Hello cousins, thought someone from this line would be interested in this record.
In "Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Alabama" Vol
2. By George N. Stewart, reporter appointed by the Court, published 1832---- there is an
account of a lawsuit "Cato v. Easley" decided by the Alabama Supreme Court in
July of 1829.
It's rather long, here is a basic summary of the info:
1. Wyche CATO died intestate, leaving widow Martha Cato and four children Burrell,
Feraby, Franklin and Green, all minors. Wyche left a considerable estate, including 250
acres of land.
2. Lewis Cato was administrator of the Wyche Cato estate
3. At a sale in July 1817 of part of the property, the widow Martha purchased about
$773.12 worth and gave her note to the administrator Lewis Cato for that amount, payable
in 6 months.
4. Roderick Easley signed as her security for that note
5. The widow Martha distributed property and 2 slaves Rodah and Sarah to her four
children, by deed, in Marengo County AL. The note had not been paid at this time. Martha
married James H. Irons. The case implies that she distributed the property to the
children to keep it from J.H. Irons. Sometime after she made this deed to the children,
Martha died.
6. In April of 1821, after Martha's death, Lewis Cato as administrator and guardian
of the children sued Easley regarding the note, and recovered in Marengo AL Circuit Court
in April of 1822 a judgment against Easley for the debt and damages. From what I can
tell, Easley appealed, this judgement was overturned, and the dispute ended up before the
Supreme Court for final decision in July of 1829.
We know that Lewis Cato the administrator was the brother of Wyche Cato, as Lewis Cato
made a will dated 1831, mentioning his nephews Green Tatum Cato, Burrell Peoples Cato,
A.F. Cato and Fereby Horton Cato now Rain.
What I notice is that my notes show that Wyche Cato died in 1821, but apparently that is
not right. Looks like Wyche died before July of 1817, according to this court record.
Best,
Cynthia