HIRAM PERCY MAXIM 1869-1936

HIRAM PERCY MAXIM Photo courtesy of Hiram Percy Maxim II, 11-26-04

 

From QST for April, 1936 "Reprinted with the permission of the ARRL, copyright ARRL Courtesy of Hiram Percy Maxim II, 11-26-04

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Introduction: Gliders & Silencers Automobile Pioneer Student of the Cosmos American Radio Relay League - Part 1 American Radio Relay League - Part 2 American Radio Relay League - Part 3

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Hiram Percy Maxim +aviation", using the Google search engine, (10-30-04), you will find about 105 links. If you search the whole list, you will find some valuable resources.

The Original Famous Hams and ex-Hams List by N2GJ and W2SG      If you will scroll down the list to "W1AW", you will find a listing of many resources, as exemplified in the following extract. "Inventor, radio pioneer, early aviation pioneer; ARRL Founder also known as "The Old Man." Full biography; short bio; a picture of Maxim's 1915 Station (1ZM); his card; picture of his invention, the firearms silencer (for which he may be more famous than ham radio); Burial site."      If you click on "Full Biography", you will find a description of the book, "Hiram Percy Maxim" -- By Alice Clink Schumacher. Each of the other links will help you to understand the many accomplishments of this pioneer. You can access the site by clicking on the title above.

 

Famous Hams: Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW By k9hi - Date: 2003-06-10 22:27:42      This page offers a very brief summary of his career and does display his portrait, one of the few I have been able to find. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

W1AW      "W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, is a living memorial to the "Father of Organized Amateur Radio", located at ARRL Headquarters in Newington CT. When visiting ARRL HQ, most amateurs choose W1AW as the place to see where Amateur Radio comes alive. "      Although I have been a licensed radio amateur since 1948, (N6NYK), it was not until recently that I learned of his important role in the development of aviation, as well as in several other fields. You can learn more of this phase of his life by visiting the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League), website by clicking on the title above.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

HIRAM PERCY MAXIM   By Alice Clink Schumacher   Product Details Mass Market Paperback: 216 pages List Price: $19.95 Publisher: Electric Radio Press, Inc. ISBN: 0966343301 © 1998

Description:      "This biography is the result of nine years of research into the life of one of America's truly great pioneers. Explore Maxim's many devotions as inventor, scientist, writer and humanitarian. He is often revered as "The Father of Amateur Radio," but he also pioneered in the automobile industry, air conditioning, space research, and invented the famous Maxim gun silencer. Schumacher's book is a tribute to Maxim's ingenuity and determination." Editor's Note: This description was taken verbatim from the ARRL Products Catalog of the ARRL website. For more information and for easy ordering instructions, click on: ARRL Products Catalog

 

FAMILY NOTES via email from Mary Vogel, 3-18-08 Hi.      My name is Mary Vogel and I Iive in Randolph, Maine. Sir. Hiram Maxim Stevens is or was my 4th. gen. grandfather. Hiram Percy Maxim was a 4th. great uncle.

 

THE EDITOR'S MILL From QST, April, 1936 Courtesy of Hiram Percy Maxim II      The Old Chief, Hiram Percy Maxim, was journeying to the southwest on a vacation with his wife when he contracted a throat infection. Despite treatment between trains in Kansas City he became worse, and at LaJunta, Clorado, he was removed from the train dangerously ill and put in a hospital there, his children summoned. These events took place on the very day that Charles Stewart passed on. Despite every modern medical aid...despite two days of encouraging progress...the grand old fellow who gave us birth passed on to join his fathers, on February 17th. He was 66 years old. A few days later, at Hagerstown, Maryland, a wretched group of us upon whose lives Mr. Maxim's had had so profound an influence joiined his family in the last sad duties---while amateurs around the world hushed key and mike with bowed heads and many an honest tear.      The widow of our founder-president was not long to survive him. On February 26th she too passed on. Mrs. Maxim was a lovable and remarkable woman, a brilliant one, actively interested in the civic matters of her community, as befitted the daughter of a former governor of Maryland, She was a pioneer suffragist, a leader of Hartford's city commissions. In Paris in 1925 she acted as interpreter for the American amateurs at the meetings resulting in the formation of the International Amateur Radio Union.      February was a sorrowful month...Fog lay low on the hilltops of the east... Father, in thy gracious keeping Leave we now thy servants, sleeping.

 

FIND A GRAVE      You will find a very nice entry for Hiram Percy Maxim on the "Find A Grave" website. Included is a brief biography, a nice portrait, and photos of the headstone and the cemetery. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

Editor's Note: If you have any information on this pioneer aviator, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back