William Boardman

Biography

William Boardman ran a piano establishment in Albany and in 1836 induced James A. Gray to take charge of it; two years later the firm became Boardman & Gray. Boardman retired from the firm at an early date. He died on January 5, 1881, at the age of 81. The firm he co-founded continued under the Gray family into the next generation. From Spillane (1890): William G. Boardman was the founder of Boardman & Gray, described as a pre-eminent house in Albany pianoforte history that maintained a leading place, both for moral uprightness and for its standing in the art and trade, for half a century. Boardman was a native of Albany, born there in 1800. He was educated for mercantile pursuits rather than piano-making, and his entry into the piano trade came about purely by accident: having, through friendship, endorsed a piano firm, circumstances drew him into the business. Boardman operated a piano-making shop in Albany, which Henry Hazelton and several other young New York piano-makers, including James A. Gray, entered in May 1838. Hazelton was noted as a finished workman during his stay in Boardman's concern. No further biographical detail about Boardman himself is provided.

Highlights

• Induced James A. Gray to take charge of his Albany establishment in 1836, leading to the firm Boardman & Gray
• Retired early from the firm
• Died January 5, 1881 at age 81
• Acquired the stock-in-trade of a failed Albany piano business in 1835 and built it into a manufacturing concern
• Engaged James A. Gray, Henry Hazelton, and others to come work in his Albany shop, later making Gray his partner
• Co-founded Boardman & Gray, providing capital and business direction while Gray developed the instruments
• Founder of Boardman & Gray, a leading Albany pianoforte house maintained for half a century
• Native of Albany, born in 1800; educated for mercantile pursuits
• Entered the piano trade purely by accident, after endorsing a piano firm through friendship
• Owned the Albany piano-making shop entered by Henry Hazelton and other young New York makers in 1838

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 278.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 140, 202.

Public domain.