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M.U 


GENEALOGY  COLLECTION 


ZDc  (Brcenc  f amili?  anb  Ifte  Brancbcs 


LORA     S.     LA     MANCE 


THE    GREENE    FAMILY 
AND    ITS    BRANCHES 


^^^=^(^^ 


From  A.  D.  861   to  A.  D.    1904 


By 

Lora   S.   La   Mmice 


TOGETHER    WITH     POEMS     DESCRIPTIVE  OF    THE    TEXT 

By     MRS.     ATTIE     A.     ST  OWE 


-.<iy<^'^h:^~ 


Mayflower  Publishing  Company 


Flora),  Park,  Nf.w  York 


' 


147C875 


THE     GREENE     COAT-OF-ARMS. 

ALL  BRANCHES  OF  THE  FAMILY  ARE  ENTITLED  TO  USE  THE  THREE  BUCKS 
TRIPPANT,  OR,  ON  AN  AZURE  FIELD,  AS  IT  WAS  BORNE  BY  THE  FOUNDERS  OF 
THE  LINE.  THE  CRESCENT,  A  MARK  OF  CADENCY  DENOTING  THE  LINE  OF  A 
SECOND  SON,  IS  USED  BY  ALL  THE  WARWICK  AND  QUIDNESSELT  GREENES. 


This  book  is  dedicated  to  tlie  memory  of 
-     Nancy  King-Nichols, 

An  Early  Fajiily-Historiax,  1767-1820. 
The  prejudices  of  her  times  against  literary  women 
prevented  her  from  writing  down  her  carefully 
searched  out  history.  But  the  fragments  of  her 
verbal  narrative  that  came  down  to  me,  were  the  in- 
spiration and  foundation  of  this  book,  by  her 
grand-daughter. 


Pineville,    Rio., 
Feb.  I,  1904. 


LoRA  S.    La  RIance. 


^able  of  Contents 


HISTORY   OF    DOROTHY   GREENE-KING    LINE 


OHAJ'TEK 

XXII 
XXIII 
XXIV 
XXV 
XXVI 
XXVII 
XXVIII 
XXIX 
XXX 
XXXI 
XXXII 
XXXIII 
XXXIV 
XXXV 
XXXVI 
XXXVII 
XXXVIII 
XXX IX 
XL 


Line  of  Sarah  King-Hathaway 

Line  of  Mary  King-Pierce 

Line  of  Elizabeth  Kettle 

Line  of  George  King 

Line  of  Hannah  King-Howard 

Line  of  Dinah  King-Hopkins 

Line  of  David  King 
Line  of  Joel  King 

Line  of  Stephen  King 
Line  of  Nancy  King-Nichols 
Henry  Nichols'  Descendants     - 
Richmond  Nichols'  Descendants 
Cynthia  Nichols-King's  Descendants 
Miranda  Nichols-Barnes'  Descendants 
Mariam  Nichols-Bradley's  Descendants 
Sally  Nichols-Lamson's  Descendants 
George  Nichols'  Descendants 
Nelson  Nichols'    Descendants 


143—157 
158—159 
160 — 174 

175—177 
178— 1S2 
183—190 
191— 194 
195—196 
197 — 201 
202 — 204 
205 — 210 
211 — 214 
215—219 
220 — 225 
226 — 232 
233—236 
237—242 
243—246 
247 — 262 


Appendix 
Index 


-    265—283 
2S7— 293 


Hutbotittes  Consulteb 

Account  of  Green's  Norton.  Eng ...Rev.  S.  Beal.  D.  C.  L. 

A  Catalogue  of  the  First  Puritan  Settlers 

Age  of  Charlemagne Wells 

Age  of  the  Crusades Ludlow 

A  History  of  New  England Palfrey 

American  Heraldrlea E.Dev  Vermont 

American  Historical  Piegister.  il  vols 

Americans  of  Royal  Descent Brown ing 

Andrews  Genealogy Miss  Hattio  F.  .Trim.v-; 

Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit.     Many  vols Sprague 

Annals  of  the  Four  Masters 

Annals  of  Narragansett  Churoli 

Annals  of  the  Town  of  Providence.  li;:'.i;— 1832 

Appleton'-sCycl'ipcdiaof  American  Biography 

B.'siniiing  of  til- Middle  .Vgc> Church 

Bi'.graphyo[H.urvDuii-.tci Parton 

Bradford's  History 

Bradford's  Letters 

Braintree,  Mass.  Record- 

Bri.stol  Church  Records 

Chalmers'  Biographical  Dictioaary 

Chanili    i^'i'i  -"I      iia.     15  vols 

Ch.iil  M  I  II arch  Records 

Chr.iii  1:      1   liusetts Young 

Crowcli^  .^laiii   -lili- Times Revolutionary  Lists 

Curious  Myth- S.  Baring  Gould 

Daughters  of  Auhii -a ....Phebe  A.  Hnnaford 

I)i-..'.,vrii      f  Wit.l,   r.trt Seott 

Di-i.!a\  -!    II    ■    '  ■'       Wewton 

Dicii  -ii    I  .     !  la     I   a   -ad  .Vni-riean  Authors AUibone 

Dorh         I.   'I  ,       l;  Id, 

Early   lamm aiii-  Hotteu 

Early  History  of  Britain Milton 

Early  Settlers  of  Reading.  Mass 

Early  Ship  Building  iu  Mass 

Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland Lanigau 

Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England 

Encyclopedia  Brittaniea.    20  vols 

Epochs  of  Church  History.    10  vols 

Fairy  Legends  of  Ireland Crofton  CroUer 

First  Settlers  of  Rhode  Island John  Farme r 

Founders  of  New  England 

Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs 

Frenidi  Cclcluiti.', Claretie 

Friends  in  . Vm. a  ira.    7  vols 

Friends'  Lilaaiy.    Several  vols 

Friend-.' Itecord  of  Portsmouth.  K.  I 

Genesis  of  the  US. Alexander  Brown 

Genealogy  of  the  Havens  Family Lewis  &  Farmer 

Genealogical  Dictionary  of  the  First  Settlers  of  N.  England Savage 

Genealogical  Record  of  Family  of  Parsons Sam.  L.  Parsons 

Genealogy  of  Nichols  Family.  A Aaron  Sargent 

Genealogy  of  the  Le  wis  Fami  I  y 

Green  Family  of  Genealogy S.  S.  Green 

Genealogical  Dictionary  of  R.  I Austin 

Greenes  of  Warwick  in  Colonial  History Turner 

Holstead's  Succinct  Genealogies.    '21  copies  privately  printed  in  1585 

History  of  Bridgewater.  Mass Hon.  Nahum  Mitchell 

History  of  the  Crusades Co.'ce 

History  of  the  Early  Colonists Judd 

Historical  Discourse  of  the  First  Baptist  Church Rev.  H.  M.  King 


Hutboritiea  (ron6uItc& 


History  of  England Maeauley 

Hume 

Wilson 

Other  staudai"d  Eiiglisli  Histories 

History  of  New  England Wintlirop.  Puritan  Governor 

History  of  Lynn,  Mass Lewis 

History  of  Northampton.  England Baker 

History  of  Northampton Trumbu  11 

History  of  Narragansett Potter 

History  of  Quiduessett Daniel  Gould  Allen 

History  of  the  Queens  of  England Agnes  Strietland 

History  of  Ehode  Island G.  W.  Greene 

History  of  Woodbury,  Conn 

Huguenot  Emigration 

Huguenots  of  France  and  America.    2  vols Baird 

Irish  Notes Jloore 

Irish  Saints O'Hanlon 

Irvine's  Life  of  Washington ' 

Interleaved  Almanac Rev.  William  Cixiper.  171G-1743 

Journal  of  the  Plague  De  Foe  in  1721 

Lam  b's  Biographical  Dictionary 

Life  of  Koger  Williams Knowles 

Lite  of  Roger  Williams Straus 

Life  of  Wesley(  English  ) 

Maiden,  Mass.  Records 

Marshfleld,  Mass.  Records 

Quak.n- Martyr H.  Rogers 

Abbott 

1 1 '  "lr.f,'ical  Die tiona ry .  12  voLs 


Mary  Dyer. 

the 

Ma.y.Uu,. 

MrClillt^.'l 

Ma-azui-   ^ 

Ma-^.Iii-:. 

:\ri^i<iii'i"ir- 

11 

Ml.l'll-    Au" 

, 

M.lt  m.  .Ma~ 

-    1  'i 

Mylhsuflh 

■  Di- 

New Eiiglai 

ll. Ti 

New  Engia 

dH 

NV,vEn.Tlni 

•  \M 

.Davies 
.Bishop 


raii-li  ll.-1-trr  ..f  tlio   Bail.adoes  

Parish  Register  of  St.  Mirhael 

Philip  of  Pokanoket Washington  Irving 

Pierce  Genealogy    Gen.  Ebenezer  Pierce 

Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  England Brown 

Pioneers  of  Massachusetts Pope 

Pirates  and  Amazons Stevens 

Portsmouth  IN.  H.  )  R«-nnls 

Puritan  .Settlers .    a  yds Hiumai. 

Queen  Elizab^-tli  Abbott 

Records  of  B. .st^in 

Records  of  Dr.  McSparran 1720-1767 

Recordsof  Essex  and  Old  Norfolk.  Mass 

Records  of  Hull.  Mass 

Records  of  Maple  Root  Six-Princ-iple  Eai 
Records  of  Newport  I'lii-i  .-inl  rimnli,  11 
Records  of  St.  Pani  CImii  'li.  Xai  iai.'an^.' 

Records  of  Weym. Hi;  h   :\I,i--  

Richard  the  Seeoii^l 

R.  I.  Land  Evidences 

R- 1.  Genealogies 

Seituate  and  Barnstable.  Mass.  Records. 


Hutboritiee  ConsuUet) 


Shipping  Lists ...lOlD-lcio 

Sudbury,  Mass.  Records 

The  Bennett  Family S.  B.  Bennett 

The  Green  Family Frank  L.  Green.  A.  M 

The  Reformation Walker 

The  Waite  Family D.  Byron  Waite 

Topsfleld,  Mass.  Records 

Transactions  of  the  Lancashire  Historical  Society.    (England.) 

Vital  Records  of  Rehoboth.  Mass James  N.  Arnold 

Vital  Records  of  R.  I.    12  Vols James  N.  Arnold 

William  the  Conqueror Abbott 


Zbc  ©lb  Greene  ^ree 


Long  years  ago,   "  The  old  Greene  Tree  " 

Sank  deep  its  roots  in  Albia's  Soil  ; 
Its  branches  spread  and,  banyan  like. 

They  bore  to  earth  ;  thus  no  turmoil 
Could  shake  this  old  and  mighty  tree. 

Was  warfare  on  ?     Its  branches  then 
Made  stoutest  staffs  to  slay  the  foe, 

And  Lords  de  Greenes  de  Boketon's  men, 
Led  by  their  fearless  chiefs,  became 

A  scourging  rod  for  those  who  dared 
Oppose  the  will  of  England's  king. 

But  warrior  Greenes  their  honors  shared 
With  those  of  legal  lore  ;  and  Lord 

Chiel-Justice  Henry  Greene  we  find 
Was  long  supreme  in  Judges'  Hall. 

His  truly  just  and  legal  mind 
Was  tower  of  strength  to  Henrv  Third ; 

And  second  son  of  tiiis  de  Greene 
Lives  for  all  time,  in  Shakespeare's  plays  ; 

And  on  the  throne  as  England's  queen, 
A  daughter  of  this  line  is;  seen. 


The  Greene  Tree  grew  and  "  waxed  strong," 

Nor  would  its  sturdy  branches  bear 
L^njust  control  ;  and  thus  it  tell 

That  men  of  Greene  were  those  to  dare 
Oppose  unjust,  infamous  Laud, 

Who  sought  with  all  his  churchiy  power 
To  crush  religious  freedom  out  : 

But  persecution  proved  a  dower 
Of  Good  unto  those  dauntless  souls, 

Who,  for  religious  liberty, 
Forsook  tiieir  dear  ancestral  homes 

And  crossed  the  wide  and  stormy  sea, 
That  they  might  live  and  worship  God, 

In  freedom,  as  their  conscience  taught. 
But  persecution  was  not  o'er  ; 

The  wilderness  again  was  sought  ; 
Again  was  fireside  altar  raised 

Where  men  were  free.     Thenceforth,  they  throve. 


Their  men  have  filled  high  place  of  trust 

In  peace  and  war.      Who  does  not  love 
This  name  of  Greene  ?     Who  does  not  know 

And  honor  him,  that  stalwart  son, 
Branch  of  this  tree,  who,  from  the  first 

Until  the  righteous  war  was  done, 
Undaunted  led  his  brave  men  on 

To  victory  on  many  a  field  ? 
'Tis  only  to  Great  Washington's 

That  fame  of  Greene  doth  yield. 

Read  you  this  book,  and  reading  love 

Those  honored  ones  of  long  ago. 
Read  and  reflect.      'Twill  make  you  strong 

For  God  and  Right,  then  men  shall  know 
You  are  a  true  and  worthy  branch 

Of  that  old,  staunch,  well-rooted  tree. 
That  for  the  Right  has  ever  stood. 

That  for  the  Wrong  shall  never  be. 
Atlie  A.   Stowe. 


CHAPTER    I 


INTRODUCTORY 


"  Other  things  being  equal,  in  most  relations  of  life  I  prefer  a  man  of   family 

Four  or  five  generations  of  gentlemen  and  gentlewomen — among  them  a  member  of  His 
Majesty's  Council  for  the  Province,  a  Governor  or  so,  one  or  two  Doctors  of  Divinity,  a 
member  of  Congress,  not  later  than  the  time  of  top-boots  with  tassels. 

"  Family  portraits  ! Some  family  silver  ;  a  string  of  wedding  and  funeral  rings, 

the  arms  of  the  family  curiously  blazoned I  go,  other  things  being  equal,  for  the 

man  who  inherits  family  traditions  and'  the  cumulative  humanities  of  at  least  four  or  five 
generations."— (9//:'cv  U'eiuiaH  Holmes  in  Atttocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table. 


At  the  ver}'  outset,  the  question  of  dates  is  to  be  considered.  There  is 
a  difference  of  I2  days  between  Old  Style  chronology  and  New  Style,  which 
change  was  made  in  1752.  The  beginning  of  the  year  changed  at  the  same 
time  from  the  25th  of  Alarcli  to  our  present  ist  of  January.  I  have  followed 
the  usual  custom  of  historians,  i.  e.  given  the  month  and  the  day  of  the 
month  O.  S.  (Old  Style,)  but  made  the  year  correspond  with  the  N.  S.  reck- 
oning. So  if  any  wish  to  turn  dates  of  before  1752  into  present  style  of 
reckoning,  they  have  only  to  add  12  days. 

I  also  explain  that  the  small  numerals  at  the  upper  right  hand  of  family 
names,  denotes  the  number  of  generations  from  the  stem  father.  In  the 
English  history  this  is  reckoned  from  Sir  Alexander,  the  first  Lord  de  Greene. 
For  convenience,  in  the  American  history-,  the  numerals  begin  anew  with 
the  first  emigrant  ancestors. 


This  book  is  what  it  is,  a  history  of  "  The  Green  Tree  and  Its 
Branches,"  because  it  could  be  nothing  else.  All  the  other  lines,  Nichols, 
King,  Pierce,  Howard,  La  Valley  and  Matteson  ran  straight  back  to  the  main 
line  of  all,  the  Greenes  of  Surgeon  John  of  Warwick  and  John  of  Ouidnes- 
sett  descent.  They  in  turn  belonged  to  the  old  and  honored  house,  the  head 
and  founder  of  which,  Lord  Alexander  de  Greene  de  Boketon,  received  his 
titles  and  estates  A.  D.  1202. 


1Intro^uctor\) 


Some  will  ask,  "  Have  you  not  ostentatiously  paraded  the  barons  and 
lords,  earls,  high  admirals,  kings  and  queens  connected  with  the  lines  from 
which  this  family  and  its  branches  have  sprung  ?  "  I  think  not.  If  it  is  a 
misfortune  to  have  forefathers  with  the  bluest  of  blue  blood,  and  bearing 
titles  of  high  honor,  then  our's  is  an  afflicted  line.  If  it  is  an  honor,  we 
have  been  slgnallv  blessed  in  this  form  of  ancestral  riches.  We  could  have 
crotten  along*  with  a  few  less  lords,  or  half-civilized  kings  ;  but  they  have 
certainly  added  life  and  picturesqueness  to  the  dull,  early-day  histor}-,  that 
otherAvi'se  we  would  have  known  little  about. 

The  Greenes  in  all  their  branches  have  always  been  fond  of  history.  I 
hope  this  book  may  add  to  their  children's  zest  for  it.  I  trust  it  may  make 
clearer  to  them  the  misty  days  of  fourteen  centuries  ago,  when  King  Fergus 
McEarc  sailed  from  Ireland  and  became  the  lineal  head  of  kings  that  for 
centuries  sat  upon  Scotland's  throne  ;  that  it  may  bring  nearer  the  troublous 
davs  of  wicked  King  John  ;  make  real  the  checkered  career  of  Richard  II  ; 
b'rino-  before  them  the  court  of  bestial  Henr>'  III,  whose  last  queen  was  of 
the  house  of  Greene,  and  set  vividly  before  them  the  horrors  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew's ^lassacre,  when  perished  noble  Admiral  de  Coligny,  by  marriage  of 
our  line.  With  all  these  epochs,  those  of  our  blood  have  been  closely 
concerned.  . 

Our  children  ought  to  love  our  own  land  the  better,  because  their  tore- 
parents  followed  Roger  Williams  into  the  wilderness  ;  because  at  the  head 
of  men  protecting  their  homes,  others  of  our  ancestors  fought  the  Indians  m 
Kincr  Philip's  war,  and  because  the  greatest  of  Revolutionary  generals,  after 
Washington,  was  Nathaniel  Greene  of  collateral  blood.  Surely  the  storj-  of 
such  deeds  is  worth  recording. 

There  is  probably  not  another  English-speaking  family  upon  the  globe 

with  such  a  remarkable  religious  record.  Of  our  blood  have  been  Catholics, 
direct  disciples  of  St.  Patrick  himself,  and  builders  of  churches  and  chantr>-s. 
One  branch  of  the  family  goes  back  to  Henr>-  Barrows,  one  of  the  first  to 
profess  Congregational  or  Separatist  doctrines,  and  who  sealed  his  profession 
by  his  own  blood,  being  executed  at  Tyburn  in  1593.  Goaded  by  Arch- 
bishop Laud's  tvrannies,  not  less  than  a  dozen  men  and  women,  direct  heads 
of  families  with  which  the  line  of  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett  has  since  in- 
corporated itself,  fled  to  the  American  Colonies  for  safety. 

These  same  families  became  Baptists,  and  were  exiled  into  the  unknown 
xecrion  of  rockv,  sea-girt  Rhode  Island.  Lastly,  the  Kings  and  La  Valleys, 
Huguenot  Episcopalians,  under  Louis  XV's  persecutions,  fled  to  America  for 
religious  asylum.  .   ,        r 

So  thrice  this  family  has  been  exiled  for  conscience  sake,  and  has  fur- 
nished French  and  English  martyrs,  who  have  sealed  their  faith  by  their 


■|Introt)uctor\> 


own  blood.  They  have  ever  excelled  in  patriotism,  and  their  sons  have  ever 
been  ready  to  fight  for  their  country.  In  the  Revolutionar}-  War,  Samuel 
Greene  of  R.  I.,  sent  eight  sons  into  the  war,  a  record  no  one  else  ever 
equalled,  and  Joseph  Greene  of  N.  Y.,  12-year  old  volunteer,  was  the  young- 
est soldier  of  the  same  war. 

This  book  covers  nearly  300  years  of  American  history.  There  are 
thousands  of  names  recorded  here.  I  have  not  found  one  among  them  all 
that  has  ever  been  convicted  of  a  crime,  one  that  was  a  deserter,  one  that  was 
an  out-and-out  infidel,  or  one  that  was  a  drunkard.  It  was  two  and  a  quar- 
ter centuries  after  the  coming  to  America  of  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett,  ere 
a  single  divorce  occurs  in  the  whole  allied  lines  of  his  blood. 

j\lrs:  Attie  A.  Stowe,  a  poet  and  song  writer  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  con- 
tributes several  original  poems  written  expressly  for  this  book.  I  am  deep- 
ly grateful  to  her  for  this  favor.  It  is  pleasant  to  feel  that  we  have  a  poet 
in  the  family's  ranks ;  that  she  sings  in  an  easy,  natural  key ;  that  her  themes 
are  the  stirring  scenes  through  which  our  fathers  passed,  and  the  noble  deeds 
that  they  did ;  and  that  the  old  martial  fire  that  the  Greenes'  sons  have  ever 
felt,  glows  in  genial  warmth  through  these  stanzas  of  this  daughter  of  the 
house.  I  feel  that  the  rich  treat  Mrs.  Stowe  has  given  us  is  worth  the  price 
of  the  book  to  its  readers.  ]\Iy  slower,  duller,  more  lagging  prose  is  thrown 
in  as  ballast. 


^be  Sonc3  of  the  Barb 


At  Norton's  Hall,  de  Boketon's  home, 

High  wassail  reigned  at  Christmas-tide  :— 
The  aged  harper  thumbed  his  strings, 

Then  drained  the  flagon  by  his  side 
And,  when  its  contents  warmed  his  blood 

And  roused  his  pride  till  wits  were  keea, 
He  voiced  this  lav,  wherein  he  sang 

Of  Alexander,  Lord  de  Greene. 


King  John  was  in  sore  need  : 

Rebellion  stalked  the  land  ; 
Forsooth  it  fell  because 

Unto  his  crown  and  hand. 
He'd  taked  for  his  own 

Another's  plighted  wife — 
Despoiled  de  la  ]Marche 

Was  leader  in  the  strife. 

Then  called  the  harried  king 

To  his  barons  brave  and  bold  ; 
"I'm  your  annointed  king, 

My  will  you  must  uphold  ! 
stamp  this  rebellion  out. 

And,  when  it  fully  ends. 
You  shall  have  large  estates. 

For  John  rewards  his  friends.'' 

Then  to  his  king's  support 

Sir  Alexander  came. 
And  struck  such  sturdy  blows 

He  won  the  chieftain's  fame. 


In  truth,  foremost  was  he 
In  service  of  his  king  ; 

Foremost,  on  warring  lords, 
Swift  punishment  to  bring. 

Because  those  sturdy  blows. 

