Tate, Samuel McDowell Col., 1830-

Samuel McDowell Tate (1830-1897), born in Morganton, North Carolina, prospered as a merchant in Philadelphia and Morganton before becoming a manager for the Western North Carolina Railroad. He also was a federal census taker, postmaster of Morganton, and justice of the peace. During the Civil War Tate took command of the Sixth Regiment of North Carolina on the battlefield at Gettysburg and led his men through the fighting on Seminary Ridge. Later he rebuilt the bankrupt Western North Carolina Railroad, then was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons. He brought the North Carolina School of the Deaf to Morganton. In 1886 he was appointed district examiner of national banks from West Virginia to Florida. He then completed the term of a deceased state treasurer, but was not elected to the post in 1894. In 1886, Tate had married Jennie Pearson; together they had ten children.