Timothy Gilbert

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Gilbert was born in Enfield, Massachusetts, and worked on his father's farm until the age of 21. He arrived in Boston December 1818, where he apprenticed with cabinet maker Levi Ruggles, and later worked for piano maker John Osborn before becoming a piano maker in his own right. He was an active member of the Baptist Church, to which he converted in 1817, and an outspoken abolitionist. He maintained his home as a station of the Underground Railroad, and on the passage of the Fugitive slave laws Gilbert announced in the papers that his door would remain open to runaway slaves. He was a member and director in a secular charitable organizations [president Female Medical Society in 1851 and 1852 - "Massachusetts State Record" James French Boston, 1851 p.178; "The Massachusetts Register" no.86, George Adams, Boston, 1852 p.287; director in the American Peace Society "The Advocate of Peace for years 1864-5" American Peace Society, Boston ] and served as president of the Boylston Bank from 1855 to 1860.

Gilbert married Mary Wetherbee in 1823 (Ashburnham, Mass., July 7, 1796—December 1843), and their only child, Mary Eunice, was born June 8, 1827. Following Mary's death, Gilbert married Alice Davis November 28, 1844, and in 1846 they adopted Alice (b.April 23, 1846). Their second daughter, Martha Fear Gilbert, was born April 27, 1847.

Gilbert died July 19, 1865 at his home in Boston. His funeral was held at the Tremont Temple at the expense of the Evangelical Baptist Benevolent and Missionary Society, both of which he had been instrumental in forming. He is buried at Mount Auburn cemetery.

=Pianos=

Currier & Gilbert

Gilbert entered a partnership with piano maker Ebenezer Currier ( 1801- 1835) ["Ebenezer Ransom Currier (121135)" "Currier Family Records of U. S. A. and Canada" vol.2, 1984 p.55 ; ] by 1826, [Boston Directory, 1826] and they were listed at 393 Washington street by 1829, ["Boston Directory" 1829] but dissolved that spring. Currier, with new partner Philip Brown, opened a showroom on the first floor, where they offered "all kinds of Upright & Horizontal Piano Fortes...embracing the latest improvements," ["Boston Directory" 1830] and in 1831 he patented a square piano with hammers above the strings. [ Ebenezer R. Currier "Horizontal Pianoforte" United States Patent no. X6507 April 22, 1831; Spillane drew attention to this patent for its suggestion of a seven octave compass in a square before 1840 - Daniel Spillane "History of the American Piano-forte" D. Spillane, New York 1890 p.96
International Musical Instruments, Inc. of Marion, North Carolina registered the Currier name for use on pianos in 1969, and were purchased by the Kaman Corporation and reorganized as Currier Piano Company, Inc. in 1972. Currier closed 1982 and its assets were assigned the Kaman Aerospace Corp. in 1982, and to Kaman Music Corp. in 1989 - "Currier" United States Trademark 72,328,059 March 17, 1970 Trademark Assignment Record reel/frame 0230/0499, 0432/0276, 0613/0138; Larry Fine "The Piano Book" The Brookside Press, Boston. 1987. p.87]

T. Gilbert, T. Gilbert & Co.

402 and 406 Washington street

Gilbert established his own factory in Osborn's former workshops at 402 Washington street, [or home - Darcy Kuronen "John Osborne" "The Encyclopaedia of the Piano" p.256] and admitted Henry Safford as a partner by 1837, changing the firm to Timothy Gilbert & Company. ["Musical Instruments - Piano-fortes" "First Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association" Dutton and Wentworth, Boston 1837; Safford appears to have taken over the retail portion of the business in 1852, after which he continues to list the same address as Gilbert & Co., although he is no longer listed as a partner in the concern.] In 1837 T. Gilbert & Co. were awarded a silver medal for one of the pianos they showed at the Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, placed after fellow Boston manufacturers Chickering & Co., Wilkins & Newhall, and Hallet & Allen for their tone and slightly heavy touch, ["First Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association" p.41-42] but were removed from competition at the following exhibition for advertising "the fact, that they have not, to their knowledge, a personal friend among the selected judges." ["Musical Instruments and Bells - III. Keyed String Instruments" "The Second Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association" Isaac R. Butts, Boston, 1839 p.103-104] They received a silver medal for a horizontal piano at the 1839 Franklin Institute exhibition in Philadelphia, ["Report of the Committee on Premiums and Exhibitions, Tenth Exhibition of Domestic Manufactures" "Journal of the Institute of the State of Pennsylvania and Mechanics' Register." New Series, Vol. XXII. The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia 1839 p.305] and a diploma for third best square piano at the 1841 exhibition in Boston. ["Musical Instruments and Bells - III. Keyed Stringed Instruments - Common Square Piano Fortes" "The Third Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association" T. R. Marvin, Boston 1841 p.86]