That  timely  given  aid, 
Enabled  John  to  keep 

The  lovely  Norman  maid, 
His  gratitude  was  shown 

In  grants  of  large  estates  ; 
From  that  old  Lord  de  Greene, 

Our  lordship  clearly  dates. 

His  fingers  cease  their  touch 

Upon  the  clanging  strings  ; 
The  singer's  head  sinks  down 

As  though  recital  brings 
A  weight  of  memory 

Too  great  to  bear  with  ease,- 
A  memory  that  earned 

From  earthly  cares,  surcease. 


The  servitors,  amazed. 

Lift  up  the  drooping  head, — 
Alas  !   the  bard  has  gone  ! 

With  song  his  life  has  fled  ! 


MRS.    ATTIE    A.    STOWE. 

(Poet  and  writer.      See  Biography,  Chapter  XL.) 


CHAPTER    II 

THE  DIM  PERIOD  OF  GREENE  HISTORY 

FROM    LORD    ALEXANDER   TO   LORD   THOMAS,    1202-I296 

Inquire  I  pray  thee  of  the  former  age,  and  prepare 
thyself  to  the  search  of  their  fathers. 

Job  VIII.      Verse  S. 

The  meager  data  of  the  first  one-hundred  years  of  the  family  s  history.  How  the  estate 
came  to  be  bestoived  by  King  John.  The  family  name.  The  title.  State  kept  by  the 
early  Lords  of  the  line.  Their  recreations.  Alexander's  trials  as  a  stem  father. 
The  Crusading  sons'  coats-ofarms.      The  early  escutcheons  of  the  Greenes. 

He  who  steps  out  into  the  night  finds  at  first  that  all  is  gross  darkness, 
but  as  he  gropes  his  way,  dim  landmarks  begin  to  shape  themselves  out  of 
the  darkness.  The  faint  rays  of  light  grow  plainer,  and  the  traveler  at  last 
walks  in  a  path  that  has  familiar  objects  to  the  right  and  the  left,  to  show 
him  how  far  he  has  come,  and  in  what  direction  he  is  going.  So  in  this 
history  the  beginning  of  the  Greene  family  is  shrouded  in  the  midnight  of 
the  unchronicled  story  of  centuries  ago.  A  date  or  two  comes  down  to  us. 
The  hazy  figure  of  Lord  Alexander  rises  like  a  ghost  from  his  seven  cen- 
turies of  dust.  There  'is  a  certain  branching  and  widening  out  of  the  family. 
Not  until  the  fourth  lord  of  the  line  comes  a  record  and  historj'. 

The  cool,  exacting  critic,  who  will  accept  nothing  birt  what  has  a  date 
and  an  official  certificate  attached  to  it — exactly  as  a  mineral  specimen  is 
tagged  in  a  museum — will  be  disappointed  in  this  chapter.  All  that  we 
really  know  of  the  first  Lord  de  Greene  may  be  summed  up  in  this  brief 
paragraph.  Alexander,  a  Knight  at  the  king's  court,  was  the  great-grandson 
of  one  of  the  Norman  nobles  who  invaded  England  with  William  the  Con- 
queror, 1066.  King  John  bestowed  the  estate  of  Boughton  in  Northampton 
upon  him  in  1202.* 

*  The  authority  for  tlii-  ;  i*  ■  i-  ^  ;_-     ■:  r  ■  .    ■■  j  ';  ,  .T   -1  Ii  C\x,-;--aw.  of  Dublin.  Ireland,  author  of 

"Podigree  of  the  Famih-      <■                 '       1     li  ,     m  1     '■     i   i     '      ■  v  copies  were  printed  inDublinin  1899. 

Surgpon  Colonel  Green.—  ii                    ■  ii-ments  are  authorltive.     The  Irish 

Greenes  are  descendants  fi   i.i  u  y  .  1:.,-  -■  -   ;;  •:''!,.'  ;.!:;:! i  I,  :  I  :■■  Greene. 


Zbc   Greene   fatnii^ 


But  when  we  remember  that  mean,  parsimonious  King  John  had  a  way 
of  rewarding  a  dirty  act  done  in  his  ser\-ice  by  an  extra^'agant  gift  filched 
from  some  noble  who  may  have  offended  him ;  when  we  recall  the  date  of 
Lord  Alexander's  patent  that  followed  on  the  heels  of  a  peculiar  crisis  in 
King  John's  history,  we  have  a  right  to  connect  these  events.  It  is  not  to 
the  credit  of  the  founder  of  the  house  of  Greene,  but  it  proves  him  to  have 
been  human.  Yev}-  much  such  a  man,  we  fear,  as  some  of  his  sons  that  ha^•e 
lived  centuries  after  him. 

No  other  English  king  was  ever  as  hated  as  was  King  John.  When 
he  had  been  dead  one-hundred  and  sixt}'-five  years,  the  rebels  in  the  Wat 
Tyler  Rebellion  took  solemn  oath  never  to  permit  a  king  who  bore  the  name 
of  John  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  England.  When  a  Prince  John  came  to  the 
neighboring  Scottish  throne,  he  changed  his  name  to  Robert,  because  John 
as  a  ruler's  name  was  so  odious  he  would  not  bear  it.  John  broke  his  fath- 
er's heart,  and  the  elder  king  died,  to  the  horror  of  the  priests,  with  curses 
of  his  unnatural  offspring  upon  his  lips.  This  same  treacherous  prince 
usurped  his  brother's  throne  while  Richard  was  in  the  Crusade.  Later,  he 
murdered  his  own  nephew.  Prince  Arthur,  with  his  own  hands.  His  people 
sullenly  bowed  to  the  rule  of  this  false  and  cruel  king  that  they  were  not 
strong  enough  to  depose. 

At  twenty-three.  King  John  married  his  cousin  Avisa,  (or  Hadwisa,) 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester.  She  was  a  dull,  plain  featured  woman, 
who  bore  patiently  with  his  misdeeds.  John  was  King  both  of  England  and 
of  Normandy,  France.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1200  he  visited  France  and 
became  enamored  of  Isabelle,  wife  of  Count  de  la  March.  For  state  reasons 
she  had  been  married  when  a  child  to  the  Count,  who  was  to  take  her  to 
wife  when  she  was  seventeen.  John  carried  Isabelle  off,  ordered  his  prelates 
to  pronounce  a  divorce  between  Avisa  and  him,  and  then  married  Isabelle. 

Count  de  la  March  set  up  a  rebellion.  King  John  ordered  his  nobles 
(in  1201)  to  cross  over  to  Normandy  and  put  down  the  rising.  They  flath' 
refused,  rebellion  thus  threatening  him  at  home  also.  The  king  was  furious. 
He  swore  "  by  God's  teeth," — his  favorite  oath — he  would  make  the  barons 
sick  of  their  daring.  From  attendant  knights  and  other  subser\-ient  mater- 
ial, he  found  leaders  for  his  troops.  He  broke  up  the  confederac}-  of  angrs- 
lords  in  England  and  defeated  Count  de  la  March.  He  rewarded  those  who 
aided  him,  and  confiscated  the  estates  of  some  of  the  lords  who  disobe)-ed  him. 

The  date  of  Alexander's  patent  shows  that  he  must  have  'been  one  of 
these  knights  that  steeled  their  hearts  to  Queen  Avisa's  woes,  and  fought  for 
the  king  who  could  make  their  fortunes.  No  doubt  his  ^•er^■  estate  had  be- 
longed to  some  of  the  lords  whom  King  John  had  attainted. 

We  do  not  know  the  extent  of  his  estate.     The  least  a  great  baron  coiild 


Zbc   ©rccne   faniil^ 


own  and  hold  his  rank  was  fift}'  hides  of  hind,  i.  e.,  six  thonsand  acres.  He 
might  own  ver\-  much  more.  Halstead  says  that  at  one  time  the  Greenes 
were  the  Largest  land-owners  in  the  kingdom.  It  was  somewhat  difficult  to 
~keep  the  exact  boundaries  of  the  great  lords'  possessions.  The}-  got  around 
this  problem  after  a  unique  fashion  of  the  :Middle  Ages.  On  Holy  Thursday 
or  Ascension  Day,  they  each  year  "  beat  the  bounds."  All  the  men  on  the 
Lord's  estate  turned  out.  His  Lordship  with  his  suite,  rode  about  his  estate, 
following  the  received  boundary  lines  all  the  way,  a  crowd  of  boys  at  his 
heels  beating  brush,  trees  and  stones  as  they  passed  along.  j\Ioreo\-er,  at 
convenient  points,  by  landmark  trees  or  other  objects,  a  boy  was  "  sharply- 
whipped  with  peeled  willow  wands,"  so  that  he  would  alwa3-s  remember  be- 
ing flogged  at  this  part  of  his  lord's  boundary  mark.  As  the  urchins  re- 
ceived a  liberal  reward  for  their  stripes,  they  never  lacked  for  volunteers. 
The  Lords  de  Greene  must  kave  punished  a  small  army  of  boys  in  this  way, 
for  the  fifth  lord,  Sir  Henrj-,  Chief  Justice  of  England,  settled  upon  his  sec- 
ond son,  after  providing  for  the  regular  heir,  over  thirt}-  n:anors,  each  of 
which  would  to-day  support  a  baronetcy. 

Lord  Alexander  assumed  a  surname  after  his  chief  estate,  de  Greene  de 
Boketon,  i.  e.,  the  Lord  of  the  Park  of  the  Deer  Enclosure.  A  green  in  the 
early  day  was  a  park.  Boketon  is  an  old,  old  word  meaning  the  ducks'' 
(bokes)  ton  or  paled-in  enclosure.  Centuries  ago  the  terminal  syllable  /07i 
had  lost  its  original  sense,  and  meant  a  town.  So  that  Boketon,  still  used 
in  the  original  sense,  shows  Lord  Alexander  came  to  an  estate  named  long 
before,  and  noted  for  its  extensive  parks  and  deer  preser\-es.  Boketon  be- 
came Bucks  and  Buckston,  and  later  Boughton,  its  present  name.  It  lies  in 
Northampton. 

For  a  long  time  the  full  name  de  Greene  de  Boketon  was  used  in  legal 
documents.  Naturally  in  everj'day  speech  it  was  shortened  to  de  Greene. 
During  the  reign  of  Henry  VI,  1422-1471,  with  its  attendant  French  wars, 
the  patriotic  de  Greenes  dropped  the  patrician  de  as  too  Frenchy  in  sound 
for  Englishmen,  as  they  now  considered  themselves. 

The  title  of  the  early  de  Greenes  was  strictly  Sir  (Militis),  and  their 
wives  were  Dame.  Familiarly  they  were  called  Lord,  or  the  Right  Honor- 
able Lord,  and  their  wives  Lady.  At  that  date  there  were  but  two  titles  of 
nobility,  earls  and  knights.  The  knights  were  subdivided  into  greater  and 
lesser  barons.  The  great  barons  held  their  estates  from  the  crown.  The 
lesser  barons  were  like  the  present  baronet,  and  held  their  manors  from  an 
over-lord  or  great  baron.  Lord  Alexander  was  a  great  baron.  He  had  a 
power  in  his  estates  almost  as  a  petty  king.  He  had  to  furnish  so  man}-  men 
for  the  king's  wars,  pay  a  portion  toward  the  dowr}-  of  the  princesses,  and 
entertain  the  king  when  in  his  territor}^     He  had  to  pay  homage  also,  to 


^be   (Brccne    jfannlv! 


show  that  he  held  his  estate  from  the  crown.     "We  are  expressly  told  of  how 
each  of  the  Lords  de  Greene  did  this,  1202-1506,    "by  lifting  up  his  right 
hand  toward  the  King  yearly  on  Christmas  day,    in   what   place   soe\er  the 
King  is."      [Halstead's  Genealogy,  A.  D.  1585.] 
■  The  Lords  de  Greene  lived  in  state.     They  wore   rich   apparel,  belted 

with  a  gold  or  silver  girdle  to  which  was  attached  a  purse,  a  rosar}-,  a  pen 
and  inkhorn,  a  set  of  keys  and  an  elaborately  chased  and  sheathed  dagger. 
These  showed  their  rank.  When  they  rode  they  wore  gold  spurs.  Their 
armor  was  magnificent.  They  wore  robes  in  Parliament,  hats  and  plumes 
at  court,  and  at  the  king's  coronation  they  wore  a  crimson  velvet  cap,  lined 
with  ermine,  and  having  a  plain  gold  band.  Their  servants  wore  the  Greene 
li\ery,  which  was  blue  laced  with  gold.  There  has  been  unearthed  a  stew- 
ard's household  account,  of  that  same  early  period,  in  a  nobleman's  family 
that  kept  perhaps  less  state  than  the  early  de  Greenes.  The  steward  sa}S 
his  master's  family  consists  of  one-hundred  and  sixty-six  persons,  including 
such  servants  as  the  forbisher  who  kept  the  armor  bright,  the  fencing  master, 
harper,  priest,  bedesman  or  praying-man,  the  almoner  who  looked  after  the 
poor  for  his  lord,  and  the  barnes  or  berner,  who  kept  the  twenty-four  fires  in 
the  castle  in  order.  The  Lord  kept  an  open  table,  and  fed  on  an  a\-erage 
fiftj'-seven  visitors  a  day.  The  knights  sat  with  the  Lord  at  one  end  of  the 
long  table,  and  were  served  with  the  choicest  food.  "  Below  the  salt "'  the 
retainers  and  commoners  sat,  and  ate  coarser  victuals,  or  as  we  }et  express 
it,  "  humble  pie." 

I  will  add  that  for  five  generations  the  de  Greenes  spoke  Norman 
French.  They  were  a  family  that  delighted  in  athletic  sports.  They  hunt- 
ed and  hawked,  and  attended  tournaments,  and  played  games  of  tennis, 
cricket,  bowls,  etc.  All  of  them  in  their  geoerations  were  noted  for  their 
fine  bowling  alleys,  two  or  three  of  which  were  the  finest  in  England. 
Charles  I.  used  to  go  to  Lord  Vaux's  at  Harrowden,  or  to  Lord  Spencer's  at 
Althorpe  to  play  bowls  at  their  famous  alleys,  which  were  once  the  Greenes'. 
Here  Cornet  Joyce  arrested  him  and  carried  him  off  to  Whitehall  and  a  ^-io- 
lent  death.  Each  winter  they  had  miracle  shows  and  religious  pla}-s,  held 
in  their  barns  and  roofed  alleys.  The  actors  were  always  men,  as  "  became 
decent  behavior."  These  early  Greenes  were  also  much  given  to  hours  of 
riddle  making  and  conundrum  guessing. 

The  Germans  call  the  head  of  a  line  the  Stcmmvadcr  [Stem-father.] 
In  a  peculiar  sense  Alexander  was  indeed  a  stcmmvader.  He  had  a  passion- 
ate love  of  horticulture,  that  has  throughout  these  seven  centuries  dominated 
liis   entire   line    of   descendants.*        There    is   probably  no  other  English 

*  A  marked  personal  trait  or  character  is  sometimes  carried  down  in  a  family  for  centuries.     The 
Jews  claim  that  the  royal  line  of  David  from  which  Our  Lord  Himself  sprang,  was  for  two  thousand 


Zbc   (Breene   jfamil^ 


speaking  family  to-day  that  has  so  many  members  that  delight  in  beau- 
tiful home  grounds,  and  in  flowers  and  fruit,  and  finely  kept  farms.  It 
seems  to  have  been  Alexander's  set  rule  to  avoid  court  entanglements  and 
political  manoeuvers,  and  to  spend  his  energies  in  beautifying  his  estates. 
With  two  notable  exceptions  the  lords  who  followed  him  pursued  the  same 
polic)-.  Thereby,  even  the  turbulent  times  of  the  War  of  the  Roses  failed 
to  embroil  them  to  a  ruinous  extent  in  their  ruler's  quarrels. 
■  Thirteen  years  after  Lord  Alexander  settled  at  Boughton,  the  lords  rose 

against  King  John.  They  met  at  Runnymede,  only  a  few  miles  away  from 
the  family  seat  of  the  de  Greenes.  Only  seven  barons  adhered  to  John,  and 
he  was  not  one  of  them.  Therefore  he  must  have  been  enrolled  among  the 
two  thousand  nobles  who  put  their  united  protests  in  the  hand  of  twenty- 
five  lords  who  presented  the  Magna  Charta  to  the  king,  and  forced  him  to 
sign  that  document  that  guaranteed  both  the  lives  and  the  property  of  his 
subjects  from  arbitrary  spoilation.  It  will  interest  a  branch  of  R.  I.  Greenes 
who  have  the  blood  of  the  LaValleys  as  well,  to  know  that  two  of  the  IMagna 
Charta  signers  were  Gilbert  DeLaval  and  William  de  Lanvalley.  Another 
signer  was  Roger,  Earl  of  Winchester,  whose  great-great-granddaughter, 
L,ucie  de  la  Zouche,  married  Sir  Alexander  de  Greene's  great-great-grandson, 
Lord  Thomas''.  John  revenged  himself  "  like  a  devil,"  as  one  old  historian 
puts  it,  burning  castles  and  doing  other  foul  deeds.  He  died  the  next  ^■ear, 
12 1 6,  and  his  old  favorite  fortunately  escaped  his  fury. 

Lord  Alexander's  son,  the  second  Lord,  was  probably  a  crusading  knight 
in  the  seventh  Crusade,  which  ended  in  1240.  His  grandson  was  almost  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  knights  that  accompanied  Edward  I  on  the  last  great 
Crusade,  and  died  in  the  Holy  War.  Nothing  more  is  known  of  this  period 
of  family  history,  except  that  Lord  Alexander  had  otiier  sons  and  grandsons 


years  distinguished  for  remarkable  personal  beauty.  The  Bilile  bears  this  out.  Kebecea,  the  damsel 
that  was  "  very  fair  to  look  upon."  was  born  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  her  lineal  descendant. 
King  David,  "  ruddy  and  of  a  fair  eountenanee."  Of  that  King's  sons  was  Prince  Absolom,  of  whom  the 
Scriptures  said.  "In  ail  Israel  there  were  none  to  be  so  much  praised  as  Absolom  for  his  beauty;  from 
the  sole  of  his  foot  even  to  the  crown  of  his  head,  there  was  no  blemish  in  him."  Nearly  five  hundred 
years  later,  Daniel  of  "the  king's  seed."  was  chosen  because  of  his  physical  beauty  to  stand  before 
Nebuchailnezzar. 

The  Thatchers,  known  in  Colonial  history,  boasted  of  ancestors,  who  from  father  to  son  for  nine 
generations,  were  ministers.  The  late  Eev.  Dr.  Goodell  could  say  the  same  of  his  line.  The  Emerson 
family  from  which  Ealph  Waldo  Emer.son  sprang,  in  one  branch  counted  eight  clergymen  in  lineal 
descent.  Rev.  John  Witherspnon.  one  of  the  singers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  maternally 
descended  from  an  unbroken  line  of  ministers  to  the  great  Scotch  divine.  John  Knox,  borne  two  hundred 
and  seventeen  y^av^  befi^re.    Tlu»  Wel-h  family  •-<!  01ieiio\yeth.  old  eiviiirh  to  have  intermarried  with  the 

Cromwells  bef  .1  -  •',...■,   ..    ', '-  .1    -,   ■uni:--  i.   /it  •  >  1  'i.  ,.   ■   ii-i:  :Ii.>  family  was  not  a  medical 

one.    Inl88l.  Ill  .,    ■:      r    :•     i  -■    .    -      ,     -.-,],   -1         i    -^  v  Doctors  Clienoweth. 

The  thick.  I      ■      ;      H  ,  v     \  ii-tseen  five  hundred  years 

ago  in  theirfiM'i'in-ilii  r.  T'  ii'-i--  (  viiiiiii-u-'i  .1  W  ,'■-■!  w.    ("'-.'.  lli--!_'i!i —  wlvn  in   Europe,  was  annoyed 

by  a  lord's  peculiar  hriisqne  manner.    His  hostess  apologised,  saying  it  was  only  the  manners,  for 

which  the  family  had  been  noted  tor  generations.  Examples  might  be  mtiltpilied.  These  are  enough  to 
convince  any  doubting  Thomas. 


^be   (Breene   family 


who  became  heads  of  lines  of  their  own.     We  know  this  b\-  the  evidence  of 
their  coats-of-arms. 

The  Crusades  brought  about  the  use  of  coats-of-arnis.  The  Crusade 
leaders  rode  at  the  head  of  their  followers,  clothed  from  head  to  foot  in  armor, 
— gorget,  cuirass,  gauntlets,  brassets,  cuishes  and  greaves  encased  the  man  in 
an  envelope  of  steel,  while  the  closed  helmet  masked  all  of  the  face  but  the 
eyes.  There  was  nothing  to  distinguish  one  knight  from  any  other  of  the 
same  build  and  wearing  the  same  accouterments.  The  Norman-French 
knights  in  1147  hit  upon  the  ingenious  plan  of  engraving  upon  the  knight's 
shield  a  device  that  would  tell  who  the  bearer  was.  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion 
was  one  of  the  first  of  the  Norman-English  to  take  up  the  new  fashion,  near- 
1}-  fifty  )-ears  after  the  French  crusadeis  had  begun  it.  His  knights  followed 
the  kingly  example,  improving  on  the  original  idea  by  not  only  emblazoning 
the  device  upon  the  real  shield,  but  b)"  embroidering  a  shield  or  escutcheon 
upon  the  surtout  or  coat  worn  over  the  armor,  and  on  this  placing  the  same 
designs.     Hence  arose  the  expression,  a  coat-of-arms. 

A  coat-of-arms  has  been  from  the  first  a  badge  of  good  birth.  Se\'ere 
fines  and  confiscation  of  property  were  imposed  on  any  of  common  blood  who 
assumed  a  family  escutcheon.  Coats-of-arms  were  occasionally  allowed  to 
those  of  merely  "good  blood,"  i.  e.  to  those  who  could  name  their  grand- 
parents. Usually,  however,  it  was  restricted  to  those  with  blue-blood,  or  full 
pedigree,  i.  e.  those  who  could  name  their  father  and  mother,  their  four  grand- 
parents, eight  great-grandfathers  and  eight  great-grandmothers.  After  a  line 
has  taken  a  coat-of-arms,  all  of  the  legitimate  descendants  are  entitled  to  use 
it,  provided  they  can  prove  their  pedigree.  Less  than  fifty  years  ago  a  titled 
English  family  died  out,  and  it  was  supposed  the  estate  would  revert  to  the 
crown.  A  family  who  bore  the  same  arms,  proved  their  pedigree  back  four 
hundred  and  three  years  to  a  brother  of  an  ancestor  of  this  titled  line,  and 
the  courts  awarded  them  both  the  estate  and  the  title  of  their  centuries-re- 
moved kinsmen.  To  have  a  coat-of-arms  was  and  \%  prima  facie  evidence  of 
good  blood,  and  in  some  European  countries  those  who  use  them  must  pa}'  a 
tax  on  them  as  a  valuable  personal  possession. 

