, founder of Grovesteen, Fuller & Company of New York, came to Albany in 1839 and started making pianos in 1840, joining the group of Albany-based makers of the 1830s and 1840s whose influence on the American piano industry proved lasting. From Spillane (1890): James H. Grovensteen was, until recently, a well-known New York figure in the piano trade. He originally learned his art and trade in New York, then moved to Albany about 1839 (though some assert he was already established there by 1838), thinking it a promising field for development. His name does not appear in Albany's city directory until long after 1840. After some years of experience, he returned to New York before 1847 and began business on Grand Street. A. C. James, later of the New York firm James & Holmstrom, worked briefly as an apprentice in Grovensteen's Albany shop before moving on to further training at Boardman & Gray.

Highlights

• Founder of Grovesteen, Fuller & Company of New York; came to Albany in 1839 and began making pianos there in 1840
• Firm appeared in the New York piano trade between 1840 and 1851
• Exhibited a piano at the Mechanics' Institute in 1847 judged equal to Pirsson's
• A well-known New York piano-trade figure who learned his trade in New York before moving to Albany around 1838–39
• Returned to New York before 1847 and established a business on Grand Street
• Later trained A. C. James, of the New York firm James & Holmstrom, as an apprentice in his Albany shop

Sources

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

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 139, 140.

Public domain.