James Whiting Vose established his firm of “James W. Vose” in Boston in 1851.  In the 19th Century, Boston was home to a large population of old world craftsmen who had immigrated to the United States from the old country.  These craftsmen possessed amazing skill in woodworking and piano building, and Vose was in a position to take full advantage of this amazingly skilled workforce in order to produce some of the finest pianos in the industry.  The firm began by building high quality square grand and upright pianos throughout the 19th Century.

In 1889 James W. Vose admitted his three sons, Willard A. Vose, Irving B. Vose and Julien W. Vose, into the business and established the firm of “Vose & Sons”.  After the turn-of-the-century, the firm added grand pianos and player pianos to their product line and enjoyed great success.  In the 1920s, Vose & Sons built a new state-of-the-art factory in Watertown, Greater Boston.  Not long after, the Great Depression hit and the firm was absorbed into the Aeolian-American Corporation.  Aeolian continued to built pianos under the Vose & Sons brand name until going out of business in the 1980s.