Rose Catlin ( – 1880), married to W W Catlin, died after jumping from her bedroom window fleeing from an intruder. W. W. Catlin was a prominent Henderson citizen in the mid to late 1800’s.
Frank Boyett Sums it up best:
Publication: Henderson Gleaner: 9/10/2000
Yesterday’s News by Frank Boyett
Love letter only glimmer of light in tale of tragedy.
This is a tragedy in black and white about hope and despair.
The public first learned of it when Rose Catlin jumped out the second-story window of her Powell Street home. But it started when a midnight prowler began climbing the lattice work of her back porch to creep into her window.
Rose Catlin was in her mid-40s in 1880, “a lady of fine physique,” according to the Henderson Reporter, and a native of Louisiana. She apparently was a widow; I could find no evidence of the presence of her husband, William W. Catlin, who was city marshal here during most of the Civil War.
She awoke about 1 a.m. to find someone in her bedroom. “The party advanced to her bed side and she immediately sounded the alarm by screaming at the top of her voice,” according to the Reporter. “As the villain approached the bed the lady, finding that her screams availed nothing, sprang from the bed and in two steps was standing at the front window of her room.
“Her fright was so great, without hesitating a moment longer, and with no fear of the terrible consequences to follow, she leaped from the window to the pavement below, a distance of 17 or 18 feet.” The fall shattered her right wrist, but except for some bruises, otherwise left her unharmed.
The community was outraged at such an “infamously wicked attempt upon the privacy and morality of a law abiding community,” according to the Reporter. “Nothing so startling has ever occurred in this city to arouse their angry passions and lead men to congregate in groups and debate upon plans.”
Law enforcement authorities immediately began looking for the culprit, but had little hope of tracking him down. Their efforts intensified a week later when Rose Catlin died. She evidently became infected with tetanus through the compound fracture of her wrist.
“On Monday morning her jaws became somewhat paralyzed, and the great uneasiness on the part of her physician culminated in a fact that evening by her jaws becoming entirely locked. A consultation was held … and it was determined to amputate her arm, thinking possibly this might save her life. Her arm was taken off below the elbow, but the operation failed to be of any benefit….
“The suffering this poor woman was forced to undergo was terrific, and her death is one of the saddest ever known in this community.”
About 10 days after her death police made an arrest for her murder: A young black man from Louisville named Luke Tyson, or Ticen, as he wrote it. The Reporter said Ticen was in Henderson the night of Rose Catlin’s fateful leap, but immediately shipped out on a steamboat as a deck hand.
“Tyson will have somewhat of a rub to prove himself entirely innocent. If he is innocent he ought to be cleared, of course, but if he is guilty … the very severest penalty of the law should be enforced. We believe this is the first instance where a midnight prowler has been known to force his way into an unprotected lady’s room in this city, and it should be the last. An example should be made of this scoundrel … that will deter others in the future.”
The future looked pretty grim for Ticen at that point. The rest of this story comes from the court file in the criminal case against him. I don’t know why, but for some reason two letters that Ticen wrote to friends in Louisville were included in that file. Apparently they were never mailed by authorities.
Ticen’s story was that he had originally shipped on the steamboat that had been docked in Henderson the night Rose Catlin jumped, but said he had left that boat and had been working on another boat that docked in Paducah that night. He asked his friends on the boat to come to Henderson and corroborate his story. “I am in truble,” he signed one of the letters.
But it was his letter to his sweetheart, Carrie Anderson in Louisville, that touched my heart. Here are some excerpts, with the original spelling left intact:
“Dear Carrie, It is with plesure that I take the plesant oppotunity of righting you a few lines to inform you that I am well in helth but not in mine. I am sory to tell you that I am in jail … on sospishion of murder. But I think I am all right and shore to get out so you need not to greave.”
Ticen went on to ask her to take steps to ensure that those who had accompanied him on the boat from Paducah were aware of his plight so they could testify on his behalf.
Then he began expressing his deep feelings for her:
“I will say a few words to you in regard of love, (k)noing that thire is love between I and you, specialy desending from my heart to you and hopeing the same is desending from your heart to me. Of this I am sur if you love me as I love you no one can cut our love in to.
“My dear I cant say as mutch in this leter as I wish to say but never the lese I exspect to see you again…. Do not greave but only trust God that we may meet again and talk together of our love.”
