Katie Clady Cathey was born on December 18, 1897 in Indian Bayou, Lonoke County, Arkansas to parents William Glenn Cathey (1861-1906) and Margaret Elizabeth “Lizzie” Summers (1870-1952). She was the only child of her family that was not born in Tennessee.
On the 1900 census Katie is living in Indian Bayou with her parents and three older brothers: Riley, Acra Archie and George Arlee. She is listed as two years old. The occupation of her father is, if I am reading this correctly, “tipping blocks”. I’m not really sure what that means. Under occupation for her brother Riley it says “play only”, which is pretty amusing. This census also says that Katie was born in December of 1887.
By 1910 Katie’s father had passed away. When the census was enumerated that year she was living in Humphreys County, Tennessee with her widowed mother; older brothers Acra Archie (listed as “Alvy”) and George Arlee, both of who were employed as farm laborers; and younger siblings Ludie Mae (listed as “Lorine”), William Richard and Maggie.
(note about Maggie: on the 1910 census it has Maggie Cathey age 2 1/2 years. on the 1920 census, after Lizzie remarried to Bill Smith, there is a Maggie Smith age 9 years. I am not sure at this point if they are the same Maggie or two different Maggies. some sources have said that Lizzie married Bill in 1909, yet he is not living with her and her last name is still Cathey on the 1910 census. Maggie on this census may still be his and they may be the same person.)
Katie Clady Cathey married Henry Corbett Craft on July 18, 1915 in Humphreys County, Tennessee.
It took a while to find the family on the 1920 census. One reason, though not the most obvious for location difficulty, is that their name is written in as “Croft”. Their first names made the search take longer, though. Henry Corbett is named as “Aubrey”, though the reason behind that is not apparent to me right now. Katie is listed as “Katty”. That’s not terribly different, so I think the Aubrey threw off the search. On this census Katie and Corb are living in Gibson County, Tennessee with two daughters, Nettie Sue (2 years and 10 months) and Louise (one month).
On October 25, 1923 we know that Katie gave birth to a stillborn daughter. The cause of death was due to strangulation. This child, who was not named, was buried in Bethel Cemetery in Gibson County, Tennessee.
I think the 1930 census is by far the most fun to deal with. Family Search has the last name correct as Craft. Ancestry has it as “Eraft”. I can see, kind of, where the transcriber would see the C as an E, though. The family is living in Madison County, Tennessee. Katie’s name on the census is listed as “Kati”. Her children living with them are Nettie S (age 13), Louise (age 10), Maggie N (age 8), my grandmother Ruthie M (age 4 years and 7 months, listed as “Raethi” on Family Search and “Rarthi” on Ancestry) and Jessie P (age 1 1/2 years).
Katie Clady Cathey passed away November 25, 1935 in Trenton, Gibson County, Tennessee from peritonitis due to a ruptured appendix. She was buried in Double Springs Cemetery in Gibson County, Tennessee. As far as I know there is no headstone for Katie.
Katie and Corb had at least three more children after 1930: Mary Katherine in 1931 and twins, one named John, in 1934. John’s twin, as we understand it, was a stillborn calcified fetus, not very large. Katie or my grandmother apparently buried the twin in a kitchen matchbox.
We are not really sure how many other stillborn children Katie may have had. The doctor had told her that she should not get pregnant anymore because it could kill her, but she did anyway.
Katie worked in fields and picked cotton. My grandmother, who adored her mother, was always with her “fast on her heels”. Katie was a dog lover, too. Katie was a religious woman who once said “damn” and fell to her knees begging my grandmother and God for forgiveness.
