07/07/2017
Some families have just the most amazing stories if you dig far enough.......... This stunning lady is Nema CATTO (or Pudge CATTO as she uses as her stage name on occasion)
see below
& her family's story is both tragic, in many ways but also fascinating. Her paternal grandparents were born in Old Machar & Keithhall, Aberdeenshire respectively, and married in Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire in 1855. They had one son in St Nicholas, Aberdeen in 1856 & then appear to have emigrated to Canada, later that same year. They settled in Bothwell / Hamiliton, Ontario & had 5 more children, one being Nema's father, Walter.
What happened to the family is uncertain, but it appears that her grandfather abandoned his family & crossed the border into the US state of Washington, where he says he is a Doctor by 1879 (which given he was a labourer at the Sandilands Chemical Works, Aberdeen at the time of his marriage & as a Store Keeper in Bothwell, Ontario in 1871, seems extremely unlikely!!). He was jailed in 1879 in Washington for 18 months for "Attempting to Induce an Abortion"!
On getting out of prison, he "marries" again in1880. I have been unable to track his "first" wife after 1873, so she may have died but the second son's obituary states ".........and, although early thrown upon his own resources and compelled by circumstances to the support of his mother, brothers and sister........", it would appear that she died later than 1873 when her daughter was born. She is known to be dead by the time of her daughter's death in 1890.
Nema's father, Walter marries Helen LAUGHLIN, abt 1883 & they also crossed the border but this time to Michigan, where their first daughter, Grace Rhea (known as Rhea) CATTO is born in 1886. Between 1886 &1888 they move to Washington also. Nema is born in Tacoma, Washington in December of 1888. Her father, Walter, is working as a brakeman with the Northern Pacific Railroad. On 27th February 1892, he fell from the fast freight train enroute to Portland, Oregon and was run over - ",,,,,,The body was horribly mangled and mutilated." Rhea was 5, Nema was 3 & their mother was pregnant! Their brother, Walter was born in early April 1892. Helen must have been an extra-ordinary woman as she proceeds to run various hotels whilst bringing up her young children single-handedly. Her obituary in 1920 states ".......she was one of God's best children - quiet, unassuming, cultured, unselfish, of a happy disposition, and as good a mother as ever was born........."
Both Rhea & Nema marry young & neither appears to have been happy with their respective spouses. Rhea doesn't appear to have had children or re-married.
Nema has twins, a boy & a girl in Manhattan, NY in 1909 with her first husband, George DAVIS, an actor (he may be George DAVIS 1889 - 1965 who starred in over 288 films) but they divorce in 1912 with Nema stating "......that wine and women took her husband's salary of $60 a week and that he deserted her after failing to provide for her support...........".
Sometime in 1912 Nema has taken up with Frederick J MILES (or more commonly seen using Frederick J IRELAND as his stage name). They are doing various vaudeville dancing acts, "Frederick Ireland & his dancing Casino girls, featuring Nema Catto" all over - San Francisco, Tacoma, Seattle, Rock Island, etc between 1912 - 1914. By 1915 he has started the Emerald Motion Picture Company in Chicago, IL.
Rhea under the stage name Rhea Catto Laughlin, appears in 9 of his "Tom and Jerry....." films (for example, "Tom and Jerry in Dreamland" & "Tom and Jerry Kidnapped" to mention just two) in 1916 and "The Slacker's Heart" in 1917. Nema, meanwhile is giving birth to another daughter in 1916. In 1920, Fred directs and stars in "When The Cat's Away" along with Nema & Rhea. In 1920 the Emerald Motion Picture Company is merged with 4 other companies to form Reelcraft, with Fred as Vice President (to supervise production). Reelcraft goes bankrupt in 1922 & by 1925, Fred & Nema are back on the road with their vaudeville act touring again - Chicago, Davenport, Decatur, Lima & Sheboygan to name just a few.
Their life is sketchy at present in the 1930's but Canada does refuse entry to Fred in 1934! Frederick J MILES / IRELAND dies in 1939 in Detroit but Nema lives till she is nearly 98 & Rhea dies when she is 91. Nema's son also appears to have been theatrical, marries a dancer and they have a double act, Given that the twins are introduced as mascots to the vaudeville act of George DAVIS & Nema in August 1911, aged just 15 months old, it isn't really surprising that someone would continue the family tradition!
