---Back Row, Left To Right, Nancy Alberta (Bertie), 13; Johanna (Josie), 21; George William, 26; David Andrew (Dave), 30; Martha Adaline, 18; Mary Jane (Mamie), 16.
---Front Row, Left To Right, Walter Calvin, 23; John Conley, 52; Mary Elizabeth, 53; Lloyd Harold, 10; John Sanford (Sam), 28.
(Note: John Conley died on 12-18-1913, four years after this photo was taken at 56 years of age. His wife, Mary, lived until 12-14-1937 and died at age 81; Nancy Alberta "Bertie" died in 1960 at age 64; Johanna "Josie" died in 1979 at age 90; George died in 1946 at age 62; David Andrew "Dave" died in 1956 at age 76; Martha died in 1971 at age 80; Mary Jane "Mamie" died in 1962 at age 68; Walter died in 1963 at age 77; Lloyd Harold died in 1966 at age 66 and John Sanford "Sam" died in 1951 at age 69.)
---Left To Right, Josie, 39; Mamie, 34; Mary Elizabeth, 71; Walter, 41; Martha, 34; Bertie, 31; Lloyd, 28.
(Note:John Conley died 14 years before this photo was taken. Mary Elizabeth lived another 10 years after this photo was taken and she and John Conley are both buried in Park Grove Cemetery in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.)
---Throughout my sojourn on this planet, I've had the pleasure of a full and varied existence, including, through the efforts of my educated parents, the opportunity of being exposed to an eclectic blend of topics, experiences and issues. This quarter's topic, GENEALOGY, is one that has always fascinated me from the time I was a young boy growing up in Oklahoma.
---Although having no brothers and sisters, I was part of a large extended family of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who were never far away. This unity of loved ones gave me an appreciation for family that I hold dear to this day. It also instilled in me an abiding interest in finding out from where and who I came. In other words, what ancestral factors contributed to the mix of genetics, values and perhaps beliefs that I now shared. What foundation of building blocks in the past led to the "house" in which I now lived? The old adage that we may never always know where we are going but at least we should know from whence we came has always seemed to ring true for me.
---Thank you for letting me share these experiences with you. Perhaps you will find something here that strikes a related chord in your life. If so, please e-mail me and let me know of your experiences in tracing your family roots.
---My first experience at serious genealogy occured years ago on the dining room floor at my uncle and aunt's farmhouse in western Oklahoma. Prior to that I had been asking numerous questions of the relatives gathered there and soon found myself confused by the sheer volume of information I was trying to absorb. My aunt graciously found a roll of brown paper which I unrolled on the dining room floor and I began to transcribe the information into a pedigree chart format. (I still have that roll of paper).
---Later, looking over some old, tattered and faded documents that had been passed down through the generations, I became determined (some individuals have described genealogists as "obsessed;" I prefer "determined") to seek and find every detail possible on both my paternal and maternal ancestors.
---This brings up a pet peeve of mine re: genealogy. Some of us seem to only be interested in our paternal surname and give less importance to our maternal side of the family. For example, if my father's surname is Jones and my mother's maiden name is Smith, I'm just as much John Smith as I am John Jones. By the same token, if my paternal and maternal grandparents names were Jones, Smith, Brown and Green, I am equally, genetically-speaking, John Jones, John Smith, John Brown or John Green. (How many other researchers out there wish we would have, long ago, done away with the archaic practice of women losing their names and taking their husband's surnames when they married?)
---Later, I continued my quest for ancestral information by contacting other relatives, visiting the famed library in Salt Lake City, studying cemetery records, poring over old dusty volumes in musty courthouse basements and writing to bureaus of vital statistics for certificates. The LDS library in Utah is an absolutely excellent place to research ancestors as all of the helpful records imaginable are located there. Plan on spending at least 4-5 days there. That's the amount of time it took me, at 8-10 hours per day, to complete my basic research.
---While pursuing this desire for ancestral information and uncovering all of the extended families of those in my direct lines, I became interested in the concept of a descendants directory---sort of a "I wonder where they all are now." This was to become a much larger project than I had envisioned; however, for most branches of those extended families of my direct lines, I have compiled data for descendants down to newborns just recently arrived.
