=Cathell Family- West Virginia=

The Cathells in Green Valley needed to be able to build and repair tools used on the farm and in logging. Blacksmithing is iron and steel metal working that involves drawing out, upsetting, tempering and otherwise fabricating or repairing tools and implements. A highly skilled blacksmithing art is forge welding that involves heating two pieces of metal white hot and then hammering them into one piece. Shoeing horses is a blacksmithing skill, the person practicing that art is more properly called a farrier. Some practiced blacksmithing as a profession, others had small blacksmithing shops on the farm to do their own work. Below are some photos from the blacksmith shop of Clarence Mitchell Cathell that is preserved by his son, Carl Mitchell Cathell.

The basic blacksmithing equipment includes the forge ( in this case a portable forge with a hand-cranked blower), the anvil and the post vise. The anvil has a round hole and square hole for other tool attachment. Another tool often found in the home blacksmith shop was a grindstone.


The blacksmith hammer was tempered so as not to dent the anvil or the work, many years of use has curled the face.


Two tools built by a home blacksmith. The crowbar on the right was built by Clarence Mitchell Cathell from the steering shaft from an early model Ford. What appears to some as junk around the farm was often high quality scrap saved to be reused later in a repair or a new tool. The story goes that an axle from the same Ford was built into another tool, most likely a pry bar used to start fence post holes. The mattock on the left is also believed to have been hand-built by Clarence Cathell, mostly likely from a buggy spring. The light weight tool is sometimes called a 'seng hoe, it doubled as a walking stick and a mattock to dig out ginseng. The handle is made from butternut.


Some of the blacksmith work that was preserved from Clarence Cathell's blacksmith shop. Some of the tools include J grabs, clevises, clevis pins, shovel plow, swivels, single and double trees and horseshoes.


Carl Mitchell Cathell shows a grab. This tool was built to drive into a log. The grab was connected to a swivel, a chain and a double tree to use a horse to snake logs out of the woods. All photos taken June 2008.

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Use this link to go to the Cathell Family in West Virginia Home Page

Green Valley, West Virginia
August 4, 2007

Green Valley, near Etam West Virginia. Platt Mitchell Cathell homestead. Currently owned and occupied by Gerald "Pete" Cathell, grandson of Platt M. Cathell


1907 Map of Etam West Virginia. The Cathell homestead is just off of this map to the southwest.

Platt and Sarah, as well as many of their offspring are buried in the Etam Methodist Church cemetary.

Children of Platt and Sarah Cathell-use "back" to return to this page from links

Name: Cathell, George E.	Year of Birth 1865	Year of Death: 1932	Birth Place: Baltimore MD
Spouse: Sarah E. Robinson	Spouse Birth/Death:1867-1954	Burial:Etam Cemetary	Child: Roy Cathell 1900-1901
Child: Clarence M. Cathell 1890-1983	Child: Bertha I. Cathell Britton1891-1973	Child: James A. Cathell 1895-1964	Child: Nora A. Cathell 1893-1983
Residence: Green Valley WV	County: Preston	Occupation: Farmer	Notes:

Name: Cathell, Joseph Huvington	Year of Birth 1868	Year of Death: 1964	Birth Place: Baltimore MD
Spouse: Callie V. Adams	Spouse Birth/Death:1884-1960	Burial:Etam Cemetary	Child: Perl A. Cathell
Child: Edith J. Cathell	Child: Dora M Cathell	Child:Earl C. Cathell	Child: William E. Cathell
Child: Elsie E. Cathell	Child: Dorothy C. Cathell	Child:T.Gordon Cathell	Child: W. Donald Cathell
Residence: Etam WV	County: Preston	Occupation: Farmer	Notes: 95 years old at death

Name: Cathell, James Mitchell	Year of Birth 1860	Year of Death: 1941	Birth Place: Baltimore MD
Spouse:1) Carrie Coburn 2) Annie Turner	Spouse Birth/Death:__________	Burial:Etam Cemetary	Child:Virgil Cathell
Child: Claude Cathell	Child:	Child:	Child:
Residence: Belington WV	County: Barbour	Occupation:	Notes:Died in Rowlesburg at Will's

