My father told me this. I took it as true. For over half a century, I was extremely proud to have Mohawk royalty in my family tree."Her name was Kate Brant. She was the daughter of Joseph Brant, the great Mohawk chief."
Nice storytelling, but no cigar. He got the Catharine part right. She appears in census records of 1870 and 1880 as Catharine Whaley. Along with his wife, his mother, and three daughters, Catharine lives in Henry's household. An infant, Willie Whaley, would likely be her son. Occupation: mistress.
She is the same age as Henry's daughter, Jennie.
* * *
For over ten years, a young woman who was not Henry's wife lived in his home, bore him four sons, all surnamed Osborne, and ran into Henry's wife every hour of the day. How might this have worked?
Mistress. Please. You see where they lived. I think Mr. Census Taker didn't know what to make of this domestic arrangement. He could have left "Occupation" blank, but felt compelled to label her something. He had to put her down.
He must have heard of polygamy. Livonia is 30 miles from Palmyra, where the hill opened up, the angel stepped out, and the golden tablets were handed over to Joseph Smith. And look, says right here: a man can have more than one wife at the same time.
If you thought God wanted you to stay in that tiny house and be a fuck puppet for a potato farmer, and keep having his babies, and put up with the humiliation of going to the store in that town, maybe you could find joy in an existence as bleak as Catharine Whaley's.
She gave birth to one last little boy. Vernon Pemberton Osborne. Henry was then 65. Vernie was named after the man who lived across the street. Vernon Pemberton was Catharine's age. But married to someone else.
Catharine's second son with Henry grew up to be my great-grandfather, Charles.