William Abraham Cate

Male 1639 - 1670  (31 years)


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  • Name William Abraham Cate 
    Birth 1639  (Colyton, Devonshire) England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Probate 1670  Chardstock, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3, 4
    Death 1670  [4
    Person ID I26979  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 30 Jan 2018 

    Father William Cate,   b. 1545, Chardstock, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Chardstock, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Agnes Dummett,   b. 1550, Chardstock, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1627, Chardstock, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years) 
    Marriage (Chardstock, Devonshire) England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 4, 5, 6
    Family ID F9163  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Margaret Agnes Ingles,   b. (~ 1635), (Colyton, Devonshire) England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1670, Colyton, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage (Colyton, Devonshire) England Find all individuals with events at this location  [7, 8
    Children 
     1. Robert Ezra Cate, The Immigrant,   b. 21 Aug 1667, Colyton, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 Feb 1728, Surry County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years)
     2. Richard Nehemiah Cates,   b. 21 Aug 1667, Colyton, Devonshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
    Family ID F9671  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 1639 - (Colyton, Devonshire) England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsProbate - 1670 - Chardstock, Devonshire, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - - (Colyton, Devonshire) England Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • Posted By: Marilyn Cates Radelat
      Email: copperdoll1@webtv.com
      Subject: Re: Parents of Robert"The Shoemaker"CATE
      Post Date: April 30, 2001 at 17:20:30
      Message URL: http://genforum.genealogy.com/cates/messages/925.html
      Forum: Cates Family Genealogy Forum
      Forum URL: http://genforum.genealogy.com/cates/

      The logical thinking was---- where in England was Tanning of Hydes done during that period. I have relatives living in different area there. I ask them to research different facts for me. Colyton England was the answer.

      Richard Nehimiah Cates was indentured to Benjamin Harrison Jr. near Henrco Co. on the James River. There are no records for him after he arrived . Presumed that he died or ran away before serving his term of indenture.
      Benjamin Harrison Jr. was in the habit of "borrowing" names of imported individuals for the purpose of obtaining tracts of land under the head rights law. This was not an unusal scheme during that time.

      Our Cates were not finished with Benjamin Harrison Jr. LATER some of the sons of Robert Cate Sr ( shoemaker) had the task appointed to them when Benjamin Harrison Jr. died to take inventory of his assets.

      I am confident that this research from England is correct.

      William Abraham and Margaret Agnes Cates had Twin Sons: born 21 August 1667, Robert Ezra Cates and Richard Nehimiah Cates .These sons were christened at Saint Andrew Church in Colyton, Devon, England . Religion was Calvinism (which soon evolved to Presbyterian )

      This was researched for me in England .

      This next text about Robert ( indentured servant ) is from a Book written by : Philip Alexander Bruce -1895

      Robert Cate b.1667 Colyton, Devon, England "The Shoemaker" Our Ancestor

      There are different dates found in this book as well as others that my cousin searched, for the exact date on the contract of Robert CATE'S Indentured service to Peter Wyke . There could be a mis-print.
      Robert would have been only 12 according to the 1679 date in this one. Looking at the 1689 date and recording of OCT 1689 found by Banks Cates Jr. also on Ken Cates' site seems more reasonable. You can decide. .

      Book Published 1895 Title : Economic History of Virginia - written by Philip Alexander Bruce The Mac Millian Company --Volume 2 pages 478-479
      "The leading planters were in the habit of importing shoemakers from England for the same reasons that moved them to bring representatives of other trades.
      Fitzhugh writing to John Cooper, one of his London correspondants,in 1662, requests him to send over to Virginia several shoemakers, with lasts,awls,and knives, together with half a hundred shoemaker threads, some twenty ot thirty gallons of train oil and proper colorings for leather. He had set up a tan-house and wished to convert the product into shoes on his own plantation.(ref 1)
      The need of importing shoemakers was probably greater in the Northern Neck, in which part of the Colony Fitzhugh resided, than in the older communities, where the representatives of trade was more numerous and more skillful.
      The county records of that period contained many indentures between planters and shoemakers. Of these, a fair example was the contract of Robert CATE and Peter Wyke of Henrico in 1679. CATE entered into bonds to serve Wyke for a term of four years.

      He was to be exempted from task of planting and tending tobacco, but he was required to perform all other agricultural work; he was to receive by way of remunerations, food, drink, apparel, washing,and lodging, and when his agreement expired , a good suit and three barrels of Indian corn were to given him.
      It will be observed that while CATE was engaged principally for his knowledge of the shoemaker's trade, he was also expected to make himself useful in other branches of industry.(ref 2)

      This was probably the case with all classes of machanics who earned a livelihood in employment of landowners in the seventeenth century."

