The Catlow Family
[From ‘Rockenbach Family – with minor sketches on the Ott and Catlow Families, by Royal R. Spear] [From the Catlow Book, and also drawn from conversation with Marian Bauer]
John Edward Catlow Sr. was born on Dec. 10, 1822 in Burnley, Lancashire, England and died Mar. 2, 1905 in Barrington, Il. He was married on Mar. 7, 1843 in England to Elizabeth Kitson, born Dec. 7, 1823 in England and died Apr. 2, 1897. Both buried at Cady Cemetery, Palatine, Il. John E. Sr. was the son of Edward and Anne Catlow of England. Elizabeth was the daughter of Wright and Elizabeth (Greenhalf) Kitson of England. They had the following children: Elizabeth Ann born Aug. 26, 1844 and died Oct. 12, 1861 in Palatine, Il.; Wright born Dec. 18, 1846 and died Jan. 20, 1860 in Palatine, Il.; James born Nov. 28, 1851 and died Feb. 2, 1920 in Barrington, Il.; Joseph Goodman born May 8, 1853 and died Dec. 23, 1926 in Barrington, Il.; Daniel born Nov. 8, 1857 and died Mar. 31, 1934 in Portland, Ore.; and John Edward Jr. born Sep. 26, 1861 and died Mar. 17, 1934 in Barrington, Il. The first five children were born in Burnley, Lancashire, England. John E. Jr. possibly born in Barrington area.
Joseph Goodman Catlow, was married to Mary Triebel on Nov. 3, 1878. She was the daughter of Frederick Triebel and his third wife. She was born on Jan. 15, 1853 in Cleveland, Oh. and died on Mar. 5, 1890 in Barrington, Il. They had the following three children: Elizabeth Mae born Jul. 1,1879 in Palatine, Il. and died Jun. 25, 1950. She was married to Almon Rockenbach on Feb. 14, 1899; Cora Belle born Apr. 7, 1881 in Palatine, Il. and died Sep. 7, 1920. She was married to John C. Brasel on May 17, 1899; and Chester James born Nov. 7, 1885 in Barrington, Il. and died Dec. 22, 1974. He was married to Maude Vandevert.
Joseph Goodman Catlow, was married a second time, to Clarissa Permelia (Clara) Whitney on Jan. 28, 1891. Clara was the daughter of Joseph C. and Mary J. (Delano) Whitney. She was born Mar. 2, 1862 in Lake Zurich, Il. and died Mar. 14, 1925. They had the following five children: Josephine Adell born Jul. 1, 1892 and died Jul. 29, 1979; Ruth Mae born Oct. 17, 1893 and died Jul. 11, 1958; Mary May born Oct. 27, 1895 and died Jan. 6, 1918; John Harvey born Feb. 13, 1897 and died Jun. 1, 1944; and Wright Raymond born May 28, 1901 and died in 1983. All children were born in Barrington, Il.
One of Elizabeth Kitson’s brothers had come over to America, and wrote and told Elizabeth and John E. Sr. about it. The John E. Sr. family followed to America in 1860 [ed. actually 1856]. It appears that the family came straight through to the Barrington Palatine area, for no other records were found, stating that they had lived in any other part of America.
The first home of the family was in a log cabin, which is now located on a farm in Palatine, Il. Then John Sr. built a log cabin on the County Line and Ela Roads, and later on, built a house on the property which is still there today on the corners of the two roads. John Sr. farmed the land for a while, and when he quit farming he moved into Barrington. At that time, he gave all of the farm to his son John Edward Jr. Joseph Catlow approached his brother John Jr., and asked if he thought it was fair that he should have all the land, and the rest of the family nothing. So John Jr. gave Joseph part of the land. Another brother, Daniel Catlow moved out to Iowa for a time, was married there, then returned to Barrington and lived awhile. He then asked his father John Sr. for his share of the estate. From Barrington, Daniel and his wife moved out to Oregon, where they remained.
Joseph G. Catlow remembers coming over to America, at the time he was seven years old, his hat blew off and was lost in the ocean. Joseph farmed for a time on the, property he received from his father. Then when he moved into Barrington, he and his brother John Jr. and his son Wright, were in the ice business, delivering ice from Lake Zurich to the Barrington area. Joseph built the first theater in Barrington, located on Station St. When theater operations ceased there, the building was sold to the Harvey Hamper Co. The building has since been torn down.
In 1928, Wright built the second Catlow theater, which is still in existence. At the time the second theater was built, Wright had only enough money to purchase the land. A man from Chicago heard of Wright’s dream of building a theater, and offered Wright the money to build the structure. When the building was finished, Wright approached the man and said that the theater would not be opened. The building was complete, but Wright had run out of money to furnish the inside with seats, etc. So, the man handed him his check book, and said, write yourself what you need to finish the theater. The moneys given to Wright were eventually paid back through the proceeds from the theater. Wright sold the theater to a man in Mundelein about 1973, and the building is now in the Historical Register.
Along with the ice business in the winter, Joseph would go from farm to farm in the summer and thresh grain. He also herded sheep to Chicago, and would come home with a big sack on his back with things that could not be purchased in Barrington.
Joseph would hold dances on the upper floor of the original theater building, and his wife Clara would make sandwiches that were sold at the dance. The upstairs was also used as a meeting hall. In the basement of the same building, the Catlows had public hot showers, mostly for men. The travelers and boarders in the area could have this convenience for only 25 cents, including a clean towel passed out by Clara Catlow.
Joseph had a fondness for gambling, mostly at cards, and when he would take the train into Chicago to sell something, Clara would never know whether he would come home with anything in his pockets or not. When he built the first theater, the money used in the construction was from his wife Clara’s inheritance from her father Joseph Whitney, So when tickets were sold at the theater, Clara would go in with her great big black purse and take care of the proceeds. She would tell Joseph, “that’s my money and you keep your hands off of it, I’ll use it to pay the taxes or to pay for this building, but you’ll not use it for your gambling.”
Joseph had also encouraged his daughter Josephine and her husband Leroy Loomis to purchase a grocery store in Barrington from John and Cora Belle Brasel. Josephine said “that if my sugar was 2 cents more a pound than any other place, Joseph would go to the other place to buy it.”