---Some of this effort was brought to fruition recently when I took my Dad back to Oklahoma on a trip to see relatives, friends and places of his youth. There were gatherings where virtually every type of relationship was represented---1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins, nephews, nieces, etc. etc.---it was a real genealogy melting pot.
---Cousins, cousins, cousins....it's incredible how many you uncover once you begin. Knowing your 1st cousins is usually pretty easy. You grow up around aunts and uncles, and their kids are your 1st cousins. Now 2nd cousins are a different story. (I'm not talking about the Oklahoma method of determing cousins where your 1st cousin's children are your 2nd cousins; no, they are your 1st cousins, once-removed. Your children and the children of your 1st cousins are 2nd cousins). 1st cousins share the same grandparents, 2nd cousins share the same great grandparents, 3rd cousins share the same great-great grandparents and so on.
---The number of cousins seems to grow geometrically, especially when ancestors have a dozen children and each of them has seven or eight offspring. At last count, I had about 15 1st cousins and over 50 2nd cousins. Finding, let alone ever meeting, a 3rd or 4th cousin is rare, even though you probably have a hundred or more. Enough about cousins, already...
---The descendants charts have almost been more fun compiling than the ancestry charts as you get to chat with people who are alive insteading of poring over records of those gone before us. This initially presents a challenge as the first response you might get from people you call is the same one they would give to a telemarketer. But once you explain that they are actually RELATED to you, it usually warms up the conversation. Most relatives I have dealt with have been very accomodating in providing me with data and other information on their branches of the family tree. Sometimes you even pique their interest enough that you eventually convert yet another to the hobby of genealogy. And it is a hobby, and hobbies take time. A pitfall to avoid is allowing the hobby to become an obsession that crowds out the other real aspects of your life.
---Instead of a genealogy "program," I created my own style that's a combination of an outline/prose format. The data I include is everyone's full name---first, middle and last---, birthdate, birthplace, marriage date, marriage place, deathdate, deathplace, burial place if different, divorce date, spouse's parents full name, children from other marriages if half-siblings to my relatives, adopted children, cause of death and any vignettes regarding any of the persons in the family. The only disadvantage is that I have to remember all of the names as there is no way, without a program, to punch in a person's name and have it retrieved. This was not originally a difficulty but I now have over 200 single-spaced typewritten pages and it now becomes a stretch on the memory banks.
---One side benefit to this pursuit of a nationwide descendants directory I have jokingly referred to is having a relative every 300 miles thus creating a chain of free motels and meals if I should ever decide to tour the United States. Did I say jokingly?
---If reading this enhances your interest in tracing your family roots, I have lots of internet links available to help you get started. Some of them can be found on my genealogy page---the link is listed at the bottom of this homepage. I would also be interested in hearing about your experiences in genealogical research.
---Finally, what discourse on genealogy would be complete without the surname list. Who knows, you may recognize one of these names as your own and we may have a common link to the past or the present. The surnames I have been researching include: Harris, Elam, Looney, Briggance, Singletary, Cates, Holman, Kelley, Shelton, Doan(e), Peckham, Masonhall, Sample, Grieger, Hackenberry, Beckett, Foley, Davis, Hickman, Asbury, Reuters, Compton, Drake, Winsell, Metcalf, Smith, Paul, Gile, Flinn, Menefee, McRae, Milgrim, Epperly, Moore, Leslie, Miller, Oder, Pogue, Robertson, Hultman, Palmer, Kopf, Coyle, Whitehead, Pickens, Newman, Urban, Williams, Wears, Becker, King, Miles, Ames, Walters, Johnson, Blakeman, Koth, Anderson, Kramer, Hephner, Darter, Weir, Habbershaw, Denton, Pratt, Boyd, Stockman, McDaniel, Spina, Vuletich, Jordan, Pollock, Perisol, Haines, Hunsperger, Outhier, Burrow, Kabriel, Bryant, Hutton, Wedel, Furnas, Willaman, Waugh, Patrone, Gaunt, Westergaard, Eidson, Ballew, Thomas, Burke, Josephs, Winn, Cato, Howe, Bakewell, Cason, Motl, Galloway, Cox, Henson, Ewing, Henley, Hurlburt, Eldridge, Gudgell, Byers, Tischoff, Phillips, Denham, Dirksen, Georgeson, Schales, Qualls and several more I've probably forgotten to include.
