Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4341
CATES FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Correspondence, business records, and other
papers, 1880-1981, of members of the Cates family of
Burlington, N.C. These papers document John Wesley
Cates's activities as a businessman, school board
member, and city booster; his daughter, Bertha
Cates's, activities as a coal merchant in Burlington;
his daughter, Verna Cates Stackhouse's, activities as
a supervisor at the King Cotton Mill in Burlington and
as an active Democrat; and a number of personal and
civic concerns of the family. The papers include
thirty-three diary volumes kept by Bertha Cates,
discussing her daily activities, 1937-1979.
Organizations with which members of the Cates family
were involved include the Burlington Merchants
Association, the First Baptist Church of Burlington
(of which John W. was a founder), the Burlington
Business and Professional Women's Club (of which
Bertha was a founder), and the North Carolina Retail
Coal Merchants Association.
Online Catalog Terms:
Alamance County (N.C.)--Commerce--History.
Burlington Merchants Association.
Burlington (N.C.)--Commerce--History.
Business and Professional Women's Club (Burlington, N.C.).
Cates, Bertha Iona, 1887-1982.
Cates family.
Cates, John Wesley, 1847-1918.
Coal trade--North Carolina.
Democratic Party (N.C.).
Diaries--North Carolina--History--20th century.
First Baptist Church (Burlington, N.C.).
Merchants--North Carolina--History.
North Carolina Retail Coal Merchants Association.
Stackhouse, Verna Lee Cates, 1890-1986.
Textile industry--North Carolina--History.
Trade associations--North Carolina.
Women--North Carolina--Diaries.
Women in business--North Carolina.
Size: About 3000 items (4.0 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from John H. Vernon, III, of Burlington,
North Carolina, in January 1983, and Sarah E. Vernon
Watts of Asheboro, North Carolina, in August 1986.
Access: No restrictions.
Related Collections: Southern Oral History Program Collection
(#4007), interviews H-15 (Bertha Cates)
and H-49 (Verna Cates Stackhouse).
John Wesley Cates Papers, North Carolina
Baptist Historical Society Collection,
Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. John Wesley Cates
Series 2. Bertha Iona Cates
Series 3. Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse
Series 4. Other Papers
Series 5. Pictures
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
John Wesley Cates was born in 1847 in Orange County, N.C., the
son of William Cates and Sarah Burns Cheek. In 1869, John Wesley
Cates married Sarah Patterson. They had four children. After his
wife died, he and his children moved to Burlington, N.C., where
he worked as a carpenter. In 1885, Cates opened his own lumber
and coffin business and helped organize the First Baptist Church
of Burlington. Also in 1885, Cates met his second wife, Sarah
Elizabeth Scott, who had come from Virginia to work as a weaver.
John Wesley and Sarah had eight children. Sarah died in July
1917. John Wesley was seriously injured in an automobile accident
in 1913 and died in 1918. Cates had been actively involved in
organizing the Burlington school system and Chamber of Commerce.
Bertha Iona Cates was born in 1887 in Burlington, and was
educated at Burlington High School. While still in school, she
began working for her father, and after his automobile accident
in 1913 she took over more and more responsibility in her
father's company, J.W. Cates, Inc. When John Wesley died in 1918,
his son-in-law, John Vernon, became president of the company
while Bertha stayed on as manager. In the 1930s Bertha took
charge of the whole company and continued to do business, much of
it dealing with coal. She became involved in state coal affairs
and helped to establish the North Carolina Retail Coal Merchants
Association. Until she sold the company in 1967, she continued
to participate in the Association, holding the positions of
treasurer and vice-president for a number of years. She is said
to have been the first woman coal merchant in the South.
Bertha Cates also was involved in the Philathea Society, the
United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Burlington Business
and Professional Women's Club, of which she was a charter member.
For her many achievements, she was named Burlington's Woman of
the Year in 1956. She died in 1982 at age 95.
Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse was born in 1890 in Burlington.
