Robert or Gershom Cathcart and Phebe Coleman

Robert or Gershom Cathcart[1] is said to be Scottish[2] and to have been wounded in war in Scotland.

He married Phebe Coleman. Phebe was born 15 June 1674 in Nantucket, Massachusetts to John Coleman and Joanna Folger.

Robert (or Gershom) was an innkeeper and town clerk. He died 22 March 1718 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

Phebe is said to have married second Samuel Athearn 16 September 1719 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts. However, another record states that she died 18th 7 mo 1719 in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Robert (or Gershom) and Phebe's children are:

  1. Thomas Cathcart, married Jane Smith 15 May 1724 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts, died 19 Nov 1730. 
  2. Mary Cathcart, married Thomas Hatch. 
  3. Robert Cathcart. 
  4. Jane Cathcart, married Thomas Trapp 4 Sep 1719 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts. 
  5. Gershom Cathcart, born about 1697, married 1) Martha Manter 12 Feb 1720 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts and 2) Mary Athearn 19 Jul 1733 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts, a carpenter, participated in military, died 6 Dec 1792 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts, age 95. 
  6. Phebe Cathcart, married Henry Luce 18 Oct 1722 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts. 
  7. Miriam Cathcart, born 11 Feb 1701, married Whitten Manter 16 Mar 1722 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts, died 26 Jul 1790 in Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts, buried in Village Cemetery, West Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts. 
  8. Hugh Cathcart, married Dinah Swain 12 Aug 1730 in Nantucket, Massachusetts, yeoman. 
  9. Joseph Cathcart. 
  10. Abigail Cathcart, possibly the Abigail Cathcart who died 18th 8 mo 1732 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. 
  11. Susanna Cathcart, married Elijah Swain 23 Jul 1735 in Nantucket, Massachusetts, died 28 Aug 1790.

Sources: 

  1. Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Boston:  New England Historic Genealogy Society, 1910. 
  2. Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Vol. I—Births (A-F), Boston:  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1925.
  3. Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Vol. III—Marriages (A-G), Boston:  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1927.
  4. Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Vol. V—Deaths, Boston:  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1928.
  5. Gravestones of Whitten Manter and Mrs. Miriam Manter, Village Cemetery, West Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts. 
  6. International Genealogical Index (extracted from original source by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Marriage records:  (Gershom (both), Joan, Phebe (widow), Mariom, Phebe, & Thomas Cathcart:  Batch # M502153, Dates: 1666 – 1867, Source Call #0911739, 0911741, Type: Film) and (Hugh & Susanna Cathcart:  Batch # M501853, Dates: 1850, Source Call #0823704 IT 1-2, Type: Film). 
  7. Database of the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record, Nantucket Historical Association (created from records collected by Eliza Starbuck Barney (1802-1889)).
  8. Banks, Charles Edward, The History of Martha’s Vineyard, Vols. II & III, 1925.


Vital Records: Births

Nantucket Births

COLEMAN

Page 373
Phebe, daughter of John, June 15, 1674. [wife of Gershom Cathcart “of the Vineyard,” daughter of John and Joanna (Folger), P. R. 38.][3]

Source:  Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Vol. I—Births (A-F), Boston:  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1925. 

Vital Records: Marriages

Nantucket Marriages

CATHCART

Page 188
Gershom of “the Vineyard” and Phebe Coleman, daughter of John and Joanna (Folger), —, [4] P. R. 38.
Hugh and Dinah Swain, August 12, 1730.[5]  [Dinah, daughter of John and Patience (Skiff), P. R. 38.]

Page 189
Susanna and Elijah Swain, July 23, 1735.[6]  [Susanna, daughter of Gershom and Phebe, and Elijah Swain, son of John and Mary (Swett), P. R. 38.]
 

Source:  Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Vol. III—Marriages (A-G), Boston:  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1927.