All  of  the  oldest  coats-of-arms  were  ver}-  simple.  The  shield  was  without 
ornamentation,  and  there  was  no  crest,  .scroll,  motto,  or  mantling  adorning 
it,  up  to  the  year  1300.  The  device  was  usually  three  charges  (devices) 
upon  the  field,  (the  face  of  the  shield,)  two  abo\'e  and  one  below.  About 
1360  elaborate  quarterings,  palings,  emblazonments,  etc.,  began  to  appear. 
So  a  simple,  three  charge  escutcheon  indicates  an  antiquity  of  six  or  seven 
hundred  years.  After  elaborate  coats-of-arms  became  admired,  noble  houses 
of  which  the  heirs  married  heiresses  who  brought  rich  estates  to  them,  quar- 
tered the  wife's  arms  with  their  own.     The  old  house  of  de  Greene  in  time 


Zbc   (Srccne   S'aniili^ 


showed  many  qiiarterings  and  emblazonments.       See   Greene  coats-of-anns 
both  on  opposite  page  and  in  chapter  III. 

About  1300  a  torce  or  wreath,  representing  the  twisted  garland  of  silk 
that  was  the  knight's  favor  received  from  his  lady's  hand,  was  placed  above 
the  shield.  It  forms  the  support  for  the  present  crest.  Borders  (bordures,) 
to  the  shield  began  to  be  used,  each  variation  representing  a  different  branch 
of  the  family.  The  signs  of  cadency,  as  they  are  called,  a  crescent  on  the  shield 
to  denote  a  second  son,  a  mullet  for  the  third,  etc.,  did  not  come  into  use 
until  the  time  of  Henry  VII,  1485-1508.  This  was  about  the  time  the  head 
of  the  Dorsetshire  and  Gillingham  Greenes,  (from  whom  the  American  lines 
of  Warwick  and  Quidnesset  Greenes  descend,)  would  have  assumed  his  coat 
of  arms.  When  Deputy  Governor  John  Greene  went  from  R.  I.  to  England 
a  few  years  prior  to  1700,  he  had  a  new  seal  made  from  the  family  arms. 
This  seal  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Henr\'  Lehre  Greene,  and  shows  the 
crescent,  which  tells  us  that  this  ancestor  of  four  hundred  years  ago  was  the 
second  son  of  a  recognized  branch  of  the  noble  house  of  Greene. 

Nearly  a  hundred  years  after  the  wreath  began  to  be  used,  the  mantling 
appeared.  This  is  the  wavy  folds  hanging  down  from  the  crest  at  each  side 
of  the  shield,  and  represents  the  bauldrick  or  silken  military  sash  the  knights 
wore  on  parade.  Crests  were  the  last  things  introduced  upon  coats-of-arms, 
though  royalty  and  crusade  commanders  used  them  before.  There  is  usual- 
ly a  helmet  as  part  of  the  crest.  If  in  profile,  showing  the  bars,  it  denotes 
nobility  of  high  rank.  Those  who  will  study  the  coats-of-arms  given  in 
this  chapter  and  the  next  will  find  these  various  changes  illustrated  one  by 
one.  These  seals  and  escutcheons  are  photographed  by  permission  from  a 
set  of  Halstead's  (Earl  of  Peterborough's)  Genealogies,  three  hundred  and 
nineteen  years  old. 

About  1272  Henry  III  had  a  roll  made  of  all  the  coats-of-arms  in  the 
kingdom  up  to  that  year.  Edward  I  and  Edward  III  also  had  them  care- 
fully listed  and  described.  Heraldry  reached  its  height  under  Richard  II, 
who  reigned  from  1377  to  1398.  He  established  the  College  of  Heralds, 
who  registered  each  coat-of-arms,  and  the  pedigree  on  which  it  is  founded, 
and  gave  permission  for  new  coats-of-arms,  or  to  make  changes.  In  Richai'd 
IPs  time  there  were  but  seven  hundred  escutcheons  in  all  England,  and  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  these  became  extinct  in  the  War  of  the  Roses. 
So  that  a  coat-of-anns  that  antedates  1400  is  ancient  indeed. 

To  return  to  the  early  escutcheons  of  the  first  de  Greenes.  This  was 
at  the  beginning  of  Heraldry.  The  first  idea  was  solely  to  show  by  a  device 
who  each  knight  was.  All  these  first  coats-of-arms  suggested  the  knight's 
surname,  by  the  name  of  the  object  emblazoned  on  the  shield.  Inherited 
coats-of-arms  were  at  first  only  considered  as  belonging  to  those  who  inher- 


^be   (5reene   fainili? 


ited  a  title.  Until  nearly  1300,  younger  brothers  chose  whatever  coats-of- 
arms  pleased  them.  Thus  the  Lords  de  Greene  de  Boketon  chose  a  device 
that  suggested  the  de  Boketon  part  of  their  name.  It  was  three  bucks 
(bokes)  trippant,  or,  upon  an  azure  field.  That  is,  the  bucks  were  traced  in 
gold,  as  walking  upon  a  blue  field.  The  terminal  syllable  ton,  tine,  prong, 
fork,  twig,  etc.,  all  came  from  the  same  root-word,  that  at  that  time  meant 
nearly  the  same  thing.  So  that  the  deer's  broad  antlers  suggested  to  them 
buck's  tons  or  antlers.  At  least  three  younger  scions  of  the  house  chose 
other  de\'ices,  each  a  play,  however,  either  upon  the  de  Greene  or  the  de 
Boketon  part  of  the  name.  One  represented  an  English  bird  commonly 
called  the  green  Woodpecker.  It  was  pecking  on  a  tree  trunk  in  the  park 
or  green.  A  second  represents  a  dove  with  a  sprig  of  a  green  olive  leaf  in 
her  bill.  The  third  represents  a  stag's  head  with  wide  antlers,  which  again 
suggests  buck's  ton  or  buck's  prong.  As  coats-of-arms  soon  became  heredi- 
tary to  all  of  one  line,  these  three  altogether  different  coats-of-arms  prove 
that  Lord  Alexander  de  Greene  de  Boketon  had  other  sons  and  grandsons 
beside  the  direct  heirs,  who  assumed  these  arms  before  1275. 


^be  Crusaber's  XTale 


'  Ho  !   far-off  ancestors  ! 

Ho  !   men  of  other  days  ! 

Help  ine  recount  your  deeds 

In  lays  of  fitting  praise." 

For  answer,  misty  shapes 
Take  form  before  my  eyes  ; 

And  "Tell  them  of  wy  deeds," 
An  eager  ghost-shape  cries. 

'No!  No  I     Of  mine  !  "      "Of  mine  I 
Resounds  on  either  hand  : 

Just  then  commanding  shape. 
With  mien  both  fierce  and  grand, 

Uprose  amidst  that  throng 
And  did  those  ghosts  berate. 

'  Give  way,  ye  upstart  shades. 

Give  way,  while  Hugh  the  Great 

Relates  /us  daring  deeds  ;  " 
Then  unto  me  he  turned, 

His  face  aglow    with  zeal 

That  once  within  hmi  burned. 

'  In  that  great  First  Crusade, 

When  Cliristians  sought  to  wrest 
The  Holy  Sepulchre, 

Christ's  sacred  place  of  rest, 
From  out  of  Moslem  hands, — 

In  that  Crusade,  dear  scribe, 
Hugh  Magnus  Vermandois, 

King  Henry's  second  son. 
Bore  stress  of  leadership. 

A  score  of  times  we  won 
Our  lives  'gainst  fearful  odds ; 

A  score  of  times  we  bore 
With  famine's  fearful  woes  ; 

Or  bore  with  thiist  so  sore 
That  naught  but  honor's  might 

Enabled  valiant  men 
To  keep  the  conflict  up. 

Most  fearful  time  was  when 
Besieged  at  Antioch, 

By  hunger's  pangs  oppressed, 
We  ate  our  leathern   shoes, 

We  were  so  sore  distressed  ; 
Then  sallying  forth  we  smote 

Th'  encircling  Turkish  foe  ; 


We  smote  with  lance  and  sword, 

Nor  did  we  Christians  know 
One  moment's  rest,   until 

Upon  that  bloody  field. 
Two  thousand  Infidels  » 

Were  forced  their  lives  to  yield. 
The  Moslems  rallied  well  ; 

We  drove  them  back  again. 
And  fought  them  till  we  slew 

One  hundred  thousand  men. 


'The  wily  r^Ioslem  foe 

Surrounded  us  again  ; 
Alas  !   from  out  that  fight, 

With  scarce  a  thousand  men, 
I  cut  and  forced  my  way. 

Dear  scribe,   I'd  tell  you  more. 
For  Hugh  de  Vermandois 

Adventures  had  by  score  ; 
But  I  have  said  enough 

To  prove  my  rightful  claim 
To  rank  the  peer  of  all 

Who  earned  Crusader's  fame." 


He  faded  slow  away, 

And,  as  he  went  from  sight, 
I  caught  my  pen.  that  I 

Might  chronicle  aright 
The  fame  of  Vermandois. 

His  star  of  life  has  set. 
But  through  all  coming  time 

Our  songs  shall  praise  him  yet. 

Mrs.  A.  A.  S/owe. 


I 


Hbbenba 


NOTES   To  CHAPTER   II    AND    III 

The  second  baron  of  the  line,  as  listed  in  old  rolls  of  20th  year  of  Henry 
III,  (1236)  and  45th  year  of  same  king,  (1261)  was  Sir  Walter  de  Boketon. 
The  same  properties  or  affairs  listed  again  in  a  roll  of  the  7th  year  of 
Edward  II,  ( 1 314)  repeat  the  name  of  Sir  Walter,  and  also  give  name  of 
John  de  Boketon,  whom  we  may  consider  the  next  heir.  As  the  fourth  lord 
was  certainly  Sir  Thomas,  who  received  the  title  in  his  infancy,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  reign  of  Edward  I,  (1272)  this  (Sir)  John  de  Boket  on  was  doubt- 
less the  young  crusading  Knight  who  perished  in  Palestine  in  1271.  This 
completes  the  names  of  the  Lords  of  the  line,  and  is  given  here,  although 
received  too  late  to  be  entered  at  the  proper  place  in  the   regular    chapters. 

NOTE    TO   CHAPTER   III.       ANCESTRY   OF   DUKE    ROBERT   THE   STRONG. 

Wittekind,  the  famous  hero  of  old  German  lore,  was  converted  to 
Christianity  A.  D.  785.  After  this  there  are  but  the  scantiest  authentic  records 
of  him.  However,  very  old  traditions  uniformly  assert,  and  historians  usually 
accept  as  a  fact,  that  three  families  descended  directly  from  him.  These 
were  (i)  the  Dukes  of  Lower  Saxony,  whose  head,  Duke  Ludolf,  850,  was 
the  great-grandson  of  Wittekind;  (2)  the  Counts  of  Wettin,  who  were 
descended  from  either  a  younger  son  or  a  daughter  of  the  hero,  and  (3)  the 
line  of  Robert  the  Strong,  created  Duke  de  France  A.  D.  861.  The  latter  is 
by  some  historians  called  the  son  of  Wittekind.  It  is  much  more  probable 
that  he  was  the  grandson  of  that  chieftain. 

The  vSaxons  were  Pagans  of  Northern  Germany.  They  worshipped 
Odin  and  all  the  host  of  Norse  deities.  Pepin,  one  of  the  strongest  kings  of 
the  Franks,  subdued  the  Saxons,  broke  down  their  strongholds,  forced  them 
to  pay  a  tribute  of  300  horses  annually,  and  made  them  allow  Christian 
missionaries  to  settle  among  them.  When  his  son  Charlemagne  came  to 
the  throne  he  felt  it  to  be  the  mission  of  his  life  to  crush  the  power  of  the 
Saxons,  and  to  convert  the  nation  to  Christianity.     He  conducted   18  wars 


1 4b  H^^cn^a 


against  this  brave  but  unrortunate  people, — wars  bitter  and  blood-thirst}-  on 
either  side. 

A.  D.  772,  he  ground  Saxony  beneath  his  iron  heel.  In  particular  he 
destroyed  the  Sanctuary  of  Odin,  and  threw  down  the  venerated  idol  of 
Inninsul,  a  mysterious,  column-like  image,  the  loss  of  which  roused 
the  Saxons  to  a  religious  frenzy.  Wittekind,  "Noblest  of  heathen  heroes," 
as  one  styles  him,  the  "  Last  Saxon  King"  as  another  calls  him,  undertook 
the  leadership  of  the  forlorn  Saxon  host. 

In  774  this  Westphalian  chieftau  led  his  army  against  Charlemagne. 
By  777  that  powerful  king  forced  most  of  the  great  Saxon  nobles  to  sur- 
render and  receive  baptism.  Wittekind  fled  to  Siegfried,  the  King  of  Jut- 
land, a  part  of  Denmark.  This  is  the  same  Siegfried  whose  exploits  are 
told  in  the  iVibe/niigcnlicd  and.  other  folk-lore  songs,  which  sing  of  his  magic- 
mantle  of  invisibility  and  his  beautiful  wife,  Kriemhilt,  and  of  the  treasure 
of  the  Nibeluiigcii  that  he  brought  fiom  the  far  North.  However  mythical 
these  things  may  be,  Siegfried  was  a  loyal  friend  to  Wittekind,  and  gave 
him  his  own  sister,  the  Princess  Geva,  for  a  wife. 

It  was  the  next  year,  778,  when  Charlemagne's  aimy  was  hennned  in 
in  the  Pass  of  Roncesvalles,  and  the  Knight  Roland  and  others,  the  very 
flower  of  chivalry,  perished  there.  This  reverse  of  Charlemagne's  fortune 
inspired  Wittekind  to  a  new  rebellion.  He  came  back  and  again  headed 
his  people  in  a  revolt,  layirg  west  the  country  of  the  Rhine.  Again  he  fled 
to  Jiitland.  Again  he  returned.  This  last  time,  in  7S2,  he  fell  upon  the 
Prankish  army  upon  the  Sintle  River,  and  all  but  wiped  it  out.  Charle- 
magne took  revenge  in  the  iMassacre  of  \'erden,  where  he  slew  4,500  with 
the  sword  in  one  day.  Terrible  battles  followed,  but  the  Franks  were  ever 
victorious. 

In  785  Wittekind  and  his  followers  came  to  the  great  king  at  Attigny 
surrendered  and  were  baptized,  Charlemagne  himself  attending  Wittekind 
to  the  font,  and  making  him  magnificent  presents.  He  created  him  Duke 
also.  Wittekind  built  himself  the  Castle  of  Babilonie  near  Lubeck,  and 
rviled  his  subjects  with  kindness  until  807,  when  helping  Charlemagne,  he 
expired  in  a  campaign.  He  was  buried  in  the  church  at  Engers,  where  a 
beautiful  monument  was  later  erected  over  his  remains. 


.  ill 

lohn^'^LiilordaiLt 
Lord  cfUnaifhm 
£lly  ritziervis , 

~^ 

p 

>»«^^.;:::::::j:ijjjg 

HHIiHiuiii'uS;; 

r 

^: 

'Wm 

"~~>nJ 

ri 

ARMS  OF  THE  2XD  LORD  MORDAUNT.    (aT  LEFT,)  QUARTERED  WITH  ARMS  OF  LEWIS  (AT  LEFT.) 

About  1550.   In  the  generations  close  following  the  Greene-Mordaunt  Arms  were 

born  by  Earl  Peterborough,  author  of  Halstead's  Genealogy,  so  often  quoted 

in  these  pages  and  by  the  great  English  General,  Charles  Mordaunt,  also 

Earl  of  Peterborough.     Thearms  were  surmounted  by  an  Earl's  coronet. 


CHAPTER    m 

FROM    1296   TO   DEATH   OF    LORD   CHIEF-JU5TICE   GREENE,  I370 

These  mentioned  by  their  names  were  princes  in  their  family  ;  and  the  house  of  their 
fathers  increased  greatly. 

—IChronichs,  IV.      Verse  3S. 

Hahle,id's  Gencii/ogics.  Lord  Thomas*.  Lord  Thomas^  and  his  marriage  into  the  royal 
line  0/  French  Kings.  The  de  la  Zouchc  genealogy. .  The  Lord  Chief-Justice,  Sir 
Henrys.  Services  to  state.  Establishment  of  the  great  Boughton  Fair.  His  estates. 
His  marriage  and  family.      The  peculiar  entailment  of  his  estate.      His  burial. 

Ambitious  family  antiquarians  are  always  proud  if  they  can  claim  a 
royal  descent.  The  Greenes  find  no  trouble  in  presenting  their  royal  tree, 
as  their  lineal  line  to  the  Capet  Kings  of  France  is  complete  without  a  break 
or  an  uncertain  ancestor.  We  have  followed  Halstead's  Genealogy,  Brown- 
ing's Americans  of  Royal  Descent,  and  Rev.  S.  Beal's,  D.  C.  L.  Account  of 
Green's  Norton,  together  with  the  known  genealogy  of  the  Capetian  Kings 
of  France,  all  of  which  agree  with  each  other. 

Halstead's  Genealogy  stands  at  the  head  of  English  works  of  this  kind. 
It  was  written  in  15S5  bv  the  second  Earl  of  Peterborough,  himself  of  the 
blood  of  Greene.  He  assumed  the  pen  name  of  Robert  Halstead,  and  hence 
his  work  is  always  spoken  of  as  Halstead's  Genealogy,  although  his  true 
name  is  well  known.  But  twenty-four  copies  were  printed.  The  work  is 
valued  so  highly  that  a  few  }-ears  ago  when  a  set  was  offered  for  sale  in 
England,  the  price  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  guineas,  or 
$625.00  !  One  feature  of  Halstead  is  eighty  pages  of  proofs,  verbatim  copies 
of  official  state  records,  some  of  them  in  English,  but  more  of  them  in  either 
Latin  or  Norman-French.  All  of  the  scholars  of  that  day  used  Latin,  and 
Norman-French  was  the  language  of  Court  and  Parliament  until  near  the 
close  of  Edward  Hi's  reign.  We  were  allowed  to  have  this  invaluable  work 
copied,  and  by  special  permission  to  have  photographs  taken  of  its  centuries- 
old  illustrations  of  coats-of-arms,  tombs,  etc. 


i6  Ebe   (Brccne   Jfamil^ 

King  John  was  succeeded  by  weak,  irresolute  Henrj-  III,  who  reigned 
fifty-six  long,  dreary  years.  Sir  Thomas,  the  fourth  Lord  de  Greene  de 
Boketon,  was  born  in  the  closing  years  of  this  reign.  In  1270,  Prince  Ed- 
ward, afterward  known  as  The  Hammer  of  Scotland,  set  forth  on  the  last  of 
the  great  Crusades.  The  flower  of  the  nobility  attended  the  Prince  as 
knights.  The  second  Lord  de  Greene  was  }-et  alive.  His  heir  was  a  j-oung 
man  whose  rank  entitled  him  to  accompany  the  Prince.  Edward  reached 
the  Holy  Land  and  won  some  victories,  but  at  a  frightful  cost  of  life. 
Young  de  Greene  is  supposed  to  have  perished  in  Palestine,  leaving  in  far- 
off  England  a  little  son  so  young  that  his  own  heir  was  not  born  until  twenty 
years  after  Prince  Edward  became  king,  which  was  in  1272.  The  old  Lord, 
the  child  Sir  Thomas'  grandfather,  died  a  few  years  after  his  crusading  son. 
"  Sir  Thomas  flourished,"  says  Halstead,  "  about  the  beginning  of  King 
Edward  I,"  i.  e.  he  came  to  his  title  about  this  time. 

King  Edward  conquered  Wales,  and  then  attempted  the  conc^uest  of 
Scotland,  earning  the  sobriquet  of  "  The  Hammer  of  Scotland  "  from  his 
four  wars  against  it.  He  captured  and  executed  Sir  William  Wallace,  the 
hero  of  "  Scottish  Chiefs."  He  also  carried  off  the  Stone  of  Destiny  that 
the  superstitious  Scotch  believed  was  the  stone  upon  which  Jacob  pillowed 
his  head  when  he  saw  the  vision  of  angels  ascending  and  descending  from  a 
ladder  that  reached  unto  heaven.  Scotch  kings  were  always  crowned  sitting 
upon  that  stone.  Edward  I  took  it  to  Westminster,  and  had  an  elaborate 
coronation  chair  built,  with  the  stone  within  it.  Ever}-  English  monarch 
since  then  has  been  crowned  while  sitting  on  that  sacred  stone. 

Halstead  continues  :  "  Sir  Thomas  we  find  recited  in  an  ancient  cata- 
logue of  the  knights  who  accompanied  Edward  I  against  the  Scots  in  1296." 
Sir  Thomas'  wife  was  Alice,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Sir  Thomas  Bottisham, 
of  Braunston.  Sir  Thomas  de  Greene*  was  mentioned  in  the  records  of  13 19 
as  then  alive. 

Sir  Thomas,  the  fifth  lord,  was  born  in  1292.  He  contracted  a  high 
marriage  with  one  of  royal  descent,  and  when  about  40  was  made  High 
Sheriff  of  Northamxpton,  (1330-1332),  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward III.  "  The  office  was  not  as  in  these  days,  but  esteemed  equal  to  the 
care  of  princes,  an  office  of  great  trust  and  reputation,  and  justly  esteemed 
honos  sine  onerey     {Halstead.) 

Our  chronicler  continues  :  "He  married  Lucie  the  daughter  of  Eudo 
de  la  Zouche  and  I\Iillicent,  one  of  the  sisters  and  heirs  of  George  de  Cante- 
lupe,  Lord  of  Abergavenny,  [on  the  River  Vsk  in  Wales,]  with  whom  he 
had  in  free  marriage  nine  ]\Iessuages,  [houses  with  adjoining  lands,]  one 
Toft,  [a  grove,]  and  four  Mrgates  of  Land,  [yard  lands  of  from  15  to  40 
acres  each,]  with  their  appurtenances  in  Harringworth.      The  house  of  de 


XLbc   (5recne   J'ainilv 


la  Zouclie  was  lineally  descended  from  Alan  the  fanions  Earl  and  vSovereign 
of  Little  Britain."  Sir  Thomas''  by  Lady  Lucie  had  one  son,  vSir  Henry  de 
Greene'',  afterward  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England. 

