Family:William Bradsher and Catherine Winstead (1)

Leaving her husband and four daughters, Catherine ran away to Arkansas with her sister-in-law's (Martha Banks Bradsher) husband (Benjamin Jacobs) in the fall of 1858. Martha advertised in the Milton newspaper for service of intention to divorce Ben. Catherine was pregnant by Benjamin and gave birth to a son, Elijah, in Arkansas. Elijah was left an orphan when Benjamin and Catherine were murdered in Ft. Smith, Arkansas in December 1859. Catherine and her husband, William S. Bradsher, were never divorced. After Catherine's death he married Frances Holsomback.

All this is known because the sheriff of Ft. Smith wrote a letter in care of the post office in Yanceyville, North Carolina, attempting to locate relatives of either Catherine or Benjamin. (There had been a picture in Benjamin's pocket that provided a clue as to where to write.) The letter arrived in late 1859 and indicated that Benjamin and Catherine had become involved with a man whose nickname was "Ginger," and that the sheriff thought that Ginger had poisoned them. Ginger then produced a bill of sale for the two slaves who had accompanied the couple. There was no money found on their persons, so the sheriff suspected that Ginger had sold the slaves and pocketed the money. However, the main reason that he was writing was to find someone to take the boy, Elijah, who had survived. No one knows if Martha ever responded to the letter or what became of the child.

1. ↑ Person, North Carolina, United States. Marriages.