George Washington Cate (September 17, 1825 – March 7, 1905) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for

Wisconsin's 8th congressional district Wisconsin's 8th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in northeastern Wisconsin. It has been represented by Republican Tony Wied since November 12, 2024. It was previously vacant from ...

in the

Forty-fourth Congress The 44th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1875, ...

. He also served two terms in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

and 21 years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge.

Biography

Born in

Montpelier, Vermont Montpelier is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat of Washington County, Vermont, Washington County. The site of Government of Vermont, Vermont's state government, it is the Lis ...

, Cate attended the common schools. He studied law in the office of

Lucius Benedict Peck Lucius Benedict Peck (November 17, 1802 – December 28, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; ...

in Montpelier, paying his expenses by teaching school. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

at Montpelier in April 1844. He moved to the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

in 1845 and supported himself in the lumber industry until he began the practice of law in

Plover Plovers ( , ) are members of a widely distributed group of wader, wading birds of subfamily Charadriinae. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily, though only about half of them include it in their name. Species lis ...

, in Portage County, on January 1, 1848. He served as Deputy Postmaster, Register of Deeds, and Clerk to the Board of Supervisors that year. In 1849, he was elected District Attorney and served for two terms. He moved to

Stevens Point, Wisconsin Stevens Point is a city in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 25,666 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It forms the core of the Stevens Point micropolitan statistical area, which had a p ...

, in 1852, where he opened a law office. He served as member of the

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come to ...

and

1853 Events January–March * January 6 – ** Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. **U.S. President-elect ...

. Cate was elected

Wisconsin circuit court The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 9 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and crimina ...

judge for the 7th judicial circuit in April 1854, defeating former Whig state senator James S. Alban. He was re-elected in 1860, 1866, and 1872. In 1874, he was a candidate for the

, running as a Liberal Reformer. Democratic canvassers committed fraud to secure his election, though Judge Cate was not implicated in this act. His opponent, Dr. Alexander S. McDill, challenged the results, but died before the court could determine that he had been the victor. Thus Judge Cate was allowed to take office for the

(March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1877). While in office, he represented

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876. He resumed the practice of law in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and lived there for the rest of his life. Twenty years after leaving office, he was nominated for congress again against his own protests in 1896. At the time, he sent a telegram to the nominating convention saying: "I cannot possibly accept nomination. I am old and poor." Despite his protests, the convention nominated him unanimously, and Cate reluctantly participated in a final campaign. He was badly beaten in the general election, receiving just 38% of the vote. Cate died peacefully at his home in Stevens Point on the morning of March 7, 1905, after suffering from worsening asthma. He was interred in Forest Cemetery, Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Personal life and family

George Cate was a son of Isaac and Clarissa (' McKnight) Cate of Vermont. His father was a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, and his grandfather was an enlisted volunteer in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. On October 24, 1851, George W. Cate married Levara Serena Brown (1836–1916) at Stevens Point. They raised eight children: Albert George Cate (1851–1933), Lynn Boyd Cate (1854–1937), Ida Levara Cate (1856–1866), Annie Serena Cate (1859–1881), Carrie Levara Cate (1864–1944) married William Jerome Cronyn, M.D., LL.B., who helped to establish

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

, Henry Brown Cate (1870–1956), Ruth Gray Cate (1874–1955), Georgeana Cate (1879–1949) married Gerhard Melvin Dahl, J.D., who was Vice President of Chase National Bank from 1917 to 1923 and then chairman of the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corp. in New York City from 1923 to 1943."George Washington Cate", ''Pioneer Profiles'', Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1874, 1876)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1874 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1876

U.S. House of Representatives (1896)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1896

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cate, George Washington 1825 births 1905 deaths Politicians from Montpelier, Vermont People from Stevens Point, Wisconsin Wisconsin state court judges Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 19th-century Wisconsin state court judges People from Wisconsin Territory 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives