I only have time to cut & paste some info I had typed up earlier here
without taking time to edit, but I found something that I thought
interesting & wanted to pass it along since it's the only thing I've
been able to locate with any type of real description of the GA Militia
in the 1790s. (In an effort to find out how old the Militia members
were & hence whether or not the Sterling in GA was John & Jane Cato's
son.) It doesn't give ages, though I did find the history very
interesting! The following is speaking of the area in the GA frontier
where Sterling Cato was:
"In spite of the Indian raids, the settlements thrived behind a
stationary though inadequate defense system, a chain of forts along the
boundary with the Indian territory. This defense line was patrolled by
scouts or rangers on horseback who looked for signs of Indian
incursions. The rangers or scouts (sometimes called spies) who
patrolled the frontier were employed by the colonies, states, or central
government. Sometimes they were militamen who volunteered their
services, as **it was every able-bodied man's duty** to serve in the
militia, which was controlled by a county Lieutenant who was in charge
of local defense...
"Founded as a buffer colony against Spanish intrusion, Georgia, in 1792,
was but a third of its present size, and its Indian border was a
400-mile wilderness... The western border was drawn at the Oconee, a
river that meandered from the north to the central part of the state,
then joined the Ocmulgee to form the Altamaha River which flowed east to
the Atlantic Ocean near Darien. The Georgia land ws about 90 miles wide
from the Savannah River to this confluence of rivers...
"A chain of forts was built along the rivers to protect the border &
shelter settlers during times of Indian alarms, with patrols, scouts or
spies keeping watch for Indian signs east of the rivers & borders...
"Washington Co. was orig. most of the territory fronting the Indian line
along the Oconee, but later it was subdivided into smaller counties.
GREENE CO. was created in 1786 from the northern part of WASHINGTON Co.
HANCOCK CO. was created from part of northern Washington Co. & Greene
Co. in 1793... (Bonnie's note: Keep in mind that Sterling (who was there
by at least 1786) & his sons were listed in all 3 of these counties &
probably did not move, but the county boundaries moved instead!)
"Greene Co. was a frequent target of Indian raids. The county seat of
Greensboro & the courthouse were destroyed in a raid in 1787... Pay Roll
for 1793 indicates some of the Indian problems the Georgia frontier was
experiencing at that time. Former Militia General Elijah Clark
organized the Trans-Oconee Republic modeled after the State of Franklin
in Tenn. on Indian land across from Greene Co., contrary to federal
law. In addition to the main posts called Fort Advance & Fort Defiance,
his army built other forts along the border to prevent Indian raids into
the settlements. However, when the local militia & federal troops
ordered him to withdraw, his troops disbanded without bloodshed...
Further note from Bonnie:
I have a list of the others who were in the same Troop of GA Militia
Dragoons here & have compared some names to the some of the Pittsylvania
Co. records currently on the net. This is not conclusive proof that the
Sterling in Pittsylvania was the same one, but these are some of the
names that matched. Keep in mind that there were several more with the
same surnames as on the list of militia, but I didn't add them unless
both 1st & last names matched. It would be interesting if any of these
turn out to be some of the same ones in the Greene Co., GA Militia since
these are mostly from the tithe tables of 1767 which would be 26 years
earlier than the ones listed in the militia. After looking over some of
the surnames in Pittsylvania, however, it does make it very reasonable
to say that the Sterling in Pittsylvania Co., VA, & the one in GA are
one & the same. Also, the fact that John (because of the date, it would
most likely be John who m. Jane) Cato was there in Pittsylvania earlier
(who I believe was the father of this Sterling).
The following are also in same Greene Co., GA Militia with Sterling &
Green Cato:
William Peek in Pittsylvania, VA 1767 tithe table
Samuel Harris in Pittsylvania, VA 1767 tithe table
William & Jesse & John Heard in Pittsylvania, VA 1767 tithe table
William Hodge(s) in Pittsylvania, VA 1767 tithe table
(John Roach on same tithe table, but not in troop; Renfrows also there.
Wootens lived there, too, along with many other surnames in Greene Co.)
Any comments? Has anyone found anything else on this Sterling?
Bonnie
P.S. The above quoted material is from the book, "American Militia in
the Frontier Wars, 1790-1796" by Murtie June Clark