Person:Elisha Gates (2)

Elisha Gates was born June 5, 1789, probably in Prince George;s County, Maryland (birthdate taken from gravestone). In Guardian Accounts in Prince George's County, Maryland there is a second account of a Joshua Mudd, guardian to Elisha Gates, orphan of James Gates. This relationship is uncertain at this time. Forty-three pages of documents in Maryland, Probate Estate and Guardianship Files, 1796-1940 (familysearch) mention James T. Gates as his father and Mary as his mother. The pages reference his sister, Elizabeth.

Elisha Gates served in Captain Presley Smith's Company, Kentucky Mounted Volunteer Militia, Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Simrall from August 24, 1813 to November 8, 1813. (Kentucky Soldiers of the War of 1812 Compiled by Minnie S. Wilder, 1931) Also serving in that company was a John S. Summers.

Shortly before his marriage he sold 'Anchovy Hills' a plantation in Prince George's County, Maryland. This is also the property mentioned in the Maryland, Probate Estate and Guardianship Files, 1796-1940. In 1817, he married Christina Ann Summers in Prince George's County, Maryland. He traveled to Kentucky in the company of his cousin, Thomas Montgomery. They treked over the "Old Indian Road" through Pennsylvania's Cumberland Gap, southwest to Kentucky. (John Joseph Montgomery 1858 - 1911, Father of Basic Flying by Arthur Dunning Spearman 1967)

Elisha Gates appears on tax rolls in Nelson County, Kentucky starting in 1818.

He is listed as an elder of the St. Joseph Cathedral in 1820 (See The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky by Hon. James Webb, 1884) He gains possession of land in 1822. From the history of St. Gregory’s, the Most Rev Spaulding, on the evening of March 14, 1852 went to the home of Mr. Elisha Gates, where the following morning he confirmed 35 people. St Gregory’s Church was completed in Nov 1853, through the efforts of Mr. Gates and Mr. Livers. It was dedicated by Bishop Spaulding.

The 1850 census show 10 slaves and 4 others, prossibly servants living with the family. The value of the farm is given as $10,000. This is about 20 times the value of surrounding farms. In 1855 he transfers title of part of the land to two sons, John and William. He is buried in St. Gregory the Great Cemetery located in Samuels, Nelson, Kentucky.

--Quadraticman 17:08, 29 November 2007 (EST)

Elisha Gates

1.   The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky,
   63 and 578, 1884.
2.   FHL Film 483130 Nelson County Deed Book 15
   382-4, 1822.
3.   FHL Film 14305 Marriage Records Prince George's County
   1817.
4.   FHL Film 483138 Nelson County Deeds Book 29
   345, 1855.
5.   John Joseph Montgomery 1858 - 1911, father of basic flying by Arthur Dunning Spearman
   1, 1967.
6.   Prince George's County Genealogical Society Bulletin V29 No1
   26.
7.   "Maryland, Probate Estate and Guardianship Files, 1796-1940," index and images, FamilySearch.
8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1