FREDERICK S. CATES.—Great are the
changes which time and man have
wrought in Rock Island county since
this gentleman took up his residence
in Port Byron in 1850. As the years
have passed he has seen its wild
lands transformed into beautiful
homes and farms, its timber regions
made into marketable products, its
primitive homes made into
substantial residences and the
work of improvement carried
forward until the county today
ranks among the best in this
great commonwealth.

Mr Gates, as one of the pioneers,
participated in the work of
advancement, and well deserves
mention as a representative man
in this volume. Born in Essex
County, Vermont, January 15, 1837,
he is a son of Hon. George W.
Gates, a native of the same county,
whose father, Samuel Gates,
was also born in the Green Mountain
state. The ancestry can be traced
back to Stephen G. Gates of
England, who located in
Massachusetts in 1662. The
great-grandfather, Judge
Samuel ( rates, was one of the
heroes of the Revolution and
received a pension for his
services. He it was who planted
the family on Vermont soil. The
grandfather, Samuel Gates, Jr.,
manifested his loyalty to his
country by service in the war
of 1812.

George W. Gates was reared to
manhood in Vermont, and married
Sarah Todd, who was born, reared
and educated in Portland, Maine,
a daughter of Captain Todd,
who followed the sea. Mr. Gates
engaged in farming and in the
manufacture of lumber and potash,
and while residing in
the east served as county sheriff.

In 1850 he removed to Port Byron,
where he built a mill and engaged
in the manufacture of lumber. He
also contracted and built the
Milwaukee road from Port Byron to
the junction, and carried on
merchandising for some time,
continuing in active business
here until 1865, when he removed
to Independence, Missouri. He was
elected judge of Jackson county,
Missouri, afterward represented
his district for three terms in
the state legislature, and became
one of the most distinguished and
influential men of that locality.
He died in Independence in 1892,
and his wife passed away the
previous year. The children were
Eliza, who married Doctor George
Vincent, of Vermont, and died at
their home in Hampton, Illinois;
Charles C. , a graduate of Amherst
College, who successfully
practiced law in Chicago until
his death; George P., whoresided
in Port Byron from 1850 until 1866,
when he removed to Independence,
Missouri, where he conducted a
flouring mill and later engaged
in the banking business;
Fred S. ; W. G., proprietor of
a stock ranch in Arizona: Mrs.
Margaret Moulton, a widow of
Independence; Judge E. P. Gates,
who is now circuit judge of
Jackson county, Missouri,
residing in Independence.

Frederick S. Gates came to Port
Byron when a lad of fourteen,
and was reared in this county,
and educated in the Port Byron
schools, supplemented by one
term of study in Mt. Morris
Seminary. In July, 1862, he
enlisted in his country's service,
joining Company E, One Hundred and
Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry,
which was assigned to Grant's army.
He participated in the siege of
Vicksburg, did guard duty at
various points, and remained with
his company until the summer of
1863, when on account of failing
health he was forced to resign,
and returned home. He had entered
the service as a private, but was
promoted to the rank of sergeant,
and held a lieutenant's commission
on leaving the army.

It was almost two years before he
regained his health. In 1865 Mr.
Gates embarked in merchandising,
but after eight months sold out
and removed to Little Rock. Arkansas,
where he engaged in the hardware
business for a few months, but
again his health forced him to
leave the south, and he once more
settled in Port Byron, giving his
attention to the lumber trade.
In 1888 he went to Columbia county,
Arkansas, where he built a steam
sawmill and engaged in the
manufacture of lumber until February,
1894. Before going south he had
organized a stock company to deal
in lumber, and served as
its president until 1888. He was
general manager of the American
Lumber Company, and under its
control built and operated the
mill in Arkansas. Since his return
he has again been chosen president
of the Port Byron Lumber Company.
He built the sawmill and at
different times has erected a
number of residences in this city,
thus adding to its material
development.

Mr. Gates was married in Port Byron,
in November, 1861, to Emma L. Moore,
a native of the city, and a daughter
of George S. Moore, one of the pioneers
of Port Byron. She was educated in
Knox Seminary, and became the mother
of three children: Edward W., who
died in 1875, aged six months;
Flora I., who died in 1885, at the
age of sixteen years; and Mabel, who
died in 1887, at the age of twenty.
Mr. Gates is a Jeffersonian Democrat
but votes independently at local
elections.

He has filled the offices of
supervisor, school director,
school trustee, and a member
of the village board, discharging
his duties with marked fidelity.
He is a member of the Masonic lodge
of Port Byron, and the Modern
Woodmen, and is one of the trustees
and a member of the executive board
of the Port Byron Academy. He takes
a deep interest in everything
pertaining to the public welfare
of the town, and withholds his
support from no enterprise
calculated to prove of public benefit.

He and his wife hold membership in
the Congregational church, and enjoy
the hospitality of many of the best
homes in Rock Island county. Mr.
Gates has made for himself an
honorable record in business, and
by his well directed efforts
has acquired a handsome competence.
As a citizen, friend and neighbor
he is true to every duty and
justly merits the esteem in which
he is held.

(Source: Rock Island County Biographical Record, 1897)