Updated 16 Aug. 2010
Many hours of work have been put into the research and documentation of these ancestors. I hope you will benefit from the information I present here.
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Summery
LINE - John Ernest Cates, Robert, John, Robert, Samuel, Robert, Samuel, Joshua, Edward, James (b. abt 1624 in England)
This Cates family tree can be divided into 4 major groups for study. The groups are as follows:
1. Descendents of John Jason Cates. Around 1880 John left Cutler, Maine and settled down in the Lowell / Lawrence, MA area. He and Agnes Graham had three boys: William, Robert, and John Jr. Around 1902 he moved his family to Lawrence, MA, where he spent the remainder of his life.
2. Ancestors of Agnes Rebecca Graham. This is the smallest of the groups in that research beyond her parents has been fruitless. She was born in 1866 to Christopher Graham and Rebecca McKim in St. John, NB, Canada. Both of her parents were born in Scotland. I normally wouldn't have considered this a branch of significance , however, other then Germaine St Laurent, this is the one of the only recent branches that stem from an immigrant.
3. Ancestors of Robert Cates. Robert b. 1757 - Samuel b. 1783 - Robert b. 1807 These three generations are buried in Cutler Maine. The first Robert is credited along with two others as being the founders of Cutler. The earliest Cates line can be traced to the CATE family of Portsmouth, NH in the late 1600s. The first was a James Cate b. abt. 1624 who was thought to have traveled with several of his brothers to the New World. I've confirmed the first three generations were carpenters and ship builders. The 1860 census states Robert was a ship carpenter - amazing!
4. Ancestors of Abigail Drew. It is through Abigail Drew's line that the family's lineage can be traced to Richard Warren and Elder William Brewster, passengers on the Mayflower. The line mainly consists of early eastern Massachusetts natives and easily goes back to colonial America - early settlers from England.
Interesting notes:
I have researched my Great-grandmother Rose Anne Cates (Baron) and I am confident that I have connected most of the dots. Go here to see my notes.
The 2008 May's issue of The Maine Genealogist has an outstanding article on Harrington / Falmouth's Samuel Cates b. abt. 1720. To sum up the article: There is very little evidence to support that Edward Cate and Jane Jose where the parents of Samuel Cates. There is much greater support however, though not conclusive, that Joshua Cate, son of Edward Cate and Elizabeth Tucker of Portsmouth, NH, and Anne Frost are Samuel's parents. I've read the article many times now and feel that the research was thorough and accurate. In my opinion the facts do seem to strongly support that Joshua Cate was Samuel's father.
Although I have tried my best at documenting all my facts
I am sure that a number of errors will be found.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for assistence in regards to the families
I am reaserching, or to correct any errors I may have made, or to add any
to my research.
You can contact me directly at
ancestry@eagleswind.comx