Albert K. Keller, 1852-1942
Nickel-in-the-Slot
Phonograph Pioneer
Albert Kreitzer
Keller was born on the 5th November, 1852, in Greencastle, Franklin County in
Pennsylvania. His father was John Henry Keller Jr. (1828-1895),* and his mother was Elisabeth B. Kreitzer Keller
(1829-1867). Albert K. Keller was the oldest of six children. Siblings: Katie
Keller (1855-1923), Mollie Keller (1859-1931), William Keller (1860-1927),
Frank Keller (1864-1923), and Robert Keller (1867).* A half-brother Claude Keller (1877-1937) was
born in Hagerstown, Maryland. Albert K. Keller was married in Detroit on the
18th June, 1904, to Amanda L. Stahl, daughter of Thomas Stahl (1853-1929) and
Louisa (Ann) Dixon Stahl (1846-1928).
In 1885 Albert K. Keller was employed as a
machinist at the Mechanical Department of The American Bell Telephone Co. in
Boston, and became a protégé of the superintendent Ezra Torrence Gilliland, and they both went to New York to work
for the Edison Electric Illuminating Co. (Edison Electric Light Co.) on Fifth
Avenue. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) and Ezra Torrence
Gilliland (1846-1903)
were very close friends and colleagues, and in 1887 Gilliland established the
new Edison phonograph factory facility on the corner of Liberty Street and
Broad Street in Bloomfield (Silver Lake),
New Jersey. Albert K. Keller became the superintendent at the factory, and both
Keller and Gilliland later stated that a working model of a phonograph with coin
attachment was finished at the facilities in Bloomfield in November 1887, and a
number of these phonographs were made in the autumn 1889 for public use at the
James F. Gilliland Electric Co. in Adrian, Michigan. Albert K. Keller filed
three patents related to the coin operated phonographs early in 1891, and his
inventions became the basis of the most reliable pay-to-play phonographs on the
market, but unfortunately also the basis of patent infringement cases. Some of
the other phonograph pioneers involved in the patent cases were George Elliot Tewksbury
(1858-1900), Frank Winship Toppan
(1855-1922), John Friedrich Ott
(1850-1931), and of course Thomas Alva Edison.
Albert K. Keller had at least 17 American and
Canadian patents to his name, and he was in his long career connected to
several American companies. Among these companies were the Gilliland Telephone
Manufacturing Co. in Indianapolis, The American Bell Telephone Co. in Boston,
the Edison Phonograph Factory in Bloomfield, The Automatic Phonograph
Exhibition Co. in New York, the International Telephone and Switchboard
Manufacturing Co. in Plainfield, the International Machine Co. and the Page
Woven Wire Fence Co. in Adrian, the Sterling Electric Co. in La Fayette, and
the American Cork and Seal Co. in Philadelphia. In March 1889 Albert K. Keller
left the employment as superintendent at Edison’s phonograph factory in
Bloomfield, New Jersey, but applied again in February 1896 to be employed as an
experimenter at the Edison laboratories. In 1897 Albert K. Keller filed two
patents related to telephone equipment with contractor George Fiegle Payne in Philadelphia, and his last employment in
the 1920s was according to official records as a tool maker at the Daniel K.
Miller Lock Co. in Philadelphia.
Albert
Kreitzer Keller died on the 23rd July, 1942, in the
home of his sister-in-law Sarah A. Matz Custer
(1884-1973) at 6 North Main Street, Spring City in Chester County, and the grave of Albert and
his wife Amanda (☼ February 10, 1879) († September 4, 1931) could
be found at the Oakland Cemetery (plot M-366, an unmarked grave) in
Philadelphia County. Unfortunately, the editor has not yet found a photographic
portrait of the coin-op phonograph pioneer Albert K. Keller in old newspapers
or trade magazines.
Gert J. Almind
*
The family grave marker of Albertˈs father (☼
June 2, 1828) († June 11, 1895) can be found at the Rose Hill Cemetery,
South Potomac Street in Hagerstown (MD). However, the year 1835 on the marker
cannot be correct, since he was the first born son, and also more data of Albertˈs mother born Kreitzer
need to be found. The markers of many Keller family members can be found at the
Rose Hill Cemetery. Albert’s father, John Henry Jr., was the oldest of
nine brothers and two sisters, and the markers of Albertˈs
grandparents John Henry Sr. (1800-1854) and Elisabeth (1808-1879) can be found
at the Beaver Creek Cemetery, Beaver Creek Road in Hagerstown (MD).
* John Henry Keller Jr. moved from
Greencastle/Guilford (PA) via Boalsburg (PA), Shepherdstown (WV), and Forreston in Ogle County (IL) as a businessman to Denver (CO), and became
manager for the wholesale dealer Birks Cornforth (Est. 1863) for about 25
years. He died on the 11th June, 1895, in Denver (CO), and was interred on the
20th June at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown (MD). John Henryˈs
youngest son Claude Leroy was born in Hagerstown, spent his childhood in
Shepherdstown, and came as a young man to reside with his brother-in-law and
sister Katie in Hanover (PA). It is interesting to note, that it was stated in
Katieˈs obituary (1923) that she was survived by
four brothers and one sister. Albert called Andrew in Philadelphia, Mollie in
New Castle (IN), William called Doug in New York City, Frank in Ohio, and Claude in
Hanover. Also it is interesting to note, that Albert was called Andrew in the
Keller-Stahl marriage record (1904), and that it was stated in Claudeˈs obituary (1937) that he was survived by one
brother Andrew, not Albert, in Philadelphia.