Project Goals
The goal of this project is to identify DNA markers unique to various branches of the extended Gates family. Anyone with the Gates surname is invited to join. Join the the project and contribute your family information as shown below.
JOHN GATES FAMILY
John Gates was born circa 1785. He married Rebecca, maiden name unknown, although many suspect that she is a Barksdale. John apparently resided in Georgia in 1809, since his son John Bedford Gates gave Georgia as his place of birth in a later census. The family resided in Simpson County, MS in the early 1800s where John Gates patented land. A suspected son, William L. Gates, also patented land in this area. William L. married Margaret Lott and moved to Polk County, TX in the mid 1840s.
STEPHEN GATES FAMILY
Stephen Gates of Hingham, England, sailed on the ship "Diligent" in 1638 bound for Hingham, Mass. He is the original immigrant of this line. His descendants resided in many of the towns in the Boston area including: Stow, Acton, Harvard, Cambridge. His son Stephen helped establish the town of Lancaster, Mass., about 1660. When Ohio was opened up for settlement, John of Stow, Mass., migrated to Marietta, Ohio, in 1800. John's descendants moved progressively down the Ohio River to Belpre and then Gallipolis. Daniel Haskell, a blacksmith and prominent citizen of Gallipolis, bought 600 acres in Putnam County, WV, in 1870. He was a WV state legislator, post master, saw mill owner. His brother James Madison was a Civil War veteran, and successful businessman, owning a paint and glass business in Charleston, WV.
Several from this line were military careerist. Samuel was the 6th graduate of West Point Military Academy. His cousin William was the 11th graduate of West Point and had a long military career attaining the rank of Brevet Major General. William's son, Collinson Read, was the 883rd graduate of West Point. The town of Gatesville, Texas, is named for Collison Read as he was wounded in the Mexican/American War and later died in an epidemic in Fredericksburg, Texas.
ISAIAH GATES FAMILY
The earliest known member of this Gates family is Isaiah Gates who came to the Grenada Mississippi area in the 1830's and began farming about ten miles west of town. Though the town of Holcomb was not there then, it is now located just a couple of miles south of his place. He had two wives and several children by each including Thomas Jefferson Gates. T.J. and his four brothers served in the 15th Mississippi Regiment, where the two youngest died and the others were wounded to various degrees of severity. When the war ended brother William took over the farm, brother James died shortly afterwards, and brother T.J. moved to Arkansas somewhere along the White River and later south of Little Rock.
JANE GATES FAMILY
Jane Gates was born in Maryland c1819, and died in Allegany County, MD in 1888. She had the following children: Laura Gates, born c1840; Alice Gates, born c1850/51; Clara Gates, born c1852; Henry Gates, born 1856; Edward Gates, born Dec. 1857.
It is not known at this time whether Gates was Jane Gates's maiden name or the name of the father of her children. The first record of Jane Gates is the 1870 census of Allegany County, MD.