Lad}'  Lucie  had  ro}-al  blood.     From  her  only  son  have  descended  the 
Earls  of  Wiltshire,  Montague,  Peterborough  and  Sandwich,  as  well  as  a  host 
of  good  Americans,  including  the  Warwick  and  Ouidnessett  Greenes.     For   ' 
their  benefit  Lady  Lucie  de  la  Zouche's  pedigree  is  given. 

Charles  the  Bald,  the  grandson  of  Charlemagne,  was  King  of  France 
from  833-877.  When  at  war  with  his  brothers  and  in  sore  straits,  he  called 
to  his  aid  Robert  the  Strong,  a  Saxon  leader  in  Bftg^land,  and  rewarded  him  ^^eAAtfOyi^ri 
with  rich  territorial  grants  and  the  titles  of  Count  of  Anjou  and  Duke  of 
He  de  France.  This  was  in  861.  Duke  Robert  was  every  inch  a  military 
man,  and  won  renown  for  his  victories  over  the  Norsemen,  after  they  were 
successful  almost  everywhere  else.  It  is  from  him  that  the  martial  spirit 
came  that  has  blazed  out  anew  now  and  then  down  the  centuries,  among  his 
descendants,  as  in  Lord  Montague  and  the  Earl  of  Sandwich  in  England, 
and  our  own  General  Nathaniel  Greene  of  Re\'olutionary  War  fame. 

Robert  the  Strong  fell  in  battle  with  the  Norsemen.  A  son  Hugh  was 
later  killed  in  a  Norse  battle  also.  Robert's  two  sons,  Duke  Eudes  and 
Duke  Robert,  are  by  some  reckoned  among  the  kings  of  France,  as  they  ex- 
ercised the  power  of  a  ruler.  Eudes  long  fought  the  Norsemen  with  dogged 
courage.  Robert',  who  succeeded  this  brother,  had  ci^'il  wars  to  contend 
with.  When  Robert's  son,  Count  Hugo  the  White,  or  Hugo  the  Great,  be- 
came Duke  of  France,  there  was  nominally  a  descendant  of  Charlemagne  on 
the  French  throne.  In  reality  Hugo  was  king  in  all  but  name.  His  son, 
Hugh  Capet,  in  987,  wrested  the  throne  from  the  weak  puppet  upon  it,  and 
was  crowned  khig  at  Rheims.  Hugo  Capet  married  a  sister  of  Guilhem 
Fier-a-Bras,  (William  of  the  Iron  Arm,)  the  Duke  of  Aquitaine. 

Their  son,  Robert  the  Pious,  came  to  the  throne  in  996  and  reigned  un- 
til his  death  in  103 1.  He  was  a  good  man,  but  weak  king.  He  obediently 
put  away  his  first  wife  at  the  Pope's  command,  and  married  Constans  of 
Provens,  by  whom  he  had  Henry,  who  became  King  in  1031.  For  nearly 
900  years  this  line  of  kings  sat  upon  the  throne  of  France.  Henry,  this 
third  Capetian  king,  found  it  an  uneasy  seat.  The  whole  of  his  29  3'ears 
reign  was  a  constant  struggle  with  his  great  nobles.  Guerrilla  warefare  was 
carried  so  far  that  the  Church  proclaimed  a  "  Truce  of  God,"  by  which  no 
hostilities  could  take  place  from  Thursday  evening  until  IMonday  morning, 
or  on  feast  daj-s,  or  during  Lent  and  Advent.  King  Henry's  children  were 
by  his  second  wife,  Anne  of  Russia.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Grand  Duke 
Jaroslay,  and  was  lineally  descended  from  Jaroslav  the  Great,  a  famous 
Russian  of  1000  years  ago. 


^be   6reene   jfainil^ 


King  Henn''s  second  son  was  Hugh  IMagnus,  Count  of  Vermandois,  who 
is  better  known  as  the  Great  Crusader.* 

The  Count's  daughter,  Lady  Isabel,  married  Robert  de  Belleniont,  Earl 
of  Alellent  and  first  Earl  of  Leicester.  They  had  Earl  Robert  the  Second, 
who  married  Aurelia  de  la  Waer,  the  daughter  of  Ralph,  Earl  of  Norfolk. 
This  second  Earl  of  Leicester  was  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England  also. 
Robert,  the  next  and  third  Earl  of  Leicester,  married  Petronella,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Hugh  de  Grantes-Mismil. 

The  daughter  of  Earl  Robert  and  Countess  Petronella  was  Lady  IMar- 
garet  de  Bellemont,  who  married  Sieur  de  Ouincy.  This  nobleman  was  the 
first  beside  kings  and  princes  to  assume  a  crest  to  his  coat-of-arms.  Newton 
in  his  Display  of  Heraldry  says  the  honor  was  conferred  upon  him  because 
he  was  an  eminent  commander  in  the  Holy  Wars.  This  crest  of  his  was 
noted  for  its  extraordinary  size.  Sieur  de  Quincy  was  in  the  Crusade  of 
1188-1192,  imder  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  King  of  England.  One  of  his 
fellow  crusaders  was  Robert,  third  Earl  of  Leicester,  afterwards  his  own 
father-in-law.  In  1 207  King  John  created  this  nobleman  Earl  of  Winches- 
ter. Nevertheless,  when  the  barons  rose  against  King  John,  eight  years 
later,  he  was  one  of  the  25  great  barons  who  signed  Magna  Cliarta,  and  com- 
pelled the  king  to  do  likewise.  His  son,  Roger,  second  Earl  of  Winchester, 
married  Helen,  a  daughter  of  Alen,  Lord  of  Gallowa}'. 

Earl  Roger's  daughter,  Lady  Elene  de  Ouincy,  married  Alen,  Lord  de 
la  Zouche,  Governor  of  the  Castle  of  Northampton,  who  died  in  1269.     Eudo 


•His  history  reads  lilce  a  romance.    He  was  eailed  Hugh  the  Great,  both  because  he  was  a  powerful 

leailer.  aad  lieeause  of  his  tall  stature.  As  the  br Mtlier  ■  if  th.-  King  of  France,  he  was  given  command  of 
til' Tr  i:  h  :::!ir   <  ..fLangued'Oil.    Hewastii        -  _      r       til   r^  to  reach  the  Orient.     H.'  tuok 

>\i'.\'    :,-•'.■        .^  -  iii  Italy  early  in  1096.     Anna  (  r      ,~  hadly  crippled  by  a  great  tem- 

1^  -  .  11.  h.nvever,  and  as  he  must  :■  Emperor  Al'xins'  territ'iries, 

h-  -.:■-! -.1  .,';i^-i;ts  in  gulden  armor  to  Alexia^  I.:-    ■   miag.     He  styl-d  lumself.    "The 

br'ther  of  the  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  all  the  Fraiiki>h  h^jsts."  Smoi.th  spoken  Alexius  let  him  c^ame 
within  the  walls  of  Constantinople,  then  made  him  prisoner.  And  not  until  all  of  the  Crusader  readers 
with  their  hosts  besieged  the  city,  did  he  set  him  free. 

Ir  — a=  a '^ami  aign  of  horror.s.  In  one  day  500  men  r- ri^li- 1 '•■  -^i  ■-•"=;••- heat.  Atone  time  over 
3'  :       ■■:-     an  1  the  plague  numbered  its  thousand-.      \     \  .     a     -    a  an  Kerbogha  besieged 

til.  '  I  I  •  I  I-  a  til  the  soldiers  from  hunger  devoured  tii.  an  ;  i  li  -i;  -  and  .shield^,  and  even 
at.- ill  i""i;,  f  ilia  dead.  The  last  pitiful  remnant  of  la  a  a  .-..)  a  ■  :- a-  I  ti  celebrate  the  mass. 
Then,  at  the  head  of  a  mob  of  ragged,  starving  men.  Count  Hugh  made  a  sud'ien  and  desperate  sally 
where  the  Turks  were  strongest.  2000  of  the  Turks  were  killed  on  this  spot  They  fled,  and  before  the 
affray  ended,  100,000  Moslems  were  slain. 

Some  time  later,  the  Turks  took  a  terrible  revenge.  They  hemmed  in  150.000  Christians  and  began 
to  slaughter  them.  U9.ooo  Christians  were  killed.  Count  Hugh,  who  seemed  to  live  a  charmed  life,  cut 
his  way  through  with  barely  1000  men. 

The  Crusade  closed  in  1100.  Count  Hugh  remained  to  make  the  little  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem  =eeure, 
the  more  so  that  thousands  of  enthusiasts,  both  men  and  women,  flocked  to  Pali-stia  ,  da.  niai.  d  to 
end  their  days  in  the  Holy  City.    Alexius  again  showed  treachery,  and  the  Christian-   ;    .     '1  _  li.ist 

him.  hundreds  of  ladies  accompanying  them  to  witness  the  combat  They  wer..  a  '  •  '  !  .ut 
numbered.  The  women  were  captured,  sold  as  slaves  in  Bagdad,  and  ended  their  iln-  har  .  a-.  1  .imt 
Hugh  escaped  to  Tarsus,  the  city  where  the  Apostle  Paul  was  born.  Worn  out  by  his  hardsliins.  there 
he  died,  aged  something  less  than  50  years.    His  death  oecured  in  1103. 


^be    (Brecne    3famU\> 


de  la  Zouche  was  the  next  in  the  line.  He  married  Lady  Millicent  de 
Cantelupe.  It  was  their  daughter,  Lady  Lucie,  that  married  the  fifth  Lord 
de  Greene.  She  was  the  fifteenth  in  lineal  descent  from  Robert  the  Strong, 
eleventh  from  Hugh  Capet,  eighth  from  Count  Hugh  the  Crusader,  and 
fourth  from  Earl  Winchester,  who  signed  Magna  Charta.  She  had  the  blood 
of  lords,  earls,  counts,  dukes,  grand  dukes  and  princes,  and  of  three  kings  in 
her  veins.  Those  who  descended  from  her  need  not  feel  unduly  elated. 
There  have  been  nineteen  generations  since  her  dav,  and  whatever  roval 
blood  she  transmitted  to  her  line  must  be  pretty  effectually  diluted  by  now. 

To  return  to  the  de  Greenes.  Both  Sir  Thomas'*  who  married  Lady  Lucie, 
and  their  son.  Sir  Henry*^,  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  received  high  honors  from 
the  hand  of  King  Edward  IH,  one  of  the  best  and  strongest  kings  England 
ever  had,  and  whose  long  reign  of  50  years  allowed  him  to  bring  about 
many  reforms.  He  was  a  warrior  and  statesman,  with  a  lawyer-like  bent 
of  mind.  More  important  laws  were  passed  in  his  reign  than  in  300  years 
before.  He  created  Justices  of  the  Peace  ;  made  the  rank  of  a  duke ;  estab- 
lished the  Order  of  the  Garter  ;  divided  Parliament  into  the  House  of  Com- 
mons and  the  House  of  Lords,  and  had  its  powers  first  clearly  defined.  He 
ordered  the  use  of  the  English  language  in  Court  and  Parliament  instead  of 
French.  An  energetic,  change-working  king  such  as  he,  had  particular 
need  of  a  counselor  of  trained  judicial  qualities. 

He  found  such  a  trusted  adviser  in  Sir  Henry  de  Greene,  the  foremost 
lawyer  of  his  day.  Sir  Henry's  rank  would  not  allow  him  to  plead  before 
the  bar,  but  he  put  all  his  mental  acumen  and  legal  knowledge  at  his  ro}-al 
master's  command.  The  King  was  deeply  attached  to  him.  Little  did 
either  of  them  think  that  in  a  day  to  come  the  King's  grandson  would  cut 
off  the  head  of  his  counselor's  favorite  son. 

Halstead  tells  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice's  rise  in  these  words :  "  He  was 
a  Commissioner  to  examine  certain  abuses  of  which  there  was  great  com- 
plaint. He  was  much  employed,  and  in  special  trust  and  authority  under 
those  ministers  the  King  left  to  govern  the    land  in   all  the   long  wars  he 

made  in  France His  integrity,  wisdom  and  great  abilities 

did  occasion  his  advancement  [1353]  to  the  office  of  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
England.  He  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  two  Parliaments 
[1363-4,]  and  became  at  last  of  the  Kings  nearest  Coimsel.    [State  Cabinet.] 

And  such  was  his  good  fortune, he  left  to  his  posterity  one 

of  the  most  considerable  estates  of  that  age." 

"  He  died  possessed  of  his  ancient  manor  of  Buckton,  of  Greene's  Norton, 
East  Neaston,  Heydmon  Court,  Heybourn,  Ashby  ]\Iares,  and  Dodington, 
with  lands  in  Whittlebur}-,  Paulsbury,  and  Northampton ;  the  lordships  of 
Drayton,  Luffwich,  Pesford,  Islip,  Shipton,  Wolston,  Wamingdon,  Chalton, 


Sbe   6reene   iTaniil^ 


Haughton,  Boteshaseall,  with  lands  in  Harringworth,  Cottingliam,  Middle- 
ton,  Carletou,  Isham,  Aldwiuckle,  Pisliteley,  Harrowden,  Hardwick,  Raunds, 
Ringstead,  Coates,  Titchmarsli,  Warrington  and  sundry  other  places." 

One  of  the  L,ord  Chief  Justice's  enterprises  was  the  establishment  of  a 
Fair,  held  each  year  upon  the  spacious  green  or  park  at  Boughton.  A 
charter*  was  granted  to  him  to  hold  a  three  day's  fair  on  the  "  vigil,  day  and 
morrow"  of  the  Day  of  Saint  John  the  Baptist,  i.  e.  the  24th,  25th  and 
26tli  of  June,  each  year. 

The  Boughton  Fair  became  second  only  to  the  London  Fair  itself. 
Noblemen  brought  their  horses  and  stock  for  exhibition,  racing  and  sale. 
Silk  merchants,  sword  cutlers,  armor-makers,  jewelers,  saddlers,  wig-makers, 
carvers  and  marble-workers  sold  their  wares.  There  were  feats  of  tumbling, 
wrestling,  stilt-walking  and  sword-fencing.  There  were  merry-Andrews, 
buffoons  and  clowns,  "  wranglers  in  verse,"  (poets,  who  fitted  a  rhyme  while 
their  patrons  waited,)  and  musicians  who  played  harp,  fife  and  flute.  There 
were  eating  booths  and  ginger-bread  stalls,  and  shows  of  giants,  dwarfs, 
double-headed  calves,  and  wild  beasts.  This  great  Fair  was  a  boon  to  all 
Northampton.  Incidentally  it  helped  to  fill  the  coffers  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Green.     The  Boughton  Fair  still  exists,  five  and  a  half  centuries  after  its  rise. 

The  Lord  Chief  Justice  died  in  1370,  a  little  under  60,  and  was  buried 
at  Boughton.  He  was  the  last  Lord  of  the  line  to  be  buried  there.  He  was 
early  married  to  Katherine,  the  daughter  of  Sir  John,  and  only  sister  of  Sir 
Simon  Draj^ton  of  Drayton.  The}'  had  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Sir 
Thomas',  the  heir  ;  Henry,  afterwards  knighted  by  King  Richard  II,  and 


*The  original  text  of  King  Eihyard's  Gli.arter  is  in  Medieval  Latin  and  is  as  follows. 
Sii-  Henry  Greene,  Lord  of  Buektou  and  other  Lands  and  Lordships. 

Carta  pro  Feria  in  Buckton. 

Anno  iS"  Begis  Edwards:  Tertii. 
B''X.  Arohiepiseopis.  Fri  -^ri  \  "^■^-  Silutem.  Soiatis  Nos  de  gratis  nostra  special!  eonoessisse  <!thae Carta 
nostra  conflrmassc  ^1 1  •  :,  :  II  uieo  Green,  quod  ipse  haeredessuiimperpetuunihabeantsingularis 
annis  unam  Feriam  '  r  I  im  suum  de  Buekton  in  Comitatu  Northamptonlae  per  tres  dies 
dumturam.  videli'-i  i,;  ■.  :  ,:,,  i  i  Di,:- i  iu  Crastuio  NatiTibati- Sanoti  Johanni- Baptistae,  ni^i  Feria 
i'ii^'    I  1  !■  '  •  liii"::'  i- J  ■  r '-'i-n.     Qnare  volumus  A  iii";;l- T  I  :a"  !'  :'  -iM  :■    ;     '  '  -  ':  Ir.-'vl- 

1    ■  '    :  ^   ''!       ■      ,    i   ■  ■  ,       :  '  ■  I  '    •■■im  eum  omnibus   li'     ■      •       :-  -  :    '  -  '■■■ 

liii     '      :-■!■    l"-riaiii  P'l'tirH'iitiini-.  i.i-1  F-naillasit  ad  nocumontiin:    vi  ■!:,■, r.;;:!    F;.; ,::  mi:.;,  -  -i:'    i  n-- 
dienim. 

His  Testibus. 

Venerabili.  bus  Patribns  S.  Cantuar,  Arehiepiscopis.  totius  Angliae  Primate 
[Venerable  Father.  Arch  bishop  of  Canterburry,  Primate  of  all  England.]  E. 
London. 

J.  'Wigorn,  Chaneellorio  nostro,  Episeopis.  [Chancellor  and  Bishop.] 
Will  de  Bohun,  North. 
Will  de  Clynton  Huntingdon.  Comitibus, 
_  Radiilph,  Baron  Stafford. 

Joh.  de  Gray  de  Eotherfleld,  Senescallo  Hospitii  nostri  &  aliis.  [ 
Dat.  permanum  nostram  apud  'Westmonasterium  vioesimo  octavo  die  Februarii.  [Dated  at  Westminster 
F'eb.  8.  (13.1-2).] 

Per  breve  de  privats  Sigillo. 


TLiK   (Brccne   jfamil^ 


made  heir  to  his  uncle,  Sir  Simon  Drayton  ;  Nicholas  and  Richard,  who 
never  married,  and  supposedly  died  young  ;  Margaret,  who  married  Lord  de 
la  Zouche,  and  Amabila,  who  married  Lord  Ralph  Raynes  of  Clifton. 

According  to  the  English  law,  the  title  and  estate  should  have  been  the 
oldest  son's,  birt  as  Jacob  of  old  loved  Joseph  above  his  other  sons,  so  the 
Lord  Chief  Justice  favored  his  second  son  abo^•e  all  the  rest.  There  must 
have  been  something  particularly  engaging  about  Henry  de  Greene.  The 
King  afterwards  advanced  him  to  high  honor  ;  his  uncle  left  him  his  title 
and  estate,  and  the  heir  himself,  Thomas'",  consented  to  the  extraordinary 
and  almost  unheard  of  thing,  to  alienating  an  entailed  estate,  and  passing 
the  major  part  of  it  on  to  the  second  son.  A  special  license  was  given  by 
the  King,  Boughton  remained  to  the  heir's  portion,  and  Green's  Norton 
w-as  purchased  and  added  to  it.  With  that  and  large  moneys,  the  older  son 
was  content. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    LORD   GREENES   OF   GREEX'S   NORTON,    I359   TO    I57O. 

History  of  Green  s  Nortoyi.   Line  to  close  of  the  Lord  Greenes.   Lady  Vatix'sLine.  Count- 
ess of  Pembroke  s  line.   Line  of  Lady  Parr.  Queen  Catherine  I^arr  and  Henry  VIH. 

Those  interested  only  in  their  immediate  family  history  may  as  well 
skip  this  chapter.  None  of  the  American  Greenes  are  of  this  branch.  The 
blood  of  the  Lord  Greenes  flows  in  the  Pembroke  family-  and  other  noble 
families,  through  the  daughters.  But  the  males  of  the  titled  line  died  out  in 
1506.  The  interest  of  this  branch  centers  in  Queen  Catherine  Parr,  the  last 
consort  of  that  burly  old  monarch,  Henr)-  \TII. 


Norton  was  a  beautiful  manor  as  far  back  as  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion's 
day.  He  bestowed  it  on  a  favorite  soon  after  his  return  from  the  Crusades. 
From  Earl  this  and  Earl  that  it  passed  for  165  years.  Several  who  held  it 
died  young.  Three  died  childless,  and  three  left  only  daughters,  so  that 
each  time  the  property  passed  to  collateral  lines.  Baron  Morley,  to  whom 
it  came,  was  afraid  of  it.  Lord  Chief  Justice  de  Greene  broke  the  entail  for 
him,  and  acquired  it  himself,  changing  the  name  to  Green's  Norton.  It  was 
ever  after  the  seat  of  the  Lords  de  Greene,  instead  of  Boughton. 

The  Lord  Chief  Justice's  son.  Sir  Thomas",  married  Sir  John  ]\Iable- 
thorpe's  daughter.  Onh'  one  son  sur\'ived.  There  is  an  old  and  handsome 
church  at  Green's  Norton.  Here  the  Greenes,  from  Sir  Thomas",  are  buried. 
The  family  took  a  pride  in  the  magnificence  of  their  tombs.  Some  of  their 
tombs  had  rare  brasses,  which  were  inlaid  panels  of  fine  brass  with  raised 
letterings.  Others  had  altar  tombs  of  finest  marble,  supporting  efiigies  or 
recumbent  statues  representing  those  buried  beneath.  Canopies,  recessed 
arches,  and  car\'ed  coats-of-arms  were  used  where\'er  they  could  heighten 
the  effect.* 


*  In  this  connection  we  give  the  contract  for  the  making  of  the  tomb  of  Lord  Ralph  and  Lady  Greene. 
LordEalph  was  the  oldest  son  of  Sir  Henry  Greene  who  was  beheaded  in  1399.     Anyone  with  a  little 


G:be   Greene   Jfamilp 


In  the  church  at  Green's  Norton,  at  the  east  end  of  the  north  aisle,  is  a 
depressed  arch,  under  which  was  once  a  handsome  tomb,  now  sadly  mutila- 
ted. This  is  shown  to  sight-seers  as  the  Lord  Chief  Justice's  tomb.  It  is 
really  that  of  Sir  Thomas'  and  his  wife. 

Sir  Thomas'  was  born  in  1369  and  died  in  141 7.  His  only  son.  Sir 
Thomas',  had  a  large  family  by  Phillipa,  daughter  of  Baron  Ferrars.  His 
wife  was  descended  from  William  the  Conqueror,  through  the  Earl  Spencers.  * 

Sir  Thomas'"  lies  with  his  wife  in  the  center  of  the  nc ''e  of  the  church. 
The  brass  of  their  tomb-slab  bears  this  inscription,  that  I  commend  to  those 
who  would  like  to  trj'  a  specimen  of  middle-age  Latin. 

