# The Pate Family ## Origins in America The Pate family’s American story begins in the antebellum South, with roots in Arkansas by the early 1800s. The earliest known ancestor in this line is Henry Clay Pate, born in Conway, Arkansas in 1832, the son of Parsons Pate and Lourena Hinckle. The Pates lived in central Arkansas at a time when it was still a frontier state, having only achieved statehood in 1836. The region was marked by subsistence farming, frontier settlement, and the looming tensions of the Civil War. Henry Clay Pate was a farmer—an occupation that connected the family to the land and to the rhythms of agrarian life in the postbellum South. During the mid-19th century, Arkansas experienced waves of migration from older southern states like Tennessee and Alabama. Farmers like Pate relied on mixed agriculture: cotton, corn, and livestock. Though Henry Pate’s life spanned the Civil War and Reconstruction, there are no known records of his military service. His family would eventually move westward with the general American trend toward land, opportunity, and new beginnings. ## Life on the American Frontier Henry’s son, George Redmon Pate, was born in 1870 in Springfield, Arkansas, a rural community in Conway County. He grew up in the post-Reconstruction South, a time of economic rebuilding, shifting race relations, and westward aspirations. In 1898, George married Hattie Holt in Wooster, Arkansas, and they raised a large family of ten children. George and Hattie lived in Union City, Arkansas from at least 1880 to 1910. Life in rural Arkansas during this era meant long days of farming, community-centered life, and occasional hardship from drought, pest infestations, or economic instability. The promise of better land and a drier climate likely influenced their eventual move westward. By 1921, the Pate family had settled in Lake Arthur, New Mexico, a small town in Chaves County, part of the fertile Pecos Valley. This region was part of a broader movement of farming families to southeastern New Mexico, where irrigation projects and the arrival of the railroad created new agricultural opportunities. George farmed in this growing community until his death in 1944. ## Family Life and Legacy The Pate family valued education, perseverance, and large, tightly knit families. George and Hattie’s daughter, Montine Adeline Pate, was born in 1911 in Faulkner County, Arkansas, and moved to New Mexico as a child. Her upbringing on the frontier—combined with the cultural values inherited from both the Pate and Holt lines—shaped her into a strong, intelligent, and independent woman. Montine married Edward John McWenie Jr., a telephone company supervisor from Las Vegas, New Mexico. Together, they raised two children, Frederick and Patricia, and eventually settled in Tucson, Arizona. The family’s migration from Arkansas to New Mexico and finally to Arizona mirrors the broader arc of westward expansion and settlement that defined American life in the early 20th century. Montine’s move to Arizona also marked the beginning of a new chapter in the family’s history—one focused more on professional careers, suburban living, and education. Her children and grandchildren would go on to embody the values of hard work and adaptability that defined the Pate family legacy. ## Key Individuals and Stories * **Henry Clay Pate (1832–1911) -** Arkansas, lifelong farmer life spanned pre-Civil War settlement through Reconstruction * **George Redmon Pate (1870–1944) -** migration westward reflected a widespread trend among Southern farming families seeking better land and new opportunities. * **Montine Adeline Pate (1911–1996) -** From Arkansas to Arizona ## Family Tree and Photos - 19th-century Conway County farmstead - Springfield or Union City, AR rural church or schoolhouse - Early 20th-century photos of Lake Arthur, NM - Photo of Montine Pate and Edward McWenie, if available - Migration map: Conway County, AR → Lake Arthur, NM → Tucson, AZ