The Crossroads of America

The first possible mention of Billy's family appears in 1867’s Edward’s Annual City Directory for Indianapolis, Indiana. The directory lists Catherine McCarty as Michael McCarty's widow, residing at 385 North New Jersey Street, just a few blocks from William Henry Harrison Antrim, Billy's future stepfather. Born on December 1, 1842, in Huntsville, Indiana, William Antrim was the son of Levi and Mary (nee Lawson) Antrim. Antrim briefly served in the Union Army in 1863 and then spent time as a teamster in and around Indianapolis. 

When Catherine McCarty (widow and head of household) filed for a homestead in Kansas in August 1870, Antrim signed an affidavit stating that he had known her for six years, which indicates that they first met in 1864. This evidence supports that William Antrim and Catherine McCarty were both living in Indianapolis in the late 1860s—but exactly how they met, and the nature of their relationship is still unclear.

There is speculation that Catherine’s first husband, and presumably Billy’s father, died during the Civil War. However, William Antrim later swore that Catherine’s first husband had not served in the army and had died in New York City. The Indianapolis city directory again listed Catherine in 1868, but this time at 199 N. East Street. At this point, Catherine disappears from the record for the first of several times.