Grandma Mary Irwin helped establish a Ladies Auxilliary in support of the trainmen.
Mary Burns Irwin was no stranger to coal mining politics.
Her father, Patrick Burns was born May 7, 1858 in Scotland and died August 5,1900 in Rendville. He was a coal miner and died of lung ailment/pneumonia. The (June 16th) 1900 Census shows Patrick as a patient at a hospital that probably treated TB and other lung disease, in Columbus, Ohio Precinct A, City Ward 14.
Census Record indicates he both immigrated and was married in 1883, that his birthplace was Scotland but his father and mother were both born in Ireland. Here on the Census,his birthdate reads August of 1858.
Patrick Burns' grave is undiscovered but family narrative is that he was buried "on a hill". His death threw the family into deep financial poverty and Grandma Mary Burns Irwin reported that she and her mother dealt with it by taking in laundry, while Aunt Sarah Burns Edwards lived for awhile as a servant in a New Lexington home.
Mary's mother was Elizabeth McGinnis Burns born 1857 in Scotland, died April 2, 1929 and was buried in Maplewood Cemetery, New Lexington with her daughter Elizabeth Burns McVay.
Elizabeth and Patrick Burns lived in Rendville on Smoky Row Road, now State Route 13. They had 5 children: Sarah who married the infamous miner and railroader "RC" Robert C. Edwards, known for maintaing his handsome black hair with the use of stove polish. Euphemia, also known as Fame was married to German-born August Steffen. Patrick who died in WWI service. Elizabeth who married Orville Clifford McVay. Mary who married Joseph Irwin.
Sarah Burns (Edwards)is listed in the 1900 Census as a 16 year old girl living with Perry and Mary Pfadt Evans as a "servant". Sarah's birthday is recorded as December 3,1884. She may have been employed by Evans Family or receiving room & board in exchange for household assistance. Sarah was the eldest and might have helped support the family after her father's death from lung disease in 1900. Sarah lists her father place of birth as Ireland on the census record and when Sarah marries Uncle R.C. Edwards, she records her father's name as Patty Burns.
Mary's brother, Patrick J. Burns was born 1890 in Rendville and died of pneumonia/influenza at Fort Benjamin in Harrison, Indiana after enlisting to serve in WWI. He was buried in Maplewood Cemetery, New Lexington Ohio October 19, 1918. Before enlisting he worked on the railroad and sported a head of red hair.
Patrick J. Burns Assigns Comment
6 Co 2 Training Battalion 159 Depot Brigade to 10 July
1918
2 Provisional Battalion Engineers to 23 Sept 1918; Co D 118
Engineers to death.
Private Died of pneumonia 13 Oct 1918.
Notified Mrs Elizabeth Burns, mother, Rendville, O.
Note: The American military experience in World War I and the influenza pandemic were closely intertwined. The war fostered influenza in the crowded conditions of military camps in the United States and in the trenches of the Western Front in Europe. The virus traveled with military personnel from camp to camp and across the Atlantic, and at the height of the American military involvement in the war, September through November 1918, influenza and pneumonia sickened 20% to 40% of U.S. Army and Navy personnel. These high morbidity rates interfered with induction and training schedules in the United States and rendered hundreds of thousands of military personnel non-effective. During the American Expeditionary Forces' campaign at Meuse-Argonne, the epidemic diverted urgently needed resources from combat support to transporting and caring for the sick and the dead. Influenza and pneumonia killed more American soldiers and sailors during the war than did enemy weapon.
Mary Alice Irwin in the 1940 Census
Mary
Middle Name:
Allice
Last Name:
Irwin
Age at Time of Census:
17
Gender:
Female
Race:
White
Ethnicity:
American
Est. Birth Year:
1923
Birth Location:
Ohio Map
Enumeration District:
64-18
Residence:
Corning Village, Monroe Township, Perry, OH Map
Relationship to Head of Household:
Daughter
Other People in Household:
19 yrs, Male
18 yrs, Male
47 yrs, Male
43 yrs, Female
10 yrs, Female
5 yrs, Female
MARY ALICE IRWIN CONWAY SMITH PRESENT DAY!
"LIZ" ELIZABETH IRWIN MEYER AND HER HUSBAND BILL ON THEIR WEDDING DAY
Pat and Betty Irwin 1948
Uncle Joe Irwin
AMM 2/c U.S. Navy Born March 21, 1922
Entered Service September 15, 1942 Norfolk, VA; Pensacola Florida; Pacific Theatre
Prisoner of War in Japan
Awarded Good Conduct Medal
Uncle Joe And Aunt Ginny (Virginia Kramer) Irwin
On the night of 9 March 1944, 400 miles south of Iceland, the Leopold, while investigating a radar target, was torpedoed amidships, and later broke in two and sank. The Joyce, four miles distant at the time, was designated rescue ship. Twice, while dead in the water picking up the 28 survivors, the Joyce got underway precipitately to evade torpedoes, the screws of which were detected by sonar. Eleven of the crew received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and the commanding officer, LCDR Wilcox, and two men received commendations from the commander in chief, Atlantic Fleet, for their outstanding performance of duty on this occasion.
Pat Irwin is standing behind minister with his head bowed. Ensign Patrick B. Irwin U.S. Coast Guard was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroic conduct while serving on the JOYCE, diving into the frigid waters, rescuing survivors and participating in the fire fight.
An opportunity to retaliate for the loss of the Leopold was afforded the Division on the next outward voyage. On the morning of 16 April 1944, while taking her station in the convoy, the SS Pan Pennsylvania, one of the world's largest gasoline tankers, was torpedoed and set aflame. After picking up thirty-one survivors, including the master, the Joyce located the submarine [the U-550] by sonar and brought it to the surface with one pattern of eleven depth charges.