Extracted Marriage Records

GERSHOM CATHCART
Spouse:      MARTHA MANTER
Marriage:   12 FEB 1719
                  Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

JOAN CITCART
Spouse:      THOMAS TRAP
Marriage:    04 SEP 1719
                  Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

PHEBE CATHCART
Spouse:      SAMUELL ATHEARN
Marriage:   16 SEP 1719
                  Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

MARIOM CATHCART
Spouse:      WHITEN MANTER
Marriage:    16 MAR 1720
                   Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

PHEBE CATHCART
Spouse:      HENRY LUCE
Marriage:   18 OCT 1722
                  Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

THOMAS CATHCART
Spouse:      JOAN CHACE
Marriage:   15 MAY 1724
                  Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

GERSHOM CATHCART
Spouse:      MARY ATHEARN
Marriage:   19 JUL 1733
                  Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

Source:  International Genealogical Index (records above extracted from original source by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Marriage records:  (Batch # M502153, Dates: 1666 – 1867, Source Call #0911739, 0911741, Type: Film).


Vital Records: Deaths

Nantucket Deaths

CATHCART

Page 111
Abigail, 18th, 8 mo. 1732, P.R. 63.[7]…
…Phebe, wife of Gershom of “the Vineyard,” daughter of John Coleman and Joanna (Folger), 18th, 7 mo. 1719, P. R. 38.

SWAIN

Page 579
Susanna, wife of Elijah (son of John and Mary), daughter of Gershom Cathcart and Phebe, 22d 8 mo. 1790, P. R. 38. [widow of Elijah, P. R. 63.]

Source: Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Vol. V—Deaths, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1928.


Tisbury Deaths to the Year 1850

Cathcart,
Gershom, December 6, 1792, in 95th year. C.R. (Congregational church record)
Martha, wife of Gershom, February 23, 1732.
Mary, widow, September 3, 1795, in 86th year. C.R.

Manter,
Meriam, widow, July 26, 1790, in 89th year. C.R.
Whitten, October 13, 1781, aged 82 y. 1 m. 6 d. G.R.I. (Village Cemetery, West Tisbury gravestone record)

Source:  Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Boston:  New England Historic Genealogy Society, 1910.

Records from the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record

Gershom Cathcart  (M)
#10113
Gershom Cathcart married Phebe Coleman, daughter of John Coleman and Joanna Folger.
Children of Gershom Cathcart and Phebe Coleman:
Susanna Cathcart   ( - 28 Aug 1790)
Hugh Cathcart
Phebe Coleman (F)
b. 1674, #10114

Phebe Coleman married Gershom Cathcart. Phebe Coleman was born in 1674. She was the daughter of John Coleman and Joanna Folger. Her married name was Cathcart.

Susanna Cathcart (F)
d. 28 Aug 1790, #2087
Susanna Cathcart was the daughter of Gershom Cathcart and Phebe Coleman. Susanna Cathcart married Elijah Swain, son of John Swain and Mary Swett Jun., in 1735. Susanna Cathcart died on 28 August 1790.
She was also known as Eunice Cathcart. Her married name was Swain.
Children of Elijah Swain and Susanna Cathcart:
Eunice Swain
Mary Swain
Susanna Swain
Phebe Swain
Elijah Swain
John Swain   ( - 08 Aug 1812)
Robert Swain
Owen Swain
Christian Swain   (28 Jan 1746 - 07 Sep 1830)
Elijah Swain (M)
d. 26 Jul 1789, #2086
Elijah Swain was the son of John Swain and Mary Swett Jun. Elijah Swain married Susanna Cathcart, daughter of Gershom Cathcart and Phebe Coleman, in 1735. Elijah Swain died on 26 July 1789.

Hugh Cathcart (M)
#10115
Hugh Cathcart was the son of Gershom Cathcart and Phebe Coleman. Hugh Cathcart married Dinah Swain, daughter of John Swain and Patience Skiff, in 1730.
Children of Hugh Cathcart and Dinah Swain:
Phebe Cathcart
John Cathcart   ( - 05 Oct 1797)
Susanna Cathcart
Abigail Cathcart   (29 Sep 1732 - 1804)
Anna Cathcart   (16 Apr 1737 - 24 Jun 1823)
Gershom Cathcart   (11 Sep 1745 - 01 Oct 1831)
Joseph Cathcart   (11 Jun 1747 - 14 Feb 1823)
Dinah Swain (F)
b. 05 Sep 1706, d. 01 Jun 1790, #10116
Dinah Swain was born on 5 September 1706. She was the daughter of John Swain and Patience Skiff. Dinah Swain married Hugh Cathcart, son of Gershom Cathcart and Phebe Coleman, in 1730. Dinah Swain died on 1 June 1790 at age 83. Her married name was Cathcart.