In 1841 Gilbert patented improvements in uprights in which he claimed a spring attached to the hammer butt for the combined purposes of returning the hammer to its resting position, reseating the damper against the strings, and keeping the hammer in communication with the key, and he also included a screw adjustment for jack position and damper timing, and a secondary notch on the hammer butt to facilitate shakes and trills. [Timothy Gilbert "Manner of constructing the Action part of Pianofortes" United States Patent no. 1,970 February 10, 1841 ] The same year, Gilbert was assigned tuner Edwin Fobes' patent for manufacturing hammers with a layer of soft leather covering a block of cork glued to the top portion of the hammer molding, [Edwin Fobes "Manner of constructing the Hammer-heads used in Pianofortes" United States Patent no. 1,971 February 10, 1841] and he later purchased the Massachusetts license to manufacture pianos with the "Aeolian attachment" patented by the independent mechanic Obed Coleman in 1844, [advertisement "Boston Almanac" 1856; Nunns & Clark would also license the aeolian attachement.] which fitted a simple reed organ onto the bottom plank of an ordinary square piano, arranged to be played by the ordinary piano keys. [Obed M. Coleman "Pianoforte" United States Patent no. 3,548 April 17, 1844; [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Complete_Encyclopaedia_of_Music/A/Aeolian_attachment "Aeolian attachment"] John Weeks Moore "A Complete Encyclopaedia of Music" 1880 (wikisource); mechanic and inventor J. A. Bazin claimed the first batch of reeds he delivered Gilbert were tuned in equal temperament - Robert F. Gellerman "The American Reed Organ and the Harmonium" p.15]

William H. Jameson joined the company as a partner about 1843, and became Gilbert's son in law, marrying Gilbert's daughter Mary Eunice.

400 Washington street

In 1847 Gilbert & Co. erected a new factory at 400 Washington street. ["Dorchester Directory", 1850] The same year Gilbert patented a cast iron frame for grand pianos with the ordinary resisting bars combined with bars perpendicular to the strings—one of which was to be connected with the front edge of the sounding board—in order to prevent the case sides from twisting, [Timothy Gilbert "Metallic Frame for Pianofortes" United States Patent no. 5,202 July 24, 1847] as well as a double action for horizontal pianos with springs meant to support the weight of the hammers and dampers in order to lighten the touch of the keys. [Timothy Gilbert "Piano-forte Action" United States Patent no. 5,216 August 7, 1847]

In 1850 Gilbert listed $80,000 capital, with 80 workers and sales worth $112,500—the second largest piano manufacturer in Boston after Chickering and Sons, ["U. S. Manuscript Census of Massachusetts, 1850, schedule 5, Suffolk County, City of Boston, ward 7"] having made more than 4,400 pianos to date. Gilbert's personal fortune was estimated as $100,000. [Abner Forbes and J. W. Green "The Rich Men of Massachusetts" W. V. Spencer, Boston. 1851 p.20; The 1850 Census gives this as $75,000]

