Remembering Joseph Hebert - U.S. Navy Lost at Sea

Fireman Joseph Hebert serving on the U.S.S. Preston was lost overboard on June 15, 1917. The official U.S. Navy report (U.S. Navy Casualties Book - Drownings 1885-1939) is below:

"June 15, 1917

U.S.S. Preston

At about 8:40 a.m. while engaged in striking down coal on the decks to the bunkers of this vessel, the following men were washed overboard and drowned:
HEBERT, Joseph                                Fireman 2 class
WILLIAMS, Lewis Arthur                    Fireman 3 class

2 enlisted men"

Joseph Hebert was married to Blanche (St. Amand) living at 72 East Meadow Road in Lowell. They had a daughter Doris born in 1916 and a son Joseph born in 1918 after the sailor's death. In July of 1933, Mrs. Blanche Hebert made the journey overseas as part of the Gold Star Mother's Pilgrimage. She sailed out of New York on the USS President Harding. Mrs. Joseph Hebert died on May 18, 1977 leaving her two children, Joseph Hebert & Doris Martin and five grandchildren.

Please remember Joseph Hebert, his family and the sacrifice they all made.

McErlane Brothers

Peter J. McErlane and Paul M. McErlane were born in Lowell to Irish born Peter and Elizabeth (Kane) McErlane along with six sisters. The family lived in the Pawtucketville section of Lowell at 53 Third Avenue and were founding members of St. Rita's parish.

Peter was the oldest and graduated from the Bartlett, Lowell High School class of 1935 and the evening division of Lowell Textile class of 1940. He enlisted in the army ten months before Pearl Harbor. He was a member of the famed Yankee Division 101st Infantry 26th Division Company K.

First Sergeant Peter J. McErlane

His younger and only brother Paul graduated from the Bartlett and Lowell High School class of 1940. He also was an excellent golfer, winning the Lowell City Caddy Championship in 1940. He joined the Air Force and was a radio gunner of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

Sergeant Paul M. McErlane

On April 25th 1944 the McErlane family got news that their youngest son was Missing in Action. On his second combat mission his plane had to ditch over Germany. Three of the flight members ended up being Prisoners of War and six were lost. They were shot down on Easter Sunday. Right before Paul left for his ill fated mission he sent flowers to his mother for Mother's Day. They held out hope that he had survived but at the end of the war he was declared dead. A mother's heartache.

On December 10th 1944 the McErlane family was notified by the War Department that their other son, Peter was killed in action on November 28th 1944 in Vibersviller near Metz, France. He was part of the Lorraine offensive that was so deadly. He really didn't have a chance. Lots of hand to hand fighting as the Americans marched towards Germany. Trying to clear the towns to get the tanks through. Patton's tanks. It was a deadly affair.

Peter and Paul's sister Rita was serving as a Lieutenant in the US Army Nurse Corps in Italy. On the front line. She survived the war and married in Milan, Italy.

After the war the McErlanes were popular members of St. Rita's and the Pawtucketville neighborhood. The square across the street from the Joseph A. McAvinnue Elementary School is named in their honor. It's at the intersection of Mammoth, 4th Avenue and Woodward Avenue.

Paul never came home. He is memorilized on the Tablet of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margaraten, Netherlands and on the family stone at St. Patrick's Cemetery.

Peter's body came home in 1948 and he had a funeral at St. Rita's and burial at St. Patrick's Cemetery. They were both survived by their parents and sisters Joan Donaghey, Anna Monnahan, Frances Fadden, Rita Miller, Eleanor Sullivan and Patricia Bartlett. Thank you McErlane family.

Rear Admiral Joseph Giles Eaton

In the Oakland Cemetery in Dracut lies the body of Rear Admiral Joseph Giles Eaton, his first wife, Mary Ann Varnum Eaton and his nine year old daughter Isabella Varnum Eaton. He was a war hero from the Spanish American War as the Commander of the USS Resolute during the battle in Santiago harbor. Yet he was buried here in haste with no military honors and only three so called mourners. One of them probably being the person that killed him.

Joseph Giles Eaton was born in Greenville, Alabama on June 29, 1847 to William Pierce Eaton and Sarah Brazier. He attended school in Lockport, NY, Union Academy in Worcester, MA and graduated sixth in his class from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1867. He married Mary Ann (known as Annie) Varnum from Dracut in 1871. They had one child who tragically died from cerebral meningitis at age nine in 1883. The family lived in Washington, DC during most of his 39 years of Naval service. He retired in 1905.

 Isabella's grave at Oakland Cemetery in Dracut, MA

http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=73322235&PIpi=88768899

In 1906, Annie, the Admiral's first wife was very sick. They hired a private nurse, Jennie May (Harrison) Ainsworth to attend to her. She was a descendent of President William Henry Harrison and a cousin of President Benjamin Harrison. She was living apart from her estranged husband Daniel Henry Ainsworth a known drunkard. After Annie's death, the Admiral married  her nurse Jennie Ainsworth. If she was divorced from Ainsworth or not is of some question. The Admiral however gave her the money to complete the divorce.

