THANK YOU, VONETTE!
Catherine Gates was born on November 7th, 1838 in North Carolina. Her first marriage was to a Perry J. Whitsell. who was born 1831 in Kentucky. They married on October 27th, 1858. It is not known if they had any children together. Catherine's background was difficult to locate. She was first found as Catherine Whitsell, and assumed to have been born a Whitsell.
Catherine was found in the 1860 Henderson county census record in the household of Perry Whitsell. This got me to thinking, so I located their marriage record in Henderson county and discovered that Catherine was born a Gates! This fit in with the 1880 Henderson county census record where Catherine is listed with Joseph Zealot Shelton(her second husband), and there is a D. H. Gates in the household, too.
I don't know if she was widowed or divorced Mr. Whitsell, but she married again on July 6th, 1865 in Webster county, Kentucky to Joseph Zealot Shelton, the son of Josiah Cyrus Shelton and Mary Elizabeth Orran, who is believed to be full-blooded Cherokee. (Information regarding this has yet to be discovered.)
Catherine and Joseph had one known child together, Queen Tinney Shelton, who was born to them in 1871 in Webster county, Kentucky. Catherine became the widow of Joseph Zealot Shelton on November 9th, 1896. Her husband was buried in the Shelton Cemetery in Sebree, Webster county, Kentucky. She, herself, passed away on September 24th, 1913.
