Catherine Ray Greene was an articulate, witty, and politically astute woman best known for her long-standing friendship and correspondence with Benjamin Franklin. Born on Block Island, Rhode Island, to Simon and Deborah Ray, she later became the First Lady of Rhode Island through her marriage to William Greene Jr., a future governor of the state. They married on April 30,1758,and settled in Warwick, Rhode Island, where they had seven children.
Catherine first met Benjamin Franklin in December 1754 during his journey from Boston back to Philadelphia. They traveled together through parts of Rhode Island, visiting her sister in Westerly before parting – Franklin heading south and Catherine returning to Block Island. This brief meeting sparked a lifelong correspondence characterized by warmth, humor and intellectual engagement. Their letters, collected in Benjamin Franklin and Catherine Ray Greene: Their Correspondence, 1755-1790 ( ed. William Greene Roelker), reveal mutual affection and wit.
Franklin fondly called her “Katy,” writing in 1755, “Begone, Business, for an Hour, at least, and let me chat a little with my Katy.” In another, he playfully remarked, “You are a dangerous woman, your wit and beauty being equally engaging.”
Catherine died on September 10, 1794, and is buried at the Governor Greene cemetery on the Greene family farm in Warwick, Rhode Island. She is remembered not only as a devoted wife and mother, but as one of the most intellectually engaging female correspondents in Franklin’s life..
