James Warren York (more commonly known as J. W. York) was a musician, businessman, business owner and

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

innovator. York was born November 24, 1839, in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

, and died February 9, 1927, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. York, a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

player in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

, theaters, started an instrument repair company in the latter part of the 19th century. Two partnerships, "Smith and York" in 1883 and "York and Holton" in 1885, were reformed into the "J.W.York and Company" instrument manufacturing company in 1884. In 1887, to celebrate the birth of his son Charles E. York, the business was renamed "York & Son". In 1898, the birth of his other son, Frank W. York, prompted him to rename the business "York & Sons". The business went through other name changes ("J.W. York", "J.W. York and Sons", "J.W. York Band Instrument Co", "J.W. York Instrument Co.") before finally settling on "

York Band Instrument Company The York Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer in Grand Rapids, Michigan. History James Warren York was a former army musician and played professionally in the Grand Rapids, Michigan theaters. He eventually decided to ...

". In 1917, York retired from the musical instrument manufacturing business and moved to California. It was here that, in 1927, he died.

External links

International Tuba Euphonium Association; ITEA Journal, Volume 31, Number 4, Summer 2004

{{DEFAULTSORT:York, James Warren Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United States 1839 births 1927 deaths