For a time the couple along with his two step daughters lived a good life in Brookline, MA. He was a member of the Algonquin Club of Boston. He had a Navy pension of $15 a day which back then was very good. Rumor had it that the Admiral's wife was giving her ex-husband money without the Admiral's knowledge.

The family moved to Norwell with a summer home in Scituate. The old Admiral, 20 plus years older than his wife, adopted an infant after both pretending his wife was pregnant. Within a month the baby was dead. She accused him of poisoning the infant. An autopsy was done and no foul play was detected. Soon everyone knew the baby was not their biological son. The baby is buried at Union Cemetery in Scituate. The home in Norwell is now a real estate office but looks very similar to the farm house.

Assinippi Farm Norwell, MA - Courtesy Google Street View

The Admiral left the family for some time but they reunited. Their life was not the happiest. The Admiral may have taken to drinking. His wife was mentally unstable. His oldest step daughter got pregnant, had the baby and got married. Not to the baby's father. She was later divorced and committed to Taunton State Hospital living alongside Jane Toppan.

The Admiral turned up dead in his bed in March 13, 1913. He was sixty six years old. His second wife was suspect almost immediately. The funeral was stopped by the police. An autopsy was ordered from Harvard Medical School. She arranged his burial in the Oakland Cemetery in Dracut. He died of arsenic poisoning.

The Admiral's wife, step daughter Dorothy and newpapermen came on the train with the body to Lowell. The funeral director took them to Dracut's Oakland Cemetery. He was buried with his first wife and young daughter. No military honors - no flag on the casket - no Naval escort. The next day the police were convinced the wife poisoned her husband. She was arrested and spent seven months in a Plymouth jail until the trail.

Admiral Joseph Giles Eaton Headstone - Oakland Cemetery - Dracut, MA



After a sensational trial Mrs. Jennie Eaton was acquitted. She testified in her own defense. Most people thought she was guilty. Newspapers across the world carried news of the trial. On June 13, 1914 the Admiral's wife remarried her first husband Daniel Henry Ainsworth. She had inherited all the Admiral's assets. Her husband manages to get arrested seven times in the next year for drunkenness. Next Mrs. Jennie Ainsworth and her daughter Dorothy McMahon get arrested for leaving the second baby out of wedlock by her daughter Margie Ainsworth. They take the baby (which is not developing normally) and leave it on the steps of a doctor's office in Brookline, MA. The baby dies days later. They both served suspended sentences.

The entire Ainsworth and McMahon families move to Washington, DC and open a bread and breakfast near the Capitol and manage to stay out of the news for the rest of their lives.

Rear Admiral Eaton is noted in many newspapers and books as being a Medal of Honor Recipient but I can not find proof that he is. He has truly been forgotten by the unfortunate circumstances of his death. Please remember the Admiral and his naval service to our country.

Lieutenant Commander Richard Swan Baron

Photo from "Lucky Bag" Class of 1924 US Naval Academy at Annapolis

Richard Swan Baron was born in Lowell, MA January 22, 1901 to Charles and Mary Louise (Swan) Baron and grew up at 88 Eleventh Avenue in the Centralville section. He graduated from Lowell High School and was appointed to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis just like his father. He had a twin sister Gwendolyn, brother Gerald and sister Natalie. The family also had a summer home on Baker's Island in Salem, MA.

Richard's mother was the great grand daughter of Robert Swan of Peterborough, NH and a member of the Daughters of the Revolution (55251). Robert Swan fought at Ticonderoga with Captain Joseph Parker's company. Richard's parents are buried in the Lowell Cemetery.

He rose to the rank of Lieutenant  Commander while serving in China and the Philippines. Right after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor they attacked the Philippines. General McArthur and American forces had been there for about three years. They were unprepared for the attack. Lieutenant  Commander Richard Swan Baron was in Cavite during the initial attack and was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions entering a burning building at grave danger to himself to retrieve important military documents. The Navy Cross is the second highest Navy military honor, second only to the Medal of Honor.

The Lieutenant Commander was killed in action on March 15, 1942 by the Japanese invasion in Cebu. He was survived by his wife Anne Baron, his mother, his siblings and three young daughters; Mary Louise, Ann and Gerald. In his memory the US Navy had a Destroyer Escort ship named in his memory. The USS Baron DE-166 was christened in New Jersey May 9, 1943 and saw wartime service.

Lieutenant Commander Richard Swan Baron is buried in the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. This cemetery, covering 152 acres, maintained by the American Battle Monument Commission, contains 17,206 American burials and  3,744 unknown burials. The cemetery contains the largest number of graves of any U.S. personnel killed during World War Two.

He never came home. We must not forget Lowell native Richard Swan Baron who paid the ultimate sacrifice so far from home.