Source:  Database of the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record, Nantucket Historical Association (created from records collected by Eliza Starbuck Barney (1802-1889)).[8]


Gravestones

Village Cemetery, West Tisbury, Dukes, Massachusetts

Memento Mortis
In Memory of
Mrs Miriam Manter wife
of Mr Whitten Manter, she
died July 26th 1790 Aged
88 Years 8 Months & 5 Days.
In Memory of
Mr WHITTEN MANTOR
who Died Octr 13th
1781
Aged 82 Years
1 Month & 6 Days.
For a picture of Miriam Manter's grave, click here: http://history.vineyard.net/cemetery/wt/wt31.htm
For a picture of Whitten Manter's grave, click here: http://history.vineyard.net/cemetery/wt/wt32.htm

Banks' History of Martha's Vineyard

The Cathcart Family

1.    ROBERT CATHCART was, as far as known, the first of his name in New England and on the Vineyard and a biographical sketch of him may be read in Vol. II Annals of W.T. pp. 41-2. He m. PHEBE COLEMAN abt. 1691, dau. of John and Joanna (Folger) Coleman of Nantucket who was b. 15 June 1674. He d. in Boston 22 Mch 1718 and adm. of his estate was granted to his widow 1 Oct. 1719. She m. (2) SAMUEL ATHEARN (10) 16 Sept. 1719.
    10.  THOMAS, b. (1692); m. MRS. JANE (SMITH) (350) CHASE 15 May 1724; d. 19 Nov.
           1730 s. p.
    11.  MARY, b. (1693); m. THOMAS HATCH.
    12.  ROBERT, b. (1695); perh. of Norwich, Conn. 1728.
    13.  JANE, b. (1697); m. THOMAS TRAPP (14) 4 Sept. 1719.
    14.  GERSHOM, b. 1698.
    15.  PHEBE, b. (1700); m. HENRY LUCE (50) 18 Oct. 1722.
    16.  MIRIAM, b. 11 Feb. 1701; m. WHITTEN MANTER (31) 16 Mch. 1722.
    17.  HUGH, b. (1703)
    18.  Joseph, b. (1705); rem. to Richland, Pa. bef. 1739. There were Cathcarts in York and
          Armstrong counties, Pa. bearing the name Robert and Joseph 1782-1836 (Penna. Archives).
    19.  ABIGAIL, b. (1707) d. unm.
    20.  SUSANNA, b. (1709); m. ELIJAH SWAIN 23 July 1735.

14.    GERSHOM CATHCART (Robert1), b. 1698; res. T., carpenter. He m. (1) MARTHA MANTER (30) 12 Feb. 1720, who was b. 13 Feb. 1696 and d. 23 Feb. 1733; m. (2) MARY ATHEARN (21) 19 July 1733, who was b. 28 Oct. 1711 and d. 3 Sept. 1795. He was prominent in military affairs in town and country, being Ensign 1746, Lieutenant 1749, Captain 1755 and Major 1761. He d. 6 Dec. 1792 in his 95th year.
    21.  BENJAMIN, b. 19 Nov. 1720.
    22.  LOVE, b. 13 July 1725; m. BENJAMIN HILLMAN (43)
    23.  ROBERT, b. 23 Feb. 1728.
    24.  PHEBE, b. 23 Apr. 1729; m. SAMUEL HILLMAN (64).
    25.  HULDAH, b. 19 June 1731; m. (1) LEVI LUCE; (2) NATHAN WEEKS (122) 17 June
           1766.
By Second Wife:
    26.  THOMAS, b. 25 Mch. 1734; d. 14 Nov. 1753.
    27.  PARNELL, b. 23 Feb. 1736; m. NATHAN SMITH (415).
    28.  JOSEPH, b. 21 Jan. 1739; d. 18 Apr. 1757 unm.
    29.  JONATHAN, b. 15 July 1741 d. 6 June 1827 unm.
    30.  ABIGAIL, b. 8 Sept. 1743.
    31.  HUGH, b. 2 Mch. 1745.
    32.  GERSHOM, b (1746)
    33.  NANCY, b. 4 Dec. 1748; m. JAMES LOOK (68) 28 Sept. 1775.
    34.  ANN, b. (1751)
    35.  MARTHA, b. (1753).

