Alfred Cate

Early life

Cate was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee, the son of Elijah Cate, a farmer, and Nellie (Davis) Cate. When he was still very young, his parents moved to McMinn County, where they established a large plantation in the Mouse Creek Valley near Niota. By 1850, Alfred had married and moved to Ooltewah, Tennessee, in Hamilton County, where he engaged in farming.

Civil War

During the secession crisis of late 1860 and early 1861, Cate remained loyal to the Union. His family was very divided over the issue, however. His father and two younger brothers supported secession, while three other brothers— William T. Cate, George O. Cate, and Thomas L. Cate— supported the Union. Alfred and his brother, George, were members of the Hamilton County delegation at the first session of the East Tennessee Convention in Knoxville in May 1861. This convention denounced secession, and would subsequently petition the Tennessee state government to allow East Tennessee to form a separate, Union-aligned state. In June 1864, Cate was appointed captain of Company G of the 6th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, commanded by General Joseph A. Cooper. He resigned his commission just two months later, however.

After the Union Army had secured control of East Tennessee in April 1864, the East Tennessee Convention reconvened in Knoxville. Cate attended this meeting as a member of the Hamilton County delegation. He and the rest of the Hamilton delegation joined Governor Andrew Johnson and in calling for "immediate and unconditional emancipation." There was still substantial opposition to emancipation at the convention, however, and after four days of infighting, the Convention adjourned without taking any action.

State legislature

During the reorganization of the state government in 1865, Cate was elected to the Tennessee Senate seat for the Eighth district, which included the counties of Hamilton, Marion, Rhea, Bledsoe, Bradley, and Sequatchie. Cate aligned with the Radical Republicans, supporters of Governor William G. Brownlow who sought retribution against ex-Confederates and civil rights for freed slaves. This legislative session quickly ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and passed a controversial measure giving Brownlow unprecedented control over state elections. In July 1866, Cate was one of fourteen state senators who voted to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended civil rights to African Americans.

Cate was reelected to a second term in 1867. He was also elected chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, which coordinated party strategy and nominated candidates for elections. During the Summer of 1868, Cate angered the party's Radical wing when he voted against two contentious bills Brownlow had proposed to quell rising Ku Klux Klan violence. One bill imposed stiff penalties on anyone who aided the Klan or interfered with the election process, while the other empowered Governor Brownlow to call the state militia into service and declare martial law (with the consent of officials in the affected counties). Some leaders opposed to the bill felt that fears over Klan violence were exaggerated, while others were worried the bills would merely bring more bloodshed to the state.

During Cate's second term, he became embroiled in the conflict between Congressman William B. Stokes, leader of the party's Radical wing, and Speaker of the Tennessee Senate Dewitt Clinton Senter, the leader of the party's moderate wing. In October 1868, Cate, at the urging of Stokes, motioned to have Senter expelled from the state senate, based on a clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that barred anyone who had served in the Confederate government from serving in public office. This move stunned both Radicals and moderates, and the motion was promptly tabled (Senter had served in the state legislature in 1861 after Tennessee had joined the Confederacy, though he was generally still considered a Unionist). Cate and Stokes were assailed for this move in subsequent months. He died of "congestive chills" at his home on the night of September 13, 1871.

Cate and his wife, Louisa Jackson, had seven children. His brother, William T. Cate, served as sheriff of Hamilton County, and was killed in a gun battle in 1882. A nephew, Gus Cate, served in the state legislature in the 1880s. The home of Cate's father, Elijah, still stands near Niota, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.