"  Hie  jacet  Thomas  Greene  miles.  D'n's  de  Norton  et  Matilda  ux  ejus, 
qui  vero.  Thomas  fuit  filius  et  heres  Thome  Greene  Militis.  D'ni  de  ead'm 
et  Philpoe  ux's  ejus  filie  Roberti  D'ni  Ferras  de  Charteley  et  Elizabeth 
uxoris  ejus  filie  Thomas  Le  Spencer,  qui  quidsm  Thomas  Greene  pater 
prefati  Thomas  Greene,  fuit  filius  et  Heres  Thomas  Greene  Militis.  D'm 
de  Norton  predicati,  et  ^larie  ux's  ejus  (filie)  Ric'i  D'm  Strange  de  Blacmere, 
qui  quidem  prefatus  Thomas  filius  predicati.     Thon\e  et  Philippoe,  obiit  ix 


knowledge  of  both  Freneh  and  Latin  can  read  it. 

Iiidentura  inter  Katlierinam  usorem  Radulphi  Greene  &  Thomam  Prentys  &  Robertum  Sutton  de 
Chelaston.  Kervers. 
CE-tp  Endentre  faite  perpentres  Katherine  que  tuist  la  feme  Bauf  Greene  Esquier.  William  Aldwniele  & 
Wiiliam  Jlari'liall  Clerk  d'un  parte.  &  Tliomas  Prentys  Kobeit  Sutton  de  Clu-Iaston  en  Count  de  Derbie 
Keiver'!.  d'autre  parte  testemoignc,  iiue  1'^  ilirz  K-'mpis  nuat  c  ivenaiitpz  &,  Piupris  pur  fair  &  entailler 
bien.  honestemeut  &  profltablempn\  nii  t  m  i  ^1  in  i  iim'  ■  i  il.istre  boa.  fyn  &  pure,  oontenent 
en  longure  ixpeesd'assise,  enlamir  i  ii  i  -  !  ll^  1  ■--  -  i  ,  i.  |p  tombe  serent  taitz  deux  images 
d'alabastre.  I'un  counterfait  aun  L~  111  1    i  u  lun    -.     t    iit        i,i  iitPUPut  en  longure  vii  peesd'assise 

avecun  helm  de  soubsson  chies.i-  un  nu--  a-.  -.  i"  >  -A  i  juiu-  mjage  stiiaeounterfait  aunedame  gisant 
en  sa  «ur.-inte  overte,  avao  deux  Anges  tpuants  un  pilow  de  soubz  sa  teste,  &  deux  petitz  chiens  a  ses 


pee*,  r  un  des  ditz  images  tenant  Fun  dps  d 
appeles  g.ililettps  .i  lour  tpstps.  .lup]  •  t  unl)  • 
assisp.  sui  i|u  n\       i      -  i     i    i   i   _       'V 
KathPiin..  \Vi   I      ,        \ 
ditp  t.jmh-    .  1 

appertinent  in  ti  t  n.'  '  i  r 
arraies  uvp  opulouis  bipii  .t  ■~uffi  -i 
overage  Et  feront  toutz  les  ditz 
suisdite.  &  surmis  <&  enhaut^,  ppi  I  I 

de  Northamption,  as  eostages  &  in  nil  .1 
<S:  le  fpste  dp  Paiqne  serra  Ten  de  giace  Jb 
perf.iuners  les  ditz  Kathprine.  William  .\.  W 
I'autre  deulx.  quarant  liurp*  dpstprlins=  d   i 
Pasque  ore  proehein  avpn       ^  \   >  i   i        ' 
ensuant  dys  marcs.  &  at  f       '    - 
anantz  seront  paiez  quai  1 1 
quelles  e  i\pnantz  avanr  lir     i  |i 

Th.-inn-      Tl         tit  ,,1  in—m 

en  lent 
Eutp-ii 


tz  images  tenant  I'autie  per  la  main,  avee  deux  tabernacles 
■  piuitpiiidia  ppi  Ips^  c  istp-,a\ep  1p   lesrirpnipnt  trois  pees  d' 
1      t      t  t   t         II      -  1   I  t  1 1  devise  des  ditz 
imounte  tout  la 
V  autres  ouvrages 
I      t   I  1        III  iiiiorres  peintes  & 

li  ,\.  pr  irttalilp  mam  rp  o^ine  appertient  a  tiel 

V  pprtourraez.  en  toutz  poyntz,  en  manere 
II  I'eaglise  parochiel  de  Luffwiek.  en  Counte 
I  I     1,  rt  .ntoiit^  maneres  ehose=.  perentre  cy 

1  -  imnerp  avantdit  affaire  & 

ditz  Thomas  &  Robert  ou 
1  -  dvs  marcs  &,  al  test  de 

.  I  I       '  '  -  r.iptlstre  adonque  proehein 

1  ires.  &  les  dix  mares rem- 
t  1  >re  avantdit;   pur  toutz 
111  III,  '  I.   ileulx.   dp   pait  les  ditz 

I   1  lUPMnp- Th  tnn- A  i;   '  N   -    i    i   '   iiK  ppr  foy, 

^  ilitz  KathpriiiP  Willi  un    .  \  cestes 

-  partip'i  nvantdit^a  V  p  -'       I  ^  iit  ount 

jour  le  Ppverer  I'an  du  R  ,' i     li  K       11    i      n    i    t      i         Cnnquest 


*The  Irish  Greenes,  who  are  exceedingly  proud  of  their  blood,  claim  descent  from  one  of  the  younger 
sons  of  this  ninth  Lord  Greene. 


24  ^be   6recne   family 

die  Sep.  An.  doin.  mili'mo  cccclxii,  et  prefata  ^Matilda  una  filiarum  Joh'ni's 
Throcmorton,   armigeri,  quondam   Subthesarauraii    Angl.    obiit  ....   die 

....  an.  dom.  inillessimo   cccc Quorum  anemabus    propitictur 

Dens.     Amen." 

Sir  Thomas'"  died  before  his  wife,  Lady  IMatikla — called  ]\Iaud,  after  the 
old  English  custom  of  nicknaming  jMatilda — and  she  married  again.  She 
built  and  endowed  a  chantr}'  in  1496,  wherein  it  was  directed  by  her  will 
that  priests  "  Should  sing  and  pray  perpetually  for  a  perpetual  obit  for  Rich- 
ard ]\Iyddleton,  [the  second  husband,]  for  Dame  Maud,  Thomas  Greene, 
(sometime  her  husband,)  his  father,  mother,  and  all  his  ancestors  and  friends." 
The  building  has  always  been  known  as  L,ady  Maud's  Chantry,  though  when 
the  Reformation  came  in  less  than  half  a  centnry  after,  all  monasteries  and 
chantries  were  abolished. 

Sir  Thomas"  left  an  only  son.  Sir  Thomas'-,  the  sixth  lord  in  succession 
to  be  named  Thomas,  and  the  last  Lord  Greene.  He  had  two  daughters,  to 
whom  Green's  Norton  passed.  Boughton  went  to  the  Lord  Montagues, 
through  former  marriages  of  daughters  of  the  Greene  line. 

The  last  five  Lord  Greenes  lived  in  the  Bloody  Century.  There  was  bad 
blood  between  the  Lancasters  whose  emblem  was  the  red  rose,  and  their  royal 
cousins,  the  Yorks,  who  displayed  the  white  rose.  First  one  side  and  then 
the  other  gained  the  throne.  There  was  a  see-saw  of  fighting,  banishing  and 
beheading.  Hume  says  the  nobility  was  almost  annihilated,  and  80  princes 
of  the  blood  were  killed.  The  House  of  Greene  survived.  Lord  Alexander's 
policy,  lived  up  to  by  his  successors,  not  to  intermeddle  with  the  politics  of 
kings,  kept  the  Lord  Greenes'  heads  upon  their  shoulders.  There  was  never 
any  doubt  of  where  their  sympathies  were.  When  Henry  the  IV  of  Lan- 
caster, at  the  beginning  of  the  trouble,  basely  cut  off  Sir  Henry  Greene's 
head  for  no  other  crime  than  having  been  a  good  ser\'ant  to  his  lawful  king, 
he  made  every  Greene  a  Yorkist  to  the  marrow  of  his  bones. 

If  they  saved  their  lives,  they  suffered  other  ways.  Their  estates  were 
raided,  and  the  Lords  sometimes  mulcted  for  large  sums  of  money.  King 
Henry  the  VII,  who  never  forgot  he  was  of  Lancaster,  even  though  the  War 
of  the  Rosen  was  a  thing  of  the  past,  had  the  meanness  to  throw  the  last 
Lord  Greene  into  prison  in  1506  on  a  charge  of  plotting  treason.  The  in- 
firm old  man  was  then  so  near  death  that  he  died  before  the  year  was  out. 
He  was  released,  but  not  until  the  grasping  king  was  richer.  By  a  curious 
turn  of  fortune's  wheel,  the  feeble  old  lord's  granddaughter  Catharine  came 
to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  England,  as  the  wife  of  the  harsh  king's  son. 

Lady  Anne  Greene,  daughter  of  the  last  Lord  Greene,  married  Baron 
Vaux  of  Harrowden.  We  are  not  able  to  trace  her  line.  Thomas,  Lord 
Vaux,  a  cousin  of  Queen  Catharine  Parr,  had  command  over  the  Isle  of  Jer- 


I 


ARMORIAL   BEARINGS  OF  SIR    THOMAS  GREENE.' 
(.Photofiaiihcd  exptcfshj  f'lr  tliis  icoth  ffiin  Haifteaifs  Gencaloijy,  published  u)  liS:,.) 


THIS  IS  THE  TOMB  POINTED  OUT  AS  THAT  OF  LORD    CHIEF  JUSTICE  SIR 

HENRY  GREENE,  AND  LADY  KATHERINE,  AT  GREENE'S  NORTON. 

IT  IS  REALLY  THAT  OF  HIS  SON,  THE  SEVENTH  LORD. 

(Phol;cjmphe(l  rxitie^au  fr  this  n 


H(i?*'ft'0(r.N-  Gfuealogii,  puhth 


^(?e    (5rcene   jfaniil^ 


sey.  He  published  a  volume  of  poems,  some  of  which  are  yet  found  in  col- 
lections of  poetry.  We  give  one  stanza  of  his  to  show  his  philosophical 
temperament  and  poetic  style  : 

"  Our  wealth  leaves  us  at  death  ; 

Our  kinsmen  at  the  grave  ; 
But  virtues  of  the  mind  unto 

The  heavens  with  us  we  have. 
Wherefore,  for  virtue's  sake, 

I  can  be  well  content, 
The  sweetest  time  of  all  my  life 

To  dream  in  thinking  spent." 

The  other  daughter  of  the  last  Lord  Greene  was  ]\Iatilda,  who  married 
Lord  Thomas  Parr,  and  had  one  son  and  two  daughters.  The  son,  Lord 
William,  was  a  man  of  high  integrity.  King  Henry  the  VIH  made  him  one 
of  his  executors,  and  he  was  also  one  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  nineteen  Coun- 
selors. He  was  made  Marquis  of  Northampton,  but  as  he  died  childless  in 
1570  the  honor  died  with  him. 

A  daughter  of  Lady  ]\Iatilda  Parr's  is  mentioned  in  history  as  "sister  of 
Queen  Catherine  Parr."  She  married  William  Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke. 
He  was  a  brilliant  man,  a  man  of  note  in  his  day.  Burke  says  that  this 
Earl  on  one  occasion  rode  in  parade  with  300  in  his  retinue,  "100  of  them 
being  gentlemen  in  plain  blue  cloth,  with  chains  of  gold,  and  badges  of  a 
dragon  on  their  sleeves."  The  moirrning  given  away  to  be  worn  at  his 
burial  cost  more  than  $10,000 !  Earl  William's  son.  Earl  Henry,  married 
Lady  Sidney.  One  of  her  brothers  was  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  at  her  home 
he  wrote  his  celebrated  Arcadia.  Not  a  few  scholars  and  authors  have  been 
in  this  family,  and  from  it  have  sprung  the  later  lines  of  the  Earls  of  Powis 
and  Carnarvon. 

The  remaining  daughter  of  Lady  Parr  was  the  celebrated  Catherine 
Parr,  born  in  1513.  She  had  fine  mental  powers,  a  stately  presence,  and  an 
even,  well-controlled  disposition.  She  was  undoubtedly  ambitious.  When 
a  child  her  mother  chided  her  for  not  being  attentive  to  her  embroidery. 
Catherine  answered  her — "  My  hands  were  not  made  to  use  the  distafT  or 
needle.    My  head  was  made  to  wear  a  crown,  and  my  hands  to  hold  a  scepter." 

She  was  the  young  and  childless  widow  of  Lord  Latimer,  when  Henry 
VIII  fell  in  love  with  her.  She  has  been  blamed  for  marrying  this  crowned 
Bluebeard,  but  in  truth  she  dared  not  refuse  him.  The  King  used  to  boast 
that  "  no  man  could  stand  before  his  anger,  and  no  woman  before  his  lust." 
He  was  a  great  lump  of  fat,  a  coarse,  conceited  bully,  and  cruel  as  the  grave. 
There  was  an  average  of  2,000  persons  executed  each  year  of  his  reign.  He 
divorced  his  first  wife  to  marry  Anne  Boleyn  ;  he  cut  off  Anne  Boleyn's  head 


26  cTbe   (Breene   J'anul^ 

to  marry  Jane  Seymour.  "W' hen  Jane  was  dead,  he  married  Anne  of  Cleves 
whom  he  politely  called  "a  great  Dutch  mare," — and  quickly  divorced  her 
because  he  found  her  fat  and  stupid.  Then  he  married  the  all-too-gay  Cath- 
erine Howard,  and  soon  beheaded  her  for  infidelit}'.  Then  he  offered  his 
bloody  hand  to  Catherine  Parr. 

He  would  have  had  her  head  cut  off  if  she  had  refused  him.  Naturally, 
she  decided  to  keep  her  head  on  her  shoulders,  and  so  married  him,  July  I2, 
1 543,  when  she  was  about  30  years  old.  He  was  a  fretful  invalid,  a  mass  of 
bloated  flesh.  Catherine  nursed  him  with  tenderest  care,  and  yet  she  came 
near  following  his  other  wives  to  the  block. 

The  royal  weather-cock  had  had  several  changes  of  heart  (?)  during  his 
reign.  Each  change  of  creed  he  had  marked  b}'  cutting  off  the  heads  of 
some  of  his  chief  advisers,  and  burning  a  number  of  his  subjects.  As  a  wit 
of  that  day  put  it,  "  Those  that  were  for  the  Pope  he  burned,  and  those 
that  were  against  him,  he  hanged;  "  The  King  after  1539  drew  nearer  and 
nearer  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  though  the  head  of  a  Protestant  nation. 
Queen  Catherine  came  of  a  family  who  were  strong  for  the  Reformation. 
The  King's  advisers.  Chancellor  Wriothesely  and  Bishop  Gardiner,  feared 
her  influence,  and  sought  to  make  the  king  so  angry  at  her  that  he  would 
put  her  to  death.  The  wary  Queen  guarded  her  speech  so  carefulh",  how- 
ever, that  even  their  spies  could  report  nothing  against  her. 

Mistress  Anne  Askew,  a  young,  beautiful  and  intelligent  woman,  was  a 
guest  of  the  Queen  at  the  palace.  The  King's  pet  tenet  at  the  time  was  the 
Catholic  one  of  the  Real  Presence,  that  is  that  at  the  consecration  of  the 
sacramental  bread  and  wine,  it  becomes  the  actual  body  and  blood  of  our 
Savior.  This  young  lady  was  rash  enough  to  argue  against  this  to  the  King 
who,  like  most  m.en  of  his  stripe,  had  a  poor  opinion  of  women's  brains,  and 
was  furious  that  she,  a  woman,  would  dare  to  answer  back  to  a  king.  He 
accused  her  of  heresy.  She  was  put  to  the  torture.  Chancellor  Wriothesely 
told  her  she  should  go  free  if  she  would  but  tell  "  who  of  the  King's  house- 
hold" held  the  same  views  as  she.  She  refused  to  name  the  Queen,  though 
racked  until  almost  pulled  in  two,  and  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  refused 
to  torture  her  longer.  She  was  tied  in  a  chair,  as  she  could  no  longer  stand, 
and  carried  to  Smithfield  to  be  burned.  After  she  was  tied  to  the  stake  she 
was  offered  her  liberty  if  she  would  accuse  the  Queen.  But  she  would  not. 
'^he  was  burned  July  16,  1546,  three  years  after  the  Queen's  marriage. 

It  was  a  narrow  escape  for  Queen  Catherine,  but  a  closer  danger  awaited 
her.  The  King  was  eternally  arguing  on  religion.  The  Queen  was  un- 
guarded enough  to  differ  somewhat  from  him,  and  when  he  challenged  her 
for  proof  her  keen  wits  were  more  than  a  match  for  his  bombast.  He  was 
soon  in  one  of  his  black  moods,   and  sent  for  Bishop  Gardiner,  who  urged 


QUEEN    CATHERINE    PARR 
{From  an  old  EnolUih  pHM) 


PlLnt(,grai)hcd  EsjjccinJiy  for  this  Wwk 
THE   CHURCH    AT   GREEX'S   NORTON 

As  restored  by  the  munificence  of  Queen  Victoria   and  others.     Here  were 

the  tombs  of  the  six  Sir  Thomases,  last  Lords  of 

the  line,  and  their  families. 


^be   (Breene   ^amil^ 


Henr\-  to  "  make  an  example  of  her,"  i.  e.  behead  her.  The  King  consented 
and  told  the  Bishop  to  go  home  and  draw  up  an  accusation  against  her  for 
heresy.  Spies  were  placed  in  the  ro3-al  closet  to  witness  to  all  the  Queen 
might  say.  Word  was  secretly  sent  the  Queen  by  a  friend.  It  was  like  the 
doom  of  death  to  her,  but  she  resolved  to  make  an  effort  to  turn  the  King's 
fickle  fancy.  He  could  swallow  unlimited  flatter}',  as  she  knew.  He  was 
known  to  ha^-e  been  realh*  pleased  when  a  fulsome  speaker  to  his  face  com- 
pared him  "  For  justice  and  prudence  to  Solomon,  for  strength  and  fortitude 
to  Samson,  and  for  beauty  and  comeliness  to  Absolom  !  "  If  she  could  tickle 
his  vanity  she  felt  there  might  be  a  chance  to  save  her  life. 

She  paid  her  daily  visit  with  all  composure.  The  King  said  that  he 
would  like  to  discuss  religion  with  her.  The  Queen  sweetly  declined,  and 
remarked  *  "  That  such  profound  speculations  were  ill  suited  to  the  natural 
imbecility  of  her  sex.  \yomen,  b}-  their  first  creation,  were  made  subject  to 
men.  The  male  was  created  after  the  image  of  God,  the  female  after  the 
image  of  the  male.  It  belonged  to  the  husband  to  choose  principles  for  the 
wife.  The  wife's  duty  in  all  cases  was  to  adopt  implicitly  the  sentiments  of  her 
husband.  As  for  herself  it  was  doubly  her  dut}-,  being  blest  with  a  husband 
who  was  qualified  by  his  judgment  and  learning  to  not  only  choose  principles 
for  his  own  family,  but  for  the  most  wise  and  knowing  of  e\-ery  nation." 

The  King  took  this  so  well,  she  ventured  further.  "  She  well  knew," 
she  said,  "  that  her  conceptions  could  serve  no  other  purpose  than  to  give 
him  a  little  momentary  amusement,  that  she  found  the  conversation  apt  to 
languish  when  not  revived  by  some  opposition,  and  she  had  ventured  some- 
times to  feign  a  contrarity  of  sentiment  in  order  to  give  him  the  pleasure  of 
refuting  her."  She  concluded  by  obserA-ing  how  much  profit  and  instruction 
she  had  reaped  from  his  discourses. 

"And  is  it  so.  Sweetheart?"  re^Dlied  the  king.  "Then  we  are  perfect 
friends  again,"  and  he  affectionately  embraced  her.  When  the  Chancellor 
and  40  pursuivants  came  to  arrest  the  Queen,  the  King  gave  him  a  fearful 
tongue-lashing,  calling  him  "  Pig  !  Fool !  Knave  !  Beast ! "  and  ordering  him 
out  of  his  presence.  And  so  the  Queen  was  saved.  But  she  never  again  ex- 
pressed a  hair's  breadth's  difference  of  opinion  from  the  king. 

In  January  1547  King  Henry  died.  According  to  English  custom 
Catherine  was  ever  after  addressed  as  a  queen  and  kept  a  queen's  estate.  She 
married  again,  this  husband  being  Lord  Admiral  Seymour,  uncle  to  the 
young  King  Edward  VI  that  succeeded  Henr)'  the  VIII.  Her  short  married 
life  is  supposed  to  have  been  unhappy,  as  the  Lord  Admiral  was  a  thorough 
rascal.  She  died  in  1548,  not  without  siispicion  of  being  poisoned,  and  is 
buried  under  a  beautiful  tomb  at  Sudeley.     Poor  Queen  Catherine  Parr ! 


CHAPTER    V 

LINE   OF   THE    BEHEADED   SIR    HENRY   GREENE 

List  of  estates  entailed  upo7i  Sir  Henry  Greene.  Sir  Henry's  career.  History  of  King 
Richard  II.  Edward  IV's  anger  at  Sir  Henry.  Sir  Henrys  attempt  to  protect  the 
young  queen.  His  violent  death.  His  heirs.  Passing  of  the  estate  to  the  de  Veres. 
Line  of  Thomas.  John  the  Fugitive,  and  the  legends  about  him.  The  Gillmgham 
Greenes  from  Robert,  atid  those  who  came  to  the  Colonies  in  i6j^. 


It  is  true  that  the  second  son  of  Sir  Henry,  the  Lord  Chief  Justice, 
was  a  young  man  of  exceptional  promise,  and  that  he  was  his  father's  favorite. 
Yet  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  a  practical,  level-headed  man  like 
the  lyord  Justice  could  fly  in  the  face  of  the  law  of  primogeniture, 
then  held  as  all  but  a  sacred  institution.  Nor  is  it  an  easy  matter  to 
account  for  the  real  heir's  consent  to  relinquish  his  birthright,  and  let  the 
younger  son  take  the  major  part  of  his  father's  estate.  Hard  to  under- 
stand as  may  be,  it  was  exactly  what  was  done.  It  took  a  long  time 
to  get  around  the  cumbersome  red-tape  of  English  administration  of  English 
laws.  The  I^ord  Chief  Justice's  many  estates  had  to  be  broken  up,  one  by 
one,  and  re-entailed.  It  was  in  1352  that  he  purchased  Greene's  Norton, — a 
part  of  the  consideration  by  which  Lord  Thomas  surrendered  his  birth- 
right— and  1359  when  Halstead  speaks  of  the  re-entailment  as  fully  com- 
pleted. 

