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This article is from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Cathey, George Leonidas

by H. G. Jones, 1979

27 Nov. 1822–18 Jan. 1923

Photo of George L. Cathey of the NC Soliders Home celebrating his 101st birthday in 1922. Image courtesy of the NC Museum of History.George Leonidas Cathey, school teacher and soldier, was born in Danville, Va., the son of William A. and Jennie Lessly Cathey, who took him at an early age to Iredell County, North Carolina, where George began teaching before the state had established its public school system. He later moved to Georgia, teaching there until he entered service. He was captain of Company C, Georgia Legion, Lisk's Brigade, during the Civil War.

He resumed his teaching career in Georgia following the war, but then moved back to North Carolina, teaching in Swain, Graham, and Macon counties. He retired at the age of 96, and a few years later took up residence in the Confederate Soldiers' Home in Raleigh. On 29 Nov. 1922, two days after his 100th birthday, the North Carolina Teachers Assembly awarded him a certificate of honor and merit in recognition of his record of more than three quarters of a century as a school teacher. He was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Raleigh.

References:

North Carolina Education, Dec. 1922.

Tenth Annual Report of the North Carolina Historical Commission, 1922–1924 .

Raleigh News and Observer, 27 Nov. 1920, 19, 20 Jan. 1923.

Death Certificate, George L. Cathey, 18 Jan. 1923, in State Board of Health, Raleigh.

Additional Resources:

North Carolina Education, Volume 17. W.F. Marshall, 1922. http://books.google.com/books?id=pmQ0AQAAMAAJ&dq=george+leonidas+cathey&source=gbs_navlinks_s&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed June 4, 2013).

"Photograph, Accession #: H.19XX.188.2." 1900-1914. North Carolina Museum of History.

Image Credits:

"Photograph, Accession #: H.1922.11.4." 1922. North Carolina Museum of History.

Authors: