Napoleon J. Haines

Biography

Napoleon J. Haines, described by Dolge as one of the most interesting characters in the history of American piano makers, was born in London in 1824 and came to New York at age eight, crossing the Atlantic alone with his younger brother Francis after their father had gone ahead; young Napoleon famously threw the ship steward's poor food overboard in protest. He may have worked as a bootblack after school in his early New York years, and at fifteen apprenticed himself and his brother to the New York Piano Manufacturing Company. In 1851 he and Francis founded Haines Brothers, growing from two pianos a month to a factory with a 20-piano weekly capacity by 1856. A thorough piano maker and holder of a United States patent as an inventor, Haines was also a shrewd financier: he was a founder of the Union Dime Savings Bank of New York and served as its vice-president and then president for 21 years. He died April 19, 1900, and Haines Brothers was later merged into the American Piano Company. A portrait of Napoleon J. Haines accompanies the text. From Spillane (1890): Napoleon J. Haines was born in London, England, in 1824, and emigrated to the United States as a boy of about eight with his brother Francis W. Haines. In 1839 the brothers entered the shop of the New York Piano Manufacturing Company (which later became A. H. Gale & Company), serving an apprenticeship through every branch of piano making and gaining a reputation as skilled apprentices. In 1851 the brothers founded N. J. Haines & Co. at 116 Third Avenue, which grew rapidly and became known as Haines Brothers, erecting a large factory at Second Avenue and Twenty-second Street in 1856. Haines was the firm's presiding and ruling genius, credited with practical business integrity and hands-on involvement in manufacturing. He was noted for shrewd financial acumen, reportedly clearing $30,000 cornering imported piano materials during an 1863 wartime shortage while sparing the wider trade a panic. He served the Union Dime Savings Bank for 21 years total, as president, vice-president, and chairman (seven years each), reportedly overseeing $30,000,000 in deposits, and in 1873 worked with President Grant and other financiers to ease that year's panic. He claimed credit, via William Nunns, for building a double overstrung square grand piano as early as 1853. A portrait of Haines appears in the book. Haines, together with his brother Francis, went through his apprentice career at A. Gale & Company before working as a 'finisher' and 'regulator' in the factory of J. Dunham beginning in 1843. In his own account, quoted by Spillane, he regulated and finished over one hundred overstrung pianos in Dunham's shop between 1843 and 1846, and asserted that Dunham's shop was responsible for producing the first overstrung pianoforte made in the United States, after which the overstrung system superseded the flat scale among most makers. Spillane accepts this claim as essentially correct, while noting that earlier makers Thomas Loud, Sr. and John Jardine deserve credit for the earliest experimental use of overstringing. Haines and his brother later founded the firm of Haines Brothers, both being, in Spillane's words, eminently practical piano-makers.

Highlights

• Born in London in 1824; crossed the Atlantic alone at age eight with his younger brother Francis, memorably rebelling against a steward's poor food.
• Apprenticed at fifteen to the New York Piano Manufacturing Company; founded Haines Brothers with Francis in 1851, building a factory with a 20-piano-per-week capacity by 1856.
• Held a U.S. patent as an inventor; co-founded and later served as vice-president and then president of the Union Dime Savings Bank for 21 years; died April 19, 1900.
• Patented a square piano action design on May 24, 1859
• Held Patent No. 24,119 (1859) for a scheme regulating self-escapement in a square piano action.
• Predicted the rising popularity of the upright piano as early as 1870, and led Haines Brothers to be first in the trade to cease manufacturing squares.
• Became head of Haines Brothers after the 1887 death of Francis W. Haines, assisted by his sons N. J. Haines Jr. and William Haines.
• Apprenticed at A. H. Gale & Company before working as a finisher and regulator in J. B. Dunham's factory (1843-1846), regulating and finishing over 100 overstrung pianos
• Claimed that Dunham's shop produced the first overstrung pianoforte made in the United States
• Co-founded the firm of Haines Brothers with his brother Francis Haines
• Born in London in 1824; emigrated to the US at about age eight with brother Francis W. Haines
• Apprenticed at the New York Piano Manufacturing Company (later A. H. Gale & Company); co-founded N. J. Haines & Co. in 1851, which became Haines Brothers
• Served 21 years total as president, vice-president, and chairman (seven years each) of the Union Dime Savings Bank, and was associated with President Grant in efforts to ease the panic of 1873
• Claims to have made a double overstrung square grand piano in 1853, crediting the idea to William Nunns

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 294, 296.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 183, 184, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208.

Public domain.