From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). —

With Ernest M. Skinner firm of Massachusetts; married a member of the Welte family; established Welte-Whalon firm of Portsmouth, Rhode Island; active in Fall River, Massachusetts, 1988, voicer, rebuilder.

Sources:

• Nelson Barden.


• Robert J. Reich.

See also Welte-Whalon Organ Co.

Note from the Organ Database Builders editors Charles Eberline and Stephen Hall, June 8, 2017. —

Raymond Whalon served his apprenticeship with Estey Organ Company in Brattleboro, Vermont, later worked for the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company¹ in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1949, he established the Welte-Whalon² Organ Company in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. As some of the nameplates on his instruments indicate, Whalon must have moved the business to Newport, Rhode Island at some point. Whalon closed the business at an unknown date in the 1960s, but continued working independently as a tuner and voicer until just before his death on November 10, 2006.

1. Ernest Skinner firm according to Nelson Barden, Aeolian-Skinner according to Whalon's obituary.


2. The Welte in the firm name came from his wife's name, Martha (née Weltê) Whalon. She was a native of France and not related to the German Welte family which made mechanical players for pianos and later made pipe organs in both Germany and the United States. -Ed.

Sources:

• "Raymond Whalon" obituary (NewportRI.com),
  http://www.newportri.com/obituaries/raymond-d-whalon/article_a499405f-150b-5094-97de-5091de9151f3.html.
  

• "Martha Welt Whalon" obituary (NewportRI.com), http://www.newportri.com/obituaries/marthe-welt--whalon/article_9b84a56f-c96d-5a13-b9e2-df7d2e5a5305.html.