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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Craighead County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Hon. W. H. Cate. The origin of this family in the United States dates from 1752, when three brothers of that name emigrated from Wales and located in America. One of the brothers took up his residence in New England, and but little is known of him or his descendants; while the other two settled in the South, and from this branch of the family the subject of this sketch is descended. That they took an active part in the struggle for independence is well known, and after the war they became tillers of the soil in the South, probably in North Carolina, as the paternal grandfather was a native of that State. He was a pioneer settler of Jefferson County, Tenn., and it was here that his son Noah, the father of W. H., was born. Few men were better or more favorably known in Tennessee than the Rev. Noah Cate. He married Mrs. Margaret M. Lee, a widow whose maiden name was Henderson, a native of the famous Shenandoah Valley, Va.; he was for forty years a minister of the Baptist Church, and a faithful worker in his Master’s vineyard. In 1865 he came to Jonesboro, Ark., and it was largely through his efforts that the present Baptist Church at that place was built. His was an active, zealous, consistent Christian life, and one well worthy of emulation. He died at Jonesboro, October 23, 1871, and his wife at Pierce City, Mo., in March, 1876. Only two of the children born to these parents survive them: W. H., the subject of this memoir, and a daughter, Mrs. J. N. Patrick, a resident of East Tennessee. The maternal grandfather of W. H. Cate was a native of Scotland, and was killed at the battle of Bladensburg. Two uncles served as soldiers under Jackson, and other members of the family in the same and later wars, some of them winning distinction by their zeal and bravery. W. H. Cate was born in Rutherford County, Tenn., being reared in Sullivan and Hawkins Counties, when he attended the common school in his early youth, later entering an academy at Abingdon, Va., for some time, and also one at Rogersville, Tenn., and at the early age of eighteen years graduated from the State University at Knoxville, Tenn. His father, like most ministers, had but limited means, and could assist but little in defraying his son’s expenses while at school. After graduating he began teaching school, and at the same time took up the study of law. While thus engaged, the war broke out, and dropping his studies, he espoused the Southern cause. The year the war closed he located at Jonesboro, and resumed the study of law, so abruptly yet cheerfully dropped five years previous. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar, and was soon enjoying a good practice. He has now practically retired from practice, but was for years one of the leading attorneys of Northeast Arkansas. In March, 1884, he was appointed judge of the Second judicial district, and the following September was elected to the same position. In 1887 he organized the Bank of Jonesboro, and was its first president. He was for some years attorney for the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas, and the Iron Mountain & Southern Railroads. He is a large land owner, and has been at times extensively engaged in farming. In the fall of 1888, after a hard and exciting contest, he was chosen to represent the people of the First district in Congress. In 1868 Miss Virginia E. Warner, a native of Dresden, Tenn., became his wife. They have one child, William W., a promising young man, and a student at Bryant and Stratton’s College, St. Louis. It can be truly said of W. H. Cate, that he is in the fullest acceptation of the term, a self-made man. As the son of a poor minister, he worked his way through college, graduating with honors at the age of eighteen years; while yet a boy, he was found bravely risking his life for a cause he believed to be right, and before the period of his service had closed, holding a captain’s commission; a few years later a leading attorney of Northeast Arkansas, he was elected to the legislature in 1871 and re-elected in 1873; in 1878 elected prosecuting attorney of the second district, judge of the Second judicial district, president of a bank, and attorney for two large railroad companies. Besides the above, he has held many other positions of honor and trust, and has always acted in such a way as to maintain the respect and confidence of the public. In politics he has always been a Democrat, but has broad, liberal, conservative views, which have gained for him the respect and friendship of men of all parties. He is a man of a pleasant, genial type of character, and has the happy faculty of inspiring those around him with his own bright and sunny life. He and wife are members of the church, leading and popular members of society, and possess social qualities of a high order.

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This family biography is one of 98 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Craighead County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Craighead County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Craighead County, Arkansas family biographies here: Craighead County, Arkansas Biographies

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