Hello friends,
I am not a Cato, but I have done some work on this family. From the work I have done, it
is apparent that some of the published information about the Cato family, including the
"proof" files at the DAR Library, contain many unproven lineages.
I am interested in Catos since they are one of several surnames that appear in the same
places as the Chronister family (which is my primary interest). There is one and only one
Chronister immigrant that I have been able to find (spelled "Cranester" or
"Kranester"), but that is not so with the Catos. The published information
speaks of several immigrants, but there are many more Cato names in various immigration
records that have not been accounted for. I have been asked to post them here, for the
purpose of providing new leads to Cato researchers.
This comes from the "Passenger and Immigration Lists Index", edited by P. Wiliam
Filby and Mary K. Meyer. This reference book lists the names of immigrants as taken from
many different sources. In some cases, the same immigrant will be mentioned in more than
one source, but they might be a "Cato" in one source and a "Cater" in
another. There is really no way to know from this reference whether those with the same
name are the same person, or two different people. People were recorded with different
spellings of their last name on various records. The age of the person is not always
known. Further research is left to the individual, but this reference series is a very
helpful tool. This series has many supplements that were published over the years. I
will eventually post the Cato names from all of them, if there is interest, but for now I
will start with the "Preliminary Edition" which was published in 1980. I will
include reasonable variations of the Cato name.
The information is given in this order: Last name, first name, age on arrival, place of
arrival, year of arrival, source code and page.
At the bottom of the list I will give the key to the source codes. I hope this will be
useful information.
Peggy Reeves
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From: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, Preliminary Edition
Filby & Meyer, 1980
1. CATER, SARAH - ...America, 1760, 691 p. 50
2. CATO, JAS - 28, Maryland, 1775, 691 p. 50
3. CATO, WILLIAM - ...America, 1773, 691 p. 50
4. CATON, MR. - ...Boston, MA, 1765, 5001 p. 49
5. CATON, NICHOLAS - ...America, 1773, 691 p. 50
6. CATON, WILLIAM - ...22, Maryland, 1775, 1271 p. 130
691 - Coldham, Peter Wilson "English Convicts in Colonial America", vol 1:
Middlesex, 1617-1775. New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1974.
5001 - Whitmore, William H. "Port Arrivals and Immigrants to the City of Boston,
1715-1716 and 1762-1769." Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1973.
Excerpted from "A Volume of Records Relating to the Early History of Boston...",
Vol. 29 of record commissioners' reports, Boston: 1900, pp 229-317 (Lancour 64)
1271 - Fothergill, Gerald "Emigrants From England, 1773-1776." Boston: 1913.
Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1965. Also in "The New
England Historical and Genealogical Register" vols 62-65, 1898-1901. And in Michael
Tepper, "Passengers to America", Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company,
1977, pp 222-403. (Lancour 20 & 20A)
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