Irwin Bird (he was never known by his first name) was born in 1880 on a farm south of Carthage, MO, youngest child of Owen Lovejoy Bird and Martha Ann McGinnis. His mother died in 1883 when he was two and a half years old. His father remarried a year later to Myra Standley Wormington, a widow.
Irwin did not get along well with his step-mother, nor, as he grew older, with his father. He left his father's home while still in his teens and found jobs initially as a laborer and farmhand, though he would later put his education to use.
He became an entrepreneur in his mid-20s, operating a skating rink and an ice cream parlor among other endeavors. In 1909, at the age of 29, he met, fell in love with, and courted 16-year-old Cinda Luella Breedlove of Stotts City, MO. They married on 28 May 1910. Living in Webb City, MO, they had a stillborn son, and then a daughter, Mary Martha.
Irwin Bird was severely hard of hearing. Some deafness runs in the Bird family -- his father was known to be hard of hearing, and his daughters and some grandchildren inherited the affliction -- but his hearing loss was much worse than the family norm. His education was thus limited, but he compensated by some lip-reading, and possibly by the use of what hearing aids (ear horns) were available at the time.
His widow later told the story that her brothers, upon learning Irwin was deaf, conspired to try to cheat him at card games by talking quietly among themselves during the game to set him up. What his brothers-in-law didn't know was that their sister (his wife) was also engaging in "table talk", walking behind each of her brothers and silently mouthing the cards they were holding and what plans they were making, giving her lip-reading husband all the forewarning he needed. It was soon decided by all that their new brother-in-law Irwin was a card-playing genius, as he beat them every time, even when they were all cheating.
At the time of his death, Irwin was working a winter job at a sawmill, which required him to walk several miles between work and home. One such walk would prove fatal.
Irwin died during a blizzard on 27 February 1915 after having been struck by a train. Walking home from work during the snowstorm, he and a friend, John Pottorff, who had a similar hearing affliction, followed the train tracks as the only dependable path home. Their poor hearing, compounded by the noise of the storm, masked the sound of an approaching train. They could not hear the train coming until it was too late.
John Pottorff was killed almost instantly by the impact, but Irwin remained alive and suffering for nearly three hours in the bitter cold. It took that long before a rescue crew reached him -- a train crew reported seeing him, and it may have been the same one that hit him, but it still took hours to reach him.
Irwin died en route, not just of his injuries, but also from hypothermia, having lain by the tracks in the bitter cold all that time. He died without knowing his wife was expecting another daughter, who was born seven months after her father's death.
Irwin did not get along well with his step-mother, nor, as he grew older, with his father. He left his father's home while still in his teens and found jobs initially as a laborer and farmhand, though he would later put his education to use.
He became an entrepreneur in his mid-20s, operating a skating rink and an ice cream parlor among other endeavors. In 1909, at the age of 29, he met, fell in love with, and courted 16-year-old Cinda Luella Breedlove of Stotts City, MO. They married on 28 May 1910. Living in Webb City, MO, they had a stillborn son, and then a daughter, Mary Martha.
Irwin Bird was severely hard of hearing. Some deafness runs in the Bird family -- his father was known to be hard of hearing, and his daughters and some grandchildren inherited the affliction -- but his hearing loss was much worse than the family norm. His education was thus limited, but he compensated by some lip-reading, and possibly by the use of what hearing aids (ear horns) were available at the time.
His widow later told the story that her brothers, upon learning Irwin was deaf, conspired to try to cheat him at card games by talking quietly among themselves during the game to set him up. What his brothers-in-law didn't know was that their sister (his wife) was also engaging in "table talk", walking behind each of her brothers and silently mouthing the cards they were holding and what plans they were making, giving her lip-reading husband all the forewarning he needed. It was soon decided by all that their new brother-in-law Irwin was a card-playing genius, as he beat them every time, even when they were all cheating.
At the time of his death, Irwin was working a winter job at a sawmill, which required him to walk several miles between work and home. One such walk would prove fatal.
Irwin died during a blizzard on 27 February 1915 after having been struck by a train. Walking home from work during the snowstorm, he and a friend, John Pottorff, who had a similar hearing affliction, followed the train tracks as the only dependable path home. Their poor hearing, compounded by the noise of the storm, masked the sound of an approaching train. They could not hear the train coming until it was too late.
John Pottorff was killed almost instantly by the impact, but Irwin remained alive and suffering for nearly three hours in the bitter cold. It took that long before a rescue crew reached him -- a train crew reported seeing him, and it may have been the same one that hit him, but it still took hours to reach him.
Irwin died en route, not just of his injuries, but also from hypothermia, having lain by the tracks in the bitter cold all that time. He died without knowing his wife was expecting another daughter, who was born seven months after her father's death.
