| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati, OH | August 19, 2023 |
At one time, the Baldwin Piano Company was the largest piano-manufacturing and piano-selling company in the United States. It began production in 1891 by making classic, upright pianos and broadened to concert grand pianos in 1895. The company was founded by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin, who previously taught violin and reed organ lessons and operated a music store. He died in 1899 and is buried in section 86 of Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1862, nearly 30 years before he launched Baldwin Piano Company, the entrepreneur opened a piano and organ retail shop in Cincinnati. In 1866 he hired Civil War veteran Lucien Wulsin as a bookkeeper. Wulsin was a crucial hire, as he later became partners with Baldwin and he steered the BPC into the 20th century after Baldwin’s death as the company’s president. Another important hire was inventor and technician John Warren Macy, the person who actually designed the initial Baldwin piano in 1891 and its first grand piano four years later.
Fast Facts
Born: September 15, 1821 in Erie County, Pennsylvania
Spouse: Anna Emerine Summers Baldwin (m. 1844-1899)
Died: August 23, 1899 in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio
Age: 77
Interment: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio
"...the best piano that could be built."
- Dwight Hamilton Baldwin
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
baldwinpiano.com. “The Baldwin Story.” Accessed April 29, 2024. https://www.baldwinpiano.com/history.html.
