Kate Caldwell was born on February 5, 1843, in Pennsylvania to John and Sarah Warrington. Her father was a farmer who owned $4,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until the 1850s, when they moved to Chester, Pennsylvania. She married John Baker Hinkson on May 16, 1864. They had at least five children: Joseph, born around 1865; Caldwell, born around 1867; Alfred, born around 1869; Ridgley, born around 1872; and Mary, born around 1874. They lived in Chester, and her husband worked as a lawyer. By 1900, they employed at least two servants. Her husband died in the early 1900s. She remained in Chester for the rest of her life, and she died of nephritis there on March 22, 1921.