George Cathey and Christiana Smith of Virginia

Marty and Karla Grant

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[Cathey Home] - [Table of Contents] - [Shenandoah River Catheys] - George

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Thanks to Kyle Wear for finding and sharing data on this family.

George Cathey was born before ca 1758 in Virginia. I base that birth year on him enlisting in the military in 1776 and assuming he was at least 18 then. Of course he could have been as young as 16 which would move his birth to before ca 1760.

I don’t know who his parents were, but John Cathey would be the prime candidate. If correct, that would probably make George a sibling to Henry, Archibald, Elizabeth and William of Frederick and Shenandoah Co., VA. (See John Cathey’s page for more on them.)

Unfortunately we have practically no records for this George Cathey.

George is listed as a Private in the 8^th Battalion, Virginia troops May 1776 through May 1778 under Cpt. Jonathan Clark. His name varies on the records, Cathy, Cathey, Carthy, Carthae and Carthrae. In his 1777 reenlistment, the body of the document lists him as George Carthey, but he signed it as George Cathy.

We’ve found no other records for George until 1798 when he might be named in the Will of Christophel Smith of Rockingham Co., VA. I say *might* because the man Smith names as a son-in-law is listed as “George Caty or Gathy” within the document. The surname is repeated that same way several times for George and for his wife, Smith’s eldest daughter, Christiana.

All we know about her so far is that she was probably born in Pennsylvania and that her parents were of Germanic origin, so it was Schmidt before it was Anglicized to Smith.

Christophel’s Will is dated 1 Oct 1798 and is included in Virginia Chancery Case 1823-052 filed in Augusta Co., VA in 1822 by the Administrators of Jacob Smith, etc., vs. John Smith, etc.

It is stated that George Caty or Gathy died before Christiana and that she too was dead by the time of filing (1822). That means they both died sometime between 1798 and 1822. Unfortunately no locations were mentioned for them. However, it is stated that her father died in Rockingham Co., VA. There are documents that show some of his other heirs lived in Montgomery Co., VA in 1822, namely John Smith, Mary Smith Buck and her husband Martin Buck.

The big question, of course, is whether or not “George Caty or Gathy” is the same person as George Cathey. If so, where was he between his Revolutionary War service and 1798 when Christiana’s father made his Will in Rockingham Co., VA?

I checked the Rockingham tax lists 1782 through 1788 and George was not listed therein, nor was Christophel Smith for that matter. I did find Mr. Smith’s widow on the 1799 tax list.

George Cathey is not listed in Shenandoah Co., VA tax lists 1782 through 1799.

I didn’t check tax lists for other counties because, frankly, I don’t know where to look. There is no index to these tax records. The 1790 and 1800 censuses are lost for Virginia, and the 1810 census is missing for many counties. No George Cathey, Caty or Gathy is found on the 1810 or 1820 census in Virginia. There are George Catheys listed in other states that we have already identified.

The only child I’ve located on other records for Christophel Smith was his daughter Mary who married Martin Buck in 1798. She was born ca 1773 in Pennsylvania and died in Indiana after 1850. From this we can conclude that Christiana, the eldest daughter, was probably also born in Pennsylvania and sometime prior to 1773, though how long before is uncertain.

Children

The Smith vs. Smith chancery case shows that both George and Christiana were long dead by 1822, and that Daniel Smith was administrator for both their estates. No children were mentioned.

For Family Group Sheet and other notes see my database pages for George Cathey and Christiana Smith

Revised: September 6, 2023

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