Name: Cathell, Steward H.	Year of Birth 1870	Year of Death: 1953	Birth Place: Baltimore
Spouse: Cyrena May Lipscomb	Spouse Birth/Death:1871-1952	Burial:Etam Cemetary	Child: Thomas Oscar Cathell
Child: Anna L. Cathell	Child: Harry Ervin Cathell	Child: Lula Mabel Cathell	Child: Elmer Neal Cathell
Child: Orville Ross Cathell	Child: Theodore Platt Cathell	Child: Boyd Williard Cathell	Child: Stewart Lee Cathell (loved cake)
Child: Goldie Grace Cathell	Child: Everett McKinley Cathell	Child: Mary Katherine Cathell	Child: Kenneth Hall Cathell
Child: Arthur U. Cathell	Child: Avril Cathell	Child: Robert W. Cathell	Child:Ruth M. Cathell
Residence: Hepzibah Community	County: Taylor	Occupation:Farmer	Notes:

Name: Cathell, William Luther	Year of Birth 1878	Year of Death: 1956	Birth Place: Green Valley -Etam, WV
Spouse: Elsie M.	Spouse Birth/Death:1883-1959	Burial:Etam Cemetary	Child: Merrill (Myrl)Cathell
Child: Charles (Charley) Cathell	Child:	Child:	Child:
Residence: Rowlesburg WV	County: Preston	Occupation: Engineer, B&O	Notes: Pension card in Rowlesburg book

Name: Cathell, Charles (Charley)	Year of Birth 1880	Year of Death: 1952	Birth Place: Green Valley -Etam, WV
Spouse: Mable (Mae)Gaines	Spouse Birth/Death:1887-196_	Burial:Etam Cemetary	Child:Betty (Cathell) Sohn
Child: Dolly M (Cathell) Bolyard Dutton 1914-2002	Child: Gerald (Pete) Cathell, Green Valley, WV	Child: Richard (Rich) Cathell, Chesapeake, VA	Child: Violet (Cathell) Carver
Child: Augusta Cathell	Child: Mildred M. Cathell	Child: C. Harold Cathell	Child:
Residence: Green Valley, WV	County: Preston	Occupation:Farmer	Notes: bought homeplace from siblings

Name: Cathell, Jane	Year of Birth 18__	Year of Death: 19__	Birth Place: Baltimore MD
Spouse: Thomas Springs	Spouse Birth/Death:_______	Burial:_______	Child:
Child:	Child:	Child:	Child:
Residence:	County: Taylor	Occupation:	Notes:

Name: Cathell, John Wesley	Year of Birth June 22, 1872	Year of Death: August 25, 1951	Birth Place: Baltimore, MD
Spouse: Jane Haymon or Layman	Spouse Birth/Death:_______	Burial:Concord Church	Child: Callie Cathell Corley
Child: Johnnie Cathell	Child: Ralph William Cathell	Child: Daisy Cathell	Child:Howard Cathell
Child: Mitchell Cathell (of John, not of Clarence)	Child: Carrie V. Cathell	Child: Inez D. Cathell	Child:Myrtle E. Cathell
Child: Bretsel L. Cathell	Child:	Child: Clifford B. Cathell	Child:Blanch Cathell
Child: Dolly P.Cathell	Child: Bud Cathell	Child: Sarah E.Cathell	Child: Nellie R. Cathell
Residence: rural Belington WV	County:Barbour	Occupation: Farmer	Notes:

Name: Cathell, Jonathan	Year of Birth abt 1873	Year of Death: ?	Birth Place: Baltimore MD
Spouse: _____	Spouse Birth/Death:_______	Burial:?	Child:
Child:	Child:	Child:	Child:
Residence:	County:	Occupation:	Notes: Jonathan might be John Wesley-above?

Name: Cathell, Martha W	Year of Birth abt 1876	Year of Death: ?	Birth Place: ___________
Spouse: _____	Spouse Birth/Death:_______	Burial:?	Child:
Child:	Child:	Child:	Child:
Residence:	County:	Occupation:	Notes:

Name: Cathell, Rutherford B.	Year of Birth abt 1876	Year of Death: ?	Birth Place: West Virginia
Spouse: Grace E. Francis Cathell	Spouse Birth/Death:12/25/1879/?	Burial:?	Child:
Child:	Child:	Child:	Child:
Residence: Harrison Co. WV	County:	Occupation:	Notes: Married Grace 1899

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