George W. Cate

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 for Wisconsin's 8th congressional district in the Forty-fourth Congress. He also served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 21 years as a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge.

Biography Born in Montpelier, Vermont, Cate attended the common schools. He studied law in the office of Lucius Benedict Peck in Montpelier, paying his expenses by teaching school. He was admitted to the bar at Montpelier in April 1844. While in office, he represented Wisconsin's 8th congressional district. 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 in the War of 1812, and his grandfather was an enlisted volunteer in the American Revolutionary War. 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.

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

U.S. House of Representatives (1896)