Michael Miller
began business after 1840; patent 1851
piano maker
inventor
Biography
Michael Miller began a piano-making business in Rochester, New York, in a modest way after 1840. In 1851 he patented an improvement in key-adjustment, described as an ingenious and complicated scheme intended to place the keys so as to produce greater elasticity in touch. Despite its ingenuity, the invention 'never survived' and did not achieve lasting adoption in the trade. No further biographical detail is given regarding Miller's origins, training, or the ultimate fate of his business.
Highlights
- Began a piano-making business in Rochester in a modest way after 1840
- Patented a complicated key-adjustment scheme in 1851 intended to increase elasticity of touch, though the invention did not survive
Source
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 145.
Public domain.