Mr. JOHN CATHERWOOD,
Second Cabin Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
John Catherwood and his wife, Maria, were from West Chester,
Pennsylvania, and lived on Maple Avenue, within sight of the Convent of the
Immaculate Heart. He was in the employ of Edward H. Jacob where
he worked as a foreman for a mushroom plant, also situated on Maple
Avenue. The business was closely associated with the
horticultural nurseries in Chester County, which is still known today
as the center of the mushroom industry in the United States.
In 1915 the
couple sailed for Ireland, to be gone eight weeks. John had been
suffering from a serious condition of Bright’s disease and hoped the
sea air might be a benefit to him. He also wanted to pay a surprise
visit to relatives and old friends in the land of his birth, perhaps
for the last time, as physicians had predicted to Maria that her
husband had but a very short time to live. His mother lived in
the northern part, and he had visited her at different times during the
years prior to 1915. They had originally booked passage on the Anchor
Line Cameronia,
which was requisitioned by the British government as the vessel was
about to sail for New York. The Catherwoods, with several other
passengers, were transferred to the Lusitania.
Both husband and wife were lost in the disaster, and it was believed by
physicians in West Chester that the excitement of the wreck would have
caused John's death, such was the advancement of his disease.
Neither body was recovered.
The balance
of John's estate, amounting to $2,438.43, passed to his mother, Mrs.
Nancy Catherwood, who lived at Gortmacvane, Ireland. In the
estate of Maria Catherwood, the balance was $353.21, and this sum was
awarded to her parents, James and Jane Carson, who lived at Lishigan,
Ballymaconally, Belfast Ireland.
John and Maria died childless.
Contributors:
Ben Holme
Diane P. Rofini, Chester County Historical Society
References:
West Chester Daily Local News,
8 May 1915.
West Chester Daily Local News,
13 May 1915.
West Chester Daily Local News,
8 June 1915.
West Chester Daily Local News,
12 June 1915.
West Chester Daily Local News,
12 November 1915.
[Back to Second Class Manifest] [Lusitania
Resource Home]