Let's just say I was inspired by our PW friends who recently made the trip to Europe to see the many fine piano-related things there were to see (very cool, btw--thanks for sharing your pics!)... And let's just say, then, that being inspired, I arranged a piano-related "Stay-cation" for myself here in northern Illinois! And let's just say, further then, that I learned so much on my little field trip, and yet still have so many un-answered questions about what I saw, that I'm compelled to open a thread, here! But I'll need to share it in serial fashion because there is so much...

This mini-adventure started about a year ago, on a rainy day in April, when I wheeled an old, unwanted Schiller console off of a neighbor's front porch and somehow managed to wrestle it down the basement stairs without killing anyone involved. Some of you might remember this thread. The Schiller still sits in the basement, thusly:


My 1930 Schiller console


...It sits thusly because I have been concentrating on refurbishing my little Lester spinet and my big Haddorff upright. Still, since taking in the Schiller, I have been curious about its history.

Some of you may know from other posts that I am a rather child-spirited novice when it comes to all things piano--simultaneously curious, eager to learn, ready to bare my soul and share my mistakes, failures and successes, quick to laugh and quick to cry and still very much a "blank slate" with a swiss-cheese kind of knowledge (lots of holes...including in my metaphors!...). Imagine my surprise to discover that this Schiller, pictured above, was built in Oregon, Illinois, a mere 20 miles away along the banks of the beautiful Rock River. Imagine my wonder to discover by a quick Internet search that the building where this piano was built still stands, having been partially renovated into retail mall space. Imagine my excitement at being introduced by a mutual friend to the owner of the property of said mall, who was more than willing to give me a nickel tour of the out-of-the way spaces where the Schiller history reaches out of the past and begs to be told.

So, after a quick phone call, I fueled up the vehicle and drove down Rte. 2, which follows the Rock River through Black Hawk country...


Statue of "The Eternal Indian" overlooking the Rock River, 2 miles from Oregon, Illinois at Lowden State Park


...to Oregon, Illinois, where settler John Phelps started it all by building a cabin in 1833,


Oregon, Illinois viewed from the vantage point of "The Eternal Indian"


...and where the Chana schoolhouse was built 50 years later, in 1883,


The bell tower reads "S. Dist. No. 7, Pine Rock, 1883"

...to meet Lou Vander Wyst, current owner and manager of the Conover Square mall.

Years prior to this, around 1800, Sauk and Mesquakie (Fox) leaders ceded to the United States all their tribal lands east of the Mississippi river--about 50 million acres! For this, they received a parcel of land in Iowa, and a promise from the young United States government for an ongoing payment of $1,000 a year. Black Hawk, an elderly Sauk warrior, stayed in Illinois vowing not to attack, but vowing also not to leave. He led a group of about 1,000 men, women and children north along the Rock River, calling on the remaining tribal villages to join them in a move to reclaim their land.


Black Hawk


On May 14, 1832, three Sauk messengers were shot by men from the Illinois militia. Apparently, the white flag that the Sauk were carrying did not convince the militia of the Sauk's true intentions. As a result, Black Hawk's warriors retaliated, and while outnumbered 12 to 1, won the fight that was called, "The Battle of Stillman's Run." And so began the "Black Hawk War." As the war moved north along the Rock River, however, other tribes refused to join Black Hawk. His group dwindled, suffering losses at every turn. On August 27, after being pushed into Wisconsin, Black Hawk surrendered. "I fought hard, but your guns were well aimed," is the established Black Hawk quote. United States forces involved in this action included three major notables: Zachary Taylor, Jefferson Davis, and Abraham Lincoln.


Looking north on the Rock River at Byron, IL, half-way between Oregon and Rockford


So what does this have to do with pianos?


F.G. Jones, founder of the Schiller Piano Company


Well, at about this time, the father and mother of Frederick George Jones were starting their lives in Canada. By the time he would reach middle age, Frederick George Jones, the son of a Canadian pioneer woman and an English immigrant tailor, would become the principle founder of the Schiller Piano Company. Frederick George arrived in Oregon, Illinois in 1865 at the age of 14 years old, a mere 30 years or so after the Black Hawk War. Another thirty years or so after that, having worked in various dry goods businesses in Oregon and Rockford, Illinois, F.G. Jones would begin to make his mark in piano manufacturing history.


