Prescott Organ Company

Unfortunately, this is just about all the information that’s survived the passing of time on the Prescott organ Co.

Abraham Prescott was a bass viol maker in Deerfield, NH from 1809 and Concord, NH from to 1831.

He began making lap organs patterned after Bazin's elbow melodeon in 1836, followed by melodeons; changed the firm name to Abraham Prescott & Son when his son Abraham J. came into the business in 1845.

About 1849 the name A. Prescott & Sons was used. Abraham retired in 1850, and sons Josiah B. and Joseph W. joined the firm which was renamed Prescott and Brothers, and in 1853 Prescott Brothers, located at No. 3, Merchants' Exchange (upstairs) and later at the South end of Main St. near the railroad.

Joseph W. Prescott withdrew from the company in 1853 and went into business for himself as a melodeon maker. Josiah died in 1857 and the youngest brother George D.B. Prescott joined in 1859. The name was changed to Prescott Organ Co. in 1871 and incorporated in 1881.

They began manufacturing pianos in 1886 and in 1887 changed the name to Prescott Piano & Organ Co. When organ production ceased in 1891 the name was changed to Prescott Piano Co. In 1890 the office and factory was located at 71 South Main St. and the sales rooms were at 92 North Main St., Concord.

The factory burned in 1896, and the company went out of business in 1912, ending the corporate life of one of the pioneers of the American reed organ industry. Serial numbers: 1845 - 515 & 541, 1848 - 1270.