Draft:The Chase Piano Company

History
In 1863, Milo J. Chase established the Chase Brothers in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Chase Piano Company emerged in Richmond, Indiana when Milo J. Chase purchased the Trayser Piano Company in 1878 from George Trayser upon his retirement. The firm was renamed the Chase Piano Company and was recapitalized with $100,000 stock insurance. Previously, Chase had been the president and general manager of the Trayser Piano Company and had assisted with operations since the company's origins in Ripley, Ohio, before it was moved to Richmond in 1872. When Chase assumed ownership of the piano firm, James Starr became the new company president and Richard Jackson the secretary-treasurer. Both Starr and Jackson had funded the company's 1872 move from Ripley to Ohio. The Chase Piano Company purchased a salesroom at 710 Main Street and the Chase Piano factory quickly grew from one building to a "mammoth complex." This included a new, four story factory along the Whitewater River which could produce 10-15 pianos a week. By 1883, the factory had 150 employees

Around this time, Milo J. Chase withdrew his stakes from Richmond and retreated to Michigan where the Chase family had already been leading piano manufacturers for several decades. The Richmond factory would eventually be renamed the James M. Starr & Co. and in 1893, the Starr Piano Company.