Catherine Winters:1913, Newcastle, Indiana

 

  Dr. William A. Winters and Emily “Etta” Whisler Winters should have lived a charmed life. They lived in Newcastle, Indiana just after the turn of the century. He was a dentist in the bustling and growing Indiana town. He had studied dentistry in Chicago. The young couple eventually had two children, Catherine and Frank on June 22nd 1906. 

  In 1908 Emily (Etta to her family and friends) traveled to Poynette Wisconsin to visit her family in the Summer. Her two children got to enjoy their family and all the fun of summertime. 

  Shortly after returning to Indiana, Emily began feeling ill.  She had a lingering cough that wouldn’t go away. She was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. 

  Many people felt that a dry climate would help heal those with tuberculosis.  Colorado Springs was recommended as a place to recover.* And so, Emily reluctantly left her children in Newcastle and traveled with a friend to Colorado Springs.  In April of 1909, Emily’s sister, Ida Chaflant and little Catherine, traveled to Colorado Springs to bring Emily home.  She was not improving. When they arrived she had tragically already passed away. 

  It was decided to bury Emily in Poynette, Wisconsin where her family lived.  Ida and Catherine traveled with Emily’s remains. Dr. William Winters and little Frank and other family members joined them there for the funeral. 

  In the 1910 census the Williams family was living at 918 Broad Street in Newcastle. Maternal Aunt Ida Challant and Grandmother Eliza Whisler are living with the family to care for the children and the home. Catherine was six and Frank was 3. 

  

  On September 5th, 1910 William A. Winters married again.  Birdie O. Ritter had been born in Henry County in 1880. The two were married in Indianapolis. 

  

  Birdie O. Ritter was the daughter of Lydia (O’Roark) and Joseph Ritter.  Her father worked as a carpenter to provide for his family of 5 children. Birdie was the youngest. 

    Dr. William A. and Birdie Winters. 

  So the Winter’s family in late 1910 now consisted of Dr. William A. Winters, his new wife Birdie, Catherine and Frank. 

  On March 20th, 1913, nine year old Catherine asked permission to go door to door selling packets of needles.  She was hoping to win a prize by selling the most. She never returned home. She was never seen again. 

   Her family went searching for her when she did not return in a timely manner. They went door to door and down each street calling Catherine’s name. 

   They located people who had seen her or bought needles from her. Dan Monroe might have been the last person to see her on Broad Street near the courthouse at about noon. He knew Catherine and spoke to her briefly. 

   Some children said they saw her watching a band of gypsies on the edge of town. 

   A mysterious “peculiar man well known about town” was mentioned in the paper.  Apparently he was questioned and released. 

   Immediately Newcastle police and other townspeople  were suspicious of the “band of gypsies”.  They suspected one of the wagons might have been used to kidnap Catherine.  The wagons were followed and searched.  There was no sign of Catherine.  In the coming years many other people driving wagons would be followed and searched in Indiana and other states hoping to locate Catherine. Chasing down people in wagons seems like it was a huge waste of resources and time all for the sake of xenophobia. 

  Her father offered a $2000 reward. He also went to the expense of having a short film made to help spread the story of her disappearance. 

  The Catherine Winters story was covered extensively in the newspapers. Stories ranged from sightings of Catherine to psychics who gave tips as to her whereabouts. People would write to the papers with tips and sometimes Dr. Winters would travel to speak with the people who had thought that they had seen Catherine. 

  Reports of Catherine in East St. Louis and other townspeople proved to be false. 

  Her father spent all his extra time and money searching for Catherine. 

  This was the age of yellow journalism and newspapers sold better if the headlines were sensational.  All sorts of rumors were entertained and the Winters family went through terrible emotional turmoil with each new article. 

  In 1914, a Newcastle musician would write a ballad about the disappearance, “Where Did Catherine Winters Go?” It became a popular tune in Indiana and even decades later, when William A. Winters died,  it was mentioned in connection with the story. 

