William J. Gray
piano maker
partner
Biography
William J. Gray was the son of James A. Gray, co-founder of the Albany piano firm Boardman & Gray. In 1877 his father brought him into the business as a partner, having first guided him through a thorough course of shop training to prepare him for the practical side of piano manufacture. At the time of James A. Gray's death in December 1889, the firm of Boardman & Gray was composed of James A. Gray, William J. Gray, W. H. Currier, and W. W. Whitney, indicating that William J. Gray had by then become an established figure in the firm's ongoing operations alongside the newer partners his father had also admitted.
Highlights
- Son of James A. Gray, trained by his father in shop practice before being taken into partnership at Boardman & Gray in 1877
- Was among the partners of Boardman & Gray at the time of his father's death in 1889
Source
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 142, 143.
Public domain.