No  full  list  has  been  preser\-ed  of  the  many  manors  settled  upon 
Henry,  the  younger  son.  The  more  important  and  richest  estates  old 
historians  list  thus: 

Buckworth.  Emerton.  Grafton. 

Harringworth.  Hardwick.  Middleton. 

Luflwich.  Harrowden.  Carlton. 

Islip.  Raunds.  Isham. 

Shipton.  Chalton.  Sudborow. 

Titmarsh.  Warrington.  Irtlingburg. 

Alwincle.  Hauehton.  Ringstead. 


(i)  The  Greene  Arms  (2)  The  Drayton  Arms 

SEALS  OF  THE  BEHEADED  SIR  HEXRY  GREENE 


COATS  OF  ARMS  OF  THE  HOl'SE    OF   THE  BEHEADED  SIR    HEXRY  GREENE. 
I.PliotoviapIii:a  c.v;>rcsf:l!i  for  tliiswurli  ty,mi  H,ihtcad'f  Gniealnriu.  inihU.-<hi;l  in  i.;S.5.) 


^be   (Brcenc   jfaiiul^ 


Wolston.  Battershaseall.  Coats. 

Pitchelery.  Cottington.  Warringdon. 

Charlton. 
Halstead    adds    that    through    Henry's    marriage    with    Matilda,     sole 
heiress  of  her  father,  Lord  Thomas  Mauduit,   the  lordships  of  Werminister, 
Westburg,    Lye,    Grateley,   Dychurch,   "and  other  fair   possessions"   were 
added    to   his   estates. 

More  than  this,  Henry's  childless  uncle,  Simon,  Lord  of  Drayton, 
settled  his  large  estate  upon  this  nephew,  stipulating  that  when  he  was  dead 
Henry  should  assume  the  title  and  bear  on  his  escutcheon  the  Drajton  coat- 
of-arms.  In  time  this  all  came  about,  as  will  be  seen  b)'  consulting  the 
coat-of-arms  on  the  next  page. 

Many  of  these  manors  were  then  noted  ones,  or  afterwards  became 
historical  because  of  famous  men  or  events  connected  with  them.  Edward 
the  Confessor,  one  of  the  last  Saxon  Kings,  was  born  in  Islip.  The 
unfortunate  Charles  I,  when  "retired"  to  Northampton  in  practical  im- 
prisonment, used  often  to  go  o\'er  to  Harrowden  to  pla}'  games  on  its  famous 
bowling  green.  At  Luffwich's  handsome  church,  many  of  this  line  of 
Greenes  were  buried.  The  poet  Dryden  was  born  at  Aldwincle,  and 
at  Drayton  (Bury)  both  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Friends  or  Quakers, 
and  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the  great  statesman,  was  born. 

Like  his  father,  Henry  refused  to  follow  the  usual  Greene  policy 
of  burying  himself  on  his  estates.  He  loved  public  life.  His  ability  was 
so  great  that  he  became  as  prominent  a  statesman  as  his  father  before  him. 
He  was  sent  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  was  soon  one  of  the  leaders. 
The  king  knighted  him.  Sir  Henr}-,  as  he  henceforth  became,  was 
made  one  of  the  king's  near  Counsellors,  and  later  was  appointed  one 
of  the  Parliamentary  Commissioners  who  helped  the  king  govern  the 
country. 

Halstead  gives  this  interesting  account  of  this  bright  period  of  his 
ancestor's  fortune:  "  The  ambitions  of  the  young  Henry  Greene,  fomented 
by  these  favors  of  fortune,  drew  him  to  the  Court,  where  he  resolutely  joined 
his  hopes  and  expectations  to  the  fate  of  that  unhappy  prince.  King  Richard 
II,  at  whose  hand  he  received  the  honor  of  knighthood.  The  merits  of  his 
person  soon  acquired  him  the  nearest  favor  of  this  king,  and  those  of  his 
mind,  the  approbation  and  encouragement  of  all  his  Council,  into  the 
members  whereof  he  was  chosen  for  his  great  faithfulness  and  abilities." 

"And  when  the  Conspiracies  of  divers  of  the  turbulent  and  seditious 
Lords  had  obliged  the  King  to  condenm  some  and  banish  others,  he  con- 
ferred (1395)  several  parcels  of  their  confiscated  lands  upon  Sir  Henrj^ 
Greene,   as  the  Manors  of  Kibworth,    Cotgrave,   and   Preston  Capes,  that 


30  ^be   (5reene   iramii^ 

appertained  to  Thomas,  Earl  of  Warwick,  those  of  Knighton,  Covelle,  and 
Bulkington*  in  the  County  of  Wilts,  by  reason  of  the  attaiuer  of  Richard, 
Earl  of  Arundell;  and  the  Pla:e  of  Lord  Cobham  in  London  with  all  its 
furniture.  To  the  end  that  he  might  secure  the  fidelity  of  those  about  him  by 
exemplary  satisfaction  for  their  services  and  hazards.  And  indeed,  had  not 
the  per\-erseness  of  this  King's  Planet  (which  obstinately  prospered  the  Rebel- 
lion of  his  Enemies,)  overwhelmed  all  of  his  hopes,  there  was  not  any  great- 
ness unto  which  the  deserts  of  this  Sir  Henry  might  not  well  have 
attained." 

Yet  this  ver}'  favor  of  the  King  was  Sir  Henrj-'s  undoing.  To  under- 
stand how  this  came  about,  we  must  turn  to  the  histor\'  of  this  king. 

Edward  III  died  in  1377,  leaving  a  grandson,  Richard  II,  on  the 
throne.  Great  hopes  were  entertained  of  this  king,  far  better  morally 
than  most  of  his  predecessors,  and  showing  at  time,  great  courage,  will  and 
ability.  Unfortunateh',  he  was  at  other  times  eccentric  and  ill-balanced 
almost  to  insanity.  Twice  Parliament  adopted  the  extraordinary  measure 
of  appointing  a  Board  of  Commissioners  who  had  to  formally  sanction  the 
King's  acts  before  they  could  be  lawful. 

Time  would  fail  to  tell  of  Richard  IPs  queer  doings.  He  was  but 
sixteen  when,  in  1382,  he  married  Princess  Anne  of  Bohemia.  She  was  a 
warm-hearted,  amiable,  pious  queen,  yet  she  loved  fashion,  and  is  re- 
membered as  the  one  who  introduced  fans  into  England,  and  who  taught 
the  ladies  of  the  kingdom  to  ride  on  side-saddles.  It  was  at  the  gay  and 
crowded  Courts  of  Richard  and  Anne  that  gentlemen  wore  pointed  shoes 
that  turned  up  so  high  at  the  toes  that  they  were  sometimes  tied  to  the 
shin  to  keep  them  from  turning  down.  The  ladies,  not  to  be  outdone, 
wore  hennings  or  cornettes,  horn-shaped  head-dresses  made  over  wire,  and 
towering  high  above  the  head,  and  adorned  with  lace,  fringes  and  spangles. 
(Imagine  dapper  Sir  Henry  at  Court,  wearing  shoes  with  an  six-inch  peak 
to  them,  while  Lady  Matilda  moved  majestically  about  with  a  two-foot 
cornette  upon  her  head  !) 

Queen  Anne  died  in  1394  and  Richard  mourned  her  with  almost  a  mad- 
man's outburst  of  grief.  Nevertheless,  he  married  again  the  next  year.  He 
was  childless,  and  his  cousins  were  plotting  for  his  throne.  Instead  of  trj-- 
ing  to  secure  an  early  heir,  however,  the  one  thing  that  could  keep  down 
his  rivals'  intrigues,  in  one  of  his  folly-fits  he  married  Isabelle  the  daughter 
of  the  King  of  France,  a  pretty,  dark-eyed  child  of  eight,  and  put  her 
in  Windsor  palace  to  be  educated  for  her  high  duties. 

Upon  a   certain  occasion    he    banished    for    ten    years    the    rival    he 

*Tliis  makes  -to  known  manors  tliat  Sir  Henry  possessed,  besides  liis  town  houses  in  Loudon. 


^be   Greene   family 


most  feared,  Henry  Bolingbroke,  Duke  of  Hereford  and  Lancaster,  his  own 
cousin.  Such  a  sentence  carried  with  it  a  confiscation  of  the  banished  man's 
l^roperty  to  the  crown.  King  Richard,  however,  to  his  Court,  and  to  the 
young  Duke  himseU".  pledged  his  kingly  word  that  Bolingbroke  should 
not  lose  either  his  lands,  or  the  estate  that  would  come  to  him  on  the  death 
of  his  father,  the  old  Duke  of  Lancaster.  When  the  old  Duke  died,  how- 
ever, Richard  coveted  his  great  wealth.  He  knew,  beside,  that  it  would  be 
spent  by  the  new  Duke  in  fomenting  uprisings  and  hiring  trooj^s  against 
himself. 

The  Parliament  of  1399  had  just  placed  another  Commission  over  the 
ill-balanced  king.  Richard  appealed  to  them  to  allow  him  to  confiscate 
the  dukedom.  By  e\-ery  consideration  of  honor,  the  King  was  bound 
to  keep  his  royal  oath.  Nevertheless,  being  King,  with  the  power  that 
kings  at  that  day  possessed,  he  had  the  legal  right  to  annul  his  former 
decision,  and  keep  the  estate  and  money.  Sir  Henry  Greene,  who  had 
been  trained  under  his  father,  and  had  all  of  the  intricacies  of  the  law  at 
his  tongue's  end,  seems  to  have  pointed  out  to  the  Commission  that  Richard's 
demand  was  lawful.  Whereupon  the  unanimous  Board  of  Commissioners 
sanctioned  the  King's  action. 

All  England  was  indignant  over  the  disgraceful  breaking  of  a  King's 
oath.  The  banished  Duke  was  furious,  and  laid  all  the  blame  on  Sir  Henry 
Greene,  who  was  considered  to  be  "  the  brains  of  the  Commission."  About 
this  time  there  was  something  of  a  rebellion  in  Ireland.  King  Richard 
made  another  of  his  foolish  moves  by  posting  off  in  person  to  Ireland,  and 
leaving  England  open  to  invasion.  Bolingbroke  promptly  sailed  to 
England,  and  most  of  the  army  went  over  to  him.  Sir  Henry  might 
have  escaped,  but  he  would  not  leave  his  royal  master's  child-queen 
to  her  fate.  He  made  all  speed  with  little  Queen  Isabelle  into  the 
strong  castle  of  Bristol,  where  there  was  a  strong  garrison.  The  com- 
mander of  the  garrison  treacherously  surrendered  the  city  to  Boling- 
broke without  a  blow,  and  at  Bolingbroke's  command,  delivered  Sir 
Henry  Greene  and  two  companions,  Sir  John  Bushy  or  Bushey  and 
the  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  disarmed  and  bound,  to  him.  The  next  day 
they    were    beheaded. 

Shakespeare,  who  devotes  much  of  Acts  I  and  II  of  his  Richard  II  to 
Sir  Henry  Greene,  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Bolingbroke,  as  these 
members  of  the  Commission  were  brought  before,  him,  these  words: 

"Bring  t'orth  these  men.— 
Bushy  and  Greene,  I  will  not  vex  your  souls 
(Since  presently  your  souls  must  part  your  bodies) 
With  too  much  urging  your  pernicious  lives, 


^be   6recne   jfamilv? 


For  'twere  no  charity;  vet  ,to  wash  your  blood 
From  oft"  my  hands,  here  in  view  of  men, 
I  will  unfold  some  causes  of  your  deaths. 

"You  have  misled  a  prince,  a  royal  king, 
A  happy  gentleman  in  blood  and  lineaments, 
By  you  unhappied  aud  disfigur'd  clean. 

Myself  a  prince,  by  fortune  of  my  birth; 

Near  to  the  king  in  blood:   and  near  in  love, 

Till  you  did  make  him  misinterpret  me. — 

Have  stooped  my  neck  under  your  injuries. 

And  sigh'd  my  English  breath  in  foreign  clouds. 

Eating  the  bitter  bread  of  banishment; 

While  you  have  fed  upon  my  seignories, 

Disparked  my  parks,  and  felled  my  forest  woods; 

From  mine  own  window  torn  my  household  coat, 

Raz'd  out  my  impress,  leaving  me  no  sign — 

Save  men's  opinions,    and  my  living  blood — 

To  show  the  world  I  am  a  gentleman. 

This,  and  much  more,  much  more  than  twice  all  this, 

Condemn  you  to  the  death. See  them  delivered  over 

To  execution  and  the  hand  of  death." 

As  with  imicli  else  in  this  play,  this  haraiigne  is  probably  purely  fictioir. 
Boliugbroke  seems  to  haxe  hustled  them  out  without  ceremony  or  the  shadow 
of  a  trial,  for  no  other  crime  than  being  loyal  to  their  anointed  king, 
to  the  market-place  at  Bristol.  In  I\Iarket  Square  stood  an  imposing,  high 
market-cross,  of  which  the  city  was  justly  proud.  At  its  foot  he  cut  their 
heads  off.  So  ignominiously  perished  September  2,  1399,  Sir  Henry 
Greened  Only  a  few  months  more,  with  King  Richard  in  captivity,  Boliug- 
broke had  himself  crowned  as  Henry  IV.  He  made  a  strong  and  diplomatic 
king,  but  to  the  day  of  his  death,  fourteen  years  after,  he  had  lits  of 
remorse  and  was  constanth-  haunted  by  visions  of  those  three  treach- 
erously slain  at  Bristol.  He  made  all  the  amends  in  his  power  to  the 
family  of  Sir  Henn,-. 

The  beheaded  Sir  Henry  Greene'  and  Lady  Matilda  left  seven  children, 
Ralph,  John,  Thomas,  Henr}-,  Eleanor,  Elizabeth  and  Mary.  Two  of  the 
daughters  married  noblemen;  Ralph  and  John  were  successively  Lord 
Greene.  The  great  estate,  in  the  end,  passed  through  the  last  heiress 
of  John's  line  to  the  Earls  of  Wiltshire  and  Peterborough,  her  descendants. 
Of  Henr}-,  the  youngest  son  of  Sir  Henry,  we  know  no  more.  He  probably 
died  in  some  of  the  wars  of  the  ''Bloody  Centurv-,"  leaving  no  children. 
Thomas,  the  third  son,  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Gillingham  Greenes. 


Seal  of  John  Greene  Seal  of  Ralph  Greene 

Dravtou  and  Mauduif  Arms  Drayion  and  Mandiiit  Anns 


1 

3 

X 

.f  / 

-- 

- 

--' 

_ 

Seal  of  Ralph  Greene 

Greene  and  Mandiii/  Arms 

SEALS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  THE  BEHEADED  SIR  HENRY  GREENE 

iPhoti'dmtihca  iruhi  HalsUuirs  Gcni.(\h«jii  tninUd  in  13SZ) 


TOMB  OF  SIR  RALPH   GREENE,    SON  OF  THE   BEHEADED   LORD   GREENE 


TOMB  OF   EDWARD",    I:aRL  OF   WILTSHIRE 

TOMBS  WITH  EFFIGIES.        LINE  OF  BEHEADED  SIR  HENRY  GREENE 
lP?iijt'igiaiilicd  Inj  Ilnacli,  Eiiijlniid.  f.rpivits/y  („/■  Uiii  innh.  (min  llalxtmiVs  GciicahajU.  puhlisliol  in  1SS5) 


^be   6rccne   jfanul^ 


In  the  ven-  first  year  of  King  Henry  R',  Ralphs  Sir  Henry's  oldest  son, 
was  restored  to  his  title  and  estates,*  and  received  in  after  years  particnlar 
honors  from  the  king.  The  beautifnl  tomb  of  this  Lord  Greene  of  Drayton 
is  shown  on  opposite  page.  As  he  left  no  children,  the  estate  passed  to  his 
brother  John,*^  who  left  three  children. 

Lord  Henry^  next  succeeded.  He  left  an  only  daughter,  who  married 
John,  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  the  second  son  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  Their 
only  heir  was  Edward,'**  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  who  died  in  150 1,  while  yet  a 
}-oung  man,  leaving  no  issue.  The  estate  then  reverted  to  the  grand- 
children of  Lady  Isabelle  de  Vere,  a  sister  of  Lord  Henry."  None  of  the 
beheaded  Sir  Henry's  line  remained  to  bear  the  name  of  Greene,  save 
the  line  of  his  son  Thomas"  alone.  From  him  came  the  Gillingham 
Greenes,  and  from  these  again,  came  the  Warwick  and  Ouidnessett  Greenes, 
two  of  the  most  important  lines  of  that  name  in  America.  I  have  there- 
fore taken  pains  to  get  all  possible  facts  relating  to  the  line  of  Thomas.""  f 

Between  Thomas^  and  Robert"  of  Gillingham,  two  generations  in- 
ter\-ene.  The  name  of  the  9th  of  this  line  has  not  been  preserved.  This 
does  not  weaken  the  chain  of  descent.  Henr}"  K.  Elliott,  the  English 
genealogist,  whose  ancestors  for  300  years  ha\-e  lived  at  Greene's  Norton, 
says  the  Gillingham  Greenes  have  always  been  recognized  as  of  the  beheaded 
Sir  Henry's  line  through  his  son  Thomas.*  This  is  confirmed  through  the 
absolute  testimony  of  the  Herald's  Visitation,  some  of  which  are  yet  pre- 
served. HeuPi-  Vni,  in  152S,  commissioned  provincial  Kings-of-arms 
to  visit  the  different  shires  of  England,  and  enroll  all  who  could  show  their 
full  pedigree  and  their  right  to  wear  coats-of-arms.  Every  25  or  30  years 
this  \'isitation  was  repeated,  and  the  enrollment  registered,  until  16S6.  The 
Gillinghams,    being   officially    certified    as   entitled    to  bear  the  arms  of  Sir 

*  HiilsteaJ  gives  the  long  retition  in  mingled  Latin  and  Xorman  Frenoli,  in  whioli  Rali>li  Greene 
rv.iys  Parliament  and  tlie  King  to  restore  him  liis  father's  estates,  which  the  King,  in  liis  first  auger, 
seems  to  liave  eonfiscat',";.     ir  1    _-ii,    : 

■'  1'  •  I  :  i>  I'l'lii  Greene  in  Parliamento,  Henrious  Dei  gratia  Rex  Angliae  & 
Franoiae  &  Dominus  U ;     i ,   ;:   ,  us  ad  quos  rraesentes  Siterae  perveneriut.  Salutem; 

In-i  xii:;!,-^  1  ;  r.jm  cujusdam  Petitionis Nobis  in  ultimo  Parliamento nostro  apud 
Westmonasterium  tento  per  Raduliihum  G-reene  exhibitae  in  haeo  v  rl  a :  Tr^^- 'xi^i-llent  &  tres-redout^ 
Siegnour,  nostro  Siegnour  le  Roy,  suprlie  tres-humblemeut  vostre  luiii:!  i  ^  li.  ^^  liaiif  Greene  Esquire,, 
que  come  en  I'an  primer  de  vostre  gratiouse  Regne  le  avantdie  Rant,"  •  t  •.,  .  t". 

+  I  wa^  fortunate  enough  to  secure  tli.  .iM  :  \\-:-\  K  V.  \:  :'.::-li  ■•  ].;_''i-li  ;:!  !'m';:.:  ;  ai. 
His  family  have  for  300  years  lived  at  Gi'-  :        '•     ■        'i  -■  ■:     1,      :    li-'    :         li     i.  ,    -   ;f 

resides  in  the  Chantry  House,  which  Tva-  -i     i    ;  ,•       _     '      1::      :i     ,!i.:      '         i'     ,   i- 

recently  completed  a  genealogy  that  nil-  --  ■  ii    :     ;-',     ■    :    ■  ii    ;     ■   ;    -        'ii..- 

County  of  Northampton,  Englan^l    i-. !>-•',    •       ;      ■        ■   ;    ,   -     '<  ■■:.     ■;       i;    _    -!     !■■      i:- 

researches.    He  examined  and  •  .       .    _  ^     ^    :     '■'-:,]■]  W.-  ■•  -         r,- 

He  looked  up  in  rarti.-'nlar  all  tlr:  ,■•    ^  .  ,     ■         .-i,    ■■•,■.::      .;  .1   i,  .(.;■■:.■  i.i, ,,:,--.  ^:.  ).    ]..  a 

v-i:>al:  linlcin  wh.-.^o.-hai-  r,<-n!   ■   -•   ■   I      ■  ^  •        ,Ki  ^rtireliei>.     Tlie  .J-ruuieiitary  i-M.ifii--  he 

f  v-.irl.  ■■  iilirai  M  a;;.' ■  1    ' '.  :^   -  ■  I -.  make  this  pedigree  clear.     Mr,  Elliott  sent 

,n  .  ,,,,  i,.j- than  .i^-lir    1,    :    •.        .■      -         '    ■    '     ■..         '■- in  size,  that  listed  the  Greenes  of  this  line  in 
th.  if  '_'"niMati>.i!-.  at  ];    i_-iit  :..  i  t      ■     -  x  i'     .  i  ii,  ;i  irliam,  Drayton  and  Orpidell,  in  Northampshire, 


34 


Ebe   6recnc   jfamil^ 


Henrv    Greene  of    Drayton,  did  at    that  time    possess  ample    proofs  of    that 
fact,  and  so  exhibited  them  to  the  King-at  arms.     This  silences  all  cavil. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  name  of  the  son  of  Thomas  was 
lost.  He  was  born  about  1420,  and  came  to  manhood  in  the  middle  of  the 
Bloody  Century.  Hume,  speaking  of  the  War  of  the  Roses,  says  this: 
'•  No  part  of  English  history  since  the  Conquest,  [1066,]  is  so  obscure,  so 
uncertain,  so  little  authentic  or  consistent,  as  that  of  the  War  between 
the  two  Roses.  All  we  can  discover  with  certainty  through  the  dark  cloud 
that  covers  this  period  is  a  scene  of  horror  and  blood-shed,  savage  wars, 
and  treacherous,  dishonorable  conduct  in  all  parties." 

