Born near Paint Lick, Kentucky, Cary Allen Gates came to Collin County, Texas, in 1858. He joined the Confederate army at McKinney in October 1861 as a private in the Army of Tennessee, served in five divisions, fought in the Battle of Chickamauga, was hurt at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and was shot through the wrist at Spanish Fort, Alabama. He served until the end of the war. Married twice, he and his first wife, Mary Jane Sadler, had ten children. He moved to Coke County in 1906 and spent the rest of his life there.