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Family history
By TODD MCHALE
Burlington County Times
PHILADELPHIA - As the collapsible canvas lifeboat was lowered into the icy waters of the North Atlantic, a ship steward yelled out, "Does anyone have a knife?"
"Margaret (Devaney) said, 'I've got a knife, but I'm going to need to get it back,'" said Cinnaminson resident Joseph Moynahan, describing what his great aunt said after fleeing passengers found they couldn't untie the oars to the R.M.S. Titanic lifeboat in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912.
It was 40 minutes before the Titanic would sink and that young Irish woman's pocketknife proved to be the difference between the survivors being sucked underwater in the wake of the ocean liner and rowing away to safety.
With the oars free, 32 lives were spared.
Now, 92 years later, that small pocketknife is on display along with hundreds of other artifacts as part of the "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" at the Franklin Institute.
Moynahan, who works as a cabinetmaker at the Franklin Institute, was on hand yesterday with dozens of other descendants of Titanic passengers to share stories and take a firsthand look at the popular exhibit.
"I saw the exhibit in Boston and Chicago, but this one has things I've never seen before," said Devaney's daughter, Helen Landsberg of Clifton, Passaic County, who attended the event with Moynahan.
"I always regretted that she didn't live to see the day when they found (the Titanic)," she said.
Devaney died in 1974 at the age of 83, she said.
Landsberg said she enjoyed the 15,000-square-foot exhibit that will be open through Jan. 2, 2005, but she wasn't sure how her mother would feel about items being removed from the sunken ship.
As the 57 descendants of 13 passengers roamed through the exhibit yesterday, Moynahan recalled what "a life-changing event" it was for his great aunt when the Titanic went down.
"She embraced life after (surviving)," Moynahan said.
"She felt that she had been through the worst and nothing else could alter her life like that."
On that tragic night, after the ship struck the iceberg, a steward burst into Devaney's room and told her and others to put on their life belts and go to the boat deck, Moynahan said.
Devaney and two other girls began the trek up seven decks until one friend stopped because she was seasick and the other stayed to help out. Devaney, who proceeded alone up a ladder to where the lifeboats were being boarded, would never see her two friends again.
Devaney managed to get on one of the last lifeboats after a member of the ship's crew told two men who were already on the craft to get off or he'd shoot them.
Fortunately for Devaney and the others aboard the small craft, the canvas lifeboat was spotted by crew members of the Carpathia a short time later, Moynahan said.
"When they got to New York, a man came up and handed her a metal flag," Moynahan said.
"He said, 'They're tearing apart the lifeboats for souvenirs and I wanted you to have this.' It was the flag mounted on the side of the lifeboat."
The flag, Devaney's pocketknife, and her boarding and destination passes are all on display in the exhibit along with a short video of her story.
"It's fascinating to be so closely tied to history," said Devaney's great-granddaughter, Xan Franklin of Chicago, who narrates the video.
Moynahan said he's just glad everybody could get together to share their stories and prized possessions.
"It's tremendous," he said. "It's so great that this was able to come together."
Email: tmchale@phillyBurbs.com
September 16, 2004 6:09 AM
<http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-09162004-366776.html>
By TODD MCHALE
Burlington County Times
PHILADELPHIA - As the collapsible canvas lifeboat was lowered into the icy waters of the North Atlantic, a ship steward yelled out, "Does anyone have a knife?"
"Margaret (Devaney) said, 'I've got a knife, but I'm going to need to get it back,'" said Cinnaminson resident Joseph Moynahan, describing what his great aunt said after fleeing passengers found they couldn't untie the oars to the R.M.S. Titanic lifeboat in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912.
It was 40 minutes before the Titanic would sink and that young Irish woman's pocketknife proved to be the difference between the survivors being sucked underwater in the wake of the ocean liner and rowing away to safety.
With the oars free, 32 lives were spared.
Now, 92 years later, that small pocketknife is on display along with hundreds of other artifacts as part of the "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" at the Franklin Institute.
Moynahan, who works as a cabinetmaker at the Franklin Institute, was on hand yesterday with dozens of other descendants of Titanic passengers to share stories and take a firsthand look at the popular exhibit.
"I saw the exhibit in Boston and Chicago, but this one has things I've never seen before," said Devaney's daughter, Helen Landsberg of Clifton, Passaic County, who attended the event with Moynahan.
"I always regretted that she didn't live to see the day when they found (the Titanic)," she said.
Devaney died in 1974 at the age of 83, she said.
Landsberg said she enjoyed the 15,000-square-foot exhibit that will be open through Jan. 2, 2005, but she wasn't sure how her mother would feel about items being removed from the sunken ship.
As the 57 descendants of 13 passengers roamed through the exhibit yesterday, Moynahan recalled what "a life-changing event" it was for his great aunt when the Titanic went down.
"She embraced life after (surviving)," Moynahan said.
"She felt that she had been through the worst and nothing else could alter her life like that."
On that tragic night, after the ship struck the iceberg, a steward burst into Devaney's room and told her and others to put on their life belts and go to the boat deck, Moynahan said.
Devaney and two other girls began the trek up seven decks until one friend stopped because she was seasick and the other stayed to help out. Devaney, who proceeded alone up a ladder to where the lifeboats were being boarded, would never see her two friends again.
Devaney managed to get on one of the last lifeboats after a member of the ship's crew told two men who were already on the craft to get off or he'd shoot them.
Fortunately for Devaney and the others aboard the small craft, the canvas lifeboat was spotted by crew members of the Carpathia a short time later, Moynahan said.
"When they got to New York, a man came up and handed her a metal flag," Moynahan said.
"He said, 'They're tearing apart the lifeboats for souvenirs and I wanted you to have this.' It was the flag mounted on the side of the lifeboat."
The flag, Devaney's pocketknife, and her boarding and destination passes are all on display in the exhibit along with a short video of her story.
"It's fascinating to be so closely tied to history," said Devaney's great-granddaughter, Xan Franklin of Chicago, who narrates the video.
Moynahan said he's just glad everybody could get together to share their stories and prized possessions.
"It's tremendous," he said. "It's so great that this was able to come together."
Email: tmchale@phillyBurbs.com
September 16, 2004 6:09 AM
<http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-09162004-366776.html>
