Katharine Moffat Whipple

Katharine Moffat, daughter of John and Katharine Cutt Moffat, married Captain William Whipple, son of William and Mary Cutt Whipple. They were first cousins, and “their mutual ancestors, the Cutts, were among the wealthiest and most prominent people of the Province” (Wives of the Signers – The women behind the Declaration of Independence, 14-15). Her father was a high government official in the Province. She obviously was of “good birth and breeding and must have been of high social standing.”

William was a seafarer until he was twenty-nine and then began a career in the mercantile business. He closed out all of his business affairs when he decided to devote himself to public affairs.

We know that the Whipples lived in Portsmouth from the time of their marriage until the Revolution, but that is about all we know of their private life. The couple had one child, a daughter who died as a baby. After her daughter died, Mrs. Whipple adopted a niece, Mary Tufton Moffat. Mary lived with her uncle and aunt until she married.

We have no date of birth or date of death for Mrs. Whipple. We only know that she lived many years after the death of William Whipple in 1785.