In 1851 Gilbert patented actions for horizontal and vertical pianos where escapement was operated by a lower extension of the hammer butt instead of by a fixed button in order to reduce the number of parts to allow a lighter touch, and with an additional projection to limit the motion of the jack to improve repetition. [Timothy Gilbert "Pianoforte Action" United States Patent no. 8,389 September 30, 1851; Timothy Gilbert & Co. [http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=51017&coll_keywords=&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_
] 1854. Musical Instruments, accession number 1980.269, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston] They granted their New York and general agencies to Horace Waters the same year, and Waters advertised their iron frame squares with the circular scale as well as upright grands and boudoir pianos. [advertisement "Statistical Gazetteer of the State of Virginia...to 1854" Richard Edwards, Richmond, 1855p.434; advertisement "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" November 5, 1853 p.4] Gilbert & Co. received honorable mention for a square piano with the Aeolian attachment at the 1851 London Exhibition, ["A List of Awards to United States Contributors at the Great Exhibition of all Nations." "New York Times" October 29, 1851 p.2] a silver medal for the second best piano at the 1851 American Institute fair, ["Premiums awarded... [at] the Twenty-Forth Annual Fair of the American Institute - Piano Fortes and Organs" "Transactions of the American Institute of the City of New York for the Year 1851" Charles Van Benthuysen, Albany. 1852. p.647] and a bronze medal for the third best square at the 1853 Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. ["Musical Instruments" "The Seventh Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association" Damrell & Moore and George Coolidge, Boston 1853 p.95 - "exclusive of the Eolian attachment"]

484 Washington street

By 1853 their address changed to 484 Washington. [George Adams "A Guide Book to Boston and Vicinity" Damrell and Moore, Boston, 1853 p.48 ] Brayley, writing in 1915, described that the warerooms were connected by bridges with the factory across the yard, and an underground passage connected the machine shop with the boiler room, "which was said to be a refuge for runaway slaves". [Arthur W. Brayley, "The First Piano in the United States" "The Boston Globe", May 9, 1915]

In 1856 they advertised they had made upwards of 6,000 pianos, as many as 2,300 with the Aeolian attachment. [Boston Almanac, 1856] They were awarded a bronze medal for the third best grand action piano at the American Institute Fair, after Chickering & Sons and Steinway & Sons, [ "List of Premiums awarded by the managers of the 28th annual fair of the American Institute, October, 1856 - Piano Fortes" "Transactions of the American Institute, of the City of New-York, for the year 1856" C. Van Benthuysen, Albany 1857 p.165] and a silver medal for a grand piano at the Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, ["Musical Instruments at the Eighth Exhibition Of the Mass. Charitable Mechanic Association." "Dwight's Journal of Music" vol.10, no. 11, Edward L. Balch, Boston, 1857. p.81] which they received again in 1860, where their grand piano was judged to be "an instrument of great excellence, and equalled by few." ["Musical Instruments" "The Ninth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association" Geo. C. Rand & Avery, Boston, 1860 p.117-118]

By 1865 the company was listed at 20 Beach street.

=Religion=

The Free Baptist Church

Gilbert was originally a member of the Charles Street Baptist church, but left it for the Federal Street church which was more aligned with his views on slavery—Fulton wrote it had been said Gilbert first tested his new congregation by "fill [ing] his pew with colored people [and that] no one objected", [Fulton p.50] but more recent accounts agree he was expelled from the Charles street church for this reason [Gary Collison "Anti-Slavery, Blacks, and the Boston Elite: Notes on the Reverend Charles Lowell and the West Church" "The New England Quarterly" vol. 61, No. 3. September 1988, p.419-429 ; Nancy C. Curtis "Black Heritage Sites: An African American Odyssey and Finder's Guide" ALA Editions 1996. p.295] —and left the Federal Street church April 1839 to join the Free Baptist church whose first services were held April 21, 1839 at Baldwin Place, with 82 attending and a sermon preached by Nathaniel Colver, with whom Gilbert had corresponded since Colver's lecturing tour the year before and who would be engaged as pastor of the Free Church that fall. [Jesse Leonard Rosenberger "Through Three Centuries: Colver and Rosenberger Lives and Times, 1620-1922" University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 1922 p.49-50]

The non-segregated, anti-slavery, temperance, and anti-secret society Free Church first met in a room on Tremont Row, then at Congress Hall, and at the Museum Building at the corner of Bromfield and Tremont Streets, [Justin A. Smith "Memoir of Rev. Nathaniel Colver, D. D." Durkee and Foxcroft, Boston, 1873 p.130-132 ] and by 1841 had 325 members [Margaret Lamberts Bendroth "Fundamentalists in the City: Conflict and Division in Boston's Churches" Oxford University Press, 2005. p.103 ]