---How did I come to have some sort of genealogical tie to each of the above surnames? Easy. Just refer back to the above paragraphs on cousins and do the math. Of course, with today's shrinking family size, the numbers in our descendants' "extended families" will be much smaller than now. (Maybe I should have waited for another 50 years to do this---at least the phone bill wouldn't have been so high!)
---Since we all came from Adam and Eve, that question is moot, but if you ever look back into your past and find the following couples, give me a call because we definitely share a link...a link with the past.
---My maternal great-great grandparents were Isaiah Cates and Nancy Shelton; David Kelley and Helen Holman; James and Elizabeth Singletary; William Russell Looney and Sara Emily Elam. My paternal great-great grandparents were John William Mesenholl and Charlotte Grieger; John C. Peckham and Isabell Hackenberry; Richard Thomas Doane and Anna Eliza Beckett; David A. Sample and Nancy Foley.
---My maternal great grandparents were John Conley Cates and Mary Elizabeth Kelley; William Harrison Singletary and Sarah Emily "Sallie" Looney. My paternal great grandparents were George Henry Masonhall and Sarah Jane Peckham; Benjamin Grant Doan(e) and Rebecca Jane Sample.
---CATES/SHELTON: The Cates lineage I have successfully traced started with Isaiah Cates, one of my 8 great-great grandfathers who married Nancy Shelton in 1841. Isaiah and Nancy had seven children named Margaret Ann (Margry), Sarah, George, Isaiah Jr., Joel, John Conley and Bette Elizabeth. John Conley was one of my 4 great grandfathers.
---KELLY/HOLMAN: Meanwhile, over in Indiana, David C. Kelly, another great-great grandfather, married a lady named Eleanor/Ellen Holman, both being born in the Hoosier State, and they had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth Kelly who married the above-mentioned John Conley Cates in 1878 in Texas. They had nine children named David Andrew (Dave), John Sanford (Sam), George William, Walter Calvin, Johanna (Josie), Martha Adaline, Mary Jane (Mamie), Nancy Alberta (Bertie) and Loyd Harold. Dave Cates, the eldest, was my maternal grandfather.
---SINGLETARY: I haven't uncovered much regarding my great-great grandfather Singletary. I'm actually not even sure of his first name although research points to James T. He was probably born in Georgia and married a lady named Elizabeth who was born in South Carolina. One of their children was named William Harrison Singletary, a great grandfather, who married Sarah Emily (Sallie) Looney in 1877 in Texas. They had ten children, only half of whom survived infancy, named Clarence Preston (Press), Robert Alexander (Alec), Herman Leroy, Ina Isola and Ernest Rayfield. Ina Singletary/Cates, the only surviving girl in the family, was my maternal grandmother.
---LOONEY/ELAM: "Sallie" Looney's mother was also named Sarah Emily. Sarah Emily Elam, one of my great-great grandmothers married William Russell Looney in 1839 in Tennessee and they had nine children named Isaac, William, Martha, Infant, Robert, Jonathan, Isola, George and the above-mentioned "Sallie," the baby of the family.
---All of the above brought together Dave Cates and Ina Singletary, my two maternal grandparents. David Andrew Cates married Ina Isola Singletary in Retrop, Oklahoma Territory in 1902. Out of this union came seven children named Anna Rachel, Mary Emily, David Elmer, John Charles, Ina Doreen (my Mother), David Andrew Jr. and Donald Brady.
---Front Row, Left To Right, J.C., Dave, Ina.