Copy of page 1 of the statement of organization filed with the Illinois Secretary of State, August 29, 1892, showing the name of the company

The statement of organization reads: "State of Illinois, Department of State, Isaac N. Pearson, Secretary of State. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Whereas, a statement, duly signed and acknowledged has been filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, on the 29th day of August A.D. 1892, for the organization of the 'Schiller Piano Company,' under and in accordance with the provision of 'an act concerning corporations' approved April 18, 1892 and in force July 1, 1892, and all acts amendatory thereof, a copy of which statement is hereto attached."

(It's much more fun to read it in 19th century cursive... )

At $100 a share, F.G. Jones and 3 others chipped in a total of $25,000 to start the company, which four short years later weathered the Panic of 1896 and five years after that practically doubled in size.


Copy of page 2 of the statement of organization filed with Illinois Secretary of State, August 29, 1892, showing stockholders


So as I stood in the lobby of the Conover Square mall, having read these statements of organization--duly noted, copied and severally varnished to plywood--I pondered my first real question of the day: "Why would a man named F.G. Jones, with business partners named Connell, Jepson, and Corl, name the company 'Schiller'?"


From an undated tinted postcard


Stay tuned for the answer. I actually have one!

And please stay tuned for future questions, too, the answers for which I have none!...

Thanks for reading!
--Andy Strong

Sounds like a fascinating story developing!

Can't wait for the next installment !!!!!

Great stuff !!!!

Andy, the desk in your initial photo looks exactly like the one I'm sitting at as I type this. My father refurnished this desk probably 50 years ago. If I'm not mistaken the center part of your desk opens up and would hold a conventional typewriter. I use mine as a computer desk.

We love old piano stories! Looking forward to part 2.

Ah, the stuff piano forums are made of!!!

ah yes, the famous Unanswered Question at the end. A typical CB device familiar from the Postcards of Pianist Corner. I will be back for the answer.

thanks CB

Interesting thread!

I have an old Schiller upright piano. I think mine is a 1903 model or something like that… it had been refinished at some point and the spendles were changed and someone made a mirror paino out of it.

Here is a YT video of the old Schiller, if anyone is interested.

Old Schiller upright piano

Here is pic after I got it cleaned up.


Looking forward to more installments of the history of the Schiller Piano Company.

Rick

Ohmigosh, Rickster! I think we are kindred spirits! Your YouTube video reminds me of my first Haddorff Postcard! Last summer I picked up a big Haddorff upright for $150, and was so tickled with it, I made a recording to share with my PW friends. Like yours, it was tuned to a temperament that I called the RBFT--Randomly Beating Frontier Temperament. Canonie called it the "Scout Hall" piano sound. Did you happen to catch any of these last year? It is what Canonie is referring to in the post above:

Haddorff Postcard [No.1] with "Deep Purple"
Haddorff Postcard No.2 with "I Love Her"
Haddorff Postcard No.3 with "Yes, Sir! That's My Baby"
Haddorff Postcard No.4 with "Mistress Murphy's Chowder"
Haddorff Postcard No.5 with "All Alone"
Haddorff - (no postcard) with "He Wipes The Tear From Every Eye" played on the Haddorff
Haddorff Postcard No.6 with "Constantinople"
Haddorff Pictures (no postcard, yet)
Haddorff Postcard No.7 with a couple of Scriabin Preludes
Haddorff Postcard No. 8 with Bach Snippets
Haddorff Postcard No.9--A Haddorff Christmas Carol

(Sorry for dredging these up, again, folks, but they are kind of fun, and I'd hate for the work to go to waste. But it looks like this summer, instead of delving more deeply into Haddorff stuff, I will be telling a Schiller story! Haddorff and Schiller were regional neighbors and competitors! )

Rickster, According to the mysterious book of pianos, the serial number of your Schiller indicates it was built sometime between 1909 and 1910. Your video was a blast to watch and listen to! How much work have you had done on the Schiller? Or, is that covered in another thread?

