Baldwin
Revd Dr William M. Marshall
Baldwin
Baldwin
Baldwin, American firm of instrument makers. The firm was founded by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin (b. North East, Pa., Sept. 15, 1821; d. Cincinnati, Aug. 23, 1899), a minister and school singing teacher, in Cincinnati in 1862. In 1866 Lucien Wulsin (b. 1845; d. Aug. 4, 1912) joined the firm as a clerk. In 1873 he became a partner and the firm became D.H. Baldwin & Co. The company established its reputation as a dealer in keyboard instruments. In 1889 its subsidiary, the Hamilton Organ Co. of Chicago, began to make reed organs. Another subsidiary, the Baldwin Piano Co. of Cincinnati, began making a line of affordable upright pianos in 1891. Wulsin purchased control of the company with another partner, George W. Armstrong Jr. (b. Cincinnati, Aug. 18, 1857; d. there, June 27, 1932), in 1903. Wulsin headed the company until his death, and then Armstrong led it from 1912 to 1926. Lucien Wulsin Jr. (b. Cincinnati, March 17, 1889; d. there, Jan. 13, 1964), was head of the company from 1926 until his death. In 1947 the Baldwin electronic organ was introduced for church and home use. The company took control of the Bechstein piano firm of Berlin in 1963. In 1965 the company introduced the Baldwin SD-10 concert grand piano. The company became one of the largest of its kind through its production of a broad range of instruments.
—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire