American manufacturer, born in Seesen, 24 miles S. of Wolfenbüttel, in March 1836. His father, Henry Engelhard (1797–1871), was a manufacturer of musical instruments there, but, wearied with the tyrannies of the trade guilds, removed his family in 1850 to New York. The elder Steinway, with his sons, worked for a time as journeymen in piano-manufacturing establishments, until in 1853 he founded the house of Steinway and Sons. In their pianos they made constant improvements, in the action, the resonance, and the frame, until they were recognized as the most durable and pure-toned of instruments. The house grew wealthy and established famed concert-halls in London and New York. William rose, after his father’s death, to be the head of the house. He was one of the committee to break up the Tweed Ring in 1871; a member of the Democratic national convention of 1888; a Presidential elector in 1892, and president of the New York Rapid Transit Commission. He died on the 30th of November 1896 in New York.