      1- Reference -Letters of William Fitzhugh, July 1692 ( this was after the date 1679 mentioned in the book)
      2- Reference-Records of Henrico County, bol.1688-1697, page 85, Va. State Library


      ( ship manifest-Bengal-Merchant of Bristol- 1689 reference - Henrico County Court Records -books by William W.Hening - Va. State Library

      Go to "Colyton Town", http://www.colyton.co.uk/

      Go to "Colyton Parish History Society", http://www.colytonhistory.co.uk/

      1500 to 1699
      Some thatched stone cottages and larger merchant's houses still survive from this era. The construction of the fine and rare octagonal lantern on top of the church tower indicates the wealth of Colyton during this period.

      The Feoffees. Landowner Henry Courtney was beheaded by Henry VIII and his lands were confiscated. Local merchants and yeomen raised 1,000 marks and bargained with the Crown for the return of that portion of the estate which lay within Colyton. (1,000 marks was about 400 times the annual income of a successful merchant). The community regained the properties under a Deed of Enfeoffment on condition that an assembly of Feoffees ensured that all the income was spent on "good and commendable" uses for the community.

      The Feoffees were inaugurated in 1546. To this day the Feoffees form the town council and carry out the terms of the Deed of Enfeoffment for which they are the trustees.

      The Civil War. The Colyton Parish registers contain many entries of soldiers killed in skirmishes in the Civil War of 1643. Colyton was the virtual battleground being situated between the Royalists at Colcombe Castle near Axminster and the Parliamentarians stationed at Stedcombe near Lyme Regis.

      Rebel Town. During the Monmouth rebellion of 1664, Colyton earned an entry in Chancery records as "the most rebellious town in Devon".

      October, 2011 - Sheila & I visited Colyton and the church, St. Andrew's. Charming little town. Asked about the CATES family and apparantly the family has long since left the area...DAH

      end of this report [9]
    • http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?ezra::cate::1192.html

      Robert Cates;

      We have concluded that Robert Ezra Cate arrived in Virginia in 1689 from his home in Colyton, Devon and that he is a son of William Abraham Cate and Margaret Agnes Ingles. But the trial has run cold with William Abraham.
      I propose the following:

      There is a William Cate born to William and Agnes Cate in Chardstock, Devon in 1639. This would be in the right time frame for our "William Abraham". In records of this time there are very few men named Abraham. But one stands out, Abraham Edwards. Abraham Edwards married Mary Cate and lived in Chardstock, working a tenement of land from the Bishop of Salisbury. Along with him working lands of the Bishop were Edward Cate, William Cate and Christopher Cate.

      Saint Andrew Church in Colyton, Devon, England ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colyton,_Devon

      http://genforum.genealogy.com/cate/messages/1271.html

      details for the will
      wiltshire and swindon archives
      ref no P14/32
      alt ref no P14/32
      title Inventory will
      date 1670
      William Cate
      Chardstock, Devon
      Probate records of Chardstock and Wambrook, Dorset

      end [7]
    • After some additional digging we have a expanded the theory a bit.

      We now think that William Abraham Cate, father of Robert Ezra Cate (the Shoemaker/Quaker) was born in 1639 as the third child of William Cate and Agnes Dummett Cate. William Cate was born in Chardstock, Dorset (just 20 miles from Colyton) the son of Christopher Cate and Margery Pyke Cate. Christopher was born around 1580 but parentage is not known. He was by 1635 a tenant farmer of the Bishop of Salisbury's lands in the Chardstock area.

      Any information on the parents of Christopher Cate may help us link up to known family members going back as far as 1500.
      Anyone interesting in pushing back the family line into England?

      end of comment [1]
    • William Abraham Cate

      Have discovered my forefather William Abraham Cate born about 1640-1650. lived on Elscombe Lane near Keat's Mill in Yarcomb Parish, Devonshire. Any known records of his exact dates, parents names, anything would be appreciated. He had two sons, Robert Ezra Cate & Richard Nehimiah Cate (twins born August 21, 1667) who immigrated to VA in 1689.

      Wow. I am officially tantalized.
      What is the source of this info on William Abraham. I didn't have anything other than a name.

      Buteo

      The population studies of Colyton in the 1600s indicate that people had small families and did not start children until later in life, women average age about 25, men 30. So your time frame for William's estimated birth may be closer to 1637, plus or minus a few years. Do you know if Robert and Richard had any siblings?