Back row, Rachel, Elmer, Mary
***David Andrew (Dave) Cates (b. 8-24-1879 in Graham, Young County, Texas; d. 7-9-1956 from a cerebral hemorrhage in Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma--Buried Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens northwest of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma) married Ina Isola Singletary (b. 9-9-1888 at 10:00 a.m. in Clio (now Owens), Brown County, Texas; d. 12-25-1980 in Reedley, Fresno County, California-Buried Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens northwest of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma), daughter of William Harrison Singletary (b. 3-18-1850 near Andersonville in Macon County, Georgia; d. 5-6-1899 in Combs, Washita County, Oklahoma Territory) and Sarah Emily “Sallie” Looney (b. 4-7-1859 in Goodletsville, Davidson County, Tennessee; d. 6-9-1897 near Sentinel, Washita County, Oklahoma Territory), on 8-3-1902 in Retrop, Washita County, Oklahoma Territory. They had seven children named Anna Rachel, Mary Emily, David Elmer, John Charles “J.C.,” Ina Doreen, David Andrew Jr., and Donald Brady.
***Ina was orphaned by the death of her mother on 6-9-1897 (at 8 years and 9 months of age) shortly after childbirth and her father on 5-6-1899 (at 10 years and 8 months of age) who was shot and killed by a drunk he was attempting to arrest while serving as a sheriff's deputy. Ina, in 1900, lived briefly with her older brothers Robert Alexander, Clarence Preston and Herman Leroy and Robert’s wife, Lulu, in Washita County. She later stayed with her Aunt Isola (Looney) Kerr before her marriage to David Andrew Cates at the age of 13. He was 22. They eventually settled on a claim in “No Man’s Land,” the Oklahoma Panhandle, in February of 1904 near Elmwood (later in Beaver County), built a dugout to live in and began to raise a family. They later sold their place and Dave was in the mercantile business in Beaver and Balko.
***Anna Rachel Cates (b. 5-6-1904 in Beaver, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 12-19-1961 in Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma from breast cancer--Buried in Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma) married Calvin Gray in 1932. Divorced. They had no children; however, after the death of Beuna Cates in 1934, Rachel became the surrogate mother to Jimmie Ray and Ina May, Beuna and brother Elmer's two infant children. Married P.T. (Ted) Husman (b. 11-29-1902 in Kimball, Brule County, South Dakota; d. 6-30-1980 from lung cancer in Highland Park Manor Nursing Home, Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma--Buried in Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma). They had no children. Rachel and Ted were both chiropractors in Clinton, Oklahoma.
***Mary Emily Cates (b. 4-2-1906 in Beaver, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 11-24-1920 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas---Buried in Harper, Harper County, Kansas). Mary died at the age of 14 in St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas as the result of an operation for an exophthalmic goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland. Cardiac exhaustion was listed as the contributory cause of death.
***David Elmer Cates (b. 6-2-1908 in Beaver, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 8-4-1994 in Silver City, Grant County, New Mexico---Buried in Shattuck, Ellis County, Oklahoma) married Beuna Roberta May (b. 3-6-1912 in Forgan, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 8-24-1934 in Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma-Buried in Forgan Cemetery, Beaver County, Oklahoma), on 7-20-1930 in Forgan, Beaver County, Oklahoma. They had two children named Jimmie Ray and Ina May.
Beuna was the daughter of Lonnie Earl May (b. 4-24-1891) and Grace Messnard (b. 11-22-1892; d. 11-2-1959) who were married on 7-30-1911 in Forgan, Beaver County, Oklahoma and are also buried in Forgan Cemetery. Beuna’s siblings were Hershel, Doyle, Eulene, Wanda Ellen, Bernal, Robert and Helen.
Married Lola Gertrude Readnour (b. 1-17-1917 near Higgins, Lipscomb County, Texas; d. 11-15-1984 in Woodward, Woodward County, Oklahoma---Buried in Shattuck, Ellis County, Oklahoma) on 1-19-1936 in Woodward, Woodward County, Oklahoma. They had one child named Patsy Jo Ann “Jody.” For most of his life, Elmer was a millwright and a minister for the church of Christ.