With the aid of the Peterson and the Navy-manned USS Gandy (DE-764; Leopold's replacement), the submarine's guns were quickly subdued. Her crew thereupon abandoned and scuttled her. Thirteen of the submarine's company were picked up by the Joyce, including the commanding officer, although one later died of wounds he received during the fire-fight.
LCDR Wilcox received the Legion of Merit and the USSR Order of the Fatherland War, 1st Class, and LT John L. Bender, USCGR, Nelson W. Allen, SOM 2/c, USCGR, and Winston T. Coburn, SOM 2/x, USCGR, received the Bronze Star Medal.
The Joyce made eleven round trips across the Atlantic, celebrating VE Day in mid-ocean on her last return voyage. Her ports of call were Casablanca (12/22/43), Londonderry (3/11/44; 4/26/44; 6/10/44; 7/21/44), Loch Ewe, Scotland and Londonderry (8/31/44), Liverpool (10/17/44); Glasgow, Scotland (12/4/44); Falmouth, England (1/21/45); Portsmouth (1/25/45); Le Havre, France (3/11/45); Southampton (3/12/45); and Birkenhead, England (4/28/45).
The above photo was provided by CAPT Robert Wilcox, USCG (Ret.), the Joyce's commanding officer during her battle with the U-550. CAPT Wilcox wrote the following description on the back of the photo:
"Funeral services on board USS Joyce (DE-319) in North Atlantic Ocean, 18 April 1943, for ex-German Navy Machinist Wanz who died aboard Joyce from wounds received in fire fight between U-550 and USS Joyce, Gandy and Peterson on 16 April 1944.
Crewmembers of Joyce and U-550 attended ceremony conducted by C.O. of Joyce, LCDR Robert Wilcox, USCG, on voluntary basis. It was well attended. Former U-550 crew members are off camera below U.S. flag-draped body."
FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS From The Joyce Crew Members
"We hadn't fired more than a few rounds," said Cleveland Parker, Chief Commissary Steward, the highest ranking man rescued, when another sub, lying in wait off our port quarter, threw a torpedo into us."
Troy S. Gowers, Seaman 1/c, was at his gun station when the torpedo struck. "When the fish exploded" he said "I was blown right out of my shoes and into a life net a dozen feet away. I crawled back to my station and since the electric power was off, I tried to work the gun manually, but she was jammed. Then came the order to abandon ship. I helped release a life raft on the starboard side and jumped into the water.
The water was almost freezing and the wind felt even colder. When I pulled myself aboard the raft there were 18 or 19 of us! When we were finally picked up there were only three or four." A storm was blowing and the waves started to break over the small life raft.
Gowers and Joseph N. Ranyss, Seaman I/c crawled around to the men sitting still, trying to keep them awake. "But those that were freezing knew it."
Gowers said "One Boy said 'I'm. dying, I can't hold out any longer' and in a minute he was gone". Finally the Coast Guardsmen left on the raft saw a ship, Joyce, which had dropped behind for rescue work. The Joyce saw them but couldn't stop to pick them up at that moment because a U-boat was firing torpedoes at her. The men on the raft watched in despair as the ship slowly pulled out of sight.
LEOPOLD BREAKS IN HALF
Meanwhile another survivor, W. G. O'Brien, Seaman 1/c, was still aboard the Leopold. He watched the fore part of the ship break away about 3/4 of an hour after the explosion and then had walked to the stern of the vessel where 40 of the ship's crew and officers had congregated. There he heard about one man who had been pinned under a heavy galley range by the explosion. The man had pleaded with an officer to shoot him and, when the officer refused, he begged him to leave a gun by his side so that he could shoot himself. But they freed him from the wreckage and lowered him to a boat. He died before they picked him up.
ROLLS OVER AND FINALLY SINKS
O'Brien helped pull three men out of the water. One was the commanding officer, CDR Kenneth Phillips, who had been blown off the ship by the explosion. The stern of the Leopold was now setting deeper and deeper into the water. The storm was getting stronger. An officer went below deck and came back with medical whisky and blankets. Then they saw the Joyce and signaled it with a flashlight. "She came within 50 yards of us," O'Brien said "and her skipper hollered through a megaphone 'We're dodging torpedoes. God bless you. We'll be back.' And then they went away. In a little while the stern of the Leopold rolled straight over to the port side and a lot of the men were thrown off. The Captain was one of then and I didn't see him again. The ship stayed like that for about one hour and a half, all the time getting lower in the water. The waves were about 50 feet high and one by one, the men were washed off. I'd see a big wave coming and close my eyes arid hold my breath until the stern raised out of it. In one of these the water didn't go down, and I realized that the stern had finally gone for for good. So I let go and my life jacket carried me to the surface. After a while I saw a life raft and struck out for it."
ONLY 28 SURVIVORS
All of the Leopold's 13 officers and 158 of her complement of 186 enlisted men were lost. There were only 28 survivors, all enlisted men.
POSTSCRIPT
The Joyce rescued the 28 survivors later that morning and then sank the Leopold's bow, which was still barely afloat and pointing towards the sky, with gunfire. The Joyce then rejoined the convoy which made the United Kingdom without further incident. Chief Cleveland Parker, in the above account, claimed that another submarine, other than the one Leopold had picked up on radar, was the one that torpedoed her. In fact, Leopold's radar had picked up the U-255 which, as she dived, fired an acoustic torpedo at Leopold, one of the first instances of this new German weapon being used successfully in combat. There was no other U-boat in the area. The U-255 then fired more torpedoes at the Joyce, none of which hit the destroyer escort. The U-255 evaded Joyce's counterattack and returned safely to France.
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