Dave, about the desk--as far as I know, it is a standard issue military model. The middle drawer is a typical task drawer. There are two finished boards that slide out from underneath the top of the desk on either side of the task drawer to create more work surface. They are great desks, are they not? I like the way the piano's action fits so nicely on top!

Folks, I did some searching today of historical maps on the University of Illinois library website, to help put into context the answer to the question I left you with.

Stay tuned...

--Andy

Well, there's been a change of plan. Let me explain...

I went searching for some nice information to help put into context Mr. F.G. Jones's decision to name his company "Schiller," and I ran into something of an information roadblock. Because I had an idea about the way I wanted to tell this part of the story, I went to the Rockford Public Library's Local History Room, and posed some questions to one of our kind local history mavens, Jean Lythgoe, who gave me some good leads and prompted many thoughts. I called the public library of the village most likely to have the information I need, and discovered that, at that smallish library, local history is the purview of the town's Historical Society, which actually has hours at the public library, but only on Mondays and a few other odd hours. I left a message, but since I am heading that way on Monday for other business, I will take a few hours out of the day for... another field trip!

So, instead of part 2, let's skip ahead to part 3...

These next two installments are about the phenomenal growth of the Schiller Co. in its first five to ten years. The details at this point are few, but the picture itself is clear! First, let me show you the phenomenal growth of Illinois with some maps. (The hyperlinks that caption the maps will take interested history buffs to the University of Illinois "Historical Maps Online," where you can zoom in, out, and around each map and get a really good look at these fabulous artifacts.)

Somewhat shortly before the Black Hawk War, in 1822, Illinois was mapped by Joseph Yeager, and looked like this:


Geographical, statistical, and historical map of Illinois [1822]


Five years later, 1827, again, before the Black Hawk War, Illinois was mapped by Joseph Yeager and looked like this:


Geographical, statistical, and historical map of Illinois [1827]


By 1846, a decade or so after the Black Hawk War, Illinois was mapped by S. Augustus Mitchell and looked like this:


A new map of Illinois: with its proposed canals, roads, and distances from place to place along the stage and steamboat routes [1846]


And by 1879, as railroads were firmly established, Illinois was mapped by George Cram and looked like this:


Cram's railroad & township map of Illinois [1879]


Remember that F.G. Jones arrived in Oregon, IL in 1865 when he was 14 years old. And so, in some way, he saw the region grow from something like this:


Mitchell's 1847 Map Detail--Oregon is near "12/42"


to something like this, and more:


Cram's 1879 Map Detail--Oregon is near "X/42"


According to Mary Ellen Pourchot in "Music of a Young Illinois: 1830-1900," by 1876 pianos were all the rage in DeKalb County, which sits immediately adjacent to the east of Oregon's Ogle County. She notes that by 1854, Chicago was selling pianos "made by Messrs. Chickering, Gilbert, Hallet and Davis; Woodward and Brow and W.P. Emerson." Certainly, the roads and railroads crossing the state's countryside at this point made it possible to get pianos into relatively out-of-the-way places, far from their point of manufacture. I scanned a page of Mary Pourchot's little lecture tract, published in DeKalb in 1980 as "Gurler Chronicle No. 3," because it seems, now, like such an interesting artifact in itself! Note how the author depticts the growth in the number of pianos in McHenry County (adjacent north of DeKalb county) from 1855 to 1880. She then notes the 1884 census of personal property in Dekalb township, which counted 46 pianos and 95 organs and melodeons.


Pourchot, Mary Ellen. "Music of a Young Illinois: 1830-1900." Gurler Chronicle No. 3 (DeKalb, IL: Gurler Heritage Assoc.) 1980


Is it any wonder that a young and imaginative dry goods clerk by the name of F.G. Jones, who had traveled from Oregon, Illinois to Rockford and back over the course of some twenty-odd years, might look at the explosion in the piano's popularity and start saving his money for an enterprise of his own in his not-too-distant future?

Stay tuned! I will soon recount a tale of Schiller factory expansion.