      Wiliam Cate/s of Coleydon
      The particular information that I quoted came from genealogy.com Regional: U. S. States
      Virginia Genealogy Forum posted by John Cates Oct 22, 2004. I find his research to be very accurate, if he is unsure, he will state such. Much more intensive information can be found on genealogy.com. general forums. Cate forum. FYI ,William was reportedly born in 1647.
      Let me know what you can sort out from all this. I have much to read.

      William Cate's wife
      By the way, his wife's name was suposedly Mary Agnes Ingles. No proof.

      Ingles
      My information is that William Abraham married Margaret Agnes Ingles.

      The 1647 date is, I believe, a conjecture and not based on any particular record. If there is a record I would be thrilled to know. The date is found in the LDS database which is why it is bandied about. But the LDS database accuracy is only as good as the accuracy of its contributors.


      Are you ready for some conjecture on William?

      I don't have the records yet to back this up but here is my working theory: William Abraham is the son of William Cate who married Agnes Dummett in 1633. They had several children including a William born in 1639, very close to the conjectured date for William Abraham's birth. William was, in turn, the son of Edward Cate who is, I believe the same Edward mentioned in the will of Agnes Cate created in 1621 and probated in 1627. In that will she mentions her children: Joane, Edward, Mary and Emi. I find marriage records for all four. Mary, for example married in 1613 to Abraham Edwards who apparently married her when she was pregnant from her first husband, Richard Pike, who she married in 1612. I believe it was Abrahams willingness to marry a pregnant widow and provide for her child that endeared him to the family and thus, when nephew William is naming children he names one William Abraham Cate. (The name Abraham was not at all common among any of the families in the area if you look around). Agnes cate mentions in her will her good friend: Agnes Edwards. In addition, Abraham had a tenancy on lands of the Bishop of Salisbury by 1635 and who else is there: William Cate in a co-tenancy with his own father in law: Christopher Dummett. And Edward, brother to Mary.

      If this conjecture plays out then William Abraham's parents were William and Agnes Cate, grandparents were Edward and Elizabeth Cate, great grandparents were Agnes Cate (husbands name unknown but could be Peter, John or Hugh) and grandfather is William Cate, the one likely born in Colyton in 1527 and likely one of the sons of Thomas Cate (the name mentioned as the father of Robert Cate born in Colyton in 1525). By the way, Agnes Dummett was the daughter of Christopher Dummett and Thomasina Mitchell. Thomasina's parents were Alexander Mitchell and Johane (Joan) Palfraye and Johan's parents were Richard Palfraye and Florens Bolly, all from the Chardstock area.

      These links are logical to me but I lack the direct records of birth,marriage,death to complete these. But the stories have held together after new data has come to light and I am getting increasiningly convinced I am on the right track. Still can't find anything on the lineage of Robert Ezra's mother though. Please take the foregoing with a great grain of salt but it is sometimes helpful to have a construct to assist in searching, so long as one is willing to change the narrative when new information upends old assumptions.

      Hello, I am also working on the theory that William Abraham Cate was the son son William and Agnes Dummet . William was born 1639 according to DORSEt OPC in Chardstock. I am very interested, if you have found anything else. Also are you aware, that a William Cate of Colyton, who died 1670. Had a will, which is at Wiltshire Archives. Thank you, John

      end [4]
    • Many of us are tracing the Cate(s) family out of America and back to England.Most Cates tracing relatives back to Virginia are able to connect with Robert Ezra Cate (the Shoemaker or The Quaker) who arrived in 1689.He and his twin Richard were christened at St Anthony's in Colyton, Devonshire in August, 1667 to parents William Abraham Cate and Margaret Agnes Ingles.But the trail has been hard to follow back to the cluster of Cate family in the early 1500s.

      I have a theory that needs documentation and support to see if it is valid or at least demonstrably invalid.Here goes:

      William Abraham Cate may be the William Cate born to parents William Cate and Agnes (Dummett) of Chardstock (some 20 miles away and a source of other Cate family.William was a son of Christopher Cate and Margery (Pyke) of Chardstock.His aunt Mary Cate was married to a Roger Pyke (Margery's brother?) who died while Mary was pregnant.It is believed her next husband Abraham Edwards married her either before the baby was born or soon after.Certainly the kind of act that might engender enough respect that a future child may be named in his honor.

      Thus the family line in Devon would be:

      Robert Ezra Catem. Mary Ann Randall (in Virginia)
      William Abraham Catem. Margaret Agnes Ingles
      William Catem. Agnes Dummett
      Christopher Cate m. Margery Pyke (married 1614)

      If this doesn't make sense then I am happy to be wrong, at least we would know this line is not an option.

      end of commentary [6]

  • Sources