William Henry McCarty (1859 - 1881)

Born 17 Sep 1859 in New York City, New York, United States

Died 14 Jul 1881 at age 21 in Fort Sumner, DeBaca County, New Mexico Territory

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Biography

William McCarty is Notable.

Records seem to agree that Billy was born sometime between September-November, 1859. But they disagree about the specifics.

Some researchers have claimed that William Henry McCarty was born at 210 Greene Street, New York City, on September 17, 1859. He was christened Henry McCarty on September 28, 1859 at the same church in which his parents had been married. His godparents were Thomas Cooney and Mary Clark.

The website www.aboutbillythekid.com disputes that information, saying: “Birth dates of November 20, 1859 and September 17, 1859 have popped up, but there's no proof or even a hint of these dates being accurate.”

Billy later adopted the surname Bonney. At various times he was also called Henry Antrim. But the name by which he was generally known was "Billy, The Kid"

At the age of 21 he was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett Patrick Floyd Garrett in 1881 at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

In the News

Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County Regulators ambushed and killed William J Brady 1 Apr 1878 in Lincoln, New Mexico. ^[1]

Another photograph of "Billy The Kid" was discovered. Read the article here.

'Only known photograph discovered' of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett together. Read the article here.

Burial

Old Fort Sumner Cemetery Fort Sumner, De Baca County, New Mexico, USA

A gun once owned or used by "Billy the Kid" is in the Schwend Gun Collection^[2]

Research Notes

Very few records conclusively identify Henry McCarty, aka Billy the Kid, and his location: New Mexico Territory Trial Records; witness at 1 March 1873 Santa Fe marriage of William Antrim and Catherine McCarty; 1880 census record of San Miguel County, NM, where Wm Bonny and Charles Bowdre are consecutive entries on a census page.

There is no solid documentation on Billy the Kid’s life prior to 1870. Prior to their marriage, land records, found by Waldo Koop in 1964, show that both William H Antrim and Catherine McCarty owned land in Wichita, Sedgwick County Kansas, in 1870 and 1871 (“Real West”, Nov 1978, Jack DeMattos”). In a sworn statement supporting Catherine’s purchase of 160 acres, William Antrim said Catherine was a single woman over the age of 21, head of a family consisting of two children, and a citizen of the United States.

It is widely accepted that Billy the Kid was born in New York. New York City is identified as the birthplace of William Bonney in “Authentic Life of Billy the Kid”. William Antrim, in his 1915 pension application, stated McCarty, the previous husband of his wife (Catherine McCarty), died in New York City. Jack DeMattos quoted research that indicated Billy the Kid was born in New York City to Patrick McCarty and Catherine Devine on 17 Sep 1859. The child was named Patrick Henry McCarty according to historian, William H. Carson, or Henry McCarty according to Rev. James B. Roberts of St. Peters Church. New York City directories list 210 Greene Street, Manhattan, as the residence of Patrick and Catherine McCarty.

There is only one widely recognized image of Billy the Kid. The provenance of the Dedrick daguerreotype of Billy the Kid standing beside his rifle is far more credible than other images said to be Billy the Kid. William Koch bought the Dedrick daguerreotype at auction in 2011 for $2.3 million dollars.

Sources

1. ↑ "Sheriff William Brady, tragic hero of the Lincoln County war" by Lavash, Donald R Publ 1986 https://archive.org/details/sheriffwilliambr0000lava
2. ↑ https://www.schwendguns.us/

See also:

• Wikipedia article

• Wikidata: Item Q44200

• Find A Grave: Memorial #94

• http://www.biography.com/people/billy-the-kid-278971

• www.aboutbillythekid.com

• DeMattos, Jack, "The Search for Billy the Kid's Roots - Is Over!" Real West (No. 167), January 1980 - pp. 26-28, 59-60.

• Letter from Rev. James B. Roberts, Church of St. Peter, New York City, to Jack DeMattos, March 24, 1979. The Church of St. Peter is located in Lower Manhattan, close to the World Trade Center and a short distance from the Brooklyn Bridge.