Thanks for reading!
--Andy Strong

This has nothing to do with your story other than the fact that I too visited a piano factory in Oregon IL. I worked for the old Aeolian Corp. And one of our factories was the Cable Piano Co. In Oregon.When I joined the company I had to visit all of our factories. It was a fun couple weeks. There was a wonderful restaurant in town owned by an ex major league ball player whose name escapes me.

This has nothing to do with your story other than the fact that I too visited a piano factory in Oregon IL. I worked for the old Aeolian Corp. And one of our factories was the Cable Piano Co. In Oregon.When I joined the company I had to visit all of our factories. It was a fun couple weeks. There was a wonderful restaurant in town owned by an ex major league ball player whose name escapes me.

Ah, yes, Mr.Grantano! You have provided a preview to a future installment! The Schiller Co. became the Schiller-Cable Co. for a while, and subsequently Conover-Cable. I am guessing the factory you visited is the one I am about to describe, but Oregon was also home to two other piano companies for a time. Thanks so much for your reminiscence! Would you like to share the year of your visit?

I'm going to check into the name of the restaurant and the major league player you referred to. Since you mentioned baseball, you wouldn't be able to shed any light on this mystery, would you? This is located on the fourth floor of the factory:



It reads, in part, "Fenway Park,"

"McGwire Apes
Conway Giants"

and has a very lopsided box score! I take it from the other chalk writing that McGwire and Conway were the pitchers. I did some Internet searching and couldn't pull up any information...

Kindest regards,
--Andy

The year I was there was 1968. I had forgotten the year until
I dug through some old letters. One of them was from the Sales mgr. of the company
with a schedule of my visits to the factories, Rochester NY, The Bronx, Memphis, and
Oregon, IL.
As for your box score I have no info. at all. I do know that before there was an All Star game well known players formed "All Star teams and toured." Maybe that was such.

Very nice hint, sir! Thank you for all of that.

Please keep checking in. I'd love it if you would add to the story whenever you can!

This could be your above mentioned umpire, years look right.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTom_Gorman_(umpire)&ei=JJoITu22H-650AHJz6g7&usg=AFQjCNGcJYMTXAf_XI7DPZZRGyAcLxX1rg

Nice work, V!

Here it is in click-able fashion--a Wiki article on Tom Gorman:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Gorman_(umpire)

I still don't have your answer about the restaurant, yet, but stay tuned for that, too!

P.S.--Hey everybody! I took my second field trip, today, and got some very, very nice contextual information about how the Schiller Co. got its name. Now, I just have to write it up! Coming soon... Parts 4 and 2, in that order!

--Andy

Part 1, then 3, then 4, then 2 - sounds like a Reverse Well Thread.
(Or the firing order on a fourbanger.)

LOL! Yes, Mark--I am experimenting with intervals! Sorry this last one has been so wide! I talked to my tour guide Lou again today about the beginnings of the factory and its powerplant. Part 4 coming soon!

Cinnamonbear: thank you for starting such an interesting thread, taking the time to do the research, AND filling me in on the history of the area where I grew up. I spent my first 25 years living 50 or so miles from Rockford, and lots of summer weekends were spent at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit!

Well, JeanieA, let me offer you a virtual welcome back to the virtual region! Watch for Part 2, soon to follow Part 4, (in true Reverse Well Temperament fashion, as Mark R. noted), which will include some more pictures of northern Illinois taken this week that are sure to bring back memories. You may even be able to feel the humidity!

Thanks for chiming in! Good luck with that sheet music!

--Andy

Part 4

Did you catch the line in Part 3, in Mary Ellen Pourchot's lecture booklet about the history of music in early Illinois, where she said, "Clearly, by 1876 the piano held precedence over the bathtub, outnumbering it in the home up until 1905"? F.G. Jones no doubt saw the demand and was ready to invest in an enterprise. While it has been reported that Jones did not take an active role in managing the day to day affairs of the Company until 1895, still, he was the principle shareholder at its inception and must have been the visionary behind the endeavor.

As noted in Part 1, the Schiller Piano Company was established in 1892 along the banks of the Rock River. The river provided an important ingredient to the business equation: power. The weir at Oregon you see pictured below was reconstructed in the 1950s. Would it suprise you to know that it was none other than the Schiller Piano Company that first dammed the river at this site?