His  son  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  about  1450.  This  son  was 
John.'"  The  signs  of  cadency,  i.e.,  descent  of  sons  in  order  of  birth,  began 
to  be  added  to  coats-of-arms  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII,  1485  to  1509.  Even 
then  cadency  insignia  were  only  used  when  the  head  of  a  line  was  a  well- 
known  man,  prominent  enough  to  found  a  new  branch  of  the  family.  As 
John's  sons  added  to  the  Greene  coat-of-arms  a  crescent,  the  sign  of  a  second 
son,  we  know  two  things;  (i)  John  was  the  next-to-the-oldest  son;  and  (2)  he 
was  a  man  of  prominence  in  his  da}-.  The  last  is  borne  out  by  other 
facts,  patent  enough  to  those  who  take  history  as  they  find  it.  Those  who 
are  never  willing  to  own  their  ascestors  could  do  wrong,  will  of  course  trv' 
to  think  these  incidents  refer  to  some  other  John  Greene. 

The  Greene  penchant  for  athletics,  fostered  by  the  atmosphere  of  war 
in  which  he  was  born  and  brought  up,  made  John'"  a  most  skillful  sword- 
player,  who  could  parn,-,  feint  and  thrust,  and  perform  the  most  astonish- 
ing feats  with  his  trusty  blade.  Tradition  says  he  had  no  superior  in  the 
use  of  the  sword  in  the  kingdom.  He  was  a  Yorkist,  and  for  the  Yorkist 
king,  right  or  wrong,  first,  last  and  all  the  time. 

In  July,  1483,  Richard  III,  one  of  the  wickedest  of  England's  several 
wicked  kings,  was  crowned  King,  though  his  two  nephews  had  the  first  right 
to  the  crown.  He  feared  an  uprising  to  place  these  princes  on  the  throne,  and 
therefore  shut  them  up  in  the  tower  of  London,  and  made  Sir  Robert  Brack- 
enbury  their  keeper.  Toward  the  end  of  this  same  month,  Juh-,  1483,  he 
and  the  queen  came  in  state  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick's  and  were  his  guests 
for  a  week  at  the  Earl's  magnificent  castle  at  Warwick.  It  was  but  a  few 
miles  from  the  home  of  the  Greenes,  and  John''  made  haste  to  tender  his 
homage,  for  Richard,  though  mean,  false,  cruel  and  blood-thirst}-,  was  }-et  of 
the  House  of  York,  and  a  crowned  king. 

The  King  had  some  dirty  work  to  do.  He  sized  up  this  cool,  ner\y, 
daring  man,  ready  to  give  life  or  take  it  at  his  sovereign's  command.  The 
King  himself  sent  him  to  Sir  Robert  Brackenbur}-,  nearly  a  hundred  miles 
aw-ay.     "  To  him,"  says  Dickens,  "  by  the  hands  of  a  messenger  named  John 


1470875 


ilbe   Greene   3fainil\>  35 


Greene,  did  King  Richard  send  a  letter,  '  ordering  him  to  pnt  the  two  princes 
to  death.'  But  Sir  Robert  sent  John  Greene  back  again,  riding  and  spurring 
along  the  dusty  roads,  with  the  answer  that  he  would  not  do  so  horrible  a 
piece  of  work."  The  curtain  falls  on  the  too-faithful  messenger  there.  The 
very  next  month  King  Richard  found  some  one  less  scrupulous,  who  mur- 
dered the  two  lads  for  him.  But  the  foul  deed  did  not  shake  John's  allegi- 
ance to  this  murderous  king. 

Two  years  later  Richard  III  was  slain  in  battle.  Henr}-,  the  head  of 
the  House  of  Lancaster,  married  Elizabeth,  the  heiress  of  the  House  of  York, 
and  the  War  of  Roses  came  forever  to  an  end.  Henry  VH  hated  the  York- 
ists so  heartily  that  he  treated  his  own  queen  like  a  brute,  because  she  was 
of  York  blood.  He  he^d  a  grudge  against  all  who  had  rendered  King  Rich- 
ard HI,  his  former  rival,  a  service.  He  had  a  spite  against  the  family  of 
Greene,  a  few  years  later  arresting,  as  we  know.  Lord  Thomas  Greene  at  the 
ver\-  brink  of  the  gra\-e,  on  the  charge  of  plotting  treason.  It  would  natur- 
ally be  suj)posed  that  John  Greene"'  would  lose  no  time  putting  the  seas  be- 
tween himself  and  the  revengeful  king.  This  is  exactly  what  family  tradi- 
tion represents  him  as  having  done. 

The  Gillingham  Greenes  who  came  to  America  had  this  story,  one 
from  his  father,  and  the  other  from  his  grandfather,  who  had  been  told  it  by 
t]ieir  grandfather,  Robert",  own  son  of  the  man  of  whom  the  tradition  is 
about.  John  Greene  of  Warwick,  R.  I.,  handed  down  no  more  than  a  refer- 
ence to  a  change  of  name.  His  second  cousin,  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett, 
handed  down  much  more  of  the  tradition.  Being  the  namesake  of  his 
great-grandfather,  John,  who  in  turn  was  the  namesake  of  his  grandfather, 
the  John  of  the  story,  his  pride  in  the  name  gave  him  a  special  interest  in 
the  tradition.  After  his  death  his  descendants  adhered  to  the  gist  of  the 
stor>',  but  transposed  the  names,  and  shifted  the  time  and  country  to  fit  one 
of  their  first  American  ancestors,  Lieutenant  John  of  Quidnessett,  whom  they 
called  John  of  London.  This  is  a  common  thing  in  family  traditions  and 
what  any  genealogist  would  expect. 

The  Rhode  Island  version  is  that  their  ancestor  was  named  John  Clarke, 
and  was  one  of  the  Regicide  Judges  who  condemned  King  Charles  I  to  death 
in  1649,  ^ii<i  had  to  flee  for  his  life  when  Charles  II  was  restored  to  the  throne 
in  1 660.  Then  he  came  to  Boston  under  the  name  of  John  Greene.  One 
day  he  joined  a  game  of  sword-play,  and  performed  some  marvelous  feats. 
Finally,  he  gave  his  sword  a  fling  that  sent  it  swirling  in  the  air,  from  which 
it  dropped,  piercing  and  cleaving  a  loaf  of  bread  to  the  center  as  it  descend- 
ed. Some  one  spoke  up,  "  That  is  John  Clarke,  Judge  Whaley,  or  the  Devil, 
for  no  one  else  could  do  that !  "  Fearing  he  was  discovered,  Clarke  alias 
Greene,  fled  into  R.  I.     Here  he  married  Abigail  Wardwell,  and  here  he  died. 


36  <rbc   (Brecne   familp 

This  is  a  very  pretty  story,  but  absolutely  without  a  leg  to  stand  on,  if 
applied  to  either  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett,  or  his  son,  Lieut.  John.  The 
records  show  that  the  elder  John  resided  continuously  in  R.  I.  for  59  years, 
from  1636  to  1695.  He  would  have  been  a  stripling  of  jS  when  he  married 
19-year  old  Abigail  Wardwell,  and  would  have  raised  a  family  of  11  children 
after  that,  dying  in  1729  at  123  years  old  !  The  story  is  as  impossible  if  ap- 
plied to  his  son.  Lieutenant  John-,  born  in  1645,  and  therefore  but  four  years 
old  when  King  Charles  was  beheaded,  and  could  scarcely  have  had  a  hand 
in  sentencing  him  to  death  ! 

But  taking  the  story  as  it  should  be,  back  to  the  days  of  John  Greene,'" 
the  tradition  throws  a  real  light  on  affairs.  John  fled  from  King  Henr}' 
to  Europe.  Homesick  for  England  and  family,  he  ventured  back  to  an 
English  city  in  which  he  was  a  stranger,  and  passed  as  John  Clarke. 
Here  he  could  see  his  family  occasionally.  Becoming  less  cautious,  as 
lie  was  not  discovered,  he  was  drawn  into  a  bout  with  swords,  and  his 
identitv  guessed  from  his  previous  fame  in  that  direction.  Again  he 
fled,  and  remained  abroad  until  the  death  of  the  king. 

A  son  of  John  the  Fugitive  was  Robert  Greene,  Gentleman.  He 
purchased  an  estate  at  Gillingham,  in  Dorsetshire,  which  was  called  Bow- 
ridge  Hill.  On  the  old  records  it  is  usually  spoken  of  as  Porridge  Hill, 
the  local  prononciation  of  Bowridge  Hill.  His  wife's  name  is  unknown. 
"Whoever  she  was,  it  is  believed  that  by  her  came  that  extraordinarj-  mathemat- 
ical ability  that  has  made  the  majority  of  her  descendants  "quick  in 
figures,"  as  we  usually  express  it,  and  has  every  now  and  then  since  her  day 
cropped  out  in  one  of  those  phenomenal  cases  of  instantaneous  calculators. 

Most  of  the  subsidy  rolls  of  that  century  have  been  destroyed.  In  the 
one  of  1543,*  Robert  Greene"  of  Gillingham  is  listed.  He  was  then 
an  elderly  man  with  grand-children.  He  had  fi^•e  children,  Peter, 
Richard,  John,  Alice  and  Anne.t  Peter  died  without  heirs,  and  Richard 
inherited  the  estate.  From  Richard'-'s  line  came  Surgeon  John  Greene," 
the  head  of  the  Warwick  Greenes,  and  from  the  only  other  son,  John,  came 
Tohn  of  Quidnessett,'^  the  head  of  a  numerous    Rhode    Island    family   of 


*  A  quotation  from  this  Subsidy  Roll  ot  1543  is  given  to  sliow  the  remarkable  spelling  of  this  period: 
'■  In  t!>ys  Cedule  indentyd  is  eonteignyd  as  well  as  ye  uamys  of  all  and  ev'y  p'son  and  p'sons  haryng 
landis  to  ye  yerly  valeu  of  slti  or  above,  as  also  goods  to  ye  valeu  of  xlti  or  above  &  also  ye  suraes 
pytohlerly  set  oute  uppon  ev'y  off  ther  seyd  namys  dew  to  our  Soverenge  Lorde  the  King  for  ye  fyrst  of 
ye  four  yerys  sbsyde  [subsidy]  grantyd  unto  hys  liygnes  in  ye  last  P'lym<>t,    [Parliament.) " 

t  All  old  English  custom  was  to  give  a  child  one  name,  then  call  it  another.  Thus  Mary  became  Pol- 
ly, Blatilda  became  Maud,  and  Anne  became  Nancy.  The  Gillingham  Greenes  had  a  diminutive  of  their 
own  for  the  name  ot  Anne.  They  called  all  their  Annes— and  they  were  partial  to  the  name— by  the 
soubriauet  of  Welthian.  or  Wealthy  .inn.  The  two  cousins  who  came  to  the  Colonies  named  their  daugh- 
ters Welthian  without  circumlocution  about  it.  Among  the  tens  of  thousands  of  names  found  in  the  re- 
cords nf  Xew  England  f.ir  the  125  years  after  its  first  settlement,  we  have  found  not  a  Welthian  outside  of 
these  two  ttimilics.    With  them  it  i 


itbe    tSvccnc   jfainil^ 


Greenes.  As  these  two  were  all  of  this  family  who  came  to  the  Col- 
onies, we  shall  not  attempt  to  give  a  full  list  of  those  who  remained 
in   England. 

Richard'-  left  a  son  Richard"  and  a  daughter.  Richard'"  and  wife 
ilary  had  five  sons  and  four  daughters.  Of  these  the  fourth  son  was  Sur- 
geon John  Greene'^  In  most  American  genealogies  he  is  called  the  son  of 
Peter  Greene  of  Aukley  Hall.  This  is  a  mistake.  Peter  was  his  oldest 
brother,  the  heir  to  Bowridge  Hall. 

John'-,  of  Robert",  died  in  1560.  He  had  three  sons,  Robert'^  of  Lang- 
ham,  Jeremy  of  Gillingham,  and  Henr\-",  who  seems  to  have  lived  at  some 
distance  from  the  old  home.  Henry  "died  suddenly,"  as  the  parish  records 
puts  it,  Aug.  22nd,  1578.  He  had  certainly  a  son,  "  Thomas  of  Wyke,"  and 
a  son  Robert.  This  Robert'^  had  a  son  John'^  born  in  1606,  who  came  to  the 
New  World  1635,  and  is  known  to  us  as  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett. 


CHAPTER     VI 

EMIGRATION    OF   THE   GREENES   TO   THE   COLONIES,    1619-4O 


"  The  Puritans  to  many  seem  mere  savage  iconoclasts,  fierce  destroyers  of  forms  ; 
but  it  were  more  just  to  call  them  haters  of  untrue  forms.  Poor  Laud  seems  to  me  to 
have  been  weak  and  ill-staried,  not  dishonest ;  an  unfortunate  pedant,  rather  than  any- 
thing worse. . . .  Like  a  weak  man,  he  drives  with  spasmodic  fury  toward  his  pur- 
pose ;  cramps  himself  to  it,  heeding  no  voice,  no  cry  of  pity Alas,   was  not  his 

doom  stern  enough  ?     Whatever  wrongs  he   did,   were    they   not   all    frightfully  avenged 
on  him?"  —Carlvlc: 


The  three  periods  of  emigration  prior  to  i6jO.  Early  Virginia  and  Barbadoes  settlers. 
New  England  a  magnet.  Laud  and  King  Charles  I  and  their  tyrannies.  The  three 
classes  of  Greenes  thai  came  to  Massachusetts.  Line  of  Ruli?ig  Elder  John  Greene. 
The  Greenes  of  unknown  descent.  The  two  Gillingham  Greenes  who  founded  the 
two  famous  lines  of  Rhode  Island  Greenes.  The  great  emigration  of  16 j^.  Arch- 
bishop Laud. 

The  Forefathers  are  those  emigrants  who  came  to  the  American  Colo- 
nies before  1650.  From  the  first  Colonization  to  Cromwell's  clay,  all  emi- 
gration may  be  divided  into  three  distinct  periods :  The  early  Virginia  set- 
tlements on  the  James  River,  the  first  of  all  ;  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  to  IMassachusetts  1620-31,  and  the  emigration  of  anti-Laud  men, 
the  influx  of  which  was  at  its  greatest  in  the  year  1635. 

The  first  of  these  periods  was  dominated  by  a  spirit  of  adventure.  The 
new  world  was  pictured  as  Indian  inhabited  and  wild  beast  infested,  but  in 
all  other  respects  a  paradise.  The  early  Virginians  were  men  who  lo^■ed 
adventure,  and  were  seeking  quick  wealth.  The  claims  of  religion  rested 
ver}'  lightly  upon  them  indeed. 

The  illusion  of  tropical  forests  and  ri\-ers  with  sands  of  gold, 
was  pretty  well  over  with  by  the  time  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers'  day. 
New  England's  bleak  coasts  were  settled  by  a  stern,  stout-hearted  class 
that  had  come  for  refuge,  not  for  gain,  that  they  might  worship  God  after 
the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences.     We  may  shrug  our  shoulders  at  the 


^be   Greene   jfamil^  39 


sternness  of  their  religion;  we  ma}-  deprecate  their  narrow  bigotry;  we  ma}- 
ridicule  their  prim,  stiff  ways,  and  their  cheese-paring  stinginess;  we 
niav  make  the  most  we  can  of  their  persecutions  of  the  Baptists  and 
Quakers,  and  of  their  hanging  witches.  The  fact  remains  that  we  owe 
them  a  debt  we  can  never  repay.  Their  industry,  honesty,  and  hard  good 
sense,  their  positive  religious  convictions  and  unflinching  adherence  to  what 
they    thought  right,  has  laid  the  foundations  of  our  nation's  greatness. 

The  colonists  who  crossed  the  ocean  to  escape  Laud's  tyrannies 
were  almost  to  a  man  Independents  or  Puritans  in  religion.  It  was  practic- 
ally from  their  ranks  that  the  Quakers  and  Anabaptists  were  afterwards 
drawn.  They  were  men  of  a  rugged,  religious  t^-pe,  ready  to  lay  down  their 
lives  for  what  they  esteemed  the  truth. 

The  pioneer  Greene  in  America  appears  to  have  been  Solomon  Greene, 
aged  27,  who  came  to  Virginia  in  1618.  By  1623  there  were  li\-ing  in  the 
James  River  settlements  this  same  Solomon  and  five  others,  three  of  whom 
died  within  a  year.  From  the  survivors,  Solomon,  Robert  and  John,  with 
Ale.xander  and  Roger  who  came  in  1635,  the  Southern  Greenes  descend. 
Beside  these  who  are  named,  ten  others  came  from  England  in  1635, 
but  settled  in  the  Barbadoes,  in  the  West  Indies.  Most  of  these  Greenes 
became  rich  sugar  planters  and  extensive  slave  owners.  All  of  the  other 
early  Greenes  I  have  been  able  to  trace,  belong  in  New  England. 

The  New  England  Greenes  may  be  divded  into  three  groups,  (i)  those 
of  the  Ruling  Elder  John  Greene  line;  (2)  the  Gillingham  Greenes;  and  (3) 
those  whose  ancestry'  is  unknown. 

Ruling  Elder  John  Greene  came  to  Charlestown,  Mass.,  in  1632.  His  wife 
was  Perseverance,  the  daughter  of  a  noted  Puritan  minister,  the  Rev.  Francis 
Johnson.  Elder  Greene  was  39  years  of  age  at  that  time,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  daughter,  his  two  sons,  John  and  Jacob,  and  Joseph 
Greene,  a  relative.  A  little  later  the  Elder's  kinsman,  Bartholomew  Greene, 
and  family,  came  and  settled  in  Boston.  His  two  sons  were  Nathaniel  and 
Samuel.  This  Samuel,  in  1648,  succeeded  Samuel  Day  in  business,  thus 
becoming  the  second  printer  in  all  America.  From  his  famous  press  were 
issued  the  Bible,  Baxter's  Call,  the  Colonial  Laws,  and  Eliot's  celebrated 
work  on  the  Indian  language.  Hs  became  the  head  of  a  line  that  in  all  its 
generations  has  furnished  an  unusual  number  of  editors  and  printers.  Two 
or  three  of  his  descendants  did  the  first  printing  in  their  respective  states. 
Thomas  Greene,  senior,  and  Thomas  Greene,  junior,  of  iMalden,  were  of  the 
Elder  John  Greene  branch  also. 

This  line  of  Greenes  have  for  a  crest,  the  green,  or  British  woodpecker, 
pecking  at  a  tree  trunk.  See  the  close  of  Chapter  II.  This  coat-of-arms 
shows  them  to  have  descended  from  one  of  the  younger  sons  or  grandsons  of 


40  ttbe   Greene   family 

Lord  Alexander  de  Greene  de  Boketon,  who  became  the  first  Lord  de 
Greene,  in  1202. 

There  were  two  of  the  Gillingham  Greenes,  second  cousins  to  each 
other,  and  each  named  John.     Their  history  is  sketched  in  the  next  chapters. 

The  forefather  Greenes  of  unknown  descent  are  these  :  James  and  Wil- 
liam of  Charlestown  ;  Robert  of  Hingham  ;  Rev.  Henry  of  Reading  ;  Henry 
of  Watertown,  who  was  probably  identical  with  Henry  of  Essex  ;  Percival 
of  Cambridge  ;  Ralph  of  Boston  ;  and  Thomas  of  Ipswich,  who  may  be  the 
same  as  Thomas,  Junior,  of  ]^Ialden.  Beside  these  were  two  John  Greenes 
that  died  bachelors. 

Of  these  forefathers,  Elder  John,  Bartholomew  and  James  Greene,  with 
their  families,  came  to  Massachusetts  by  1634.  Rev.  Henry  Greene  proba- 
bly came  about  1639  or  1640.  All  of  the  others  came  in  1635,  the  famous 
year  of  general  Nonconformist  emigration.*  The  conscientious  husbands 
and  fathers  were  more  willing  for  their  families  to  endure  the  hardships  of  a 
new  country  and  rigorous  climate,  and  face  perils  from  Indians,  than  to  re- 
main in  their  own  land,  where  religious  persecution  was  already  rife,  and 
the  muttering  of  approaching  civil  war  was  heard. 

The  Puritans,  or  Nonconformists, or  Independents,  as  they  are  various- 
ly styled,  had  been  frowned  upon  by  every  English  monarch.  Catholic  or 
Protestant.  They  were  radicals,  keen  of  tongue,  interpreting  the  Bible  for 
themselves,  and  standing  in  little  awe  of  either  bishop  or  king.  Elizabeth, 
the  good  Queen  Bess  of  old  song,  burned  a  few  of  them  for  their  obstinacy, 
punishing  them  quite  as  much  for  the  fuss  they  made  about  ministers  wear- 
ing a  surplice  or  robe,  or  to  making  the  sign  of  the  cross,  or  to  bowing  at 
the  name  of  Jesus,  as  for  their  alleged  heresy. 

James  I  thought  himself  quite  a  saint.  This  did  not  hinder  him  from 
making  things  so  unpleasant  for  the  Nonconformists  that  many  of  them 
went  to  Holland,  and  later,  in  the  Mayflower  and  Ann,  to  New  England. 
There  was  no  improvement  under  Charles  I,  the  next  king. 

Charles  I  hated  the  Puritans.  He  said  it  was  because  of  their  long 
faces  and  doleful  Psalm  singing.  More  probably  it  was  because  they  were 
radicals  and  mal-contents  in  politics,  and  he  was  a  king  who  rode  straight 
over  law.  For  seventeen  years  he  refused  to  call  a  Parliament ;  but  at  his 
own  pleasure,  and  by  his  own  might,  imposed  rrnlawful  taxes,  and  levied 
ship  money  and  subsidies  that  were   no  better  than  blackmail   or  robberj-. 


