John Paff

Biography

John Paff, together with his brother Michael Paff, took over the piano-dealing business originally started by John Jacob Astor in 1789, acquiring it in 1802. Some of the pianos they dealt in were sold in Brooklyn and on Broadway. After some changes the business subsequently passed into the hands of William Dubois. John Paff, together with Michael Paff, succeeded John Jacob Astor as an importer of pianos in New York once Astor's fur-trading business had grown too large for him to continue the sideline. Spillane provides no further detail about him here.

Highlights

• Succeeded John Jacob Astor in the piano-importing branch of trade once Astor's fur business had grown large
• Took over John Jacob Astor's piano-dealing business jointly with his brother Michael Paff in 1802.

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 69, 107.

Public domain.