TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => Radio Reflections => Topic started by: Clarence Carlson on June 24, 2016, 03:22:08 PM
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On July 5th, 1937 several newspapers listed an item indicating that signals from the Earhart plane had been received by Ray Mahoney, a radio amateur living in Cincinnati, OH. This specific report is listed on the TIGHAR website Post Loss Catalog (https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/ResearchPapers/Brandenburg/signalcatalog3.html) as message 4xxxxMY. I've been digging around to see if I could find any reference to this person and for what it's worth this is what I found.
I searched through two different sources to see if a Ray Mahoney was licensed as a radio amateur in 1937. The first site 1930 FCC catalog of callsigns (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221808;view=1up;seq=7) showed no licensed amateur in Cincinnati with that name as of that date. The second site Fall 1937 Amateur Callbook (https://archive.org/details/Fall_1937_Radio_Amateur_Callbook) was also reviewed starting at the point where the 1930 document left off. In short no licensed amateur with the name Ray Mahoney could be found. This was not a fancy database search, it was old school scanning with Mark I eyeballs through pages.
Then I wondered if any Ray Mahoney could be found in Cincinnati. Ancestry.com (a paid subscription service) listed four pages of Mahoneys living in Cincinnati in 1940. None listed a first name of Ray as head of household. With a little luck a Ray Mahoney, aged 19, was found listed as living at home with his father Charles W Mahoney at 1518 Central Parkway. The census data confirmed that the family lived at that address in 1935. This is the only Ray Mahoney I could find.
Then the newspaper accounts were reviewed using Newspapers.com. There was some variation on what they reported. All the accounts directly quote Mahoney as saying "'The signals were weak' said Mahoney, 'about all I could make out were the call letters of the plane, that apparently it had hit a reef or was near a reef'". The Sedalia (MO) Democrat indicated the Ray Mahoney heard Amelia Earhart on the radio "from a position he interpreted to be within 57 miles of Howland Island". However the Tipton (IN) Tribune offers this direct quote: "the figure 57 was repeated and also the word 'miles' and Howland Island although I couldn't make out any direction. Most of the articles end with the note that he heard the signals at ten minute intervals "throughout the day", but he is not quoted directly. This is, quite reasonably, felt to disqualify the report since such reception was impossible.
In summary no licensed amateur radio operator named Ray Mahoney could be found in contemporaneous documents. Perhaps radio "enthusiast" was a more appropriate term. One Ray Mahoney, a teenager living a home, was identified. Regarding his published comments I have one or two little lingering questions. His comment about not making out any direction: what if 57 was actually 157 degrees? We'll never know but it makes the report hold together well: a geographic reference (Howland), such and so miles, on a course 157, on a reef? The other question is, did he really hear signals throughout the day? He's not directly quoted and we can note that, when he is, the information becomes less ambiguous.
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Good research. Thanks. We judged Mahoney to be "not credible" based on his story as reported but you never know what might have gotten lost or distorted by the press.
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Good research, Clarence Carlson. Thank you. It prompted me to follow up a bit on Ancestry, and I have learned that the Raymond Joseph Mahoney (1921-1995) of Cincinnati, whom you have identified, does have living descendants. I am using Ancestry to message those who have RJM in their posted family trees, to ask if they have any relevant info. If and when I receive any responses, I will post whatever they are willing to share.
To add just a bit more from Ancestry to your posted info, Clarence, RJM’s father’s full name was Charles Raymond Mahoney (1897-1970). Whether he himself went by ‘Ray,’ I don’t know.
RJM was born 3 Feb 1921, so he was 16 and one half, almost, on July 5, 1937. (His father was then forty.)
RJM later served 3 years in the Navy, 1942-45, married and had at least one child.
He had an older sister Catherine who married, and a younger brother, Charles W.
Even though it's a very long shot that we will turn up additional contemporaneous documentation of what Ray Mahoney heard, it won't hurt to ask his descendants...
