2004-10-30/2019-10-16 - From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, rev. ed., by David H. Fox (Organ Historical Society, 1997). — With Farrand & Votey of Detroit, Michigan; with Hall Organ Co.; with Western Electric; inventor; died July 21, 1929 in La Grange, Illinois, age 59. Patent #531,077; December 18, 1894; coupler. Source: The Diapason: August 1929, 31. Information taken from the text of the United States patent listed above.
2018-05-07/2019-10-16 - From Database Builders editor, Stephen Hall, December 17, 2016. — This is an expansion of the original note, as an editorial effort to supply dates: With Farrand & Votey of Detroit, Michigan; [Farrand & Votey was active between 1887-1897, this provides us with the earliest possible start date and latest possible end date for Wales to be with the firm. The firm started out as a reed organ maker, it did not become an organ builder until 1889. 1] With Hall Organ Co.; [This is the Hall Organ Co. started by Harry Hall in in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1898; he relocated the firm to West Haven, Connecticut; and incorporated the firm in 1912. It remained in business until the 1940s, although there were changes in management starting around 1925 when Hall sold the firm. This change may have been the reason for Wales leaving the company, it fits in the general time frame, but there is no firm evidence to support this conjecture.2] With Western Electric; inventor; [In 1882, the Bell Telephone company acquired a controlling interest in the Western Electric Manufacturing Company of Chicago and transformed it into the Western Electric Company, their supply and distribution subsidiary. By 1925, Western Electric had split off its general electrical equipment manufactory concerns as a new company, Graybar Electric, and concentrated on its work for Bell Telephone. Its headquarters and research laboratory remained in Chicago with manufacturing and distribution centers around the country.3] Died July 21, 1929 in La Grange, Illinois, age 59. [That places his birth between July 22, 1869 and July 21, 1870 4.] Sources: OHS Database Entry Builder ID=1956, Farrand & Votey. OHS Database Entry Builder ID=2542, Hall Organ Co. Western Electric Co. http://westernelectric.com/static/library/corporate-history/western-electric-the-story-of-western-electric.pdf, Accessed 17 December 2016. Calculation.
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