Plus One

      And just like that their family grew by one.  

     The Gates family was one of the first family that I researched.  I had gotten the name of my 2nd great-grandfather, William R. Gates from my Aunt Jane.  From there I started examining the census records.  The 1850 Census was the first to state the names of all members of a household.  In addition to Elisha and Christina, the 1850  Census lists John, L [Elizabeth Louisa], F [ Francis Leo], and M [Martha Ellen] Gates.  The census didn't mention William Raymond Gates but he had married in 1849 and lived nearby. 
     Eventually, I found baptismal records for two additional children, Susanna Emily and James Ferdinand.  I never found James F. in any later records so I might guess that he had died young.
     After those initial records I spent a lot of time trying to prove the connection between William and Elisha.  (That proof showed up in a land deed where Elisha mentions his sons, John G. and William R. Gates.)  Then I began researching Elisha's ancestors and William's descendants.
     Now fast forward several years, after I have found Elisha's ancestors and I have begun research for Christina Ann Summers Gates' parents.  One of the pieces of information that I thought might help was to determine John G. Gates' middle name.  His will didn't help but his will and census records did give me his wife's name.  Yesterday I received an email from my cousin, Rick. He was in Salt Lake City on business and asked if I needed anything from the Family History Library.  While I waited for his answer on John G Gates' marriage record I continued looking to fill in a few missing records. 
    About the time I heard back from Rick on the marriage record (which didn't have his full name) I found another marriage record for Mary Ann Gates and William Sims.  Elisha sign the consent for the marriage.  Mary Ann would have been about 16 years old.  Was this the correct family or some new family group?  
    After evaluating some other documents that I have collected, I have concluded that Mary Ann Gates was an older sister to John and William.
          Mary Ann was the name of Elisha's mother.
          The Simms family lived next door to the Gates family.  
          Mary Ann Sims was a sponsor for the baptism of James Ferdinand.  
          Emily was a sponsor for Mary Ann's child.  
          A daughter with the age of Mary Ann is consistent with data in the 1830 Census.  
    So Elisha and Christina Gates's family just grew by one. 

     

Elisha Gates and the Catholic Church in Nelson County

     Fairly soon after the marriage of Elisha Gates and Christina Summers the two of them traveled to Nelson County, Kentucky.  Elisha was able to establish himself in the community rather quickly.  It is probable that he already knew many people in the area.  He had already lived there when he served in the War of 1812 and many of the families could have been neighbors in Prince George's and Charles Counties in Maryland.
      In 1820 he is listed as an elder of the Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown¹.  The cathedral was being built when Elisha and Christina arrived and priests started holding mass at the cathedral at about that same time.
     About 1836 Elisha helped establish the first Catholic newspaper in central Kentucky¹ - The Catholic Advocate.  Eventually the Catholic newspaper in the area was called The Record.
     Since the Gates’ farm was located about 8 miles from Bardstown, Elisha and many of his neighbors hosted priests to hold mass in the area¹.   Mass was held as early as 1827 at the Gates' house.  Records indicate that in 1852 the bishop confirmed 30 people at the home of Elisha Gates².  Around 1850 some forty Catholic families lived in the area and so they constructed a small brick church, St. Gregory’s Church, in Samuels, Kentucky.   Elisha Gates is one of the parishoners who was given special credit for the erection of the church.
     At the time a cemetery was adjacent to the church.  The present church is a few miles from the cemetery.  Elisha and most of his family area buried in the cemetery.

St Gregory Cemetery

1.  "History of St. Gregory’s Parish." The Record, Nov 26, 1949.

2   Benedict Joseph Webb, The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky, (Louisville, Kentucky: C. A. Rogers, 1884), 63; 578.