Boise & Julia Cato's

Robert Cato was born August 4, 1907 in Albany, Georgia to Boise & Julia Cato.  At the age of 21, he married Ethel Smith (age 19) in 1928. He was affectionately known as "Paw" by his children and grandchildren.  He registered for World War II at the age of 33.  

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Along with owning his own business, he was a sharecropper.  Robert earned his living by putting wood and picking cotton for 10 cents per pound.  He lived on Buffalo (another area of Washington County) in Old Swinton Springs. 

 

Robert owned 200 acres of land.  Residential land, which he purchased, has been home to a number of his descendants over 60 years.  He also received additional land where he built and founded the New Baptist Church.  He wanted to have a place where he could bury his family and this has been home to a number of Cato family members.  The land was purchased from a man named Bennie Evens.  The land previously was a road in which only one car could drive on at a time.  200 acres.  His son Hubert lived close by on Buffalo.  He was the founder of the New Baptist Church in Sandersville, Georgia.