17.    HUGH CATHCART, (Robert1), b. abt. 1703; res. Nantucket, yeoman. He m. DINAH SWAIN dau. of John and Patience (Skiffe) Swain of Nantucket, who was b. 5 Sept. 1707 and d. 1 June 1790. No further particulars regarding him.
    40.  ABIGAIL, b. 29 Sept. 1732; m. EDWARD WYER.
    41.  SUSANNA, b. (1735); m. THOMAS MOOERS 4 Jan. 1755.
    42.  ANN, b. 16 Apr. 1737; m. GREENLEAF MARSHALL.
    43.  PHEBE, b. (1740); m. SAMUEL CUSHMAN 9 May 1771.
    44.  GERSHOM, b. 11 Sept. 1744; m. and res. Nantucket.
    45.  JOSEPH, b. 11 June 1747; m. and res. Nantucket.
    46.  JOHN, b. (1750); m. and res. Nantucket…

Source:  Banks, Charles Edward, The History of Martha’s Vineyard, Vol. III (Family Genealogies), 1925.

Robert Cathcart

    This early settler was a Scotchman and the family is said to have originated or derived its name from the Barony of Cathcart in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is not known when he came to this country, nor when he was born. The tradition in the family is that he had been engaged in some of the numerous border or clan wars of the period, and received a wound from a bullet which he carried to his death. The first record of him on the Vineyard is in 1690 when he purchased a lot of land in Tisbury from Arthur Biven, a tract of twenty acres in the northernmost home lot on the west side of Old Mill brook. He married about this time, Phebe, daughter of Thomas Coleman of Nantucket, and it is probable that the young Highlander “set up his Ebenezer” at once in the new town. Here he began the occupation of innkeeper which he followed throughout his life, and in March, 1693, he was chosen town clerk, an office which he likewise held to the date of his decease. In 1696 he bought a new homestead lot on the west side of the South (Chilmark) road, just south of the Whiting estate, and in 1706 added the southern half of this lot, making in all about thirty acres. Here he conducted a “shop,” kept an ordinary and acted as town and proprietors’ clerk until the spring of 1718 when death terminated his career. His birth is estimated as in 1650, and he was therefore about 68 years of age. His widow Phebe, who was evidently many years his junior (she was b. June 15, 1674), married Samuel Athearn the following year. Five sons and six daughters of Robert and Phebe Cathcart are known, though no record of their birth exists, and while the family was prominent in Tisbury through that century, it is now extinct in the male line on the island. Branches of it resided in Nantucket and western Massachusetts during the last century, and descendants may be traced throughout the United States.
    It is supposed that the name “Scotchman’s Bridge” in West Tisbury derived its name from Robert Cathcart, who may have built it, or from one of his sons.

Source:  Banks, Charles Edward, The History of Martha’s Vineyard, Volume II, (Annals of West Tisbury:  Sketches of the Early Settlers of West Tisbury), 1925.


Footnotes: 

[1] There seems to be some confusion about Phebe Coleman’s husband’s first name:  Charles Edward Banks gives it as Robert and Eliza Starbuck Barney gives it as Gershom. C. Baer of http://history.vineyard.net mentions a deed (Dukes Deeds, I, 101, Dec. 2, 1690) and administration papers (Dukes Co. Prob., III, 121)  for Robert.
[2] Banks mentioned that the family originated out of Cathcart, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Keep in mind, however, that this simply means that this place was an ancient seat of the Clan Cathcart and not necessarily the birthplace of Robert Cathcart.
[3] Note in Vital Records:  “P. R. 38—private record, from the William C. Folger genealogical records in possession of the Nantucket Historical Association (This compilation has been used because of the valuable clues it affords, but its statements should be received with caution, as it is not free from errors. It should also be understood that in many instances the events recorded did not take place in Nantucket, and in a few cases attention has been called to the question of residence.)”
[4] Note in Vital Records:  “Intention not recorded.”
[5] Note in Vital Records:  “Intention not recorded.”
[6] Note in Vital Records:  “Intention not recorded.”
[7] Note in Vital Records:  “P. R. 63—private record, from a copy of a manuscript kept by Hon. Isaac Coffin, Judge of Probate, in the possession of the Nantucket Atheneum.”
[8] From the Nantucket Historical Association: “NHA staff consider the Barney Record to be its most reliable and comprehensive—although not infallible—genealogical resource.”

CoC