Ten-year-old “Caty” went to live with her aunt and uncle William and Catherine Ray Greene on the mainland of Rhode Island after her mother’s death in New Shoreham (Block Island). The Greene’s were prosperous and politically active. William was a Rhode Island Supreme Court justice who was to become Governor, and Catherine was an astute woman who kept up a lifelong correspondence with Benjamin Franklin.
Cathy learned to read and write and was also schooled in the practicalities of homemaking. The Greene’s were welcoming and sociable. Nathanael Green, a cousin of William, was a frequent visitor and was charmed by a nineteen-year-old Caty.
They married but war soon knocked on their door. Nathanael, head of the Rhode Island militia, was called into service by George Washington. Unwilling to see her husband go alone, Caty followed him over his objections even though she was pregnant at the time.
She was no ordinary camp follower. Officers had servants to cook and attend to the laundry. Caty brought some lightness to the dark days. She accompanied him through out the thirteen colonies, including a winter at Valley Forge.
After the war Caty and Nathanael found themselves deeply in debt. Nathanael was offered land in Georgia and South Carolina as payment for his services. Nathanael sold his Rhode Island holdings and they moved to Georgia where they tried to make a go at cotton farming. When Nathanael died, Cathy stayed on, marrying Phineas Miller and encouraging Eli Whitney’s cotton gin efforts.
