William Knabe (son)
d. January 1889 (age 48)
Biography
William Knabe, son of founder William Knabe, was trained by his father in piano making alongside his brother Ernest. Of a quiet, retiring disposition, he took charge of managing the firm's factories while Ernest assumed responsibility as head of the house after their father's death in 1864. William Knabe died suddenly in January 1889 at the early age of 48. From Spillane (1890): William Knabe, Jr. was the elder son of Baltimore piano-maker William Knabe. Born in Baltimore in 1841, he received both a collegiate education and practical training in piano mechanics within his father's shop, preparing him for the commercial and technical management of the family firm. Upon his father's death in 1864, he became, together with his brother Ernest and relative-by-marriage Charles Keidel, an heir of William Knabe & Company, remaining a member of the firm up to his own death. He died in January 1889 at Aiken, South Carolina, at the age of forty-seven.
Highlights
- Son of founder William Knabe; managed the firm's factories while brother Ernest ran the business
- Died suddenly in January 1889 at age 48
- Son of William Knabe, born in Baltimore in 1841
- Received a collegiate education plus practical training in piano mechanics inside his father's shop
- Died in January 1889 at Aiken, South Carolina, aged forty-seven, while still a member of the firm
Sources
Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 285.
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 132.
Public domain.