Mackay

Biography

Mackay was an early business partner of Jonas Chickering in Boston, giving rise to the firm Chickering & Mackay. According to Spillane, Mackay was lost at sea along with his ship and was never heard from again, an event that forced Chickering to take on more of the shop's shipping and commercial duties himself. Chickering & Mackay produced upright pianos as early as 1830, one of which was later preserved in the rooms of the New England Conservatory in Boston, and some of the firm's instruments were exhibited at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, receiving high praise. No first name or further biographical detail is given in this portion of the text.

Highlights

• Business partner of Jonas Chickering; lost at sea with his ship and never heard from again.
• The firm Chickering & Mackay produced upright pianos as early as 1830, one of which stood in the New England Conservatory rooms.

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 89, 94.

Public domain.