James H. White

Biography

James H. White, the oldest son of Henry Kirk White, was born September 26, 1847. He served for a number of years in the Wanamaker house in Philadelphia studying commercial usages and merchandising before learning organ building at Estey's, and was naturally entrusted with business management of the new Wilcox & White concern. Like his father, he had considerable musical talent and played the organ in his church at Brattleboro, Vermont, as a young man. He had a thorough knowledge of great composers' works and was an expert judge of tone. The text credits him with searching for the highest tone production and, alongside his brothers, supplementing his father's inventions. His greatest contribution, per the author, was the courage and energy he showed steering the company through difficult times; the text states the company would not have reached its dominant position without his artistic and commercial genius. He was still the only surviving founder guiding the corporation at time of writing.

Highlights

• Trained in merchandising at the Wanamaker house in Philadelphia before learning organ building from Estey
• Entrusted with business management of the new Wilcox & White concern
• Credited with steering the company through crises with artistic and commercial judgment

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 368, 369.

Public domain.