Hi Vance
Thanks for posting all this! I'd like to make a few comments. Cynthia's
format seemed to work well for responding, so I'll do it the same way...
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I have a copy (from the net) of the Land Patent to Nehemiah Cato
referencing Warrant 23675 and it grants " 160 acres being the South West
(quarter) of Section 24 of Township Seven North in Range Eleven West
....in the Territory of Arkansas". Note the Section 24 and Range Eleven.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, Nehemiah's unindexed bounty land file and surrendered warrant file at
NARA confirms these coordinates. This land was for the Nehemiah Cato who
served in the 44th & 1st U.S. Infantry. The bounty land warrant was issued
to him on 18 Feb 1820, and the land was located and patented on 14 Feb 1825.
I cannot tell if this is the same Nehemiah who was in the TN volunteer
regiment. More work would need to be done, probably at the state level.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bonnie's post of 10 Dec. 1997 quotes Book H, Page 549 deeds as "I Joel
Cato ...grant...unto ...Isom R. Hall. ....the W. 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of
Sect. 12 in Twp. 7 (or 6?) N of R 13 W containing 80 ac...". This
transaction is a different section number in a different Range - it is
about 12 miles west of the Nehemiah grant. Date was 11 Feb 1860.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Correct. This has nothing to do with Nehemiah's bounty land, and is a good
distance from it, in a different township. Does anyone have this deed and
can look at it again to check that number that isn't certain? Township 7 or
township 6? It makes a difference of about 6 miles.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The same post has Amos Cato " grant ... unto ... J. H. Potts ...N 1/2 of
the NW 1/4 of Sect. 12 Twp. 8 N of R 16 W ...containing 80 acres." Again
a different section and Range. This date is 5 Jan 1894.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Right, this is not Nehemiah's bounty land, either. Neither of these tracts
that are shown here as being sold by Amos matched the land that Amos himself
bought from the Federal Government. He had two tracts as follows:
NE sec 12, Twp 6-N, Range 11-W (160 acres) and
N1/2 SE sec 12, Twp 6-N, Range 11-W (80 acres)
These two were adjoining tracts. Again, neither were adjoining or even
close to Nehemiah's bounty land. I have not seen these land files, but only
got these coordinates off of
ancestry.com (caution--there could be
transcription errors and indexing errors there, too, which is why there is
always a need to look at the original documents).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There may be other grants but these are two which Bonnie posted.
I am also interested in the land owned by William Wyler - a part of
Section 12 of Range 7 North of Township 13 West containing 80 acres,
granted in 1825.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"William Wylee" of Pulaski Co. purchased a tract at the Batesville Land
Office on 22 Dec 1824. The land was patented on 2 Jul 1825 and located at:
W1/2 SW sec 12, Twp 7-N, range 13-W, 80 acres.
This is from the land file at NARA cited as follows:
William Wylee
Cash Entry
2 Jul 1825
Land office: Batesville, AR
Document #235
His near neighbor would have been Alfred Cato, who patented land at:
NENE sec 2, Twp 7-N, Range 13-W, 40 acres
This is according to his land file at NARA cited as follows:
Alfred Cato
Cash Entry
1 Mar 1860
Land office: Little Rock, AR
Document #9998
Section 12 and section 2 in the same township would adjoin each other
diagonally, touching at the points of the two squares.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bonnie also posted, on 10 Dec. 1997, Book H, Page 459, (typo- ? above is
549) Joel Cato buys at auction the W 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Sect. 12 in
Township 7 N Range 13 W ..80 acres..as the property of William WYLEE
deceased " and names as heirs of William WYLEE several WYLEEs, BUTCHERs,
THOMPKINS, McINTURFFs, BRANNON, and Abigail C. CATO and JOEL CATO
(himself?). Date 17 Nov 1859.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is not the same 80 acres that William Wylee bought from the federal
government (as listed above). It is in a different quadrant, unless there
is a transcription error somewhere. This transaction sounds to me like Joel
was either the executor or the administrator of the estate of William Wylee,
and thus he was purchasing some things for himself from the estate. This
would need to be checked at the appropriate courthouse.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The post (again by Bonnie - and I for one am very thankful for her
efforts) continues to note AMOS CATO selling to James R. ELLIOTT the NW
1/4 of the E 1/4 of Sect. 24 in Twp. 7 N, R 11 W and the NE 1/4 of NE 1/4
of Sect. 24 in Twp. 7 N R 11 W, bounded by (in part) NEEDHAM CATO. This
from Book J, Page 41.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wow, Amos got around! This again does not match either of Amos' original
two purchases from the Federal Government, as listed above. It is possible
that he was acting as a court-appointed administrator to dispose of the
property of someone who died intestate. There is one directional letter
missing from the above land location..."...James R. Elliott the NW 1/4 of
the E 1/4..." I believe this should be "NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4", because
that
is the only thing that would make sense. Either way, whether you make that
"E" a NE or a SE, it still is not part of the bounty land of Nehemiah...but
it is very close to his tract.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Further, Bonnie continues to Book J, Page 556, where "Ammus CATO .. do
sell unto J. M. Blasingame...the S 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of Sect. 24 in Twp. 6
N of R. 11 W & the SE 1/4 of Sect. 24 in 6N of R 11 W " - note if this IS
section 24 of Twp. 6 North, it is 6 miles south of section 24 of Twp. 7
North.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Correct again! This is also not Nehemiah's bounty land tract. If I am
understanding your point, you are saying that none of these transactions
explain what happened to Nehemiah's land. That is what I am seeing. I
think it is possible that no one has ever searched it out fully.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I hope I have not screwed up all the fractions and N, Nw, etc.
I would LOVE to have copies of these deeds.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Some of the records are at NARA, as I have cited above, others may have been
sold to the individuals by someone other than the Federal Government, such
as the State or some other individual who might have been the original owner
who was selling out, or for an estate sale, in which case the deeds should
be in the county courthouse.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And any tax records from the time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is probably what it will take to decide who moves where and when.
People often got "missed" by the census taker, but the tax man didn't miss
many! Someone was darn sure going to pay property tax to the county each
year on these tracts of land, and those records would tell you a lot.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My grandfather is the son of Rebecca CATO WILEY and is named NEEDUM FRANK
WILEY. And the WILEY/CATO connection suggests William WILEE is probably
related. There is a Needham up there somewhere.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sounds good, Vance! You are making progress on it, I think. I always
appreciate folks who post information with the citations of where they found
things. Thanks!
Peggy Reeves