The Tremont Temple

In 1843, Gilbert, S. W. Shipley, Thomas Gould and William S. Damrell raised $55,000 to purchase the failed Tremont Theater on School Street in order to establish a permanent and self-sufficient location. The building was remodelled at the additional cost of $22,000, during which time Gilbert left the management of his business with Jameson, and the Tremont Temple was dedicated December 1843—the free-seat church was supported by renting out the storefronts, offices and 2,000 seat hall. [Debra Gold Hansen "Women in the Female Anti-Slavery Society" "Strained Sisterhood: Gender and Class in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society" University of Massachusetts Press, 1993 p.84-85] The Tremont Temple burned on March 31, 1852, destroying a neighboring building . Initial estimates of the damage were about $200,000, besides the building insured at $42,000 which included A. J. Shepard's piano and music store, valued at $8,000, and Thomas Thompson's collection of paintings valued $45,000. ["Destruction of Tremont Temple, Boston, by Fire" "New York Times" April 1, 1852. p.1]

A new building designed by William Washburn was erected in its place, with a 124 feet by 72 feet main hall capable of seating 2,500, and smaller 1000 seat and 300 seat halls. It was intitially estimated at $100,000 fully furnished ["The New Tremont Temple" [from "The Traveller"] "Dwight's Journal of Music" vol.2, no. 21, 22, February 1853. p.162, p.172] but cost nearly $125,000, and meant to be offset by renting out 4 stores and a number of offices and studios, as well as the entire second story which was occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association. Th trustees transferred the deed to the newly incorporated Evangelical Baptist Benevolent and Missionary Society in 1858. [W. S. McKenzie "Boston to the Penobscot - Tremont Temple" "The New England Magazine" vol. 6, no. 34, 1888. p.377-380] The second Tremont Temple burned August 14, 1879, the loss estimated $200,000, insured for $100,000 ["Tremont Temple Burned" "New York Times" August 15, 1879 p.1]

American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention

Gilbert joined the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention, formed at the Tremont Chapel in 1840, [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=vVIEAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA537&as_brr=1&ei=N_GpR76DJ4eQjgH3idHeDA#PRA1-PA537,M1 "The Baptist Magazine for 1842"] vol. 34, Houlston and Stoneman, London. 1842. p.537] which published a series of inflammatory letters denouncing slave-holding as an ungraduated sin which precipitated a rift in the theoretically neutral Triennial Convention. [William Goodell "Slavery and Anti-Slavery; a History of the Great Struggle in Both Hemispheres" William Goodell, New York 1853 p.498-499] The abolitionists were excluded from the ballots at the 1841 convention, and lost an influential position on the Board of Foreign Missions, and in response the Anti-Slavery Convention formed their own provisional foreign committee in 1842. Gilbert was elected treasurer and was charged with collecting funds that otherwise would be donated to the American Board of Foreign Missions—he explained later "the majority of the abolitionists have not so much objection to receive the money of slaveholders, as to be associated with them in evangelizing the world, and thus, by the copartnership, acknowledge them to be Christians in good standing in the Baptist church." [Fulton, p.120]

Gilbert sent funds to missionaries, including Adoniram Judson and Jonathan Wade, providing they affirmed they were abolitionists, and even proposed establishing missions entirely independent of the Board of Foreign Missions, but refrained from joining the American and Foreign Missionary Society (later called the American Baptist Free Mission Society) [Edmund F. Merriam "A History of American Baptist Missions" American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia. 1900. p.91] which attracted many of his colleagues, stating "When I shall become convinced, that there is no good reason to hope that the old missionary organization will purge itself from the charge of receiving money in such a way as to enter into a copartnership with slaveholders, and giving its sanction to that wicked institution, then I shall be prepared to abandon them, not provisionally, but forever." [Fulton, p.123] In 1845 the Anti-Slavery Convention as well as the provisional committee were dissolved, after the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention and dissolution of the Triennial Convention, [Goodell p.500-504] and Gilbert joined the mainstream Missionary Union.

=References=

*Justin D. Fulton "Memoir of Timothy Gilbert". Lee & Shepard, Boston. 1866
*obituary "Annals of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, 1795—1892". Rockwell & Churchill, Boston. 1892