Taws

Biography

Taws, called 'the Scotchman' by Spillane, is described as a practical piano maker and expert. Spillane raises the possibility that Taws, rather than John Isaac Hawkins, actually built the 'upright' pianos credited to Hawkins, and that Hawkins merely sent the resulting model to his father in Manchester, England, for patenting. This is offered as speculation prompted by Wilson's writings about a Scottish acquaintance who had devised a new pianoforte shape, and no further confirmed biographical information about Taws is provided. Taws founded a piano-making business in Philadelphia in which Reinagle later took a financial interest. Spillane notes that Reinagle became prominent in Philadelphia 'like Taws,' implying Taws himself had also achieved local prominence, though no further biographical detail about him is provided in this section of the text.

Highlights

• Speculated by Spillane to have been the actual practical maker behind the 'upright' pianos credited to Hawkins
• Established a Philadelphia piano business in which Reinagle later held a financial interest.

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 81, 99.

Public domain.