Sylvester Tower

Biography

Sylvester Tower was a piano action maker who employed William H. Poole as a bookkeeper beginning in 1887. From Spillane (1890): Sylvester Tower was a piano-key and action manufacturer firmly established at Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, described as one of the oldest and largest action makers in the country at the time of writing. He began the manufacture of piano keys, in addition to melodeon and organ keys, in 1853, and later branched into making piano actions. His Tower manufactory in Cambridgeport occupied a substantial amount of ground and was well equipped. Spillane characterizes Tower as an old and popular figure in the piano business who enjoyed a good measure of practical success.

Highlights

• Employed William H. Poole as a bookkeeper in 1887
• Described as a very large and probably one of the oldest action makers in the country, established at Cambridgeport, Mass.
• Began manufacturing piano, melodeon, and organ keys in 1853, later expanding into piano actions
• By the time of writing his manufactory in Cambridgeport covered extensive ground and he was described as an old and popular personality in the trade

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), p. 163.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 327.

Public domain.