Miss Caty Vans was the granddaughter of Hugh Vans, a merchant of
Boston, who became a member of the Old South Church in 1728. He was
born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1699. He married Mary Pemberton, daughter
of Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, and died in Boston in 1763. They had
four sons, John, Ebenezer, Samuel, and William. One of the first
three was the father of Caty Vans, who was born January 18, 1770.
There are frequent references to her throughout the diary, but I
know nothing of her life. William Vans married Mary Clarke, of
Salem, and had one son, William, and one daughter, Rebecca, who
married Captain Jonathan Carnes. The Vans family Bible is in the
library of the Essex Institute.