She too was educated at Burlington High School. She went on to
study at Meredith College until she accepted a position teaching
business courses at Oxford College. She quit teaching to take a
position as a supervisor with King Cotton Mills in Burlington, a
job which she continued until 1937. Cates married Frank Boyd
Stackhouse in 1926. Later, they moved to Durham, N.C., where
Verna worked with the Red Cross, the North Carolina Employment
Security Commission, and the local office of U.S. Senator B.
Everett Jordan. She died in Burlington in 1986.
Collection Overview
The Cates Family Papers consist of letters, diaries, records,
and pictures of the family, primarily those of the father, John
Wesley Cates, and two of his daughters, Bertha Iona Cates and
Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse. The collection is divided into three
major parts: the papers of the father and of each of the
daughters.
John Wesley Cates's papers primarily concern two areas of
interest: his business activities and his involvement with
schools. John Wesley Cates's business papers are varied. His
businesses involved coffin making, undertaking, hardware, lumber,
curbing, coal, and shingles; he also found time for a land
company. The school papers pertain to the selection of a new
superintendent of Burlington schools in 1910 as well as to orders
for classroom furniture.
The papers of Bertha Iona Cates are chiefly personal
correspondence, diaries (dating from 1937 to 1979), and material
relating to the North Carolina Retail Coal Merchants Association.
Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse's papers are primarily personal and
political correspondence and papers relating to her work as a
supervisor at the King Cotton Mill. There are also notes
pertaining to her civic activities, especially the Burlington
Business and Professional Women's Club.
Arrangement is as follows:
Series 1. John Wesley Cates
Subseries 1.1. Personal Correspondence
Subseries 1.2. Personal Financial and Legal Items
Subseries 1.3. Business Items
Subseries 1.4. Burlington Schools
Subseries 1.5. Church and Civic Items
Series 2. Bertha Iona Cates
Subseries 2.1. Personal Correspondence
Subseries 2.2. School Items
Subseries 2.3. Diaries
Subseries 2.4. Church and Civic Items
Subseries 2.5. Business Items
Subseries 2.6. North Carolina Retail Coal Merchants
Association
Subseries 2.7. Clippings
Series 3. Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse
Subseries 3.1. Personal and Political Correspondence
Subseries 3.2. Diaries
Subseries 3.3. King Cotton Mill
Subseries 3.4. Civic Items
Subseries 3.5. Financial and Legal Items
Subseries 3.6. College Items
Subseries 3.7. Other Items
Series 4. Other Family Members.
Subseries 4.1. Correspondence
Subseries 4.2. Financial and Legal Items
Subseries 4.3. Writings
Series 5. Pictures
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. John Wesley Cates
1880-1917. About 1,500 items.
Subseries 1.1. Personal Correspondence
About 200 items.
Letters to John Wesley and Sarah Scott Cates from associates
and family members.
Folders 1-6. 1867-1917 and undated
Subseries 1.2. Personal Financial and Legal Items
About 100 items.
Insurance policies, items concerning stock investments, bills
relating to childrens' education, and correspondence with Cates's
lawyer.
Folders 7-10. 1892-1917 and undated
Subseries 1.3. Business Items
About 750 items.
Items documenting John Wesley Cates's business activities in
Burlington and elsewhere in North Carolina, including his lumber,
building, undertaker, coal, concrete, and brick businesses.
Folders 11-50. 1880-1920 and undated
Subseries 1.4. Burlington Schools
About 300 items.
Correspondence concerning Cates's activities on the Burlington
school board. Most items are letters concerning the selection of
a new superintendent in 1910.
Folders 51-68. 1894-1913 and undated
Subseries 1.5. Church and Civic Items
About 30 items.
Items concerning Cates's involvement with such civic
organizations as the First Baptist Church, the Oxford Orphans
Home, and the Burlington Merchants Association.
Folder 69. Church material
70. Civic material
Series 2. Bertha Iona Cates
1902-1981. About 500 items.
Subseries 2.1. Personal Correspondence
About 75 items.
Correspondence with friends, relatives, and business
associates.
