Cynthia,
Here is a writeup I have in my Cato Booklet on Nehemiah Cato.
24-11A5 NEHEMIAH CATO, b. ca ?1790, was on the tax list of
Stewart Co., TN. in 1812, served in the War of 1812 in Capt.
Gray's Co.,
the same company that Henry Cato served in. This Co. marched to
Mobile
and saw action in that area. He obtained a Military Land Grant,
Warrant #
23,675, for 160 acres, dated 2/14/1825 in Faulkner Co., Ark. I have no
further record on him. There is a Nehemiah Cato who apparently was
paid some money and partially paid in whiskey for work at the
Choctaw Trading Post in St. Stephens, Miss. Territory in 1816, 1817,
1818. This comes from Records of Choctaw Trading Post, St.
Stephens, Miss Territory 1816-1824, Book 2 compiled by Ben and
Jean Strickland This may be this Nehemiah but in the beginning I
rejected the idea because I was not convinced this Nehemiah was part
Indian (certainly not Choctaw) as this form of payment suggests.
Bonnie Palmer says that some of her family sold land in Arkansas that
appears to be the land Nehemiah received for his military service. They
were descendants of a Cato that was listed as Nelson in the 1850
census but is listed as Needham in 1860. Was he Needham or was he
Nehemiah? I think he was Needham because he was born in SC
according to the 1850 census. They were not one and the same person
because Needham served in the War of 1812 from Christian Co., Ky.
My only explanation of Needham selling Nehemiah’s land is that
Needham had bought Nehemiah’s land. I have no deed to prove that
however. Since finding his brother Burwell nearby in Wayne Co., Ms.
about the same time, I am now inclined to believe this Nehemiah in St.
Stephens, Mississppi Territory is the son of Daniel. Since Nehemiah’s
unit in the War of 1812 had action at Mobile, this also introduced him
to the area. Moreover his great uncle Sterling Cato and a number of his
children had moved into Washington Co., Ala about 1811 where he
died in 1818. Some of his family lived on the Tombigbee River and
their presence may have also drawn him there.
Henry