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. 

     

Is Peter Gates the Grandfather of Elisha Gates?

     Several of my blog posts have dealt with a great-great-great-grandfather, Elisha Gates.  Some of the posts pertained to his service in the War of 1812 and the Battle of the River Thames.  Some were about his travel between Maryland and Kentucky. 
     Elisha settled near Bardstown, Kentucky and his descendants stayed in that general area for over a century.   Elisha was a leader in his church and so there are numerous records mentioning Elisha and his family.  
     But finding the ancestors of Elisha proved problematic.  I found clues that hinted that Elisha was an orphan child.   It took a trip to the Maryland Archives to find some records that mentioned his parents.  Later I found over forty records pages of records on familysearch.org.  As far as I can tell those records had never been microfilmed, which might explain the reason that no researcher had located those records. In any case these orphan records¹, clearly identify Elisha's parents as James T. and Mary A. Gates.  
    James T. Gates died sometime prior to 1800.  A newspaper article dated 20 Jan 1800, lists Mary Ann Gates as the owner of a parcel of land at Anchovy Hills.  I believe that Mary Ann Gates is the Mary A. Gates who is Elisha's mother because, eventually Elisha sold some a parcel at Anchovy Hills.  Mary Ann Gates died prior to 10 August 1801, since that is the earliest dates shown in the orphan records.

1787 Will of Peter Gates  Prince Georges County, Maryland Liber T page 255-62

    Recently I found  some records that may push back the Gates family about three more generations.  The will of a Peter Gates², leaves property to his oldest son, James Truman Gates.  Could this James Truman Gates be Elisha's father, James T. Gates?   I would like to find some more proof but one hint that it might be is the birth record of James Truman Gates, who is a grandson of Elisha³.

I will continue looking for more records to provide more proof that this is the correct family.



1.  "Maryland, Probate Estate and Guardianship Files, 1796-1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XXFC-PPB : accessed 28 July 2013), Elisha Gates, 01 Jan 1800

2.  "Maryland, Probate Estate and Guardianship Files, 1796-1940." Index and images. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org : accessed 2014.

3.  Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Birth Records, 1852-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
Original data: Kentucky. Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records – Microfilm (1852-1910). Microfilm rolls #994027-994058. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky. (Indexed incorrectly as James Freeman Gates)