Cath.

Cath. is a clerk's shortening of the given name Catherine. Busy writers cut common first names down to a few letters, often raising the last letters above the line, and the habit runs through deeds, wills, tax lists and census pages.

Genealogy lists also use Cath. for Catholic, so read the context. In a name column it is the woman's name; next to a church or a baptism entry it may be the religion. The name itself was spelled many ways (Catherine, Katherine, Catharine), and the abbreviation hides which one the family used.