My husband's grandfather is Charles Conrad Cator, Jr. He was known as Charlie, Buck, CCC Jr. and Granddaddy. He was raised during his father's second marriage by a stepmom nobody seems to consider fondly. Stepmother Lavinia Cator is reputed to having been "mean." An example of punishment was to put her stepson in a bath that was iced and ice cold and make him stay there for a long time. There was a custody battle brought forth by a relative, but it failed to remove Charlie from his father's house and from mean stepmom. CCC, Jr. was born, we think, in 1895, so in 1914 he was about 18 or 19 years old. Charlie made the Washington DC Herald newspaper on March 7, 1914 as a runaway who disappeared on March 6th with 5 other teens. Rosa (16), Lillian (17), and Lena (17) were missing along with 3 boys, Charlie (15!), Walter (19) and Gottlieb (18). Don't really know where they went and why, nor what happened to them as I couldn't find a follow-up story. But...it must have something to do with the same day article in the Washington Post. 
Interestingly, this article in the Herald does NOT mention his future wife, Ruth Ridgeway, as a runaway, but the Washington Post articles of the same day and year report on only Charlie at 18 and Ruth at 19. They were in love. She was a fun-spirited young woman and Charlie would love her greatly for many years to come. Charlie had worked for the train yard and been coupled by two trains, resulting in injuries requiring a year in the hospital. Physical therapy for his arm, for example, was holding a bucket and adding a piece of coal each day till his arm finally straightened and became strong. Charles was again working at the Union Station in DC as a call boy in 1914. In railroad slang that means Charlie was the guy who made sure each crew member was scheduled for regular runs and aware of extra runs to be completed.
He arranged for three days of leave to get married. Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it? Charlie's huge mistake? He told his stepmother that he intended to marry Ruth "at once"! Egads! Mistake, mistake, mistake. She told him, "I'll see about that; you're too young to get married!" Charlie fled the house and called Ruth.
Mean stepmom stopped Ruth and Charlie from getting a marriage license at Rockville MD. Evidently Lavinia got the word from somebody that they were going to elope to Philadelphia and she called the Philadelphia Police Department. Then she heard they might elope to Camden NJ, so, what does mean stepmom do? She telegraphs the clerk of the court in Camden to stop the two runaways! You get the gist. Every time she heard of a new possible marriage location, she attempted to stop the wedding saying that he was too young to get married (at 19!) and can't support a wife. She wanted him to wait till he was 21 even though dad, Charles Conrad Cator, Sr. was okay with the marriage. Mean stepmom also alleged that he was not well and she feared for his health. Hummm. 
After mean stepmom contacted 50 towns to stop them. Can you imagine her determination? Don't understand her reasoning since Charlie's dad was okay with it. Lavinia overlooked Frederick MD.
Charlie and Ruth became Mr. and Mrs. Cator in Frederick MD.
Mean stepmom may have been persistent, but Charlie and Ruth were in love.
They would have three children, one being my husband's Mom, Bernice. Nice.
