Asa P. Cate (1813-1874) was born and died in Northfield, New Hampshire. He attended Dartmouth College and married Clara Proctor in 1840. Cate worked as an attorney, judge, and politician, serving as president of the state senate in 1845 and as a colonel in the New Hampshire militia. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for New Hampshire governor in 1858-1860. In 1871, he was chosen judge of probate, which he resigned from a few weeks before his death due to ill health.

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