
Captain Mary B. Greene and her husband Captain Gordon Greene
Some say that Captain Mary Becker Greene is still watching out for the riverboat Delta Queen. Captain “Ma” Greene served for almost sixty years as master and pilot of some of the finest steamboats on the inland rivers. She died in her cabin aboard the Delta Queen in 1949. Some say that she never left. Employees and guests have reported sounds and activities aboard, particularly around her cabin.
Mary Becker married Captain Gordon C. Greene in 1890 and set up housekeeping on his Cincinnati packet boat, the H. K. Bedford. In 1896, she earned her pilot’s license and took command of the riverboat Argand. She and her husband built the Greene Line, which at its peak operated twelve riverboats carrying freight and passengers on the Ohio and its tributaries. When Gordon Greene died in 1927, two her sons, Tom, who has been born on riverboat, and Chris, helped their mother run the company.