Albert Steinway (1840–1877)

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Albert Steinway was born in Seesen, Germany on June 10, 1840 and died in New York City on May 14, 1877 from a sudden case of typhoid fever. He was only 36. On October 4, 1865, Albert married Louise Albertine Kreischer, the daughter of prominent Staten Island brickmaker Balthazar Kreischer, and together they had two daughters, Henriette Julia Steinway and Ella Frederica Steinway. 

Albert was William’s youngest and brother and the two were very close, spending many evenings together in each other's homes playing cards along with their wives and other relatives. William was deeply affected by his death. While Albert's funeral ceremony was taking place in another room at Steinway Hall, William was in his office “seized with a paroxysm of grief and despair of the most alarming kind," as William wrote in his diary. Like his brothers, Albert spent his career at Steinway & Sons, where he became a full partner at the age of 21 and oversaw every aspect of piano production with “Profound competence, managing the militant 420-man workforce, scouring the country for the finest woods, and supervising constant revision and expansion of the Steinway factories. Albert was held in such high regard by factory workmen that many petitioned to attend his elaborate Steinway Hall funeral and were granted their wish to serve as pall-bearers. Albert was involved not only in the Steinway and Sons pianomaking business filing several patents, but was also heavily involved in planning and overseeing the development of Astoria. Albert’s grandson, his daughter Henriette’s son, Frederick Vietor, was later involved with the Steinway and Sons business, poised to become president of the firm before his death at age 50.

German-born but dedicated to his adopted country, Albert enlisted in the New York State Militia in 1861 during the early stages of the Civil War and served as a private in the Seventh Regiment which established communications with Washington at the very early stages of the conflict and also participated in the occupation of Arlington Heights, VA in May of 1861. He later served as a lieutenant in the Fifth Regiment of the New York Infantry National Guard which saw duty in the area of Harrisburg, PA in July of 1863 and then later that month in New York City during the Civil War Draft Riots.

 

Sources

Fostle, D. W. The Steinway Saga: An American Dynasty. New York: Scribner, 1995
Maniha, Ken and Richard Riley, Descendants of Henry Englehard Steinway
The New York Times, May 17, 1877
Steinway, William. The William Steinway Diary, 1861–1896