Peter Goelet

Biography

Peter Goelet was a New York merchant who dealt in imported goods, including musical instruments. An advertisement of April 29, 1773 lists a shipment he received aboard the ship Earl of Dunmore comprising more than three hundred articles, ranging from masons' trowels and oil paintings to guitars, fiddles, flutes, and other instruments; the same shipment reportedly included a large box of harpsichord wire and hammers. Spillane states that as far back as 1767 Goelet was regarded as an importer of musical instruments and music in a special sense above other city merchants. Peter Goelet was named by Spillane among the general merchants of New York who informally imported harpsichords, and occasionally a pianoforte for a special customer, before 1776, typically bringing such instruments over alongside furniture, paintings, clothing, and other imported luxury goods on the same vessels.

Highlights

• Named among the New York general merchants who informally imported harpsichords and occasionally pianofortes before 1776.
• Advertised (April 29, 1773) a shipment of over 300 imported articles including guitars, fiddles, flutes and other instruments
• Regarded as far back as 1767 as an importer of musical instruments and music above other city merchants

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 61, 63, 64.

Public domain.