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Vol. 86 July 18, 2026 No. 19

William Danforth

piano maker apprentice
  • John Osborn's shop

Biography

William Danforth was one of the apprentices in John Osborn's Boston piano shop after 1819, named by Spillane alongside John Dwight and Elijah Bullard as 'less significant people, measured by results,' in contrast with fellow Osborn apprentices Jonas Chickering and the Gilbert brothers, who went on to greater prominence in the trade.

Highlights

  • Apprenticed in John Osborn's Boston shop; grouped by Spillane among the less eventually significant trainees.

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 57.

Public domain.

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