Ark. CATO, cont.
AR Biographies:
George W. CATO
George W. CATO, and his wife, Margret Ann Stroud, were pioneer settlers
of Griffin Township in Conway Co., Ark. His parents were the late Joel
& Abagail CATO. The CATOs are of Italian descent , and they had come
from Tenn. [Note: we haven't seen this last statement to be correct].
The last time anyone ever saw Joel CATO alive was during the Civil War,
and he was badly wounded in Tennessee. No one ever saw him again.
George was b. in Baymoue Meto, Faulkner Co., Ark., on Jan. 15, 1853, and
died on Dec. 2, 1925. Margret Ann was b. in Conway Co. on Aug. 10,
1868, to the late Hick and Jane STROUD. She d. Dec. 26, 1926. Both
George & Margret were members of the Church of Christ.
George & Margret owned the old CATO Hill property north of Jerusalem in
Conway Co. They farmed hundreds of acres of land on the mountain. They
had to clear the land before being able to raise wheat, oats, cotton,
corn, ducks, geese, chickens, hogs, cattle, mules, horses, and sheep.
They also had fruit orchards. Margret spun & weaved her own wool to
make all the clothes, and she knitted all their socks. Their farm was
self-sufficient.
They raised 7 sons, all now deceased.
The oldest son was Lee B. CATO who m. Nancy JOHNSON, and they had 2
children, Burnas CATO, and Zora CATO (YORK).
Their second son was Elbert J. CATO who married May WILSON. They raised
2 sons, Wilson, and Odice.
The 3rd son was John W. CATO, and he married Zula T. WILLEY. They had 6
children: Clarence W., Ovie, Lester, Roxie, Hazel, and Carl.
The 4th son was named Norris P. CATO. He m. Ethel COFFMAN & they had
one daughter, Mary Evylean.
The 5th son was Alma W. CATO, & he m. Cora E. Thompson. They raised 2
daughters: Geneva Lucille (COFFMAN), and Alma June (BROWN).
The 6th son was Ira J. CATO, and he m. Elizabeth KINCANNON. They raised
5 children: Zelma (SUMMERS), Gene (McCOY, BLALOCK), Ira Junior, Bill,
and James Carl.
The 7th son was Archie M. CATO. He m. Dovie KINCANNON, & they had 2
sons, Hartsell, & Fabern.
Submitted by June (CATO) BROWN
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John W. CATO
John W. CATO was b. in Conway Co. in Feb. of 1895. His wife was Zular
WILEY.
John's mother was Margaret STROUD, and his father was George CATO.
Zular was the daughter of A.J. WILEY & Mary RISNOR. They were married
on Nov. 12, 1916 when he was 21, and she was 18. They lived in a little
house that his father built on the old home place on CATO hill. He
built the house for all the newlyweds to live in until they could make
their own arrangements. They lived there for 2 years. They built a 2
room house down the hill about 3 miles, and lived there for 11 years, in
the northwest part of the county. They farmed for a living, raising
corn, cotton, and sorghum, and peanuts by the wagon loads. They sold
the peanuts for the cash and kept the vines for feeding the livestock.
They had mules, horses, cows, chickens geese and hogs. They kept the
smokehouse for meat, selling what they didn't have to have. They took
this to Atkins bringing back flour in barrels.
They moved back to the old home place in 1928. Still farming, they used
kerosene lamps for lighting. Glass lamps were valuable and great care
was taken in handling them. Zular always did this herself not trusting
the children to handle them.
The children were born at home with Dr. Close and Dr. Tate attending.
1930 was a drought year, and there was a 3 week period during which the
family had to eat peas, cornbread & turnip greens. All this was without
salt or grease.
In 1931, they moved north of Jerusalem, then south and lived there for 2
years, still farming. They moved about 1 mile to the Alec NANCE place &
lived there for 3 years. They moved back north of Jerusalem in 1936,
living there until 1941; then they moved to Mayflower, and a year later
moved to Plumerville. John worked at a sawmill, and Zular & the
children picked cotton, and then got a job cleaning the schoolhouse and
worked until retirement.
John was proud of the fact that when Plumerville got water for the city
he was the one who turned it on.
They were members of the Church of Christ. Zular's father, A.J.WILEY,
was an Elder in the Cedar Creek Church. The orgin of her father's
people is not known by her.
John d. on Feb. 19, 1984 at the age of 89.
Zular, a widow, age 89, still lives at Plumerville with her youngest
son, Carl David.
They had 8 children; 2 died as infants.
Clarence m. Ruth HONEYCUTT, b. in 1917, d. in 1967. Ovie m. Orbie
EUBANKS, b. in 1919. Lester m. Lela HOLYFIELD, b. in 1921. Roxie m.
Jack Mohart, b. in 1927. Hazel m. Howard BRADFORD, b. in 1931; and,
Carl David was b. in 1938.
One more e-mail of Ark. CATO info left to go & I'll be done!
Bonnie
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White Co., Ark.: USGenWeb Project & the Orig. Ark. Project:
http://www.webkeeper.com/cato/WH.html
Cleburne Co., Orig. Ark. Project:
http://www.webkeeper.com/cato/CLhome.html
Rusk Co., Tex., USGenWeb Project:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txrusk/index.htm
Cato Family Homepage
http://www.webkeeper.com/cato/c.html
Bury Me Under My Family Tree
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7079/indez.html
Ark. USGenWeb Archives
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ar/arfiles.htm
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