This story first appeared July 9, 2010.
William H. Bonney, alias “Billy the Kid,” is the most misunderstood historical figure of the Old West. Unlike most Wild West outlaws, he was not a cold-blooded killer, he was not a train robber and he didn’t rob banks. He was a gunfighter born of a feud between two factions known to history as “The Lincoln County War.” According to popular legend, he killed 21 men, one for every year of his life, before he was killed in the New Mexico Desert by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
“Billy the Kid” was born William Henry McCarty in the fall of 1859 somewhere in central Indiana, although some historians claim his birthplace was New York City. As early as 1862 official records show that Billy’s mother, Catherine McCarty, and her two sons are living in Indianapolis at 199 North East Street, a stone’s throw from the old Market Square Arena site. According to the 1866 census “Henry” (aka Billy) was living with his widowed mother and elder brother Joseph McCarty in Marion County.
His mother soon shacked up with Civil War veteran William H. Antrim and for a time lived in Indianapolis at 58 Cherry Street and later 70 Plum Street (Both addresses that no longer exist). The couple was later married in the town where Antrim was born; Huntsville, Indiana (near Pendleton). Although no marriage certificate has been found for the couple and the exact date of their marriage is uncertain, the family shows up as William, Catherine, Joseph, and Henry Antrim on the Indiana census in 1868.
Although much has been written about Billy the Kid, little attention has been paid to his mother Catherine, the woman who gave Billy the Kid his Hoosier roots. By all accounts, her world revolved around her two young sons, Joseph and Henry. Those who visited her household often spoke of the hospitality they received and the good home she made for her family.
Catherine was born in Ireland around 1829. Her surname, as that of her parents and siblings, is unknown. At the age of seventeen, Catherine immigrated to New York City after fleeing the Irish potato famine of 1845. The name Catherine McCarty is listed as a passenger on the ship Devonshire as it left Liverpool, arriving in New York City on April 10, 1846. She soon found herself alone in a city overflowing with other immigrants and it’s been speculated that she soon became a “soiled dove,” forced to live a life on the streets. Sometime after her arrival, Catherine learned she had contracted tuberculosis, or “galloping consumption,” as it was called in her day.
It is believed that Catherine moved her family to Indiana, then the edge of the western frontier, on the advice of doctors in an effort to save her life. It was here she would meet William Henry Harrison Antrim, her future husband. Antrim was a veteran of the Union Army and had served with Company “I” of the 54th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a private until receiving an honorable discharge in September 1863. It’s interesting to note that Catherine was 14 years older than William Antrim when they met. Antrim’s occupation was variously listed as a teamster, carpenter, farmer and bartender. Known as “Kathleen” by her friends, she was described as being of “medium height, straight and graceful in form, with regular features, light blue eyes, and luxuriant golden hair. She was not a beauty, but what the world calls a fine-looking woman.”
In 1869, Billy’s family left Indiana and moved to Coffeyville, Kansas then moved on to Denver, Colorado before finally settling down in the New Mexico Territory. Before long, the family was living in a fine log cabin with Catherine spending much of her time as a homemaker cooking pies and other treats which she sold easily to the local citizenry. Boyhood friends of Billy the Kid would later rave about “what a good cook Mrs. Bill Antrim was.” Catherine loved kids, and it was a regular occurrence to find many of the neighborhood boys racing for the Antrim cabin after school in search of freshly baked cookies. Although the Antrim household was a happy one, the family struggled for money. Often, Catherine took in boarders for extra money.
For a time, Catherine’s health seemed to improve and neighbors remember that she had enough newfound energy to take young Billy the kid dancing at town “bailes” every week. Neighbor Louis Abraham remarked that “Mrs. Antrim could dance the Highland Fling as well as the best of the dancers.” By the spring of 1874, Catherine’s health began to fail, leaving her confined to a bed for the next four months.
As she lay in bed gasping for breath and coughing up blood, it became clear to everyone that she was dying. While on her deathbed, she told a friend she was worried about leaving her beloved boys in such a “wild country.” On Wednesday, September 16, 1874, Catherine McCarty-Antrim died at the age of 45 with 14-year-old Billy the Kid at her bedside.
Today Catherine’s body rests peacefully in a cemetery off Highway 180 leading into Silver City, New Mexico. Her marker, although misspelled, reads simply: “In Memory of Mrs. Kathrine Antrim 1829-1874 The Mother of Billy the Kid.” William Antrim didn’t want to be burdened with two young boys, so he separated them and placed them in foster homes before leaving for Arizona. Billy the Kid now had to pay his own way, so he was put to work washing dishes and waiting on tables at a restaurant. After a year, with no guidance from his mother, the Kid quickly fell in with the wrong crowd and began to hang out in Silver City’s billiard halls and bars.
Allegedly, Billy killed his first men near the Guadalupe Mountains in 1876 when he mistook a couple of reservation Apaches for “unfriendlies.” Keep in mind that America was still angry over the loss of George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn that same year. Billy heard that U.S. Army soldiers were looking for the killer of the peaceable people and he fled for the deserts of New Mexico. A life of violence awaited him.
Next week . . . Another Hoosier Billy the Kid connection.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