Ticen’s lack of spelling skill doesn’t seem to detract from his eloquence, does it?
What moved me the most in reading those letters was Ticen’s remarkable lack of bitterness and his faith in his own innocence, despite the public’s ugly feelings against him. I suspect it also moved his accusers. The commonwealth attorney dismissed the murder indictment in mid-January of 1881 on grounds of insufficient evidence. Ticen was released after spending nearly four months as an innocent man in the Henderson jail.
I hope Carrie Anderson was still waiting for him when he got home.
References:
The Henderson Semi-Weekly Reporter Henderson, Kentucky • Fri, Sep 10, 1880
The citizens of Henderson have never been so shocked as they were on Tuesday morning at learning the facts of a terrible incident that happened at the home of Mrs. W. W. Catlin only a few hours previous. Nothing so startling has ever occurred in this city to arouse their angry passions, and lead men to congregate in groups and debate upon plans, as this. Although occurrences have been frequent in other places and the daily press teems with similar and even more horrible instances every day, still this people were not prepared for such like, and a mere mention of it caused a shudder at once indicative of the feeling entertained for such a desperate and intamously wicked attempt upon the privacy and morality of a law abiding community. The facts as we learn them from Dr. Dixon, Mr. David Hart and others who have conversed with the unfortunate lady, are about as follows. — Some time near one o’clock on Tuesday morning Mrs. Catlin was awakened by someone in her room. The party advanced to her bed side and she immediately sounded the alarm by screaming at the top of her voice. Mr. Hart, who was awakened by her screams, got out of bed and walked to his back door to find the direction from which they came and while standing in the door heard a terrific shriek and recognized the language, “My God, will no one help me.” He immediately dressed himself and made rapid strides for the scene of trouble. — He passed from Main street on Powell toward the river and saw several persons standing in Mrs. Catlin’s front yard. He went up and found her lying upon the pavement in front of the house and sent for Dr. A. Dixon who lives very near by. The Doctor came and after a hurried examination and a few questions asked directed her to be moved into her room up stairs. After Mrs. C. had been taken to her room she continued the story, the beginning of which we have given above. As the villain approached the bed the lady, finding that her screams availed nothing, sprang from the bed and in two steps was standing at the front window of her room. Her fright was so great, without hesitating a moment longer, and with no fear of the terrible consequences to follow, she leaped from the window to the pavement below, a distance of seventeen or eighteen feet. She fell upon the brick pavement on her right side and arm. Upon examination by Drs. Dixon and Hodge it was discovered that she had suffered a compound comminuted fracture of the wrist (Colles fracture), her back and right side much bruised but not seriously injured. It was a remarkable escape and Mrs. Catlin is to be congratulated that her injuries are no worse. A survey of the premises showed that the villain who had entered the house had climbed up the lattice work of the back porch and climbed into the back window to the second story. He escaped by going down the hall stairs and going out the back door. Many surmises and suspicions have been indulged, but as yet the experts have failed to find any pointer by which they may get a trace of the scoundrel. Mrs. Catlin, we are pleased to announce, is doing well and is expected soon to be entirely well again with the exception of her broken wrist.
The Henderson Semi-Weekly Reporter • Fri, Sep 17, 1880
Mrs. W. W. Catlin, who was so seriously injured by jumping from the second story window of her residence, last Tuesday week, died on Wednesday morning. On Monday morning her jaws became somewhat paralyzed, and the great uneasiness on the part of her physician culminated in a fact that evening by her jaws becoming entirely locked. A consultation was held, and on Tuesday morning it was determined to amputate the arm, thinking possibly this might save her life. Her arm was taken off below the elbow, but the operation failed to be of any benefit. She died Wednesday morning as before stated, at 11½ o’clock. The suffering this poor woman was forced to undergo was terrific, and her death is one of the saddest ever known in this community. She was a lady of fine physique and enjoyed a very remarkably strong and healthy constitution. She was in the bloom of health at the time of the terrible occurrence, and this, of itself, makes it sad, leaving out of view the fearful cause which brought about her sudden and untimely end. She was buried yesterday, Thursday, morning.
The Henderson Semi-Weekly Reporter • Tue, Sep 28, 1880
The Henderson Semi-Weekly Reporter Henderson, Kentucky • Fri, Sep 10, 1880
The Henderson Semi-Weekly Reporter • Fri, Sep 17, 1880
Henderson Gleaner • 10 September 2000