THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Some
descendants of William and Elizabeth Bryson
Cathey
Two weeks ago I began a series
on the
William Cathey Family, citizens of Union County, Georgia in the 1840
and 1850
census records. They lived in the section of the county (near Young
Harris)
that was taken into Towns County when it was formed out of parts of
Union and
Rabun Counties in 1856. Then I wrote for two weeks about the
inauguration and
the peaceful transfer of leadership to our current president, Barack
Obama.
Returning to the account of the
Cathey
family, we will look in this article at some of the descendants of
William
Cathey (April 15, 1782-1860) and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey (April 3,
1787-1872).
I mentioned two weeks ago that
the Catheys
originated in Colonsay, Scotland, an island off the coast of that
country. An
interesting story I did not include then was about the famed MacFie
Standing
Stone at Colonsay. The historic stone marks the spot where, in 1623,
Malcolm,
the last chief of the Clan MacFie was murdered in a clash against the
MacDonald
Clan. Scotland was in great unrest in the early seventeenth century,
and clan
wars were prevalent. Over the years, the marker fell into disrepair.
MacFie
descendants started a drive to restore the standing stone. On May 10,
1977, the
restored marker was dedicated. Ulf MacFie Hagman of Sweden, Charles
MacPhee of
Australia, and Duncan MacPhee of Scotland headed the work of repair.
Many
others with MacFie ties assisted with the work and dedication. The
Standing
Stone can be seen today by any clan members who visit Colonsay. Betty
Cathey
McRee, a MacFie clan person, reminds us that there are many spellings
of the
old Scots-Irish family name, but in America, Cathey is one of the
preferred
Anglicized spellings.
Andrew Dever Cathey was the
eldest child of
William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey. He was born
This couple had a large family
of eleven
children. Seven of their sons served in the Civil War. Imagine the
concern the
parents had with that many of their able-bodied sons, much needed to
work on
the farm, being away serving in the war. Their children and spouses (if
known)
were:
(1) William Hillman Cathey
(1834-1880)
married Nancy Morris in 1867.
(2) Benjamin Hamilton Cathey
(Jan. 4,
1836-June 12, 1907?) married Mariah Conley.
(3) James D. Cathey (1837- 1862;
evidently
died in the Civil War)
(4) Francis Marion Cathey
(1838-1912)
married Mattie McDade.
(5) Sarah Elizabeth Cathey
(1840-?) married
Mann Raby.
(6) Margaret Rebecca Cathey
(March 21,
1842-1934, evidently never married).
(7) Wilson Harrison Cathey
(1844-1910; no
record of his marriage).
(8) John G. Cathey (1846- 1901)
married
Catherine Wike in 1877.
(9) Samuel Taylor Cathey
(1848-1888; no
record of marriage).
(10) Montreville Cathey (1853 -
?; no
record of marriage).
(11) Marquis Lafayette Cathy
(1853-1937)
married Florence Kendall in 1883.
The second child of William
Cathey and
Elizabeth Bryson Cathy was James Cathey, born March 11, 1813 in North
Carolina.
He lived in the Brasstown Section of Union County. In 1856 his land was
included in Towns County. He married Emmeline (called "Emily") Brown
on May 28, 1846 in Union County. They had seven children.
(1) Julius Young Cathey (Sept.
17,
1847-March 22, 1929) married Rebecca Louvenia Wood in April 1870.
(2) Jane Elizabeth Cathey (born
1850) -
evidently never married.
(3) Lucious Cathey (born 1854) -
evidently
never married.
(4) William C. Cathey (born
1859) married
Josephine Crow on March 21, 1880.
(5) Nancy Marinda (called
"Rendy") Cathey (1863-Sept. 7, 1919) married Noah F. Ellis on July
24, 1881 in Towns County.
(6) John A. Cathey (b. 1866) -
no record of
his marriage.
(7) Andrew Dever Cathy, named
for his uncle
by the same name; no record of his marriage.
William H. Cathey, named for his
father,
was the third child of William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey. William was
born
August 22, 1815. At age 22, he married Nancy M. Carter, a daughter of
Jesse
Carter and Lavinah Sams Carter. They lived in Union County (later
Towns) where
they had six children: Rebecca (1839), Josiah (1841), Elizabeth Lavina
(1843),
Jesse (1846), Lucinda (1850), and Louisa whom they nicknamed "Lassie"
(1859).
In a subsequent article we will
trace what
we can find about William and Elizabeth Bryson Cathey's other three
children
and some of their descendants to the third and fourth generations. With
ancestral ties back to the MacFie Clan of Scots-Irish immigrants, these
north
Georgia farm families were hardy and hard-working.
c2009 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published January 29, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail [email protected];
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
Updated
February 5, 2009
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