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A tip of the hat Bill. I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with.
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RJM later served 3 years in the Navy, 1942-45, married and had at least one child.
He had an older sister Catherine who married, and a younger brother, Charles W.
There's an obituary (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/cincinnati/obituary.aspx?pid=170006624) for a Charles W. Mahoney, published in The Cincinnati Enquirer in March 2014. He was 85 (which would make him a few years younger than Raymond J. Mahoney). And it lists a brother named Raymond and a sister named Catherine. :) There's an insignia printed in the obituary that tells me that Charles, too, served in the Navy.
There are plenty of Charles' descendants listed to ask about family recollections concerning radio stories involving Raymond Mahoney.
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Well after all of that it would appear that the Raymond J Mahoney that I mention above is not our man. A search of the upgraded edition of Newpapers.com yields this item from the July 6th, 1937 Cincinnati Enquirer:
"Raymond Mahoney, 3818 Herron Ave, who reported Sunday the he had picked up faint radio signals from Amelia Earhart, missing round-the-world flyer, said yesterday that he was still receiving brief phrases of appeal from the aviatrix, for whom he said he worked in Hollywood until a few months ago. However radio engineers examining his receiving set yesterday were doubtful that the messages he been hearing came from the lost flyer because his set is not tuned to the band assigned to Miss Earhart".
I can find no other references to this Ray Mahoney. The news item lacks specificity regarding times and content but at least he didn't appear to be claiming reception on 3105 kcs. I'm not sure what to make of the Hollywood reference. At this time I see no further avenue of exploration. Thanks to all who were so supportive.
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However radio engineers examining his receiving set yesterday were doubtful that the messages he been hearing came from the lost flyer because his set is not tuned to the band assigned to Miss Earhart".
Too bad the story did not include the band he was listening on ... He might have been hearing her on a harmonic.
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Thanks, Clarence, for posting the news report that gave Raymond Mahoney's address in Cincinnati, which is a different address from the 1518 Central Parkway address of the Mahoney family we were researching. That saves me the wasted effort of trying to contact descendants of that family.
May I ask you an unrelated question that might be of interest to others as well, since you are using Newspapers.com?
Does Newspapers.com give you free access to the New York Herald of July 1937? Those issues have articles by C. B. Allen about his friend AE that I wd be interested in seeing, and which might make the subscription to Newspapers.com worth it to me, if in fact that wd give me access to them.
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Bill
They only have NY Herald from 1869-72. The NY Tribune is listed until 1922 when it merged with the Herald. Nothing after 1922.
I will say the upgraded version of Newspapers.com does seem to have more available. I wouldn't have found the article above without it.
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Thanks, Clarence. It seems I will need to go to library microfilms for the July 1937 issues of the NY Herald. But so far the newspaper librarian of my alma mater Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has not responded to my requests.
My final words on the Raymond Mahoney of Cincinnati who reported hearing AE on July 3 & 4, 1937:
The 1940 US Census shows 112 Raymond Mahoneys. The only one in Cincinnati is the wrong one, living at a different address, the one we both researched.
I cannot think how to pick out from the other 111 RMs the one who made that report. And of course it's possible that for some reason that RM does not even appear in the 1940 Census. So for me this is a brick wall, at least for the present.
His statement that he worked for AE a few months earlier in Hollywood is an intriguing clue. She and husband GP had bought a home in North Hollywood. So we can keep an eye open for his name as we keep researching these last 2 years of her life.
I like to think that people who listen to shortwave radios are not delusional, since I myself used to do so many years ago, but then again one never knows for sure...
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The 1940 census shows a Mahoney family living at 3818 Herron Avenue. They reported living there in 1935 also.
As of 1940, the family consisted of Curtis, age 47; Pearl, 33; Curtis Jr, 17; John, 16; Robert, 14; Nadine, 12; Harold, 3.
