James Bellak (March 1, 1813 – September 1, 1891) was a Bohemian-American musician and instrument manufacturer active in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

during the nineteenth century. Bellak was born in

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and educated at the former Jesuit College. He was involved in

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manufacturing until political unrest caused him to immigrate to the

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in 1846. Bellak began teaching music in Philadelphia and in 1854 began manufacturing pianos and organs. Bellak himself served as organist at

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, St. John's Roman Catholic Church, and the Church of the Holy Trinity. He composed music and was active in his business until a couple years before his death. Bellak's youngest son, Alfred, died suddenly on February 11, 1891, after developing inflammatory

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the previous November. James Bellak and his wife were both already in poor health. Mr. Bellak died on September 1; he was survived by his two eldest sons, Leopold and Charles, and his two daughters, Bertha and Betty. His widow did not long survive him, dying on October 7, 1891. James Bellak was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

(Rising Star Lodge No. 126 and Columbia Mark Lodge No. 91 in the

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), an

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(Herman Lodge No. 7, I.O.O.F.), and a member of the

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. His estate, including the piano and organ business bequeathed to his sons, was valued at $200,000 to the surprise of the Philadelphia music community, which had imagined him to be even wealthier.

References

External links

James Bellak
''Biographical Dictionary of the Organ''
Works by James Bellak
at

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project uses MediaWiki software, and ...

1813 births 1891 deaths Emigrants from the Austrian Empire to the United States American Freemasons 19th-century American musicians Charles University alumni {{US-musician-stub