  Private citizens donated money to hire a private detective.  Burns was a detective of some fame. It was hoped that he would solve this mystery.  Sadly, neither he nor anyone else has solved the mystery. 

  People were so gripped by the mystery and rumors that eventually charges were brought against Dr and Mrs Winters and their lodger. The case was thrown out by the judge for lack of evidence. 

   A 1917 tornado struck Newcastle and over 300 homes were destroyed. The “evidence”, some articles of clothing, were blown away with the tornado. No remains of Catherine were ever found and the articles of clothing were thought to have been fake even before the tornado struck. 

  I don’t think anyone in the Winters home harmed Catherine.  I think a sexual predator abducted, raped and murdered her. It might have been a stranger in town but it could also have been a neighbor. 

  Dr. Winters went above and beyond in his search for his daughter. He had a short film made for goodness sakes. This family loved their children. 

  Life went on in Newcastle. Dr. Winters registered for the draft in WWI as he was required to. But he was never called to serve. 

  Dr. Winters and Birdie lived out the rest of their lives together there in Newcastle. 

  In the 1930 census they were living at 311 North Sixteenth Street. Birdie worked at a department store as a sales lady. Birdie’s aging mother lived with them. Despite her age of 79, she listed her occupation as “private laundry”. The word “servant” had first been entered but then scratched out. The Winters family had a lodger then as well, Mr. George Thompson, who was a police officer and a merchant. 

  We tend to think of dentists as being rather well off, financially. They can make a very good living today in an age where most people have dental insurance. But, in the earlier parts of the 20th century, dental insurance was not even a concept yet. Most people did not get regular checkups,cleanings and fillings. Dr. Winters would have been pulling teeth and fitting people for dentures most likely. He might have made a fairly good living but his wife and mother-in-law were helping out too. Their lodger paying a bit of rent also helped them get by. 

    Dr. William Winters died in 1940. Birdie Winters (Also spelled Byrd) passed away in 1953. The two had lived out the rest of their lives there in Newcastle, Indiana

  Frank C. Winters moved to Los Angeles, California when he grew up. In 1924 the song “California, Here I Come” was a big hit.  Al Jolson made the song very famous all over the world. It was an upbeat popular tune with a decidedly optimistic vibe. If you hummed or whistled it today l imagine many people could still identify it. 

   I wonder if the song inspired Frank to head out west like it did so many others.  Perhaps he felt the need to leave the town that held so many terrible memories for him. I also wondered what he had become.  Had he become a dentist like his father?  It seems not.  

  On Ancestry I found that he had worked in the automotive industry in Los Angeles. A factory is a noisy place and there’s not much time to talk. He likely found solace in his work. 

  He did his best to make it through the Great Depression. Growing up, his family had often taken in a lodger to make ends meet. In his years in California he was often a lodger in the homes of others. The Great Depression was an incredibly difficult time for nearly everyone. 

  I wonder if Frank spoke of the tragedies of his childhood to any of his housemates. I wonder if they all shared their own stories. 

  According to the 1930 census he was a lodger in a home. He worked in purchasing in an automobile plant. In 1935 he lived in Huntington Park and in 1940 he was a lodger in the home of Grace Evans 9529 San Antonio, Los Angeles.(South Gate City) He was unemployed but had been an inspector in Automobile manufacturing. 

  In 1955, Frank C. Winters passed away in Los Angeles. He was 49 years old. He had never married. Maybe he never met the right person. Or maybe he had learned early in childhood that loving someone isn’t a magic spell. Loving someone isn’t enough to protect them from the terrible tragedies that can befall them. 

  Frank C. Winters remains were cremated. 

  Catherine Winters was never found. She was most likely killed the day she went missing. If I were digging in a basement, excavating a well or putting in a pool in Newcastle, Indiana…I would keep an eye out for the bones of a small girl. 

*Readers of True Crime might be wondering if Mrs. Winters was in Colorado Springs at the time of the infamous axe murders.  No, that terrible tragedy happened in 1911. I highly recommend the book “The Man From the Train” by Bill James and Rachael McCarthy James.