Conover Square Mall, center, is the former Schiller Co. piano factory, seen here recently from a park across the Rock River


As part of the initial construction project, the Schiller Co. needed a small dam and millhouse to power the factory. A system of pullies and belts drove machinery using the movement of the water through the sluice mill. Not long after, this system was upgraded to hydroelectric, which powered not only the Schiller factory, but eventually all of Oregon that wanted electricity. In fact, the enterprising F.G. Jones was president of Oregon Electric Light and Power Co., as well as president of Oregon Machine and Foundry, the latter of which must have come in very handy for making, say, cast iron plates for pianos.


Detail of the powerhouse at the Schiller piano factory from an early undated photo, probably early 1900s.


In the photos above and below, you can see the Schiller factory as the light-colored, flat-roofed building with shuttered windows that rises behind the powerhouse. The large gabled buildings are grain elevators belonging to the Neola Elevator Corp. (on the left) and the Oregon Cereal Co. (on the right). Note the large pulley wheel toward the center of the photo, above. Note, also, the electric lines coming from the mill house, indicating that this photo was taken after an early upgrade to hydroelectic power. Also, note the duct running horizontally along the roofline, toward the smoke stacks. This duct can be seen more clearly in the photo below.


Photo detail from of later undated photo (again, probably early 1900s) showing the hydroelectric plant at the Schiller piano factory


According to my tour guide and current owner of the property, Lou Vander Wyst, there was an extensive saw dust collection system in the building that funnelled the sawdust through dedicated ductwork and to a boiler in the powerhouse. The sawdust was used to fuel the boiler, presumably to generate heat and more power. Is the long exterior duct that can be seen in the photos, above, part of the sawdust collection system? The duct in the picture below is a remnant of this system. It is on the ground floor of the old factory, and appears to be the size of the external duct pictured above.


Ductwork on the ground floor of the old Schiller Piano Co. factory that was part of the sawdust collection system


According to application papers filed in 2002 with the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, the grain elevators came down sometime before 1910, making room for the piano company's future expansion and a water tower. The iron base of the water tower is still standing, and can be seen in the present day photo, above, to the right of the factory building. I am not sure why the water tower does not appear in the idealized illustrations, below, because it was erected in 1913. (I have some good pictures of the water tower and the remaining framework, which I will share later.)


Illustration of Schiller piano factory, ca. 1930, from a book recounting the history of Ogle County.



Detail of the powerplant from a different idealized illustration of the Schiller factory, ca. 1930



Revised illustration, ca. 1936, indicating a new partnership--the Schiller-Cable Co.


To gauge the momentum of the start of the Schiller Piano Company, I looked at the list of serial numbers in the Mysterious Piano Serial Number Book. (Lou V. had some photocopies of pages from the book of the relevant corporate lineages which he got from a piano tech who was trying to establish a piano restoration shop in the mall building. Lou was kind enough to share these pages with me. Alas, I still do not know the title of this mysterious tome.)

After a very rapid start over the first two years, the company endured several years of tenuous times. One local historian credited the continued viability of the company during these tough economic times to Jones' "deft management."

In its inagural year, from 1892 to 1893, the company produced 789 pianos. From 1893 to 1894, probably the first full year of production, workers turned out a whopping 2,245 pianos. One wonders, though, how the nation's economic climate effected the company. Somewhere in 1893, one of a series of Panics occured (Panic of 1893). Between 1894 and 1895, only 864 pianos were made. Between 1895 and 1896, production fell to 700 pianos, and between 1896 and 1897, the year of the Panic of 1896, only 400 pianos were made. Things started rolling again between 1897 and 1899, in which, two years in a row, 1,000 pianos were made. This was followed by a year with 1,600 pianos made. Between 1900 and 1901, the Schiller Co. topped its 1893-94 production level, with 2,300 pianos, and was seeing a steady increase of orders. By this time, news and the reputation of Schiller pianos had spread through the United States, into Hawaii, into Canada and over to Italy. It was time to expand again.

