Person Page 799

Joseph Cates came from Greenwich, England, when quite a young man. Of his birth or parentage, we know nothing. He was a resident of Falmouth (now Cape Elizabeth) as early as 1745. On April 8, 1745, he was published to Deborah Cobb. She was the youngest daughter of Joshua, Jr. and Elizabeth (Vaughn) Cobb of Falmouth, and was born in Falmouth, August 14, 1725.

In 1748, Joseph Cates purchased a lot of land in Cape Elizabeth on the road leading from the ferry to the meeting house, where he probably lived. In May 1772, he sold this lot to Jonathan Strout, Jr. At this time, Mr. Cates lived in Gorham, to which town he probably moved in 1756, and we find him a tax-payer with two ratable poll taxes in 1763. By this, it is probably that he had a son who was over sixteen years of age. This son must have been James, who was born in 1746. Mr. Cates, with his wife, Deborah, reared a family of ten children, only three of whom were born in Gorham; viz., Andrew, Ebenezer, and Lydia.

In 1768, Mr. Cates was one of the selectmen of Gorham. For many years, he was a deacon and ruling elder in the Congregational Church; of which denomination he was a staunch and influential member. A man of good abilities, he held many important offices in town, and was much beloved and respected by his fellow-citizens.

We have no perfect record of the births of his children, but give them as nearly as our means will allow:

James, b. 1746, m. Esther Perkins, Sept. 20, 1768.

Abigail, b., m. Ephraim Hunt, Oct. 6, 1769.

Benjamin, b., m. Anna Skillings, August 18, 1774.

Joseph, b. m. Mary Sinclair, Jan. 13, 1774.

Deborah, b., m. James Bangs, July 23, 1774.

Elizabeth, b., m. Joel Rich, May 16, 1779.

Sarah, b., m. Philip Horr of Waterford, Dec. 17, 1786. Mr. Horr had formerly been a citizen of Gorham, from which town he had enlisted in the Continental Army. He afterward received a pension from the Government for his serices. After his marriage, he returned to Gorham, and settled in the Quaker neighborhood, on the farm recently owned by Reuben Elder. He and h is wife borth died in Gorham.

Andrew, b. Aug., 1763, m. Comfort, dau. of Thomas Thomes, Oct. 6, 1785.

Ebenezer, b. Aug. 24, 1768, m. Anna Cobb, Jan. 5, 1794.

Lydia, b. June 24, 1770, m. William Cobb, Jan. 1, 1792.

Elder Joseph Cates died in Gorham on the farm which he had owned and occupied for many years in the Quaker neighborhood, so called, and which waas lately owned and occupied by Richard Willis, one of his decendants. He [Joseph] died Mar. 15, 1810, aged 89, and his wife, Deborha, Sept. 24, 1813, aged 88.