Henry Steinert

print this page

Henry Steinert (b October 16, 1857, in Savannah, GA; d January 16, 1920, in New Haven, CT) was the eldest son of Morris Steinert, the Steinway & Sons agent for New England, and Caroline Steinert.(8) Henry for a time took part in the family business, managing a store in Cincinnati, but he was always overshadowed by his younger brother Alexander Steinert.(2, p. 186)

Born in October of 1857, as his father was preparing to move the family to Thomasville, GA, where Morris had just accepted a position teaching music at a girl's school, Henry was raised in New Haven and in 1878 or 1879 moved to Providence, RI, with his younger brother, Alex, who managed their father's music store in Providence.(2, p. 124)(6)(7) In 1887, Morris sent Henry to Cincinnati to manage the newly acquired Steinway & Sons dealer there.(Diary, 1887-01-09) This “western” business ultimately proved to be a disappointment and was sold, with Morris Steinert blaming conditions in the music trade in Cincinnati, not his son Henry, for its poor performance.(2, pp. 186-87)

During the time he managed the Steinert business in Ohio, Henry met Mattie Barkhouse, who was from from Louisville, KY, just across the Ohio river from Cincinnati. They were married in 1891 in Louisville and had a son, Morris.(4) There was a family falling-out around the time of the Blumenberg libel suit(3), after Henry left the family business in the spring of 1894, he and his wife settled in Philadelphia. Henry eventually purchased the name and goodwill of William D Sutton & Co., a troubled piano dealer in Philadelphia.(1) Henry relocated to New Haven, CT, after the failure of William D Dutton, and he once again worked for his father’s business.(5)

William Steinway met Henry Steinert when he visited Providence, RI, on business in 1879. William relates kissing the new Mrs. Steinert at a clambake in New Haven shortly Henry’s and Mattie’s wedding in June of 1891.(Diary, 1891-06-20).

[lgh]

 Sources:

1. “Henry Steinert Assigns,” The Music Trade Review 1897 XXV no 21, p. 9.

2. Marlin, Jane. The Reminiscences of Morris Steinert. New York and London: G.P. Putnam and Sons (The Knickerbocker Press), 1900.

 3. “M. Steinert & Sons Co.,”The Music Trade Review, 1894 XVIII no 19, p .9.

4. The Music Trade Review, 1891 B p.448.

5. The Music Trade Review, 1894 XIX  no 9, p. 8.

6. U.S. Census. The United States Census 1870, New Haven County, CT, p. 98.

7. U.S. Census. The United States Census 1880, Providence County, RI, Supervisor's District 121, Enumeration District 19, p.8.

8. www.ancestry.com, Jewish online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR)

accessed October 27, 2011.