Katharine Waring was the daughter of Michael Waring and Judith (Cowley) Waring and was baptized at St. Olave, Hart Street, London on 19 February 1629.[1] She was not the daughter of Christopher Warren and Alice Webbe. Based on her date of baptism, she was probably born in early 1629.
After their father's death in 1638 and mother's death in November 1644, [2] Katharine Waring (then about 16) and her little brother Richard Waring (then about 10) became wards of their uncle Richard Waring.[3]
Uncle Richard Waring and John Winthrop, Jr. (the son of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later, himself, the governor of the Connecticut Colony) had become acquainted when uncle Richard purchased Groton Manor from the Winthrops in 1631.[4] John Jr. apparently heard that uncle Richard Waring had been saddled with taking care of two of his brother's children and John Jr. had his cousin Emmanuel Downing approach uncle Richard Waring with a proposal for John Jr. to take charge of the two children in consideration for uncle Richard Waring releasing a debt that John Jr. owed to him. In a letter dated February 1645, Emmanuel reported back to John Jr.:
The footnote in the Winthrop Papers to this portion of the letter says that the two children that were referred to were "Katherine Warren and her brother Richard, wards of their uncle, Richard Waring."
Evidence suggests that it is probable that the proposal was agreed to, at least in part. The footnote referenced at the end of the prior paragraph goes on to say that Katharine served for a time in the household of John Winthrop, Jr.[3] As specific original evidence, the Winthrop Papers contain a letter dated 1649 from John Yongs to John Winthrop, Jr. that refers to Katherine Warren as formerly the servant to John Jr.[5] It is quite possible that the full proposal was agreed to, and that uncle Richard Waring offloaded 10-year-old Richard Waring, as well as his big sister, to become a servant to John Winthrop Jr.
After being in England in 1641-1643, John Winthrop, Jr. had returned to Boston in 1644 to resume his role as an assistant of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[6] Therefore, becoming a servant in John Jr's household meant coming to New England. Katharine Waring thus probably took a ship to Boston in the summer of 1645. In October 1645, John Winthrop, Jr. and his family left Boston and wintered on Fishers Island. In the summer of 1646, he moved his family to what would become New London, Connecticut.[7] As his household servant, Katharine Waring probably accompanied the family in their moves. The Yongs letter mentioned above refers to Katharine as having taking a trip to Long Island (presumably from New London) and provides positive proof that she was living in the area in 1649.[5]
By 1649, Katharine seems to have been no longer a servant in Winthrop's household and was enjoying her new-found freedom. A letter dated August 30, 1649 by John Yongs to John Winthrop, Jr. (when Katharine would have been 20 years old) refers to Katharine as "sometimes" Winthrop's servant, which indicates she was no longer serving as such. In the letter, Yongs notifies Winthrop that Yong's son had met with Katharine and that Katharine and his son were now "sojourning" together on Long Island in circumstances that Yongs clearly does not think were appropriate for a young lady who had been part of the Winthrop household.[5]
Perhaps under pressure from Mr. Winthrop to settle down, Katharine married Thomas Doxey, a sailor who owned a coastal vessel, in early 1650.[8] Katharine and Thomas were probably married in New London. Some older sources state that the Katharine who married Thomas Doxey may have been a daughter of Stukely Westcott.[9][10][11] The theory that Katharine was the daughter of Stukely Westcott seems to have been speculation based on the fact that the letters of Roger Williams show that Katharine and Thomas Doxey were clearly acquainted with Benedict Arnold (the ancestor of the traitor) and his wife, Damaris (Westcott) Arnold, who was indeed a daughter of Stukely Westcott.[12][13][14][9] However, (i) no other evidence has been found in support of that theory, (ii) no daughter named Katharine (or any variant thereof) is mentioned in Stukely's will,[15][16] and (iii) most definitively, the Winthrop Papers contain later correspondence where Katharine writes to her uncle Richard Waring, as well as correspondence referring to Katharine as the brother of Richard Waring.[17] There is therefore no doubt that the Katharine that married Thomas Doxey was Katharine Waring.
Katharine and Thomas seem to spend most of 1650 in Rhode Island. Roger Williams appears to have been keeping eye on her for his friend John Winthrop, Jr. and mentions Katharine and Thomas in letters to Winthrop dated May and October 1650. From the letters, it looks like Thomas spent most of the time off on sailing voyages, much to Katherine's distress.[12][13][14]
By early 1651, however, the couple seemed to have moved back to New London. According to Caulkins' "History of New London," Thomas applied for a house lot in New London sometime before February 25, 1650/1. His lot appears to have been on Winthrop's Cove, just north of the current ferry terminal.[18]
Katharine and Thomas had one child:
Katharine's husband, Thomas, drowned in New London harbor sometime between December 2 and December 11, 1651.[21][22]
A letter from Roger Williams to Massachusetts Governor Endicott refers to adulterous relationship between William Arnold (referred to as "Old Arnold") and the wife of Thomas the Scot and recounts how Thomas was so distraught that he got drunk on peach beer and drowned when he capsized his canoe.[23] One source suggests that the adulterous woman was Katharine (Warren) Doxey, wife of Thomas Doxey.[23] However, that proposition is almost certainly incorrect because (i) Thomas Doxey was not a Scot,[24] (ii) the letter is dated 1656 and Thomas Doxey died in late 1651, and (iii) Katharine Doxey married Daniel Lane in 1652 and was probably living in New London, not Rhode Island, in 1656. It is therefore clear that the adulterous woman was not this profile's Katharine.
Katharine married, second, Daniel Lane in 1652, probably in New London.[25] Katharine and Daniel lived in New London for about 10 years and then moved to Setauket/Brookhaven, Long Island[25] about the same time Katharine's brother Richard Waring moved there.[26] There may have been a period when Daniel was a part time resident of both places. New London records show him active there until January 1662, while a January 1662 record shows that Daniel had engaged in a number of land transactions in Setauket before that date.[27] The "History of Long Island" even shows Daniel Lane among a list of inhabitants of Brookhaven supposedly (but questionably) in 1657.[28]
Katharine and Daniel had the following children:[29]
Daniel and Katharine Lane came to have a fine house, plantation and mill on Little Neck. However, it all came tumbling down, when, in 1673, Daniel Lane was arrested for incest with a daughter. In 1675 he was convicted under Dutch rule and imprisoned. Later that year, he escaped prison.[30][9] Sources are mixed as to whether he died in 1675 after escaping[30] or was never found and Katharine was granted a divorce 4 years after his disappearance.[9] His estate was forfeited to the King in October 1675, but upon Katherine's petition, one half of the estate was given to her and her children.[31]
Katharine married, third, Thomas Moore of Southold, Long Island, about 1680.[10] In his will dated June 1691, she is named as living and probably survived him.[10]
Katharine died sometime after June 1691, probably in Southold, Long Island, but her exact date of death is unknown and her place of death is uncertain.
[31] [1] [3] [5] [8] [9] [10] [11] [19] [17] [12] [13] [14] [18] [21] [22] [23] [25] [16] [6] [7] [27] [28] [29] [30]
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