When I began my research, we knew very little about my paternal grandfather's aunts and uncles on his father's side. His father, George Arthur Walsh (1873-1943), was the youngest of ten children and was estranged from all his siblings by the time my grandfather was born. However, once I began researching the Walsh family, I uncovered the fascinating life of my grandfather's aunt Catherine. A reference in Levi Walsh's (Catherine and George's older brother) mental health files from Worcester State Hospital in 1932 only mentioned the following line about Catherine: "Single, was in the real estate business, has a violent temper, patient {referring to Levi Walsh} never able to get along with her, whereabouts unknown."1 I was immediately intrigued so I dug deeper into Catherine’s life.
Catherine Walsh, commonly called Kate or Katie, was born 5 May 1855 in Guysborough, Nova Scotia to James Walsh and Mary Ann Dalton. She was their fourth child and eldest daughter. James Walsh was, like many of the men in my Walsh line, an alcoholic. His drinking seems to have been severe and, likely for this reason, he was twice excluded from the Baptist Church (in 1863 and in 1872)2 and was also sued for outstanding debts (in 1879 for $290 and 1881 for $75).3 His wife and ten children struggled to survive in the small coastal community of Guysborough, so between 1869 and 1890, Mary Ann and her ten children left Nova Scotia and headed to Boston. Some of the children stopped in Halifax as well, and Catherine was one of these children.
By the age of 23, Catherine was in Halifax. She first appears on 15 September 1878, converting from the Baptist faith to Catholicism and adopting the middle name Mary.4 Six months later on 19 June 1879 she married William Rufus Drake, a messenger for the telegraph office, in a Baptist church in Halifax.5 They settled at 10 Bishop Street, but the marriage was short lived and in November 1881, after only two years of marriage, William deserted Catherine.6 For the next three years her exact whereabouts were unknown, but she likely traveled between Boston and Halifax as she had family in both cities. On 1 September 1884 she arrived in Boston aboard the Worcester, employed as a servant.7 She made her life in Boston and likely did domestic work until she saved enough money to expand her career.
In 1889, she did just that and began operating a cigar shop at 364 Tremont Street, in which she advertised local real estate sales from around the neighborhood.8 By 1892 she expanded into real estate and founded K. Walsh & Co. She specialized in providing mortgages for people buying empty house lots in Cambridge, Everett, Medford, and Saugus. From May-July 1893, she briefly took a business partner, a man named Joseph Green Irons of Everett. Together, they founded Irons & Walsh, which extensively advertised in the Boston Globe.
After a brief hiatus, she returned in May 1897, doing business under the name Kate M. Walsh, providing mortgages and loans for new home construction in Medford. This lasted for about a year, but multiple lawsuits occurred from an inability to pay contractors for their labor. in 1898, she settled all her accounts by the end of the year and seemingly stopped business. In early 1899 she filed for divorce from William Drake after 18 years of separation, and soon after she began a common-law marriage with Alfred Kaulbeck, a recently widowed building contractor.9 On 17 November 1899 Alfred bought a brand-new home at 391 Adams Street in Dorchester.10 However, Alfred’s substantial debts made it likely that the house would be seized, and he almost immediately transferred the property to Catherine’s brother-in-law for safekeeping.
Alfred formally declared bankruptcy in April 1900, and the house was sold to cover some of the debts. However, it wasn’t enough, and this financial stress likely contributed to Alfred and Catherine’s separation in late 1900 or early 1901.11 She started business again, this time as Catherine Alice Walsh. C.A. Walsh & Co was founded in May 1901 and began rapidly growing the business by advertising for city real estate deals, construction loans and mortgages, and camp cottage rentals.12 She only used her initials, likely to pass as a man to new customers and business partners who were perhaps wary of a woman in business for herself. On one occasion in October 1901, she specifically called herself a man when advertising for a business partner.13
From 1904 to 1910 she had offices in the Old South Building on Washington Street and operated her business there.14 During this period, she largely focused on local city real estate, suburban small farm lots, and summer camping lots. She also served as the State Agent selling bonds for the Mexico Rubber Company from 1904-1906 and then as the State Agent for the Somerset Mining Company in 1907.
