Statesville, June 23—An ancient piano, possibly the oldest in America, was incidentally discovered in Statesville yesterday. The discovery was made in the basement of a negro’s house by a local relic hunter who was looking for an antiquated specimen of a familiar brand of pianos.
The instrument in question was identified by Charles W. Hyams as being the piano which his great-grandfather, Solomon Hyams, brought to this country from Prussia in the year 1744. The signature of the maker, George Heuble, and his seal were pasted on the inside of the piano, thus making identification of this valued relic a certainty.
Mr. Hyams stated that until yesterday he had not hear of the piano in 40 years. He said that 45 years agto his father employed Prof. Gruber, the first piano tuner who ever came to Statesville, to put the instrument in good order, and that was about 40 years ago. His father sold it and replaced it with a piano of the latest model of that day. Prof. Gruber made the statement when he did the work nearly half a century ago that the instrument was in all probability at that time the oldest in America, and his wide knowledge of musical instruments would give weight to his opinion.
This instrument, which was brought to America from Prussia 170 years ago—and no one knows how old it was when it made its first voyage across the stormy Atlantic—was made of solid mahogany and is now in a fair state of preservation. The wires are rusted and broken, but the keys are there, though in all probability its “voice is forever still.” Its exterior shows a large number of brass ornaments and nude figures.
The instrument will be purchased and preserved as a relic.
From the front page of The Concord Times, Monday, June 25, 1923
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