Wm. Knabe & Co.
William Knabe was an American industrialist and piano-manufacturer, based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Knabe was German-born, and moved to the United States as a young man, where he settled in Baltimore, intending to live there only briefly before moving on to Missouri. He began working for a piano maker, and wound up staying in Baltimore. In 1837, Knabe and a partner formed a company called Knabe & Gaehle, which eventually gained a dominant position in the American piano business. In 1854, Gaehle and Knabe parted ways, and Knabe formed a company called Wm. Knabe & Co.