Folders 71-75. 1907-1981 and undated
Subseries 2.2. School Items
About 10 items.
School papers and exams from Bertha's years at Burlington High
School.
Folders 76-77. 1902-1906
Subseries 2.3. Diaries
33 items.
Diaries kept by Bertha Cates, discussing her daily activities,
1937-1979.
Folders 78-110. 1937-1979
Subseries 2.4. Church and Civic Items
About 100 items.
Material relating to the Burlington Business and Professional
Womens Club, the Kill Kare Club, and various other activities.
Folders 111-113. 1909-1981 and undated
Subseries 2.5. Business Items
About 25 items.
Correspondence, agreements, and customer lists pertaining to
J. W. Cates, Incorporated, while the company was managed by
Bertha Cates.
Folder 114. Business Papers, 1918-1959
115a. Store Ledger, 1941-1967
Subseries 2.6. North Carolina Retail Coal Merchants Association
About 250 items.
Correspondence concerning the Association, relating chiefly to
its meetings, and a scrapbook kept by Bertha.
Folders 115b-118. 1931-1958 and undated
119. Register of those attending N. C. Retail
Coal Merchant Association meetings,
1938-1959
120-124. Scrapbook of the North Carolina
Retail Coal Merchants Association
Subseries 2.7. Clippings
About 25 items.
News clippings about Bertha Cates.
Folder 125.
Series 3. Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse
1907-1981. About 700 items.
Subseries 3.1. Personal and Political Correspondence
About 200 items.
Letters from Frank Stackhouse, friends, other family members,
and political associates. These items document Verna's family
concerns and political activities.
Among Stackhouse's political correspondents are U. S. Senator
B. Everett Jordon, for whom Stackhouse was an aide; Senator
Josiah Bailey; U.S. Representatives William Umstead, Carl Durham,
and Frank W. Hancock; and North Carolina Governors Cameron
Morrison, J. Melville Broughton, Terry Sanford, and Robert Scott.
Correspondence with these officials is scattered throughout their
terms in office. It relates chiefly to contributions Stackhouse
made to their campaigns and to Stackhouse's interest in
particular issues, chiefly government retirement benefits.
Folders 126-141. 1912-1982 and undated
Subseries 3.2. Diaries
8 items.
Journals of Frank and Verna Lee Cates Stackhouse from
different periods of their lives, chiefly documenting routine
activities.
Folder 142. 1904-1905 [Verna]
143. 1907-1910, November 1934 [Verna]
144. 1955 [Frank]/1981 [Verna] (one volume)
145. 1961 [Frank]/ 1963, 1964, and 1981 [Verna]
Subseries 3.3. King Cotton Mill
About 200 items.
Correspondence of Verna Stackhouse relating to her management
of the mill, and newspaper clippings related to the mill.
Folders 146-159. 1913-1937 and undated.
Subseries 3.4. Civic Items
About 150 items.
Items documenting Verna's activities with the Burlington
Business and Professional Women's Club and other civic
organizations.
Folders 160-164.
Subseries 3.5. Financial and Legal Items
About 100 items.
Personal financial and legal items, chiefly relating to a 1957
dispute between Stackhouse and her health insurance company.
Folders 165-166.
Subseries 3.6. College Items
About 25 items.
Items relating to Meredith College, where Stackhouse was a
student, and Oxford College, where she taught.
Folder 167.
Subseries 3.7. Other Items
About 50 items.
Newspaper clippings and notes.
Folders 168-169.
Series 4. Other Papers
About 125 items.
Papers of William M. Cates, George Robert Cates, Frank Boyd
Stackhouse, and other members of the Cates family, as well as
items with unidentified authors.
Subseries 4.1. Correspondence
About 75 items.
Letters and letter fragments to and from members of the Cates
family and associates, including William M. and Sarah Cates.
Folders 170-171.
Subseries 4.2. Financial and Legal Items
About 25 items.
Financial and legal items of Frank Stackhouse and other
members of the Cates family.
Folder 172.
Subseries 4.3. Writings
About 25 items.
