Katherine (Unknown) Painter (abt. 1610 - 1641)

Born about 1610 in England [uncertain]

Wife of Thomas Painter — married 1630 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 1641 at about age 31 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Katherine (Unknown) Painter migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Note: The previous surname on this profile was "Painter." However there are no reliable sources for this name, so "Unknown" is now in the data. Her husband's name was "Painter."

Biography

Katherine (Unknown) Painter was an early settler of Boston and Hingham, Massachusetts.

Despite having clearly arrived in New England prior to 1640, Katherine and her husband, Thomas Painter, did not make it into Anderson's Great Migration Project. The following profile is intended as a guideline for further research into the life of this early colonist, and a jumping off point for additional study and discussion. Please feel free to add, subtract, or amend as you deem fit.

Birth and Origins

Like many women of her time, Katherine appears in very few records. In fact, her first name seems to be found only in the register of deaths for her children.^[1]

Katherine was clearly born in England, but her exact place and date of birth are unknown. The identities of her parents are unknown, as is her original surname. That said, based on other life events, it does seem reasonable to place Catherine's estimated date of birth sometime around 1610.

It is believed that Katherine and her husband, Thomas Painter, both came over with the Winthrop Fleet, in 1630.^[2] However, it is unclear whether Katherine came to America with Thomas, or whether the couple was married in the Colonies.

Marriage and Children

Although it is said the couple may have lived in the town of Hingham for a time, they were residing in Boston as early as 1638. There, her husband earned a living as a joiner.^[3] Thomas was admitted as a Freeman at Boston, 12 Oct 1640.^[4]

Thomas and Katherine are believed to have had five children born between 1632 and 1640:

Elizabeth: b. 1632

William: b. 1634

Shubael: b. 1635

Thomas: b. 1639 (bpt. 4 May)

Thomas (again) b. 1640 (bpt. 13 Sept)

Sadly, according to Savage, three of these children died within seven months of each other. Thomas, an infant, and William, age 5 or 6, both died on 30 Sep 1639. Daughter Elizabeth died eight months later, 24 May, 1640.^[5]

Death

Katherine died at Boston, sometime in 1641, leaving Thomas alone with two young sons.

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. Ancestry.com (database online with images.) Boston Deaths Prior to 1700,: Deaths prior to 1700, Vol 3. p. 403 (image 14)
2. ↑ Geni (a MyHeritage company). Great Migration: Passengers of the Arbella, 1630 https://www.geni.com/projects/Great-Migration-Passengers-of-the-Arbella-1630/5754
3. ↑ Documents of the City of Boston for the Year 1881, Vol. 1, Second report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, containing the Boston Records 1634-1660, and the Book of Possessions, 2nd ed. [Doc. 46-1881] (Boston: Rockwell & Churchill, city printers, 1881) Part 2 p 47.
4. ↑ Paige, Lucius R. List of Freemen of Massachusetts, 1630-1691. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998) p. 18.
5. ↑ Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. Ancestry.com (database online with images.) Boston Deaths Prior to 1700,: Deaths prior to 1700, Vol 3. p. 403 (image 14)