***John Charles (J.C.) Cates (b. 9-13-1915 in Forgan, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 7-1-1986 in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington from heart failure---cremated and inurned at the Chapel of the Light Columbarium, Fresno, Fresno County, California ), married Helen Keller (b. 9-9-1914 in Gage, Ellis County, Oklahoma; d. 12-27-2004 in Kings Nursing Home, Hanford, Kings County, California--buried in Hanford Cemetery, Hanford, Kings County, California) daughter of Albert Elsworth Keller and Mae Easter McFarland, on 9-3-1934 in Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma. They had three children named Karen Kay, John Keller and Elena Jay.
Married Ethel Lorraine Halford (b. 1-17-1925 in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California; d. 7-3-1994 in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington from respiratory failure due to Parkinson’s Disease---cremated and inurned at the Chapel of the Light Columbarium, Fresno, Fresno County, California ), daughter of Edward Jefferson Halford (b. 8-27-1884; d. 11-12-1967) and Ethel Lorraine Pontius (b. 4-3-1894; d. 6-17-1971), in 1956 in Amarillo, Texas. They had no children but J.C. adopted Dickie’s two children---Brooke Ann Bowersox and Kristy Lorraine Wilson.
***Ina Doreen Cates (b. 5-22-1918 in Beaver, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 2-24-2007 in Albany, Linn County, Oregon---Buried in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens northwest of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma) married Ellis Leroy Masonhall (b. 8-2-1919 in Plymouth near Fairview, Major County, Oklahoma; d. 4-6-2008 in Albany, Linn County, Oregon---Buried in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens northwest of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma), son of Albert Masonhall and Addie Doan, on 5-18-1940 in Woodward, Woodward County, Oklahoma. They had one child named David Albert.
---David Andrew Cates, Jr. (b. 8-15-1920 in Beaver, Beaver County, Oklahoma; d. 3-13-1922 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas-Buried in Harper, Harper County, Kansas). “Junior” died in St. Francis Hospital in Wichita two days short of 19 months old. A piece of glass in his eye from an accident caused infection that led to the removal of the eye. Later the infection spread and he developed bronchial pneumonia which was listed as the cause of death.
***Donald Brady Cates (b. 2-10-1923 in Buffalo, Harper County, Oklahoma; d. 7-17-1993 in Aurora, Arapahoe County, Colorado---Buried in Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Denver County, Colorado) married Lillian Marie Charron (b. 7-13-1917 in Baltic, New London County, Connecticut; d. 3-23-1992 in Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado---Buried in Baltic, New London County, Connecticut), daughter of Israel Charron and Agnes Savageau, on 7-29-1942 in Hanover, New London County, Connecticut. They adopted one child named Michael Brady.
---Isaiah Cates/Nancy Shelton---John Conley Cates/Mary Elizabeth Kelly---David Andrew Cates/Ina Isola Singletary---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.
---David C. Kelly/Eleanor/Ellen Holman---Mary Elizabeth Kelly/John Conley Cates---David Andrew Cates/Ina Isola Singletary---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.
---James T./Elizabeth Singletary---William Harrison Singletary/Sarah Emily (Sallie) Looney---Ina Isola Singletary/David Andrew Cates---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.
---William Russell Looney/Sarah Emily Elam---Sarah Emily (Sallie) Looney/William Harrison Singletary---Ina Isola Singletary/David Andrew Cates---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.
So I've traced my maternal (Cates) ancestry back to a pair of great-great grandparents, Isaiah Cates and Nancy Shelton Cates.
Isaiah Cates (b. circa 1817 in Hickman County, Tennessee; d. late 1860 in Franklin Township, Dent County, Missouri) married Nancy Shelton (b. 5-14-1822 in Tennessee; d. circa 1895 in Collin County, Texas) circa 1841 in Perry County, Tennessee.
Isaiah was the son of Isaiah Cates and Elizabeth Cates who were married in Person County, North Carolina in 1800. By 1812 they were in Williamson County, Tennessee and in 1814 appeared in Hickman County, Tennessee where Isaiah was born. In 1823 he entered a survey for land in Perry County, Tennessee.
