Captain Gordon C. Greene / Captain Mary Becker Greene

Side A: Captain Gordon C. Greene, a veteran riverman, was born in Newport, Ohio, on September 8, 1862. In 1890 he started the “Greene Line” with the “Henry K. Bedford,” a small shallow draft steamer; he owned twenty-five packets in his lifetime. The “Greene Line” later became the “Greene Steamboat Line” then the “Delta Queen Steamboat Company,” with the original port at the Newport Landing. The Greene family launched packets for tours on the Ohio River and its tributaries. Captain Greene died in 1927 at Hyde Park, Cincinnati, and is buried in Newport Cemetery. (continued on other side) Side B: (continued from other side) Mary Becker Greene (1867-1949) married Gordon C. Greene in 1890 and raised three sons – Captain Chris, Captain Tom, and Henry Wilkins. She learned navigation and earned a pilot and masters license, becoming one of the most noted figures on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for more than a half century. The “Greene Line” fleet continued to expand with additions of the “Gordon C. Greene” and the “Delta Queen.” Captain Mary Greene served as hostess on these steamboats. She died at the age of 81 on the renowned “Delta Queen,” a National Historic Landmark.