Katharine Greene Amory facts for kids

This is a painting of Katharine Greene Amory by John Singleton Copley, made around 1763.

Katharine Greene Amory (born November 22, 1731 – died April 22, 1777) was a woman from Boston in the 1700s. She is famous for the special diary she wrote during the American Revolution. This diary helps historians understand what daily life was like. It also shows the perspective of a woman who was a Loyalist. Loyalists were people who stayed loyal to the British King during the American Revolution.

Katharine's Early Life

Katharine Greene was born in Boston in 1731. She was the oldest daughter of Rufus Greene and Katherine (Stanbridge) Greene. Her father, Rufus Greene, was a silversmith.

Family Life and the Revolution

In 1756, Katharine married John Amory (1728–1803). John Amory was a merchant in Boston. They had a large family with ten children. They had six sons and four daughters.

One of their daughters, Rebecca, married a lawyer named John Lowell. Another daughter married John McClean. A hospital called McLean Hospital is named after him.

Life as a Loyalist

Both Katharine and her husband, John, were Loyalists. This meant they supported Great Britain during the American Revolution. When the war began in May 1775, they decided to move. They left Boston and went to London, England. They left their children with John's family members.

Katharine Amory died in London in 1777. After her death, John returned to America. However, he was not allowed to go back to Boston. This was because of a law passed in 1778. It was called the Massachusetts Banishment Act.

Katharine's Important Journal

Katharine Amory kept a detailed journal. She wrote in it during the important years of the American Revolution. These years were from 1775 to 1777.

Her journal was published in Boston in 1923. It was called The Journal of Mrs. John Amory (Katharine Greene) 1775-1777. It also included letters from her father, Rufus Greene. These letters were written between 1759 and 1777.

Historians find her journal very valuable. It gives us a look into daily life during the war. It also shows how a Loyalist woman felt and thought during this time.

Portraits by John Singleton Copley

A famous artist named John Singleton Copley painted Katharine Amory's portrait. He painted it around 1763. This painting is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Copley also painted a portrait of her husband, John Amory.

Copley painted three portraits that look very similar. They have almost the same style and even the same color dress. Besides Katharine, he also painted Lucretia Chandler Murray and Mary Greene Hubbard. All three women were cousins. This might be why their portraits look so much alike.

Copley also painted Katharine's mother. That painting is in the collection of the de Young museum in San Francisco.