But what stress would this expansion put on the town of Oregon, Illinois?

A good place for a cliff-hanger, yes? But I will not leave you stranded this time. I promise!

--Andy Strong

Part 4, cont'd.


Headline from the front page of the Ogle County Republican, vol. 13, Oregon, Illinois, Oct. 3, 1901

On Thursday, October 3, 1901, readers of the Ogle County Republican were given the front page news, "IS STILL EXPANDING." This terse, cryptic headline was followed in smaller caps below that read, "The Schiller Piano Co has commenced to build greater." (In my notes, I had intitally mis-read the sub headline, "The Schiller Piano Co has commenced to build a crater." ) In what seems to be fairly balanced reporting despite the tone of an affront to those in the community who might have wanted a say in such matters, the article reads:

"The phenomenal growth of the Schiller Piano business for the past five years is being surpassed this year--and the Company quietly, without asking the advice or permission of our citizens, have gone to work and staked out an addition 56 by 80, and are now preparing the foundation for a three story building.

"This addition with another dry kiln that will be built at once, will give the company an output of 20 pianos a day and the way the old customers are increasing their orders and the demand from new customers, make it certain that the company will be compelled to run to the limit of their capacity to keep in sight of their orders."

[At this point, the article presents a paragraph recounting some community gossip in the way of insinuating nods and glances amongst those who know what happens to buisnessmen that over extend their reach, wink, wink. They fail. Clearly, these were the people not happy with the expansion. I wish now that I had copied it down, and I promise to go back and get it for you, because the wording is priceless! My sincere apologies for my lack of foresight! The article continues:]

"During the past month many very flattering compliments have been paid the Company by dealers in all sections of the country..."

The article notes that daily output is 12 finished pianos a day, and that orders average 15 a day. These orders come "from the best dealers in the country without any special effort being made for them. This speaks volumes for the quality of the Schiller piano..."


Warranty decal on a Schiller upright built in 1909 or 1910, signed by F.G. Jones, himself


"In the near future the Schiller Piano Company will be giving steady employment to 200 men at good wages. These wages are paid every 15 days, rain or shine. Pay days are never missed. That has been the rule of the Company ever since the present management took charge of its affairs.

"It must keep somebody looking after money as the labor pay roll now amounts to $10,000 a month and the supplies about $15,000 more.

"Where is the help that must be brought in going to live. [sic] At this point in time there is not a vancant house in the town. Here is an opportunity for the philanthropic capitalist to build some tenement houses they would readily rent at good prices to sure paying tenents."

The population in Oregon, Illinois in 1900 was 1,577. In contrast, the population of nearby Rockford was a little over 31,000, and Chicago was nearly 1,700,000. So, even with the burgeoning piano industry and its correlated business concerns, Oregon was still pretty much a small town. Hence, other front page news from the Ogle County Republican that immediately follows the Schiller expansion story:

"STEER ESTRAY--A two year old steer with a half-moon cut on the upper lob of left ear and tail bushed, has strayed from the Stewart farm 7 miles below Oregon. Any information should be given to R.W. King, Oregon, Ill."

Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The next installment, Part 2, will answer the question, "Why would a man named F.G. Jones, with business partners named Connell, Jepson and Corl, name the company 'Schiller'"? I will give you a hint: I may have to take another field trip! It looks like I may be headed to the Illinois Railway Museum in nearby Union, Illinois.

Until next time--Thanks for reading!
--Andy Strong

"No runs, no hits, and no errors. Bottom of the seventh. Gettin' late! Giants 24, Apes, 0"

Back in the late 1960's, I had an upright with a decal that said:

"Bachmann Oregon, Ill."

Was that a stencil brand from Schiller or Cable, or from another maker in town?

Ah! For the days when you could do as you pleased on your OWN PROPERTY without having to ask "Mother may I?" of every Liberal within 400 miles.

Many people think as you do... the Unibomber was one...

I had to dig this one up, as the wife and I go shoping there(at the factory) frequently.
The only player that I recall having a resturant around theses parts is Cubs third baseman Stan Hack. He had a resturant just down the road in Grand Detour.