Catherine E. Burford (maiden name: Bennet) was born on March 1, 1836, in Brazoria County, Texas, one day before it became an independent republic. Her father, Charles H. Bennet, was a farmer who owned at least 10 slaves and $12,000 in real estate. Catherine married Solomon Richard Burford on September 8, 1856, in Brazoria County, and the couple settled in DeSoto County, Mississippi. They had at least five children together: Carrie, born around 1859; Leonard DeSoto, born on February 22, 1860; Rebecca, born around 1865; Kate, born around 1868; and Richard, born around 1870.

Her husband Solomon remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, and he fled from Mississippi in April 1862. He settled in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, and Catherine and their children probably joined him by 1864. They remained in Missouri after the war, and Catherine died there on November 8, 1873. She was buried in Bethlehem Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.