There are a few possibilities. Raymond Mahoney might have been an older son or another relative who was living with them in 1937 but had moved out by 1940. Or Raymond might be a middle name used preferentially by one of the Mahoneys listed in the census--Curtis or Curtis Jr might do so, to distinguish themselves from one another.
In any case, it seems that if anyone wanted to follow up on this Ray Mahoney, the place to start would be with this Curtis Mahoney family.
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Thanks, Jennifer! That's an excellent lead that I had completely missed. Will see where it leads...
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Thanks to Jennifer Hubbard's identification of the right Mahoney family in Cincinnati, I think we have found the Raymond Mahoney of 3818 Herron St who on July 5 1937 reported having heard Amelia on July 3 & 4. At that time he was apparently living with his father Curtis and step-mother Pearl, in the home where they lived in both 1935 and 1940, according to the 1940 Census.
A few basics, compiled from various online sources:
Raymond Clinton Mahoney was born 27 Aug 1915, Franklin County, KY, to Curtis and Effie (nee Florian) Mahoney. He died 29 Apr 1995, in Cincinnati OH. He married Gertrude Holzapfel after the 1940 Census. She died 10 Apr 2006 and her obit in the Cincinnati Enquirer of Apr 13 2006, p 12 = p 29, lists a son Roger (Mary) and other descendants and relatives. (I was unable to find Raymond's obit in the Enquirer of April or May, 1995.)
Here's a key supporting point: his Social Security card was obtained in California, in February 1937, so his reported claim to have been working in Hollywood a few months before July 1937 is not so outlandish. Whether he worked for Amelia is another matter.
In short, we are back to a situation in which it will be interesting to learn what light if any this Raymond Mahoney's descendants or other relatives might be able to shed on what he heard in Cincinnati in early July 1937.
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This link should give you the short article printed in the Cincinnati Enquirer of July 7, 1937, that Clarence Carlson so kindly transcribed for us in a previous post. Thanks for finding this for us, Clarence. In discussing Ray Mahoney's report on p 171 of Finding Amelia Ric quotes the AP and NYT stories, but not this item from the Enquirer, which is possibly a follow-up based on their own interview of Mahoney. I have not yet looked at those other news stories, so I wonder if this is the only source for Mahoney's claim to have worked for AE 'in Hollywood'?
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5713634/quoted_by_clarence_carlson_in_post/ (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5713634/quoted_by_clarence_carlson_in_post/)
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Very good catch Jennifer.
Bill, yes this does open up some avenues. I'm digging away this afternoon with not much to show.
It just goes to show that shared research works best. I'll post anything pertinent that I find.
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Forum reader Bert Kyzer found this information and sent it to me via email.
Topic: Ray Mahoney of Cincinnati, OH
Army Enlistment Record from World War II
Was hoping to get a hint about his occupation since that might help guess what kind of work he did for Amelia in Hollywood when he was aged 21 or 22; which then might be a breadcrumb to the actual record. Maybe payroll tax or Social Security tax records for example..
No need to click this link since the data is pasted below, but I'll provide it in case needed:
http://www.ww2enlistment.org/index.php?page=directory&rec=994682
Here is a cut and paste:
******************************
Name
Raymond C Mahoney
Serial Number
15041172
State
Ohio
County
Hamilton
Rank
Private
Army
Regular Army - Officers, Enlisted Men, and Nurses
Birth Year
1915
Enlist Date
07-17-1940
Enlistment Place
Fort Thomas Newport Kentucky
Term
Enlistment for Assignment To Another Corps Area
Nativity
Kentucky
Race
White
Citizenship
Citizen
Education
Grammar School
Marital Status
Single
Dependents
No Dependents
Enlistment Source
Civilian
Conflict Period
WWII, World War 2
Summary
Abstract for Raymond C Mahoney - Brief overview of enlistment file
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https://www.newspapers.com/image/102531307/?terms=Gertrude%2BMahoney (https://www.newspapers.com/image/102531307/?terms=Gertrude%2BMahoney)
There is a link to the April 2006 obit of Raymond Clinton Mahoney's wife Gertrude nee Holzapfel. It lists a son Roger and a grandson Marty, as well as other relatives. I will soon be trying to contact Roger and Marty, both of whom have addresses in western Cincinnati.
