Morris Steinert

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Morris Steinert (b March 9, 1831 Scheinfeld, Bavaria; d. January 12, 1912 New Haven, CT) was very a successful Steinway & Sons dealer for New England. Steinert, who was Jewish, had a collegial and friendly relationship with William Steinway for nearly 25 years.

Morris Steinert emigrated to the United States a young, single man in the decade before the American Civil War. He worked in Sharon, NY, and then in several southern cities as a piano teacher and tuner.(1) After settling in Savannah, he sent to New York City for his fiancee, Carolyn Dreyfus, to whom he was formally introduced  in New York but whom he had originally met in Germany.  They married in January of 1857.(1, p. 120) Together they had nine children, including sons Henry (1857)  and Alex (1861) whom he groomed to take over the business.(1, chapters 6 and 7) With the start of the Civil War, Morris Steinert’s teaching business in Georgia declined and, shortly after the birth of Alex the family moved north to New York City for a short time, and then finally settled in New Haven, CT.(1, p. 149)

In New Haven in 1865, Morris Steinert opened a music store selling used instruments and sheet music in 1861.(1, chapter 9)  Eventually he sold pianos of his own manufacture. But initially after negotiations with various well-known piano manufacturers, he became an agent for Steinway pianos in New Haven in 1874 and for Steinway pianos in Providence, RI, and  Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, MA, in 1883 (Diary, 1883-11-06). His business was very successful, with Steinert ordering in some years hundreds of pianos from Steinway and Sons.

Steinert had a passion for music, and especially 18th century music and saw that his children were educated in music as well as the family business. His passion spurred the collection of antique pianos and stringed instruments that he catalogued and donated to Yale University(2)   

Morris Steinert died of a stroke in 1912(3), but his sons continued to build and expand the family business. The business still exists—although no longer a Steinert family business—as a dealer for Steinway and other pianos in New England (4) 

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Sources:

 1. Marlin, Jane, The Reminiscences of Morris Steinert. New York and London: G.P. Putnam and Sons (The Knickerbocker Press), 1900, p. 1.

2. Steinert, Morris, The M Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments, Charles Tretbar, Steinway Hall, New York, 1893.

3. “Obituary,” The New York Times, January 22, 1912, p. 9.

4.  http://www.msteinert.com/about/

accessed November 3, 2011