Thomas
and Sarah E. Cator are the parents of Charles Cator, Sr. (our line)
and his
brother, William Cator.
Following information is on William Cator's
daughter-in-law Belle Cator:
Belle Pettit Cator’s parents were Samuel
Pettit and Charity Tenley.
Charity was born about 1857 in Clinton, Maryland.
She died at Washington DC and is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in
Suitland, MD. Charity was known to be a homemaker and an Episcopalian.
We have no other information on her.
Charity’s
paternal grandparents were Henry Tenley
(father of Big Red) who was born in Prince George’s County, MD and
married Elizabeth Talbert (mother of Big Red)
on December 7, 1820 in that county. Charity’s
maternal grandparents were James Gibbs Webster (father of mary Jane Webster) who married Sarah
Edelen (Mary Jane’s mother) on November 20, 1821.
James died December 3, 1852.
Charity
was the daughter of George M. “Big Red”
Tenley who
was born in Prince George’s County, MD, and his wife Mary
Jane Webster .
Mary
Jane was born about 1824 in Maryland and died about 1860 from childbirth
complications soon after the birth of Annie Violet Tenley.
Mary Jane’s father was James Gibbs Webster who was christened 4/17/1768
at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Broad Creek.
James moved with his parents to Prince William County, VA about 1781.
James had three children. He
owned 311 acres 2 miles from Centreville which was time-purchased from Charles
B. Calvert. The purchase price,
with interest was paid by James Webster before he died, but he never received a
deed of conveyance and a sale of the land was ultimately held on 12/10/1855 and
sold for $5 an acre
(Biography of James G.
Webster, Surratt House).
Big
Red was born about 1820 in Maryland and died October of 1888 in Prince George’s
County MD. He married three times -
Mary Jane Webster, Sarah Day, and Eliza Jane White.
Known
information on Big Red and Mary Jane’s children:
Ś
William P. Tenley, born 1846 or 1847.
Ť
Susannah Tenley, born 1849 or 1851.
She married a Hutchinson. She
is buried at Christ Episcopal Church, Clinton MD.
Ž
Charity Tenley, born about 1857 at Clinton MD.
She married Samuel Pettit. She
is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland MD.
Ź
Annie Violet Tenley was born September 1860 and died November 27, 1914.
She is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington DC.
Annie married a Johnson and had 5 daughters and 2 sons
(unidentified).
George
had a store, shown on various maps of the time, located on what is now
Pyles Lumber Company, Clinton, Maryland. George
first married about age 25 and had 4 children by Mary Jane.
Following her death by childbirth complications soon after Annie Violet
was born, George was left with children of the approximate ages of 13, 10,
3 and a daughter of a few months. About
a year after his wife Mary Jane’s death, he married Sarah Day who was
about age 35 at the time. She
gave him 9 children in 11 years (age 46!). Evidently
the poor soul had enough on her plate without being concerned with
churchgoing and christenings, so the last seven of his children were late
baptisms, 5 on the day of their father’s marriage to Eliza Jane White,
which incidentally was Christmas Day, 1884. Eliza
was about age 38 when she married George. The
1880 census shows that Eliza White, age 34, had been a single boarder in
George Tenley’s home. His
marrying someone already in the home and knowing the family certainly
couldn’t have hurt George’s situation - but then poor Eliza was left
with a number of these children after only four years. Although
not proven, George Tenley may have been the son of a Henry Tenley of
Prince George’s County. Henry
had 2 wives: Felly Tenley, married in Washington DC 13 Feb 1812, and
Elizabeth Talbert married in Prince George’s County 7 Dec 1820.
Since
the lifetime of Big Red (1820 - 1888 period) had several major events of
historical importance, let’s review some of what was happening in news of that
day:
In 1820 when Big Red was born, Napolean had just five years earlier been
defeated at Waterloo! Photography
and the single wire telegraph were invented and developing.
Florida was finally under the control of the United States through the
Adams-Onis Treaty in which Spain gave the US control of East and West Florida.
Orchestras were expanding and the first conductors (with batons) were
used. Electromagnetism was found in
1820. The Erie Canal was completed
in 1825. By the end of Big Red’s
lifespan, Aluminum could be produced economically (1886) and radio waves were
produced in 1887 by Heinrich Hertz. 1887
was also the year when the American Indians were confined to reservations.
And that same year, the Interstate Commerce Act was passed.
Whereas photography was invented near the time of Big Red’s birth, by
his death Eastman had invented his photographic film and paper products.
Photography certainly changed the world!
PETTIT,
CHARITY (1920 U.S. Census) District of Columbia, WASHINGTON, 247-DIST, Age 65,
Female, Race: White, Born: MD
Series: T625 Roll: 209 Page: 106; Residence: 223
14th Street, east side of 200 Block
William and his parents born in DC; Bell(e) and her parents born
in MD. Estelle, Helen, and Thelma were born in DC. Charity Pettit, Belle's
widowed mother,was born in MD to MD parents. Wm. was a foreman for the
steam railroad. Bell was unemployed.
Click
here for information on:
William and
Mary Liston Cator's family
Click
here for information on:
Mary
Liston Cator's Siblings
Click
here for information on: William
and Charity Clifton Cator's Family
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