William Henderson Cate | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 1st district |
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In office March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1890 |
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Preceded by | Poindexter Dunn |
Succeeded by | Lewis P. Featherstone |
In office March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893 |
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Preceded by | Lewis P. Featherstone |
Succeeded by | Philip McCulloch |
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives | |
In office 1871-1873 1874 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
November 11, 1839 Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
Died |
August 23, 1899 (aged 59) Toledo, Ohio |
Citizenship | United States |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Virginia E. Warner Cate |
Alma mater | University of Tennessee at Knoxville |
Profession |
teacher Attorney politician judge |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
Service/branch | Confederate States Army |
Rank | Captain |
Battles/wars | Civil War |
teacher Attorney
politician
William Henderson Cate (November 11, 1839 – August 23, 1899) was an American politician, a judge, and a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.
Cate was born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee son of Noah Cate, who was a Baptist minister, and his wife Margaret M. (Henderson) Cate. He attended the common schools, as well as an academy at Abingdon, Virginia. He ultimately graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1857. In 1868, he married Virginia E. Warner of Craighead County, and the couple had one son.
Cate taught school while studying law until the Civil War. He served in the Confederate States Army where he rose to the rank of captain.
After a move to Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1865, Cate studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Arkansas in 1866 and commenced the practice of law. He served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives 1871-1873 and during the extra session of 1874. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1878, and was later appointed and subsequently elected judge of the second judicial circuit of Arkansas in 1884. He organized the Bank of Jonesboro in 1887.
Cate presented credentials as a Democratic member-elect to the Fifty-first Congress where he served from March 4, 1889 until March 5, 1890 when he was succeeded by Lewis P. Featherstone. Featherstone had contested the election after having been put up as a candidate to oppose Cate by The Agricultural Wheel. In an agreement between The Wheel and the Republican Party, the Republicans agreed to support Featherstone against Cate. In return "The Wheel" agreed to support John M. Clayton against Clifton R. Breckinridge. The House Committee on Elections decided in favor of Featherstone, ruling that he won by 86 votes.