The following is a personal recollection of Catharine by her grandson Samuel Griswold Goodrich (1793-1860):
My other grandmother (see notes for Sarah Worthington) was in all things the opposite : short, fat, blue-eyed, practical, utilitarian. She was a good example of the country dame - hearty, homespun, familiar, full of strong sense and practical energy. I scarcely know which of the two I liked the best. The first sang me plaintive songs; told me stories of the Revolution - her husband, Col. Ely, having had a large and painful share in its vicissitudes; she described Gen. Washington, whom she had seen; and the French officers, Lafayette, Rochambeau, and others, who had been inmates of her house. She told me tales of even more ancient date, and recited poetry, generaly consisting of ballads, which were suited to my taste. And all this lore was commended to me by a voice of inimitable tenderness, and a manner at once lofty and condescending. My other grandmother (meaning Catherine Chauncy) was not less kind, but she promoted my happiness and prosperoty in another way. Instead of stories, she gave me bread and butter; in place of poetry, she fed me with apple-sauce and pie. Never was there a more hearty old lady; she had a firm conviction that children must be fed, and what she believed, she practiced (Goodrich, Samuel. "Recollections of a lifetime, or, men and things I have seen : in a series of familiar letters to a friend, historical, biographical, anecdotal, and descriptive." -- New York : Miller, Orton & Co., 1857, page 89). Owned by New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.