In 1910 she began an extensive advertising campaign for chicken farm and camp lots. She also hired canvassers to spread her advertisements around Boston. This ambitious business maneuver proved unsuccessful, and on 25 November 1910 she declared bankruptcy, stating she owed $4,997 and had only $134 in assets.15 The next month, on 21 December 1910, she married John E. Davidson, who served as President of the American Heel Company in Stoughton and had several patents in the shoe and box making industries.16 For unknown reasons, despite being 55 years old, she claimed to be 39 years old when she married. This marriage was also short-lived, ending only 11 months later when John moved to London and never returned.17
In 1914 Catherine left active business and, with her mother, bought boarding houses at 64–66 Louis Prang Street, near the Museum of Fine Arts and Isabella Stewart Gardner House. They owned and resided in the properties until selling them to Gordon Bible College in 1919. After Mary Ann (Dalton) Walsh died in January 1921, Catherine restarted business, now as Walsh & Co., specializing in South End real estate from 1924 to 1931. As her health declined, she left active business and spent a year living in a rest home on West Canton Street. She returned to work at age 77 and spent three years working as a live-in boarding house manager for a property on Tremont Street before retiring in early 1935 and dying on 13 October 1935 at age 80.18
Despite her relatives only remembering her as having "a violent temper," Catherine's 80 years of life were much more colorful than that. She was a pioneer in her field, working her way up from a servant to a shop owner and finally as a real estate and mortgage broker and bond saleswoman. She suffered hardships such as a traumatic childhood, three failed marriages, and financial struggles, but she persevered and made it through. I anticipate researching more into Catherine's life and professional career as well as writing more about her fascinating life in the future.
Sources
[1] Medical Social History, Social Services Documents, Worcester State Hospital, 2 Nov 1932, Levi F Walsh, provided by Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, page 3 of 15.
[2] Transcript of Guysborough Baptist Church Records, Membership Records, provided by Guysborough Historical Society.
[3] Guysborough County Deeds, vol. W page 187, FHL Film: 008629779, FamilySearch; Guysborough County Deeds, vol. Y page 142, FHL Film: 008629804, FamilySearch.
[4] Canada, Nova Scotia, Church Records, 1720-2001, Catholic, Saint Mary’s Basilica (Halifax, Nova Scotia), Baptisms, 15 Sep 1878, Catherine Mary Walsh, FHL Film: 005190394, FamilySearch, page 93 of 352.
[5] Canada, Nova Scotia, Marriages, 1864-1918, Halifax, 19 Jun 1879, William R Drake and Catherine Walsh, FamilySearch, Film: 004059104, page 371 of 611.
[6] Middlesex County, MA Divorce Records, 1899, Catherine Drake vs William R Drake, Docket No. 2526, File provided by Judicial Court Archives.
[7] Massachusetts, Index to Boston Passenger Lists, 1848-1891, Worcester, 1 Sep 1884, Katie Walsh, FamilySearch, page 99 of 4078.
[8] The Boston directory, 1889, Katie Walsh, 364 Tremont, bds 9 Groton, Internet Archive, page 1286.
[19] 1900 US Federal Census, Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts, Alfred Kaulbeck Household, Dwelling No.: 111, Family No.: 149, Ancestry, page 15 of 52.
[10] Suffolk County Deeds, Vol 2648 Pages 257-262, Alfred Kaulbeck, FamilySearch, Film: 007468410, pages 822- 825 of 1029.
[11] Bankruptcy Act of 1898 Case Files, RG 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, National Archives, Massachusetts, Case No. 2712, Alfred Kaulbeck.
[12] Boston Globe, 12 May 1901 (page 15); 19 May 1901 (page 12); 12 Jul 1901 (page 8), Newspapers.com; Fitchburg Sentinel, 25 May 1901 (page 5), Newspapers.com.
[13] Boston Globe, 23 Oct 1901 (page 11), Newspapers.com
[14] US City Directories, 1821-1989, Boston, 1904, Catharine A Walsh, Ancestry, page 1762; US City Directories, 1821-1989, Boston, 1906, Catharine A Walsh, Ancestry, page 922; US City Directories, 1821-1989, Boston, 1909, Catharine A Walsh, Ancestry, page 1072.
[15] Bankruptcy Act of 1898 Case Files, RG 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, National Archives, Massachusetts, Case No. 16602, Catherine A. Walsh.
[16] Massachusetts, US, Marriage Records, 1840-1915, Boston, 21 Dec 1910, John E Davidson and Catherine A Walsh, Ancestry, page 2161 of 2212.
[17] Suffolk County, MA Divorce Records, 1917, Catherine A Walsh vs John E Davidson, Docket No. 13095, File provided by Judicial Court Archives.
[18] Massachusetts Death Records, Boston, 1935, Vol. 22 Page 233, Catherine Walsh.
