Obed Coleman
inventor
Biography
Obed Coleman was the inventor behind the organ-piano design that T. Gilbert & Company produced to considerable public notice in 1847. He held an American patent for the invention dated April 17, 1844, along with a British patent taken out that October 10. Having made no practical use of the patent himself, Coleman sold it to Gilbert & Company for a small sum in 1846. The resulting organ-pianos proved impractical in that the piano section required tuning every month to remain in tolerable condition.
Highlights
- Held an 1844 patent (with a corresponding British patent) for the organ-piano design later produced by T. Gilbert & Company in 1847.
- Sold his patent to Gilbert & Company for a small sum in 1846, having never put it to practical use himself.
Source
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 92.
Public domain.