Letter
from
John Sterling Cathcart
to
John V. Cathcart (his grandson)
[John Sterling copied, in his own hand, a letter he received from two granddaughters of his Uncle John Cathcart – the "Illinois Cathcarts"]
Hartsville, S. C. July 2, 1943
Dear John,
I have not had a letter from you for a long time. I am enclosing a copy of a letter received from Mary and Ella McIntire,1 great granddaughters of John Cathcart, father's brother who married in Ireland and moved from Winnsboro to Illinois. I had written them last year to get more information concerning the Cathcart who lived in Illinois.2
My dear Mr. Cathcart,
Our Uncle Edward Cathcart3 is not very well so he asked us to answer your letter concerning the Illinois Cathcarts. Our great grandfather was a John Cathcart, whose wife was a Harper. They had five sons: James, our grandfather, William, Robert, Richard, and Charles. There were, four daughters: Margaret, who married George Hays; Mary Ann who married Thomas Donnelly; Nancy, who married Dr. Thomas Marshall;4 and Ellen, who married a blind minister, a Mr. Peoples.
Our grandfather, James Cathcart, married Ella Ketchin, a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Ketchin. Uncle William, his brother, our great uncle, married Mary Ann Ketchin, grandmother's sister. Great uncle Richard married Margaret Redpath. Great uncle Robert married Jeannie Keyes, and Uncle Charles married a McMaster girl. There were no children. She died and later he married Margaret Moffett of St. Louis.
Aunt Ellis Keyes was a woman who lived with Grandfather and Grandmother Cathcart. We thought she was a sister of Great Grandfather John Cathcart. Is that correct?
We are not sure how much more of the recent family history you want. Our own family history descended from James Cathcart and Ella Janett Ketchin Cathcart as follows:
1. Thomas, born in 1844, died during the war in June 1864
2. John Harper, born in 1846; died in 1847; buried in the Associate Reformed Cemetery in Winnsboro, S. C.
3. Mary Jane, born in 1848; died in 1932. She married James McAfee. They had one son and three daughters.
4. Robert McElvaine, born 1851; died in 1927. He married Sophia Norris. They had two daughters and six sons. [These four children of Grandfather Cathcart were born in Winnsboro, S. C. before the family came to Illinois.]
5. William James Cathcart born in 1854. We are not sure whether he was born in Illinois or Winnsboro, S. C., but we think he was born in Winnsboro, S. C. He never married and died in 1933.
6. Tirzah Elliott Cathcart, our mother, born in 1857, died in 1926. She married William A. McIntire, and they had two daughters, Mary M. and Ella Elliot. We are writing this letter.
7. Charles Park Wright Cathcart, born in 1860, died in 1907.
8. Richard Edward Cathcart, born 1865 and living now in Champaign, Illinois.
If you would like to have information about all of John Cathcart's sons and daughters and their families, we shall be glad to send you what we can. We are not quite certain when Great Grandfather John left South Carolina, but know that in 1848 he and some of the family were in Illinois. We have a letter dated 1848 written by our Grandfather in Winnsboro James Cathcart to his brother Richard Cathcart in Illinois in which he sends his love to his father, John Cathcart and his mother and to some of the brothers and sisters. We think that Grandfather James and Great Uncle William came into Illinois about 1855 or 1856. We are not quite certain of the relationship to you, but it is possible that James Cathcart Sr., is your grandfather and Uncle Edward's great grandfather. Probably John was the oldest of James Cathcart Sr.'s children and your father, Charles Cathcart, the youngest.
If this letter is not clear, write us and we will try again. We have visited in South Carolina, and Cousin Ella Gooding, who is a full (sic) of mother and Uncle Edward Cathcart gave us a good deal of information. Elliott Ketchin, who married Ella Cathcart, also gave us much information. I am sure that you know both of them. We enjoyed reading your letter to Uncle Edward for it gave us some things we did not know about the family.
Sincerely, yours,
Mary and Ella McIntire
Great Grand daughters of John Cathcart
I believe that Ellis Keyes who lived with Grandfather was a sister of his mother rather than his father, so she would be a Harper rather than a Cathcart.
John, I hope you will be able to understand the history of the Cathcart family in Illinois. This letter from Mary and Ella McIntire gave me the information I wanted to know regarding John Cathcart who was a brother of my father, Charles Cathcart. You have not heard anymore when you would be likely called? Hope you will get some chemical government work. Let me hear from you. I would be glad when you make your copy from information given in this letter that you make a duplicate at the same time. Type it at one time. Wish you well. May God bless you and keep you in good health. I have not been feeling well the last few days. Grandmother's cold is some better.
With Love from us both,
John S. Cathcart