Francis Ramacciotti

Francis Ramacciotti (1828–1894) was an Italian-born inventor who founded a major piano string manufacturer in the United States.
Born in the Tuscany region of Italy (probably Lucca), Ramacciotti was reportedly associated with Garibaldi and held a military rank. Ramaciotti immigrated to the US in 1848, moving to Buffalo, New York. He apprenticed in a piano company in Buffalo before founding his own piano string company, the F. Ramacciotti company, in 1852. In 1853, he married Rachel Rendt of Detroit, Michigan. The couple had five children: Albert, Hugo, Italo, Eugenia, and Emma.
In 1867, Ramaciotti moved his company to New York City. He invented and patented the first modern bass string for the piano. Previous piano strings used iron winding over iron. This modern invention using a special new machine used copper wound over iron. The company was one of the top makers of piano strings in the world for several decades. 
In 1894, Francis Ramacciotti died. His son Albert took over the company the next year. Albert expanded it to one of the three top string makers in the nation. 
References.
Books.
Tariff schedules: Hearings before the Committee on ways and means, House of ... - Page 1239
by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means, Oscar Wilder Underwood - Tariff - 1918
One day a foreman in the Ramacciotti plant, John, who had been a boy apprentice
when ... that was the end of the New York Cooperative Piano String Co. ...
Pianos and Their Makers: A comprehensive history of the development of the ... - Page 465
by Alfred Dolge - Piano - 1911
... String Co Strings ... • . . .New Brunswick Celluloid Piano Key Co Keys 1876
New York ... Brown & Co Felts 1901 Ramacciotti. F Strings 1867 Schirmer. . (list firm founded 1867)
Fifty years of St. Cecile Lodge, no. 568, F. & A.M.: Including "One thousand ... - Page 146
by Freemasons. New York (City) St. Cecile lodge, no. 568, Freemasons. St. Cecile Lodge, no. 568 (New York, N.Y.), Charles Miller Williams - 1916 - 472 pages
Francesco Ramacciotti, who died June 13, 1894 The lodge met in a hall corner of Third
Avenue ... Ramacciotti joined the lodge in 1871 and from the first took an
Musique-Addresses Universel - Page 1540
1929
Ramacciotti F. Inc, 421 W. 28th St. — Manuf. of Piano Wire and Bass Strings. ...
Manuf. of Piano Benches. Rapuano Joseph, 222 E. 105th St. — Manufacturer of ..
Treasury Decisions Under the Customs, Internal Revenue, Industrial Alcohol ... - Page 650
by United States. Dept. of the Treasury, United States. Customs Court, United States. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals - 1916
The sworn statement of Francis Ramacciotti, dated January 21, 1915, covering
bass strings ... of Detroit, Mich., with the use of Imported plate glass. ... ( this Francis is the son Albert Francis)