Writings, chiefly poems and essays, by unidentified authors.
Folder 173.
Series 5. Pictures
Ca. 1900-1972. 62 items.
Photographs of Bertha and Verna Cates, other family members,
and associates.
P-4341/1. "Old Union Church School," early 1900s
/2. "Burlington High School," ca. 1910
OP-4341/3. "Graduating Class of 1906, Burlington High
School" (Bertha 3rd row, 2nd from right)
P-4341/4. "W. N. Cates," ca. 1916-1918
/5. "Delivery of Plants to Servicemen at Oteen and
Kenilworth hospitals for Easter," ca. 1921
/6. "World War II buddies," 1944
OP-4341/7. Baraca/Philathea conference in Greensboro,
NC, April 1911
P-4341/8. "Philathea and Baraca Group," ca. 1920
/9. "Bertha Cates receiving Woman of the Year
Award," 1956
/10. Verna Cates with Terry Sanford, ca. 1962
/11. Bertha Cates, president of United Daughters of the
Confederacy, at party, Christmas 1961
/12. Bertha Cates with United Daughters of the
Confederacy National President, ca. 1966
/13. Verna Cates Stackhouse at Democratic dinner
fund-raiser, ca. 1966
/14. Verna Cates Stackhouse, presentation of vase for
Alumni House at Meredith College, ca. 1971
/15. Philanthea Class Christmans Card, ca. 1972
/16. Saturday night fellowship at Hope Baptist Church,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ca. 1969
/17. C. B. Aycock, governor of North Carolina, ca. 1905
/18-24. Verna Cates, alone and with others, ca. 1895-1925
/25. Verna Cates, ca. 1910 (a salt print photo)
/26-27. Verna Cates, ca. 1940
/28-29. Verna Cates, ca. 1968
/30. Verna Cates and Frank Stackhouse, ca. 1920
/31. Verna Cates Stackhouse and Frank Stackhouse, 1953
/32-33. Verna Cates Stackhouse and Bertha Cates, ca. 1950
/34-35. Bertha Cates alone and with others
/36. Frank Boyd Stackhouse with others, ca. 1930
/37. Annie Myrtle Cates (age about four), ca. 1910
/38. Barry M. Cates, ca. 1940
/39. Zachary family, Coolimee, N.C., ca. 1920
/40-44. Wynkin Stackhouse (a cat), ca. 1940
/45-52. Unidentified people, ca. 1900-1930
/53. Site of J. W. Cates's auto accident, 1913
/54. Nurses in a parade, ca. 1910
/55. King Cotten Mill float in a parade, ca. 1942
/56-61. King Cotten Mill, ca. 1920
Picture Album. PA-4341
Picture album assembled by Verna Cates Stackhouse, ca. 1920
Page 1. Verna Cates and others at Oxford College, ca. 1910
(5 photos)
2. People in Wallburg, N.C., ca. 1910 (5 photos)
3. Verna and Bertha Cates and others at Oxford College,
ca. 1910 (6 photos)
4. Verna Cates and others, ca. 1910 (7 photos)
5. Athletes and others at Liberty-Piedmont Institute,
ca. 1910 (7 photos)
6. People, chiefly two young women, in Asheville, N.C.,
ca. 1910 (5 photos)
7. Soldiers at camps in the United States, ca. 1916
(5 photos)
8. Blank page
9. Verna Cates at the King Cotton Mills, ca. 1920
(4 photos)
10. Photographs removed (Photos are included among
loose photos, see page 10.)
11. Three commendations for Verna Cates from King Cotton
Mills and Oxford College, 1913-1918
12. 1917 program and calling card
SHELF LIST
Box 1. Series 1. (folders 1-70)
Series 2. (folders 71-82)
Box 2. Series 2. (folders 83-104)
Box 3. Series 2. (folders 105-125)
Series 3. (folders 126-134)
Box 4. Series 3. (folders 135-169)
Series 4. (folders 170-173)
Items separated:
P-4341/1-2, 4-6, 8-61
OP-4341/3 and 7
PA-4341