Nancy was the daughter of Joel Shelton (b. 4-19-1791 in Virginia; d. 9-9-1835 in Perry County, Tennessee) and Mary “Polly” Davidson (b. 8-19-1792 in Virginia; d. 1873 in Shannon County, Missouri) who were married on 3-5-1812 in Dickson County, Tennessee. Nancy’s siblings were Sanford, Berryman, Rachel, Lucy, Mary “Polly” C., Letcy and Roda.
In the 1850 census, the family was still in Perry County, Tennessee, a county split in half by the Tennessee River, but by 1854 had moved to Franklin Township, Dent County, Missouri, a journey of 250 miles to the northwest across the Mississippi River, where the family resided during the 1860 census.
Isaiah died in late 1860 and his gravesite is as yet unknown. This left Nancy with the difficult task of raising five young children and surviving through the turbulent years of the Civil War. In the 1870 census, Nancy, George, Isaiah Jr., Joel, John, Elizabeth and Nancy’s mother, Mary Shelton, were in Shannon Township, Dent County, Missouri. They had seven children named Margaret Ann “Margry”, Sarah, George, Isaiah Jr., Joel, John Conley and Bette Elizabeth.
In the 1870’s, the family relocated once again to Texas, an even-longer trek of over 500 miles to the southwest. In 1877, Margaret Ann’s family, her mother Nancy, and her two brothers, John Conley and Joel, and her sister, Bette Elizabeth, were living along the Tonk Branch of the Brazos River just a few miles southwest of Graham in Young County, Texas.
Following a decade of struggling to make a living in that somewhat hostile environment, the family pulled up stakes and headed to Collin County, Texas, about 12 miles northeast of McKinney along Sister Grove Creek between the communities of Valdasta and Blue Ridge. While in Collin County, Margaret’s husband, G.H. (General Hamilton) Ash and her mother, Nancy (Shelton) Cates, died.
Members of the family, including both John Conley and Margaret Ann, then moved to Washita County, Oklahoma Territory and settled there near the town of Retrop. Some members of the family later moved to the Oklahoma Panhandle and homesteaded in Beaver County.
***Margaret Ann Cates (b. 9-1842 in Perry County, Tennessee; d. 4-27-1912 in Sentinel, Washita County, Oklahoma---buried in an unmarked grave in the old part of the Sentinel Cemetery, Sentinel, Washita County, Oklahoma) married General Hamilton Ash (b. circa 1842 in Alabama; d. early 1890’s in Collin County, Texas) on 5-1-1870 in Salem, Dent County, Missouri. (The family name has also been spelled ASHE). They had seven children named Nancy Elizabeth, Martha Ann, Mary Adaline, John J., Infant, Susie Francis and Sarah Jane.
The family eventually moved from Dent County, Missouri to Young County, Texas and settled on land there in 1877 (see paragraph above). In 1880, Margaret’s widowed mother, Nancy, was living with this family in Young County. In 1912, a widowed Margaret, living with her daughter Sarah Jane Roberts’ family in Washita County, Oklahoma , was killed by a tornado that struck Sentinel on April 27 of that year. She was visiting another daughter, Martha Lee, who had just given birth, when the tornado struck. She was lying in bed with the newborn’s older sibling and they were both killed.
***Sarah Cates (b. circa 1845 in Perry County, Tennessee; d. before 1860). Sarah died sometime between 5 and 15 years of age. She is either buried in Perry County, Tennessee or Dent County, Missouri. The family made the move from Perry County to Dent County circa 1854. Sarah appeared in the 1850 census at age 5 but did not appear in the family’s 1860 census.
***George Cates (b. 10-1849 in Perry County, Tennessee; d. after 1900) married Mary G. (Molly) (b. 12-1852 in Texas) circa 1873 in Texas. They had five children named Isaiah, Nancy, Mardie Victoria, Francis and Rufus.
