William Cathey (bef 1709-aft 1763) of PA, VA and NC

Marty and Karla Grant

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William Cathey (bef 1727-aft 1763) of PA, VA and NC

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William Cathey *might* be my 8 times great uncle but I haven’t proven the connection yet.

Refer to this page for quick outline of the various contemporary William Catheys.

We only have a few records for this man, but I think it’s enough to come to some tentative conclusions.

William Cathey was born before ca 1713, probably in Maryland or Pennsylvania or possibly in Northern Ireland. He was listed on a 1748 tax list which puts him aged 21 and up, or born before ca 1727. He entered land in 1734. If one had to be 21 to do that, that pushes his birth date back to before ca 1713.

I have no clue whatsoever who his parents might have been, but I do strongly suspect he is a younger brother or nephew of James Cathey (d 1756/57) of MD, PA, VA and NC.

William Cathey may have spent some time in Maryland but I have no proof of that. However, he does appear in at least one record in Pennsylvania. On 9 Apr 1733/34, William Carthey has an entry among the “Blunston Licenses” for 250 acres in Lancaster Co., PA. This is a land entry which was probably never granted to him. The notation says it was on the North side of “Conedogwt” a little above William Walker’s (this tract is now in possession of George Carthey). “Blunston Licenses” were named for Samuel Blunston who administered large tracts of land in western Lancaster Co. PA, west of the Susquehanna river in the area that is now mostly Cumberland County. This was a disputed border area between Pennsylvania and Maryland including land the Indians still claimed which is probably one of the reasons why the land was never actually granted to William Cathey as they may have abandoned it pretty quickly, or perhaps just weren’t able to pay for it.

William’s entry is listed as being in the possession of George Cathey who was possibly his brother. This may be George Cathey (c1692). There were other nearby entries of interest including James Cathey, Alexander Cathey, Archie Cathey, Samuel Givens (wife Sarah Cathey) and John Cathey.

James Cathey and Samuel Givens were in Orange (now Augusta) Co., VA not long after 1734. James moved on to NC ca 1748. John Cathey died in PA in 1742 but his son Alexander was also in NC by the late 1740s. George Cathey was also in NC by the late 1740s. What of William then?

The next record I find for William Cathey is an entry on the 1748 tax list in Lunenburg Co., VA where he is listed a few names away from John Cathey who could be his brother or his son. Some researchers, myself included, speculated that William and John of 1748 Lunenburg are the sons of James Cathey. He did have sons of those names, however, his William was probably dead by then and his John was still in Augusta Co., VA then.

Lunenburg, at that time, was a very large county and actually bordered Augusta on it’s western end. It’s impossible to say which part of the county William and John lived in. However, they were in Cpt. Phelps District which was described as covering the area “from the Falling River to the extent of the county upwards.” That means they could have been in present day Bedford (formed 1753/54 from western Lunenburg) or present day Campbell formed 1781/82 from Bedford.

Neither William or John are listed on the 1749 or subsequent Lunenburg tax lists. I think that William joined his kin in North Carolina around that time, whereas John remained in Virginia, but moved to the Shenandoah River in what was then Frederick Co., VA (now Shenandoah County). John, as far as I can tell, was the only Cathey to remain in Virginia, though it is possible he made a foray into NC as well, but was back in Virginia before too long.

William Cathey would have married in the 1730s, probably in Pennsylvania. I don’t know what his wife’s name was. There is a record of William Cathey with a wife named Margery in the 1770s in Tryon Co., NC. I don’t think that is the same William though. There are some online trees that list a William Cathey with wife Elizabeth Blair (surname speculative, not proven). I’ve not found any records at all to confirm such a couple yet. However, if there is such a pair, then this William is likely to be that one.

The families of James Cathey and George Cathey arrived in western North Carolina in the late 1740s settling in what was then Bladen County which covered the entire western frontier at the time. In 1750 Anson County was formed from Bladen and that is where the Cathey’s found themselves. William Cathey was probably with them but the first record we have for him is a few years later. In 1753, Rowan County was formed from northern Anson, and some of the Catheys (James for example) fell into that county while the others remained in Anson. In 1762/63, Mecklenburg was formed from western Anson, and that took in where the Catheys were, thus none were in Anson after that.

On 14 Jul 1757 Jacob Brown of Anson sold land to William Cathey of the same place for £8. The land was 250 acres on South side of Catawba River it being part of a 1000 acre tract granted to John Killion on 30 Sep 1759 (sic, should be 1749), and sold by Killion to Brown on 1 Jan 1754. Witnesses were Jean Thomas and John Thomas. (Anson Co., NC Deed Book 5, p. 71.)

Brown also sold Andrew Cathey (son of James) land from the same original 1000 acre tract which probably made Andrew and William neighbors. Andrew would be a nephew of William if William is indeed James’s brother as I’ve theorized. Andrew also had a son named William (1741), but he was only 16 at the time of this deed, so it’s not likely the deed was to him.

On 19 Aug 1763, William Cathey of Mecklenburg sold the above land to James Ervin of Rowan Co., NC for 18 pounds. William signed. Witnesses were Robert Harris, Alexander Martin and John Thomas. There was no wife’s signature, so perhaps Mrs. Cathey was dead by then, or else she just didn’t sign for some reason. The wives weren’t always listed on the deeds. (Mecklenburg Co., NC Deed Book 1, pp. 676-677, shared by Kyle Wear.)

There is a William Cathey who witnessed a deed in Mecklenburg in 1766 along with James Cathey, but those are very likely Andrew’s sons.

The next William Cathey record we find is in Tryon Co., NC in 1771. Tryon was formed 1768/69 from Mecklenburg. However, for various reasons, I think the William Cathey there is Andrew’s son and not this older William.

Thus, the last record we have for our William Cathey is 1763. Did he die around that time? Or did he leave North Carolina? Did he go back to Virginia perhaps? Maybe more records will be located in the course of time.

Children

I have no proven children for William Cathey. It’s possible he’s the father of some of the Shenandoah Catheys.

For Family Group Sheet and other notes see my database pages for William Cathey.

Revised: September 3, 2023

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