On July 11 Marty Mahoney wrote me that he has no recollection of his grandfather's ever mentioning Earhart or anything related to the published reports of his having heard her distress calls.
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Very good catch Jennifer.
The key was the address you posted from that article!
It just goes to show that shared research works best.
Yes, it's great to see puzzle pieces coming together from multiple sources. Now let us hope the Mahoney family has some info ...
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It is evident from public records that Raymond Clinton Mahoney (1915-1995) was for some years virtually an orphan, and led a troubled childhood that did not prepare him well for being truthful with authorities. He received no more than an 8th grade education, in a Louisville orphanage and a Kentucky state reform school (1930 US Census). The only postwar employment I have found referenced was as an animal caretaker with the Cincinnati zoo.
There are still some gaps in the available records, filling which could conceivably help bolster his credibility. I still have not found what work he was doing in California in Feb 1937 when he was issued his Social Security card there. And I have found no record of his WW2 service beyond his enlistment in the Army Corps of Engineers, including the info Ric has already posted above.
In short, I have so far found no reason in the public records to recommend changing the TIGHAR assessment of “not credible,” concerning his reports claiming to have heard AE’s distress calls: https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/ResearchPapers/Brandenburg/signalcatalog3.html (https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/ResearchPapers/Brandenburg/signalcatalog3.html)
I have not yet received any reply to the letters I mailed just last week to his son and grandson in Cincinnati. I will be very happy if they are able to shed any light on the matter.
On July 11 Marty Mahoney wrote me that he has no recollection of his grandfather's ever mentioning Earhart or anything related to the published reports of his having heard her distress calls.
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This is good work Bill. I pecked away at this also and found an item in, if I recall correctly, the Louisville KY newspaper when he was 15. He was discovered at the front of a school with a brick and was detained for vandalism. That explains the 1930 census entry for the Kentucky House of Reform.
I look forward to anything you hear from surviving relatives.
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Raymond’s arrest for “attempted schoolhouse breaking and delinquency” in Louisville occurred mid-October 1931, so a year and a half AFTER the 1930 Census records him as an inmate in the Kentucky House of Reform (& also as NOT having “attended school”). (See Louisville Courier-Journal 15 Oct 1931 p 19; Cincinnati Enquirer 16 Oct 1931 p 26 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5872681/raymond_mahoney_arrested_in_louisville/ (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5872681/raymond_mahoney_arrested_in_louisville/).)
In Oct 1931 he gave his address as Cincinnati, and his only relative there, other than his sister in a residential girls' school, was his father, with his second wife and their 5 young children. So we can guess that his father might have helped get him out of reform school by offering to take him into his home. But as far as we know Raymond had previously lived in an orphanage in Louisville, rather than with his father’s second family. So it’s easy to imagine that as a troubled teen he did not fit well into a household with his step-mother and five half-siblings all under ten years of age. And if he was living in Cincinnati in Oct 1931, what was he doing back in Louisville, 100 miles distant? Possibly visiting his old friends from the Baptist Orphans Home, from which he had run away as a 10 year old in 1925 (Louisville Courier-Journal, 27 Nov 1925, p 22 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5872771/raymond_mahoney_at_age_10_ran_away_from/ (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5872771/raymond_mahoney_at_age_10_ran_away_from/))? (Ten-year-old Raymond was found in Jeffersonville as a runaway from the Louisville Baptist Orphans Home, according to that news report. That is no doubt Jeffersonville INDIANA, directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, NOT Jeffersonville Kentucky, as I first thought. That helps explain why the boy was “scantily clad and covered in mud.” He somehow made it across the Ohio River. Must have been a pretty good swimmer!)