***Isaiah Cates Jr. (b. 1855 in Tennessee; d. 1870’s in Greene County, Missouri). While working away from home for a family that had the smallpox, Isaiah Jr. became infected and died.
***Joel Cates (b.10-7-1854 in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri; d. 8-8-1932 in La Kemp, Beaver County, Oklahoma---Buried in Medlan Chapel Cemetery, Graham, Young County, Texas) married Samantha Allentine Hook (b. 6-14-1864 in Looney Township, Polk County, Missouri; d. 11/12-21/24-1898 from tuberculosis in Graham, Young County, Texas---buried in Medlan Chapel Cemetery, Graham, Young County, Texas), daughter of Andrew Lester Hook and Mary Jane Barnes, on 10-1-1879 in Young County, Texas. They had six children named George Rueben, Marion Andrew, William Alvin., Henry Everett, Mary Edna and James Oscar.
After Samantha died, his sister, Bette Elizabeth, and her two boys, John William and Joel Edward, moved in with Joel and his family. In 1902, Joel moved north into Oklahoma Territory and rented a farm in Washita County. In 1903, Joel and his eldest son George Rueben ventured into the Oklahoma Panhandle looking for land. Joel homesteaded two miles west of what was later LaKemp in the Oklahoma Panhandle and George also homesteaded a mile north of Joel. They returned to Washita County for harvest but, in 1904, Joel returned to his homestead with his family in a covered wagon which became their home until a dugout was built.
***John Conley Cates (b. 3-21-1857 in St. Louis, Jefferson County, Missouri; d. 12-18-1913 in Jenks, Tulsa County, Oklahoma---Buried in Park Grove Cemetery, Broken Arrow, Tulsa County, Oklahoma) married Mary Elizabeth Kelly (b. 6-14-1856 in either Ft. Worth-Tarrant County or Waco-McClennan County, Texas; d. 12-14-1937 in Jenks, Tulsa County, Oklahoma from a cerebral hemmorhage---buried in Park Grove Cemetery, Broken Arrow, Tulsa County, Oklahoma) on 10-10-1878 in Graham, Young County, Texas. They had nine children named David Andrew “Dave,” John Sanford “Sam,” George William, Walter Calvin, Johanna “Josie,” Martha Adaline, Mary Jane “Mamie,” Nancy Alberta “Bertie,” and Loyd Harold.
Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of David Clay Kelly (b. 3-1819 in Indiana; d. circa 1901 in Graham, Young County, Texas---Buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Graham, Young County, Texas) and Eleanor/Ellen Holman/Holeman (b. circa 1820 in Indiana; d. circa 1899 in Texas-Buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Graham, Young County, Texas) who were married on 6-30-1839 in Franklin County, Illinois. Siblings of Mary Elizabeth were John, Rebecca Jane, William, James, Henry Clay and Martha Ellen.
Originally settled along the Brazos River near Graham, Young County, Texas and then in Collin County, Texas, in April, 1898, the family filed for a homestead on land seven miles west of Sentinel, in present-day Washita County, Oklahoma. On June 22, 1903, John Cates received the final certificate on his homestead claim near the town of Retrop, Washita County, Oklahoma Territory.
***Bette Elizabeth Cates (b. 3-1858 in Salem, Dent County, Missouri; d. 7-22-1921 in Perryton, Ochiltree County, Texas) married Roland R. Finley (b. 5-20-1845 in Wicklow County, Ireland; d. Winter, 1884 in Graham, Young County, Texas from pneumonia) on 9-23-1877 in Young County, Texas. They had two children named John William and Joel Edward.
After Roland died of pneumonia, Elizabeth and her two young sons moved to Washita County, Oklahoma Territory where they appeared in the 1900 census. Later, in 1904,they moved to Beaver County, Oklahoma with her brother Joel and settled near La Kemp.
TRAVEL -- The Lure Of The Open Road
SPORTS -- The Recreational Side Of Life
PATERNAL (Masonhall) GENEALOGY
SANTIAM RIVER BAND -- Dave's Band Website
SIERRA SWEETHEARTS SOFTBALL TEAM -- Dave's Softball Website
