Family History

My great-great-great grandfather Herman Franz Teupen was born in Germany in 1837. Upon arrival in the U.S., he became known as Frank Teupe and made his home in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a piano tuner and craftsman.  He patented what was known as his vertical "giraffe" piano. I am guessing that one of his children or grandchildren brought one of these pianos to Seattle, as one has recently made the news there. (The current seller is no relation.)

 After Frank's death in 1901, his daughters put his patent up for sale. I do not know if there were any buyers.

These photos are of the piano today (well, in the last few years). Isn't it beautiful?  Last I read (in the article linked above), it was for sale. I wish we had the money to buy it, but as the current sellers put over $10K into it for restoration, I'm thinking it's a bit out of my price range.

For several years before homeschooling, I worked on my and Robert's families' genealogies.  All of my stuff is either on an old hard drive from three computer back, or stuffed in file cabinets somewhere in my basement. I enjoyed it back then.  Meanwhile, several of my relatives have started a email list to discuss family, memories, etc.  I am appreciating seeing different pieces pulled together, and I appreciate that someone recently saw and shared pictures of this piano. I'd already known that our Teupe ancestor was famous for his pianos, but I didn't know further details.

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Note for future reference: Frank married Elizabeth Kortmann; their daughter Mary married Bernard Droppelmann;  Mary and Bernard's granddaughter Rose married Bernard Connor. "Mother" Rose was my mom's grandmother.