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Vol. 86 July 18, 2026 No. 19

Samuel T. White

errand boy clerk partner secretary manager
  • Horace Waters and Company

Biography

Samuel T. White entered the employ of Horace Waters as an errand boy in February 1869, at age fifteen. He rose to a clerkship and was admitted to partnership in 1880. When the firm incorporated in 1886, White became secretary, alongside Horace Waters as president, T. Leeds Waters as vice-president, and William H. Alfring as treasurer. Described as a man of high ideals, White pushed his partners toward manufacturing rather than merely selling pianos, and successfully urged them to open a factory producing a high-class instrument. He managed the concern for many years and took full charge after T. Leeds Waters' death in 1908.

Highlights

  • Entered Horace Waters' employ as a fifteen-year-old errand boy in February 1869 and rose to partner by 1880
  • Persuaded his partners to move the firm into piano manufacturing
  • Took over management of the company after T. Leeds Waters' death in 1908

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), p. 194.

Public domain.

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