Hi, I am a new member and would be interested in a couple of names. 1. Cate/Cates; I did a search on the 1790 Census in No. Carolina and came up with Cate = 10 Cates = 16 That seems like quite a few people for Orange county to have one surname. We have found that most people weren't fussy about adding or subtracting the "s" , and that members of the same family often spelled it differently. By 1800 there were only 2 with the Cate spelling but 20 with the Cates spelling. All in Hillsborough, Orange, NC. I just thought it was unusual to have that many people with that name at that period of time in the same area unless they are related and then they must have been a prolific family. Does anyone know any thing about this surname? 2. Ming/Minge Samuel, Joseph, William, all names that show up in the family I am researching. I think these are the Ming/Minge family that came into NC from the West Indies. I am pretty sure they were in Chowan County before Orange county. In the 1790 census there are @ 6-8 in Chowan but by the 1800 there is only one left and the only one in Orange is Joseph. Does anyone know where the others went? The family looks like this William Joseph Ming married to Martha Elizabeth Cope. If the naming pattern holds true and what I have seen on the internet about the family holds true then William Joseph's father was the Joseph of Orange County in the 1800 census. And there we stop. Now the big question is 2 of Martha Elizabeth Cope's brothers married women with the surname of Ming, Rachel Martha and Elizabeth. Were these siblings of William Joseph or some other relation? Always questions in this hobby aren't there. Any help appreciated. Kathleen (Cates) Rose

I too am researching the Cate/s Family in early Orange. I have a 1822 deed in Tennessee from Elizabeth Howell to her son John in which she says she inherited the property in North Carolina from her mother Elizabeth Brooks who was daughter of Edward Calo/Cato?? The handwriting is hard to decipher. I too have found dozens of Cate/s, but only one reference to him in any of the records of early North Carolina. ORANGE CO. TAX LIST - 1755 Cate, John & 2 sons 3 white polls 0 black polls Cate, Thomas, Jr. 2 white polls 0 black polls Cate, Robert, Sr. 3 white polls 0 black polls Cate, Benj. 2 white polls 0 black polls Cator, Edward 1 white polls 0 black polls Cate, Thomas, Sr. 2 white polls 0 black polls I have not found any other Cators in the County so I a guessing that my Edward was a Cate but am continuing to look. I assume he must have died around 1755 since there are no more records of him. Pam Brett