William Marcellus Goodrich (* 21 July 1777 in
Templeton,
Worcester County,
Massachusetts; † 15 September 1833) was an
organ builder in the
United States.
Biography
He was the son of Ebenezer and Beulah Goodridge. His father was a farmer. As a young man, William changed his family name to "Goodrich" and added the middle name "Marcellus". At the age of 21, he began working for
Benjamin Crehore
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thi ...
, a maker of musical instruments. He duplicated
Maelzel's panharmonium and traveled the countryside with that to exhibit it. In 1809 he moved to
East Cambridge and established a factory.
His brother Ebenezer Goodrich worked with him for a time, as did his brother-in-law, cabinet maker Thomas Appleton (1785-1872, not to be confused with writer and artist
Thomas Appleton). His sisters were artists
Sarah Goodridge
Sarah Goodridge (February 5, 1788 – December 28, 1853; also referred to as Sarah Goodrich) was an American painter who specialized in portrait miniatures. She was the older sister of Elizabeth Goodridge, also an American miniaturist.
Life
Goodr ...
and
Elizabeth Goodridge
Elizabeth (Eliza) Goodridge (March 12, 1798 – April 18, 1882) was an American painter who specialized in miniatures. She was the younger sister of Sarah Goodridge, also an American miniaturist.
Early life
Goodridge was born in Templeton, Ma ...
.
Work
William M. Goodrich of
Boston, Massachusetts, was an important American builder of a large number of notable
pipe organs
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
from its inception in 1805 until its closure in 1833. Goodrich had a major part in introducing free reeds.
"In June, 1811, Maelzel's Pan Harmonicon was brought to Boston, from Europe, and Mr. Goodrich was employed in putting it up, and in exhibiting it. In September, 1811, it was taken down, and removed to New-York, where it was put up for exhibition. In doing this, also, Mr. Goodrich was employed. It was afterwards removed to other cities;"
"*
..Most of the dates, contained in this account of his life, were given by Mr. Goodrich to the writer, altogether from memory. It Is possible, therefore, that some portion of them may not be strictly persons, whose inclinations and pursuits corresponded with his own."
[The New-England Magazine, v. 6 (1834), pp. 25-45.]
Online
See also
*
Anton Reinlein
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodrich, William M
19th-century American people
American musical instrument makers
American clockmakers
People from Boston
1777 births
1833 deaths