James Leander Cathcart
1767-1843
The line actually goes back before James—all the way back to Col. Gabriel Cathcart, who died in 1691—but he is the most famous, due to his Revolutionary War and subsequent diplomatic service .
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Ancestry.
My
family surname is taken from the lands and Barony of Kethcart in the
county of Renfrew where now is the town of Cathcart, Scotland.
The founder of the family, from whom I am descended, was Col.
Gabriel Cathcart who went over to Ireland with the Rev. Malcolm Hamilton
(afterwards Bishop of Cashel) in the year 1641 — said Gabriel married
Annie Hamilton, daughter of the Bishop of Cashel, by whom he had 11 sons
and several daughters, he (Gabriel) with six of his sons was killed at
the battle of Aughrim, A.D., 1691. Malcolm Cathcart (son of Gabriel) my great-grandfather, survived
and married Mary, daughter of James Caldwell, and lived to the
extraordinary age of 116 years. His son, James, my grandfather, and, after whom I am named, was a
captain in the British Army, and was killed in battle under the Duke of
Cumberland in the year 1745.
He left two children, my father, Malcolm Hamilton Cathcart, who was born
at Persfield, in the County of West Meath, in the year 1736, and Eliza,
married to Mr. Sullivan, whom I never knew. My grandfather married the niece of Andrew Wilson, the founder of
Wilson's Hospital in Ireland. My father married the daughter of Edward Humphries, Esq., of
Dublin. My eldest brother,
Rolleston Nassau Cathcart, was born at Mount Murragh, in the County of
West Meath, September 22, 1763. I was born at the same place, June 1, 1767.
I came to America at a very early age, my father having placed me
under the care of a relative, Capt. John Cathcart, with whom I followed
the sea for several years till he placed me as midshipmen on board the
US frigate, the Confederacy, then commanded by Capt. Seth Harding.
(from "The Captives" by James Leander Cathcart — compiled by his daughter, JB Newkirk)
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From an interview with the wife of Arthur Warren Cathcart:
When I asked Mrs. Cathcart what had brought her husband's family into this area, there unfolded a tale which could have come from the Arabian Nights! I was shown two history books about the amazing career of her husband's grandfather, James Leander Cathcart, and parchment documents signed by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.James Leander Cathcart was born June 1, 1767 in Mount Murragh, Ireland, and at the age of eight sailed for America with a group of colonists. The following year, wishing to serve his new country in the Revolution, he signed as a cabin boy on a privateer sailing from New York. Within three years, the twelve-year- old lad was a midshipman on the frigate Confederacy. He was taught sailing by a Portuguese helmsman from whom he learned his language. From the Spanish navigator he learned celestial navigation, mathematics and a strong command of Spanish.
When fourteen he was captured by the British and thrown into a prison ship in New York harbor. While imprisoned he learned how to survive under horrible conditions and acquired French from some troops who were fellow-prisoners. Upon liberation at the end of the war, Cathcart chose merchant sailing as a career. His love of the sea and his knowledge of navigation and foreign languages admirably fitted him for this field of enterprise which had been previously monopolized by the British. In 1785 the eighteen-year-old lad signed up in Boston as second mate of the schooner Maria, bound for Cadiz, Spain, with a trade-cargo of furs, lumber, and dried codfish.
As the broad, dumpy Maria reached the southwest tip of Portugal in a thick fog, it was attacked and captured by Barbary pirates. The men were stripped and taken aboard the stream-lined Corsair, where the filth and brutality of the prison-hold contrasted with the silks and rugs of the luxurious quarter of their English- speaking captor, Yusuf Rais. The Barbary pirates were the true rulers of the sea, extracting "tribute" from the nations of the world for "protection". Otherwise, their ships were preyed upon and captives held for heavy ransom. Our new nation was unable to pay either, so Cathcart realized that his only chance to free himself and his fellow prisoners was to ingratiate himself with the pirates until such time as he could personally build up a fortune by his wits, toward their eventual ransom.
Cathcart's capabilities were recognized immediately by his captor who gave him an opportunity to sail the slim swift vessel Yusuf Rais had designed.
For eleven years, Cathcart was held prisoner in the walled city of Algiers. Here he found favor with the High Dey who appointed him overseer of the Americans. According to their plan, they made themselves indispensable around the palace and grounds as masons, carpenters, painters, and gardeners. Cathcart learned to speak Arabic and Turkish. He was put in charge of feeding the Dey's pet lions, whose choicest meats he smuggled to his fellow captives. The British Consul of Algiers offered to arrange for their freedom in exchange for lifetime service to Great Britain, but they vetoed this opportunity as traitorous.
Captain O'Brien, a later captive, who became the Dey's secretary, smuggled Cathcart's letters to American authorities, whose attempts to raise ransom were futile. It was finally through Cathcart's carefully arranged political moves and hoarded funds that he and the remaining twelve of his crew (ten had died) were eventually freed. On May 22, 1796, Cathcart sailed for America on his own ship, the Independent. When he reached Philadelphia, he joined others in persuading Congress to create a Navy and he influenced the design of the famous frigates which were then built: the United States, the Constitution, and the Constellation.
In June 1798 Cathcart married a Philadelphia belle, and by December was enroute to the Barbary States where he held the highest positions in our consular service. Backed by our new naval power, he was able to negotiate important treaties at Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli.
In 1800, the Cathcarts came to Georgetown when the capital was moved to the new Federal City. They moved to Madeira in 1807 where he had been assigned as Consul General; later to Cadiz, his youthful destination before capture by the pirates.
The Cathcarts returned to Washington in 1817, where he continued to hold important offices until his death in 1843.
His descendants treasure a note from Thomas Jefferson to the Senate, which reads in part, "...Cathcart, who was appointed by Mr. Adams and confirmed by the Senate as consul to Tripoli. He is personally known to me; he is the honestest [sic.] and ablest consul we have with the Barbary powers; a man of sound judgment and fearless..."
The Virginia farm was bought by the son (named for his friend) Thomas Jefferson Cathcart, as a summer residence. His son, Arthur, courted the lass on the adjoining farm, and their marriage brought the Virgil Corbett and A-3 A-3 Cathcart estates into one family. They resided on the farm, in a series of homes including the Paden residence built in 1922.
- James' grandson, Arthur Warren Cathcart's Sons of the AmRev application from 1921.
