Catharine Littlefield Greene

Catharine Littlefield Greene was the wife of Revolutionary general Nathanael Greene and later a plantation manager and supporter of Eli Whitney’s work. Catharine Littlefield Greene is generally dated to 1755–1814.

After Nathanael Greene's death in 1786, Catharine faced substantial debts connected with his wartime financial commitments and took an active role in managing family property. She later lived at Mulberry Grove in Georgia, where Eli Whitney worked while developing the cotton gin. Later tradition credited Greene with suggestions connected with the invention, although the extent of any technical contribution cannot be established securely from contemporary evidence.

In Ann Rinaldi’s The Family Greene, The family of Revolutionary general Nathanael Greene is viewed through the uncertainty of children trying to understand the distance between public honour and private behaviour.