Irwin Bird (he was never known by his first name) was born in 1880 on a farm south of Carthage, MO, youngest child of Owen Lovejoy Bird and Martha Ann McGinnis. His mother died in 1883 when he was two and a half years old. His father remarried a year later to Myra Standley Wormington, a widow.
Irwin did not get along well with his step-mother, nor, as he grew older, with his father. He left his father's home while still in his teens and found jobs initially as a laborer and farmhand, though he would later put his education to use.
He became an entrepreneur in his mid-20s, operating a skating rink and an ice cream parlor among other endeavors. In 1909, at the age of 29, he met, fell in love with, and courted 16-year-old Cinda Luella Breedlove of Stotts City, MO. They married on 28 May 1910. Living in Webb City, MO, they had a stillborn son, and then a daughter, Mary Martha.
Irwin Bird was severely hard of hearing. Some deafness runs in the Bird family -- his father was known to be hard of hearing, and his daughters and some grandchildren inherited the affliction -- but his hearing loss was much worse than the family norm. His education was thus limited, but he compensated by some lip-reading, and possibly by the use of what hearing aids (ear horns) were available at the time.
His widow later told the story that her brothers, upon learning Irwin was deaf, conspired to try to cheat him at card games by talking quietly among themselves during the game to set him up. What his brothers-in-law didn't know was that their sister (his wife) was also engaging in "table talk", walking behind each of her brothers and silently mouthing the cards they were holding and what plans they were making, giving her lip-reading husband all the forewarning he needed. It was soon decided by all that their new brother-in-law Irwin was a card-playing genius, as he beat them every time, even when they were all cheating.
At the time of his death, Irwin was working a winter job at a sawmill, which required him to walk several miles between work and home. One such walk would prove fatal.
Irwin died during a blizzard on 27 February 1915 after having been struck by a train. Walking home from work during the snowstorm, he and a friend, John Pottorff, who had a similar hearing affliction, followed the train tracks as the only dependable path home. Their poor hearing, compounded by the noise of the storm, masked the sound of an approaching train. They could not hear the train coming until it was too late.
John Pottorff was killed almost instantly by the impact, but Irwin remained alive and suffering for nearly three hours in the bitter cold. It took that long before a rescue crew reached him -- a train crew reported seeing him, and it may have been the same one that hit him, but it still took hours to reach him.
Irwin died en route, not just of his injuries, but also from hypothermia, having lain by the tracks in the bitter cold all that time. He died without knowing his wife was expecting another daughter, who was born seven months after her father's death.
Irwin did not get along well with his step-mother, nor, as he grew older, with his father. He left his father's home while still in his teens and found jobs initially as a laborer and farmhand, though he would later put his education to use.
He became an entrepreneur in his mid-20s, operating a skating rink and an ice cream parlor among other endeavors. In 1909, at the age of 29, he met, fell in love with, and courted 16-year-old Cinda Luella Breedlove of Stotts City, MO. They married on 28 May 1910. Living in Webb City, MO, they had a stillborn son, and then a daughter, Mary Martha.
Irwin Bird was severely hard of hearing. Some deafness runs in the Bird family -- his father was known to be hard of hearing, and his daughters and some grandchildren inherited the affliction -- but his hearing loss was much worse than the family norm. His education was thus limited, but he compensated by some lip-reading, and possibly by the use of what hearing aids (ear horns) were available at the time.
His widow later told the story that her brothers, upon learning Irwin was deaf, conspired to try to cheat him at card games by talking quietly among themselves during the game to set him up. What his brothers-in-law didn't know was that their sister (his wife) was also engaging in "table talk", walking behind each of her brothers and silently mouthing the cards they were holding and what plans they were making, giving her lip-reading husband all the forewarning he needed. It was soon decided by all that their new brother-in-law Irwin was a card-playing genius, as he beat them every time, even when they were all cheating.
At the time of his death, Irwin was working a winter job at a sawmill, which required him to walk several miles between work and home. One such walk would prove fatal.
Irwin died during a blizzard on 27 February 1915 after having been struck by a train. Walking home from work during the snowstorm, he and a friend, John Pottorff, who had a similar hearing affliction, followed the train tracks as the only dependable path home. Their poor hearing, compounded by the noise of the storm, masked the sound of an approaching train. They could not hear the train coming until it was too late.
John Pottorff was killed almost instantly by the impact, but Irwin remained alive and suffering for nearly three hours in the bitter cold. It took that long before a rescue crew reached him -- a train crew reported seeing him, and it may have been the same one that hit him, but it still took hours to reach him.
Irwin died en route, not just of his injuries, but also from hypothermia, having lain by the tracks in the bitter cold all that time. He died without knowing his wife was expecting another daughter, who was born seven months after her father's death.
