I'm amazed because I thought he (Carolyn's first husband) was someone from around Valpo, from a family that had lived there a long time. Just goes to show how inaccurate childhood memories can be. Carter is not at all a name that resonates with me but Stanley does. He may have been an "actor" but he was working as a magician doing shows for Elks Clubs, etc. and A. Carrie was the lady in the short skirt that danced around with the magician and held the top hat when he pulled out the rabbits. When she became pregnant he fled and she had an abortion (who knows where) but it was botched so she was never able to have children. The aborted fetuses were twins. After this marriage dissolved she came to Chicago and lived with my parents who had been married about a year. She found a job a the depth of the Depression which greatly impressed my father, he always said that when no one else could find a job she could and she kept it. This made a great impression upon me as a child. Anyway, she lived with us for several years, sharing a bed with me, which meant she was wet upon with some regularity and we both adored bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches for breakfast. (e-mail from Jess Anne (Thompson Andrews, 3/4/03)
Kerry sent your email to our brother, Dick, the one who is in China. He is puzzled. Our dad occasionally mentioned Aunt Carrie's first husband and we are all sure the last name was not Carter. We knew he was an actor and Aunt Carrie, for a time, was Harry Blackstone's lovely-girl-assistant. He sawed her in half. I am wondering now if the name we are familiar with was his "stage name." How funny that no one ever asked Aunt Carolyn. That would have been too easy. (e-mail from Ruth Ann (Lytle) Bahr, 3/5/03)
Yes, Blackstone Sr. There are no photos that I know of. She did not speak of it, but my dad (Robert D. Lytle) did so freely. Actually, he was always irritated that she would not reveal, to him, how she was sawn in half. :-) I wonder if there is a Blackstone museum, perhaps there would be a poster or postcard. That would be great fun to find. I think she must have decided to put that part of her life behind her and rarely acknowledged it. Perhaps her painful growing years. (e-mail from Ruth Ann (Lytle) Bahr, 3/5/03)
