Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Detrick was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, in the United States of America, on the 23rd August 1856, the daughter of Jacob H. and Hannah Detrick (née Morrison). Her father was a medical doctor and Catherine was the younger of two children, having an older sister named, Mary.
On the 1st August 1877, Kate married Robert Bruce Sterritt in Jacksonville, Illinois. Her husband was a travelling salesman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the couple resided there after their marriage. Their daughter, Catherine Bruce, was born in 1878.
In June 1890, Kate Sterritt commenced divorce proceeding against her husband, citing infidelity, and her application was subsequently granted. Then, on the 14th February 1893, she married Cameron Lyon Willey in Chicago, Illinois. Her husband was a lumber merchant and divorced, like Kate. They had no children together.
In 1903, Cameron and Catherine had divorced, and Catherine was receiving $7,200.00 per annum in alimony.
Catherine’s daughter married Robert D. Thorn, who lived in Chicago, Illinois. Their family home was at Lake Forest, Illinois, and the couple had four children by 1925.
In 1909, Catherine set up home in Paris, France, in The Continental Hotel, and every year, she visited her daughter in Chicago. On 28th April 1915, she had left Chicago to return to Paris having already booked as a saloon passage on the Lusitania, at Cunard’s Chicago office on the first stage of her journey from New York to Liverpool. She joined the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York, on the morning of 1st May 1915 and once she had boarded, (with ticket number 20604), she was allocated room B36, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward James Grant, who came from Liverpool.
Having had her scheduled time of departure delayed, because she had to embark passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had requisitioned as a troop ship, the Lusitania finally slipped her moorings at 12.27 p.m. and left the North River for the last time as she began her journey into the Atlantic Ocean.
Six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, Catherine Willey was killed, when the ship was sunk by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the southern Irish coast and only hours away from her Liverpool destination. She was aged 59 years.
On 9th May 1915, two days after the sinking, a cable was received at Cunard’s Queenstown office from the Chicago office which stated: -
Make every effort to locate Catherine E. Willey age 55, Weight one hundred and fifty-eight. Features full round nose, one tooth crowned, blue eyes, hair dyed black, appendicitis scar. Probably wore earrings. Saloon passenger Lusitania.
Two days after this, her body was recovered not near the scene of the sinking, but was one of two bodies taken out of the sea off the coast of South Wales, by the steamer Kylford, on 11th May 1915.
After they were both landed at the port of Barry, hers was the only one that it was possible to identify and it was eventually shipped to New York from Liverpool, on the S.S. Lapland, on 19th May 1915, by Thomas Cook and Sons, for burial at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago. Her daughter received a bill for $810.00 for the cost of recovering and transporting the body back to Chicago.
In the book The Tragedy of the Lusitania, published in 1915 and written by Captain Fredrick D. Ellis, the author stated: -
Mrs. Willey of Chicago, who is the mother of Mrs. Robert Thorn, was identified by E. Johnston Preston. Mr. Preston was unable to discover about the neck of Mrs. Willey a pearl necklace she wore which was valued at $30,000.
It is not known who E. Johnston Preston was, as he was certainly not a survivor of the sinking and may have been sent to South Wales specifically to identify Mrs. Willey’s body. From correspondence to be found in the Cunard Archives at the Sydney Jones Library in the University of Liverpool, Mr. Preston’s address is stated to be 28. Hamilton Terrace, St. John’s Wood, London. Also, the account of the valuable necklace appears fanciful as there was no mention of it in a claim made to the Mixed Claims Commission after the war, and in fact, the value put on Catherine’s personal belongings which were lost as a result of the sinking were estimated to be $6,100.00.
Property which was recovered from her body was later sent to the United States Consul in Cardiff, South Wales, for forwarding to her family.
Unlike Mrs. Willey, Bedroom Steward Grant who had looked after her in room B36, survived the sinking and eventually got back to his Liverpool home.
The Mixed Claims Commission later awarded Catherine’s daughter $15,000.00 in compensation for her death, with a further $6,910.00 compensation for the loss of her mother’s personal belongings and costs incurred in the recovery of her remains and transportation back to Chicago.
Illinois U.S. Marriage Index 1860 – 1920, Cook County Illinois Marriages Index 1871 – 1920, 1860 U.S. Federal Census, 1870 U.S. Federal Census, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2571, Belfast News Letter, New York Times, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/435, Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh Dispatch, The Inter Ocean, Tragedy of the Lusitania, Graham Maddocks, Stuart Williamson, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.