Matthew Cathcart, Sr.
One of the "Big 4"
Cathcart Lineage From Ireland to America
A genealogy provided by James Carter Cathcart
Matthew Cathcart, the first known ancestor, lived and died in Ireland. He had
two wives, the first named Martha, was our ancestress.1 The line was traced
back to Robert Bruce, of Fordell Manor, Fifeshire, Scotland, but the paper was
lost. The old Cathcart homestead in Ireland was a large stone house with a tiled
floor in the kitchen and a handsome front door, and was called Drumadoon House,
Clough Mills, County Antrim, Ireland. (The place is still there). Mrs. R. R.
Ramsey said this last sentence was incorrect -- Drumadoon House was the Carson
homestead. The Cathcart house was the "Topp."
The children of this Matthew are:
- Matthew Cathcart, Jr. married, had 7 children.
- John Cathcart, married Sarah Little in America. (His first wife was Martha Faris. They had one daughter, Martha). Sarah had three children.
- Jane Cathcart, married Martin Gamble, and came to America, 4 children.
- Barbara Cathcart, married James Robinson, and came to America, 1 child.
- Martha Mathilda Cathcart, unmarried. Came to America and went back. Later died in Ireland at Drumadoon House, where she was living with Carson nephew at the time of her death
(This first Matthew was Wylie Cathcart's great grandfather.)
[see footnote below for more details about this family]
Matthew Cathcart, Jr. son of old Matthew, lived and died in Ireland. He was
much liked and respected by everyone. His neighbors erected a large monument at
his grave because he was such a good cow doctor and gave his services free. He
was a large man and was thrown from a jaunting cart and his neck was broken.
His children were:
1. Mattie, married and died on the way to Australia. Ship supposed to have burned.
2. Ellen, married Mr. Lawson, had 6 children: one named Sam the Ramseys said thought he looked like Wylie Cathcart.
3. Elizabeth, married Hugh Carson, had 10 children.
4. Anna, married a Mr. Adams, had 7 children.2
5. David, married and died in Australia. 2 children, son and daughter.
6. Samuel, married and died in Missouri, U.S.A. had two daughters.
7. James, a doctor, married and died in England, had one son.
Front row, seated: Reverend Hugh Carson, Jr. (1836-1907), Elizabeth Cathcart Carson (~1839-1917). Second row L-R: Mary Cathcart Carson Hamilton (1878-1956), Samuel Carson (~1882-1914), Annie Carson Kennedy (1873-1943), Rev. Hugh Carson, III (1876-1922), female Elizabeth "Lizzie" Carson? [photo originally posted to his online MyHeritage tree by Richard McClure, my fifth cousin, once-removed. Photo colorized by that website.]
John Cathcart, son of Matthew, Sr. of Ireland, married Sarah Little, in
America. First settled in Morgan County, Indiana, later moved to near
Bloomington, Ind.
Children:
1. Martha, married Samuel Craig, two children. John and Mary Craig McCaughan.
2. Mary, married James Smith, 9 children.
3. Samuel, married Jane Payne, 6 children. (Wylie's father and mother)
4. Ella, married Samuel Smith, 3 children.
Jane Cathcart, oldest daughter of old Matthew in Ireland, ran away and
married. Her family were bitterly opposed to Martin. They came to America as
soon as possible.
The Gamble children:
1. Ann.
2. Robert.
3. Margaret.
4. Henry.
Barbara Cathcart, daughter of Matthew, Sr. in Ireland, married James Robinson and came to America in 1831. They were three months on the way. They had one child, Margaret who married Van Swearingen -- 9 children.
Martha Matilda Cathcart, daughter of Matthew, Sr. in Ireland, never married. Came to America, but returned to Ireland where she died at eighty years.
Mary Cathcart Smith, married James Smith:
1. Alice, nurse, unmarried.
2. Clara, married Rolla Ramsey. One son, Hugh S.
3. Jessie, secretary, unmarried.
4. Nora, married John Morris.
5. Eva, married John Minnick, one daughter, Marjorie.
6. John Arnot, unmarried.
7. Inez, nurse, unmarried.
8. Ira, married, one daughter, Johanne.
9. Stanley, unmarried.
Samuel Cathcart, son of John Cathcart and Sarah Little, was born in Morgan
County, Indiana, married Jane Payne, later lived near Bloomington, Indiana.
Children:
1. Charles, married Nora Stout -- two children: Wayne & Mildred (Mildred married Warrick and had two children).
2. Wylie, married Carrie McConnell -- four sons, John Wylie, James Edward, Thomas Mathew, Charles Richard.
3. Maggie, married Chris Marxson -- three children.
4. Saidee, married James Robinson. No children.
5. Mary, married Ollie Carter, two children.
6. Henry, married Bertha Athea. Three children.
Ella Cathcart Smith, married Samuel Smith, three children.
1. Henry Lester, married Johnnie Rutland, three children.
2. Lola, unmarried, teacher.
3. Florence, married James Stots, two children.
This was prepared more than 25 years ago, possibly by Jessie Smith, and
further notes were added by Clara Smith Ramsey. (I believe Lester Smith also
visited the remaining families in Ireland at some time.)
This transcript by Peter Cuffley, July 2004, is from two sheets sent to John Cathcart of Florida by Carter Cathcart (Son of James Edward 'Jim' Cathcart and Mary 'Lyn' Wilde).
Note: 'Robert Bruce, of Fordell Manor, Fifeshire, Scotland.' This must refer to Robert Bruce, 7th baronet of Earlshall. He had three daughters, Helen, Elizabeth and Margaret. The title of Earlshall passed to the Hendersons of Fordell by the marriage of one of his daughters. Note: In regard to the correction made by Clara Ramsey relating to Drumadoon House or 'The Inn.' It became the home of the Carson family, but back in the 18th century, a branch of the Cathcart family lived there.
Original document: Page 1, Page 2
Although it is correct that Matthew Cathcart, Sr. had two wives, his first wife was almost certainly Matilda Henry -- followed by his second wife Martha (whose last name is unknown). From this first marriage were born four daughters between about 1800 and 1809: Barbara, Jane, Ann, and Matilda. It is perhaps not unsurprising that Ann fails to show up in many databases due to the fact that she apparently eloped with Samuel Thompson -- whom her parents apparently found unworthy. The couple moved to and eventually settled in Sunderland Creek near Geelong in the state of Victoria of southeastern Australia.
Samuel Thompson and family - I have recently done research on the Adams family, which indicates that there might have been one or two more children than the seven listed in this genealogy.
