George R. Cather scholarship letter

Collection — Box: Multi 03

Identifier: MS-0076

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains a letter to the Orphans Court of Cecil County, Maryland recommending George R. Cather for placement as a student to Washington College. The letter is signed by seven individuals including Robert Cather. George R. appears in the 1854-1855 catalog’s list of students at Washington College. Due to two fires at the College his exact graduation date is unknown, but presumably 1858.

Dates

1855

Access restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Publication rights

Copyright has not been assigned to Washington College. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Washington College as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical Information Note

George R. Cather (1836-1913) was born on November 10 in Baltimore Maryland to William H. Cather and Rebecca Plummer Cather. When he was nine the family moved to Cecil County Maryland. Cather attended Washington College and then studied law in Baltimore. He passed the bar at the age of 21. He enlisted with Company D of the 1st Maryland Calvary of the Confederate States Army on September 20, 1862. He was captured near Washington D.C. on July 10, 1864. He was honorably discharged June 14, 1865, after Lee’s surrender. On September 18, 1867 George married Harriet H. Heath, an educator, at the home of her uncle Dr. Spotswood G. Perrow. After the war we moved to Virginia and by 1873 had settled in Ashville, Alabama where he began his career as a publisher starting with the Southern Aegis. His publication, Home and Farm, contained regular predictions of the weather, and his interest in meteorology earned national interest, so much so that in 1892 he changed the title to The Weather. In 1913 Harriet passed way in January followed a few weeks later George. George and Harriet had eight children, six survived their parents: W. H. Cather; B. B. Cather; Bays D. Cather; A. H. Cather; Marcia Ney; and A. L. Cather.