700 Years of Bates Family History - Revised 10/2010

In November of 2003 when I again became interested in genealogy, on Frances’ side of the family we could not get any farther back than Emmett’s father, William Erwin Bates. It was thought that he was from Cherokee County, Georgia but we had previously been discouraged in pursuing his ancestors because General Sherman had burnt all of the records at Canton, the County Seat of Cherokee County during his march to the sea during the Civil War..

However, due to the internet and Google, we can now trace the Bates’s back for 700 years and it is an interesting story. This book will tell of the first Bates that came to America (from England) as a servant, landed in Jamestown at the age of 25, married a girl in Jamestown, became a farmer and raised a family that became famous.

We will relate that the Bates ancestors became Quakers and highlight an archaeological dig of “John Bates, the Quaker Merchant”. We will weave the Eastes ancestors in with the Bates and show a relationship (but not a good one) with President Thomas Jefferson.

The Bates were witnesses to the roundup of the Cherokee Indians that preceded the “Trail of Tears”. The Georgia Land Lottery is big in their history, but the Revolutionary War and the Civil War are essentially non-events as far as the Bates were concerned.

We learn which of the Bates moved from Georgia to Texas and when it happened. In this regard, the experiences of William Erwin Bates’ family and especially, Emmett Bates are profound.

After 500 years of intertwining, the Bates and the Eastes families are joined by the marriage of Lois Eastes and Emmett Bates.