»  The  government  becamesoalarmedby  this  wholesale  emigration,  that  tor  several  years  they  re- 
strained their  subjects  from  leaving.  In  1637.  eight  ships  were  about  to  start,  when  they  were  forcibly  de- 
tained. Oliver  Cromwell  was  one  of  the  passengers  who  would  have  gone  to  America,  had  the  ship  sail- 
ed. It  would  have  been  better  for  Charles,  and  the  head  on  his  kingly  shoulders,  had  he  permitted  tltat 
ship  to  have  gone  upon  its  way. 


iLbc   (Brccne   fatiiti^ 


His  chief  counselor  was  Archbishop  Laud,  who  practically  was  Premier  of 
England,  and  ruled  the  land.  The  old  saying  was,  "  It  is  Laud  here,  Laud 
there,  and  Laud  everywhere."  Charles'  court-fool  solemnly  asked  grace  at 
the  King's  table  one  day,  and  brought  over  in  his  petition,  "  Great  Laud 
and  little  Devil."  * 

The  all-powerful  Laud  hated  the  Puritans  even  worse  than  did 
the  king.  Charles  had  to  be  a  Protestant,  because  he  was  the  head  of 
a  Protestant  nation.  Laud  had  to  be  a  Protestant  also,  because  he  was 
the  king's  nearest  adviser.  What  sort  of  a  one  he  was  is  shown  by 
the  Pope  offering  to  make  him  a  cardinal.  And  really  poor  Laud  meant  to 
be  extremely  good.  Being  a  narrow-minded  man,  or  as  Dickens  says, 
"Of  great  learning  and^little  sense,"  he  could  only  be  good  in  his  own 
narrow  way.  He  delighted  in  tinkling  of  bells  and  the  burning  of  candles 
about  the  altar,  in  clouds  of  incense,  and  in  much  bowing  and  genuflection. 
He  ordered  those  things  to  be  done  in  every  church. 

One  Puritan  divine  boldly  said  from  his  pulpit,  that  this  was  all 
trumpery  and  there  was  no  authority  in  the  Scriptures  for  bishops,  anyway. 
For  this  speech.  Laud  had  this  minister's  nose  slit,  his  cheek  branded, 
both  ears  cut  off,  fined  5000  pounds  (nearly  $25,000),  and  then  imprisoned  for 
life.  Several  others  were  handled  almost  as  roughly.  As  for  the  lesser 
offenders,  there  were  ears  cut  off,  noses  slit,  and  unmerciful  whippings 
administered  without  number. 

Small  wonder  our  fathers  thouijht  Indians  less  savage  than  Laud  ! 


•  If  pronounced  slurrmgl7.  Lord  has  the  sound  of  Laud.    The  Archbishop  was  short,  ot  statue,  hence 
the  force  of  the  allusion.    The  poor  fool  was  well  whipped  tor  his  pains. 


CHAPTER    VII 

FOLLOWING    ROGER   WILLIAMS   INTO   THE   WILDERNESS 


And  my  God  put  it  into  my  heart  to  gather  together  the  nobles,  and  the  rulers,  and 
the  people,  that  they  might  be  reckoned  by  genealogy.  And  I  found  a  register  of  them 
which  came  up  at  the  first,  and  found  written  therein. 

A-chemiah    VII.      Verses- 

Intolerance  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Instance  of  Rev.  Clarke's  trial  and  of  the  hanging 
of  the  Quakers.  Roger  Williams.  His  banishment.  The  first  Baptist  church  in 
America.  Some  of  its  first  members.  The  present  church  building  of  the  historic 
First  Church  of  Providence.      The  three  John  Greenes  who  settled  in  R.  1. 


The  Pilgrim  Fathers  came  to  Massachusetts  that  they  might  have  re- 
ligious freedom,  but  it  was  their  own  freedom  they  sought  and  not  other 
men's.  It  was  not  a  tolerant  age.  Catholic,  Established  Church,  Presby- 
terian or  Puritan,  whoever  had  the  upper  hand  tried  to  compel  every  other 
person  to  come  to  his  way  and  his  mode  of  thinking. 

It  was  an  age  when  religious  topics  were  dail}'  discussed  ;  when  religion 
was  more  than  art,  education,  or  politics  ;  when  received  orthodox  tenets 
were  so  rigidly  insisted  upon  that  not  so  much  as  a  hair's  breadth  of  disbe- 
lief in  them  would  be  put  up  with,  and  when  such  a  thing  as  every  man 
choosing  a  belief  for  himself  was  a  thing  unknown.  There  was  the  Catholic 
religion  on  the  one  hand,  the  Protestant  on  the  other,  and  the  Protestants 
were  almost  as  undivided  as  the  Catholics.  There  was  no  such  thing  known 
as  Methodist,  Universalist,  Unitarian,  Disciples,  or  Evangelical  Churches. 
Those  who  liked  a  good  deal  of  formality  in  church  ser\-ices  belonged  to  the 
Established  Church,  or  as  we  say  now,  to  the  Episcopalians.  Those  who 
believed  in  simplicity  of  ser\-ice,  but  were  strong  as  to  their  creed,  were  In- 
dependents or  Puritans,  corresponding  to  the  Presbyterians  and  Congrega- 
tionals  of  to-day. 

Our  forefathers  were  honest,  upright  men,  but  they  could  see  no  use  of 
more  modes  of  religious  thinking  than  these.     As  they  saw  it  there  was  ab- 


Sbe   6rcene   family 


43 


soluteh-  no  room  for  any  other  sect,  and  if  any  other  tried  to  make  a  place 
for  itself,  it  was  of  a  surety  of  the  Evil  One.  Just  at  this  time  the  Baptists 
were  struggling  for  a  foothold,  and  the  Friends  or  Quakers  had  also  come 
into  existence.  IVe  smile  at  these  two  tried  and  worthy  Christian  hosts  being 
regarded  as  of  Satan  ;  but  in  that  day  their  doctrines  were  considered  rank 
heresy.  Nay,  they  were  thought  absolutely  blasphemous,  so  utterly  vile  and 
misleading  that  they  needed  putting  down  with  a  strong  hand. 

This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  trial  of  Rev.  John  Clarke  in  165 1.  He 
was  the  Baptist  minister  at  Newport,  R.  I.  While  on  a  visit  at  Lynn,  Mass., 
he  preached  at  a  friend's  house,  at  this  friend's  request.  Before  the  sermon 
was  ended  two  constables  arrested  him  and  two  of  his  friends  as  "  erroneous 
persons."  They  were  taken  to  Boston  for  trial,  and  the  charge  entered 
against  them  of  being  Antipedobaptists.  If  anyone  wants  to  know  the  mean- 
ing of  that  word,  I  refer  him  or  her  to  Rev.  Increase  Mather's  lucid  defini- 
tion of  it  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  thus  : 

"  Antipedobaptism  is  a  blasted  error." 

At  the  trial  Governor  John  Endicott  asked  them  if  the  charge  was  true. 
Whereupon  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke  made  use  of  this  language:  "  I  am  neither 
an  Anabaptist,  nor  a  Pedobaptist,  nor  a  Cataba'ptist;  and  though  I  have  bap- 
tized many,  I  have  never  re-baptized  any,  for  infant  baptism  is  a  nullity." 

Rev.  John  Cotton  preached  a  sermon  on  this  answer.  He  declared  the 
Rev.  Clarke  ought  to  be  hung,  because  he  preached  doctrine  that  made  him 
a  soul  murderer.     Governor  Endicott  was  more  lenient. 

"  You  desen,-e  to  die,"  said  the  Governor  sternly.  Then  he  imposed  a 
mild  (?)  sentence  upon  them.  All  were  to  be  whipped,  and  fined  from  five 
to  thirty  pounds  each.  The  clergyman  was  finalh-  let  off  without  the  whip- 
ping,* but  elder  Obadiah  Holmes,  one  of  his  companions,  received  thirty 
lashes  on  the  bare  back  from  a  3-cord  whip,  and  for  several  days  had  to  lie  on 
his  face,  as  his  back  was  one  great  sore. 

A  few  years  later  three  Quaker  preachers  were  hung  in  Boston  as  "  pes- 
tilent heretics."  One  of  them  was  Mary  Dyer,  a  woman  of  36.  and  of  a  blame- 
less life.  But  as  the  authorities  thought  no  woman  had  a  right  to  preach, 
they  hung  her  higher  than  the  men,  that  she  might  be  a  spectacle  to  Heaven, 
angels  and  men.  Things  like  these  teach  us  the  temper  of  these  good  but 
mistaken  men,  who  thought  they  were  doing  God-service  b}^  putting  down 
all  that  they  considered  heresy. 

No  clerg>nnan  was  allowed  to  lia\-e  a  copy  of  Shakespear  in  his  library. 

*  Parton  says  that  some  unknown  person  paid  Rev.  Clarke's  fine  without  the  clergyman's  knowl- 
edge. A  personal  friend  beoame  security  tor  John  Craiidall.  so  that  Holmes  alone  was  whipped.  Some 
additional  particulars  are  given  in  Chapter  XS. 


44  ^be   (5reene   jfamil^ 


No  one  was  allowed  to  preach  who  did  not  heartily  expound  the  gospel  ac- 
cording to  the  received  standard.  No  one  was  allowed  to  carry  fire-arms,  or  to 
vote,  or  to  hold  the  commonest  ofiice,  unless  he  was  a  church  member.  One 
of  the  author's  ancestors,  William  Wardwell,  had  his  fire-arms  taken  from 
him,  because  he  was  believed  to  be  tainted  with  the  heresy  of  the  Rev.  'Sh. 
Wheelwright,  who  had  just  been  banished. 

We  must  keep  in  mind  their  point  of  view,  and  how  deep  their  feeling 
was  in  this  matter,  to  understand  the  persecution  of  Roger  Williams  and  his 
followers  that  arose  1 631-1636. 

Roger  Williams  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  was  magnetic,  drawing 
converts  to  his  views,  wherever  he  went.  He  was  a  born  leader,  a  quick 
thinker,  a  persuasive  speaker,  a  man  of  enthusiasm,  daring  and  originality, 
and  a  man  who  took  up  new  thoughts,  and  new  ways  of  doing  things.  He 
not  only  planned,  but  he  carried  out  his  plans.  Some  hold  that  he  has  been 
over-rated,  that  he  was  more  brilliant  than  deep,  and  that  in  a  religious  sense 
he  was  everything  by  turns  and  nothing  long.  If  all  this  be  true,  it  must 
yet  be  conceded  that  he  fills  a  greater  space  in  history'  than  any  other  man 
of  the  Colonies  in  a  hundred  years.  He  drew  the  best  brain  and  blood  of 
New  England  to  Rhode  Island,  and  when  INIassachusetts  began  to  lord  it 
over  Rhode  Island,  Williams  sailed  to  England  and  obtained  a  charter  that 
put  the  younger  colony  in  charge  of  its  own  affairs,  and  allowed  a  degree  of 
religious  liberty  be3'ond  an}-thing  ever  known  before. 

Roger  Williams  was  of  Welsh  descent,  and  was  educated  at  Pembroke 
College.  Afterwards  he  was  the  protege  of  Chief-Justice  Sir  Edward  Coke, 
and  from  this  great  lawyer  got  his  ideas  of  law  and  government.  He  was  an 
exceptional  linguist,  a  Greek,  Hebrew  and  Latin  scholar,  and  spoke  and 
wrote  English,  Dutch,  French  and  German.  In  America  he  soon  added  the 
Indian  tongue  to  his  other  attainments. 

Williams  was  ordained  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England.  He 
soon  developed  Puritan  views,  and  came  to  the  Colonies,  though  he  said  it 
was  "  as  bitter  as  death  "  to  him  to  leave  England.  By  the  time  his  six- 
weeks  sea  voyage  was  over  he  was  a  Separatist  or  extreme  Puritan.  He  ar- 
rived at  Boston  with  his  wife  Mary,  Feb.  5,  1631.  He  settled  at  Salem,  only 
to  be  driven  away.  Then  he  was  two  years  at  Plymouth,  returning  to  Salem 
again  at  the  end  of  this  time.  Here,  in  1634,  there  was  erected  for  him  a 
frame  church,  the  oldest  church  edifice  in  America  that  is  yet  standing. 
The  authorities  thought  he  preached  heresy.  He  certainly  told  his  hearers 
in  so  many  words  that  they  had  no  right  to  take  the  Indians'  land  without 
paying  for  it,  and  that  the  magistrates  had  no  right  to  dictate  to  men's  con- 
sciences. This  was  more  than  the  authorities  would  stand,  and  in  October, 
1635,  they  gave  him  a  certain  length  of  time  to  leave  the  colony. 


iEbc   Greene   ifanittp 


45 


Many  of  the  Salem  Church  followed  him  into  the  unbroken  wilderness 
of  Rhode  Island.  In  June,  1636,  the  colony  was  planted  at  Providence  on 
the  shore  of  Narragansett  Bay.  Everything  was  done  systematically.  The 
land  was  purchased  from  the  Indians,  and  a  compact  was  drawn  up  and 
signed,  remarkable  for  its  simplicity,  and  for  the  absolute  liberty  accorded  to 
all.  Here  he  preached  for  two  years.  Then  another  change  of  his  religious 
views  followed.  He  became  a  Baptist,  and  was  persuaded  that  immersion 
was  the  only  lawful  baptism.  In  all  New  England  there  was  not  a  clergy- 
man that  had  been  immersed.  However,  a  little  band  of  his  closest  followers 
met,  twelve  in  all,  including  Roger  Williams  himself.  Ezekiel  Holyman  or 
HoUiman,  (it  is  spelled  both  wa^-s,)  was  chosen  to  baptize  Williams.  Then 
Williams  baptized  the  other  ele\-en.  This  strange  proceeding  was  first 
reported  by  Governor  Winthrop  in  his  journal  under  date  of  March  16) 
1639,  and  this  was  long  thought  to  be  the  correct  date.  It  is  now  known 
that  it  was  reall}'^  late  in  the  autumn  of  1638. 

The  old  church  records  have  been  lost,  and  the  names  of  only  ten  of  the 
twelve  constituent  members  of  this  first  Baptist  church  in  America  have 
been  preserved.  The  descendants  of  Surgeon  John  Greene  are  confident  that 
he  and  his  wife  are  the  two  missing  members.  So  family  tradition  has  it. 
Some  of  the  other  names  have  an  interest  to  Greene  descendants.  Among 
them  are  Ezekiel  Holyman  and  wife.  Ezekiel  Holyman's  wife  came  to 
Providence  in  1636  as  Mrs.  Sweet.  Her  husband  died  soon  after,  leaving 
two  small  sons,  James  and  John.  Then  "Sirs.  Sweet  married  Mr.  Holyman. 
Her  son  James,  when  grown,  married  Surgeon  John  Greene's  youngest  child, 
Mary.  She  inherited  her  father's  skill  and  passed  it  on  to  her  descendants, 
the  celebrated  "  Bone-setting  Sweets." 

Two  others  of  this  original  little  band  became  ancestors  of  a  large  line 
of  descendants  who  afterwards  intermarried  with  the  Greenes.  These  were 
a  young  couple,  Stukeley  Westcott  and  wife,  who  was  Rosanna  Hill  before 
her  marriage.  This  re-baptism  of  adults  who  had  been  previously  baptized 
by  sprinkling,  gave  great  offense  to  the  home  church  in  Massachusetts,  when 
they  heard  of  it.  The  Salem  church  excommunicated  the  eight  re-baptized 
members  that  had  belonged  to  them.  IMary  Sweet-Holyman,  and  Stukeley 
Westcott  and  wife  were  among  the  number. 

Dr.  Henry  M.  King,  the  present  pastor  of  this  historic  First  Baptist 
Church  at  Providence,  says  of  this  church  :  "A  church  born  in  loneliness 
and  exile,  but  born  in  the  spirit  of  God,  to  human  view  self  originated,  and 
without  lineal  descent  or  pedigree,  untouched  by  priestly  hands,  unanointed 

by  apostolic  grace,  and  yet  a  church  of  Jesus  Christ  came  into  being 

It  was  a  ver}'  simple  affair.  There  was  no  creed  but  the  scriptures,  and  no 
ritual  but  the  spontaneous  offering  of  prayer,  and  the  familiar  unfolding  of 


46  (Ibe   (5recne   family 

the  word  of  truth.  They  were  still  possibly  unsettled  in  their  religious 
opinions,  and  far  from  unanimous Roger  Williams  became  a  high- 
church  Baptist,  and  distrusted  the  validity  of  his  own  ordination  and  bap- 
tism. The  little  church  survived  the  withdrawal  of  the  minister,  and  grad- 
ually increased." 

In  after  j-ears  the  Warwick  Greenes  and  the  Westcotts  became  exceed- 
ingly proud  of  their  foreparents  having  been  of  the  "  first  "  Baptist  church 
in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  and  bragged  more  about  it  than  was  really  be- 
coming, perhaps.  Those  who  think  the  whole  affair  irregular,  claim  the  real 
first  Baptist  church  was  at  Newport,  of  which  the  Rev.  John  Clarke  became 
the  first  pastor  in  1644.*  The  Providence  church  is  generally  accorded  that 
honor.  In  1775,  the  year  before  the  Revolutionary  w-ar  commenced,  the 
third  church  building  of  this  church  was  erected,  and  is  being  used  to-day. 
The  first  bell,  made  for  it  in  London,  weighed  2515  pounds,  and  had  on  it  a 
quaint  inscription  : 

"For  freedom  of  conscience  the  town  was  first  planted. 

Persuasion,  not  force,  was  used  by  the  people  ; 
This  Church  is  the  eldest,  and  has  not  recanted, 

Enjo_ving  and  granting  bell,  temple  and  steeple." 

It  is  a  peculiar  circumstance  that  :Mr.  J.  F.  Greene,  one  of  the  Church's 
present  officers,  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Sitrgeon  John  Greene  and  his  wife 
who  their  descendants  believe  w^ere  two  of  the  original  twelve  members. 

Other  towns  and  communities  sprang  up.  The  Quakers  and  the  follow- 
ers of  ]Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson  were  banished  to  Rhode  Island,  then  known  as 
Providence  Plantations.  By  i650theWaites,Anthonys,Wardwells  and  Pierces, 
with  whom  the  Greenes  largely  intermarried,  were  residents  of  the  liberty- 
loving  colony.  Of  the  Greenes  themselves  there  were  three  adult  men.  These 
all  came  about  the  same  time,  in  the  very  earliest  day  of  the  colony.  Each  was 
named  John,  and  two  of  these  three  had  wives  named  Joan.  These  three  men 
were  John  of  Newport,  Surgeon  John  of  Warwick  and  John  of  Ouidnessett. 

John  of  Newport's  line  yet  continues.  His  family  was  never  as  exten- 
sive as  the  others,  and  kept  to  their  own  part  of  the  country  pretty  well.  So 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  trace  them,  his  posterity  did  not  intermariy  with 
the  other  Greenes  of  Rhode  Island  at  all.  The  other  John  Greenes  were  of  the 
English  Gillingham  branch  and  were  second  cousins-german  to  each  other,  f 

*  ••  Possibly  in  16«.  This  is  the  traJitional  date  of  the  origin  of  the  church.  There  is  no  historic  re- 
cord prior  tr>i64S." 

K,  ,t,.  1  ,v  H."M  ir  M.  King.  D.D.  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  at  Providence,  and  an  authority  upon 
earl^-  !■■:■  •■^'  '•  ^'  -i-y, 

':  T  liii's  father  was  second  cousin  to  Surgeon  John.whieh  would  make  the  younger  John 

tliii'!  )-.  •  ;  I  ■  Surgeon's  children.  He  was  of  course  more  nearly  related  to  the  father  than  to  the 
children,  to  whnni  he  was  mid-way  between  a  second  and  third  cousin,  or  as  genealogists  phrase  it,  a 
second  eousin-german.    German  here  denotes  not  nationality,  but  degree  of  relationship. 


hi 


FIRST    BAPTIST    CHURCH    OF   PROVIDENCE,    R.    I. 

Oldest  Baptist  organization  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.      Estab- 
lished 1638  by  Roger  Williams.     Present  edifice  erected  1775. 


^be   <5rccne   jfaiiiil^  47 

The  older  cousin  was  variously  called  John  Senior,  John  the  Elder,  John 
of  Salisbury,  Chirurgeon  John  and  Surgeon  John,  John  of  Providence  and 
John  of  Warwick.  In  these  pages  he  is  spoken  of  as  Surgeon  John  of  War- 
wick. Various  dates  have  been  given  of  his  birth.  His  direct  descendant, 
Henry  Lehre  Greene,  Vv'ho  has  studied  the  matter  carefully,  puts  the  date  at 
15S5.  He  was  born  at  Bowridge  Hall,  Gillingham,  England,  and  was  the 
younger  son  of  Richard  Greene,  Gentleman,  and  j\Iar}-  his  wife.  He  was  some- 
thing of  a  bachelor  when  on  November  4,  161 9,  he  married  Joan  Tattersall, 
(or  Joane  Tatarsole,  as  the  old  records  have  it,)  at  St.  Thomas'  Church,  Salis- 
bury, England.*  His  home  was  at  Aukley  Hall,  Salisbury.  He  was  too 
strong  an  anti-Laud  man  to  make  it  safe  for  him  in  England,  so  with  his  wife 
and  five  children,  he  set  ^ail  from  Southainpton  in  April,  1635,  in  the  good 
ship  James,  and  arrived  at  Boston,  May  3,  of  the  same  year.  He  lived  for  a  time 
at  Salem  and  was  among  the  first  who  followed  Roger  Williams  to  Provi- 
dence. The  latter  showed  his  confidence  in  him  by  making  him  one  of  the 
trustees  to  whom  Providence  was  deeded. 

The  younger  cousin  is  spoken  of  as  John  Greene  the  Younger,  John  of 
London,  John  of  Wickford  and  John  of  Quidnessett.  In  this  history  he  is 
always  John  of  Quidnessett.  He  was  born  in  England  in  1606,  and  resided 
at  or  near  London;  probably  his  home  was  at  Enfield,  one  of  the  suburb  towns 
of  the  great  city.  He  was  a  man  given  to  commemorating  family  events  by 
the  names  of  his  children.  Thus  a  son  was  John  Clarke,  the  very  name  as- 
sumed by  his  ancestor,  John  the  Fugitive,  166  years  before.  A  daughter 
was  Enfield,  a  most  singular  name  for  a  girl,  but  understandable  if  given  in 
honor  of  the  dear  old  English  home. 

John  of  Quidnessett  left  England  in  the  ship  Matthew,  early  in  1635. 
He  was  at  that  time  29.  He  went  first  to  St.  Christopher,  one  of  the  British 
West  Indies.  This  tropical  island  was  a  capital  place  at  that  time  to  make 
wealth.  But  its  population  was  a  Godless  set,  and  John  had  too  much  of 
the  Puritan  about  him  to  relish  such  companionship.  He  sailed  therefore 
for  ^Massachusetts,  and  from  there  passed  to  R.  I.  In  1637  we  find  him  with 
Richard  Smith,  the  Indian  trader,  at  Aquidneck  or  Quidnessett,  on  Narra- 
gansett  Bay.  He  lived  for  some  years  in  Smith's  family,  in  the  Block 
House,  or  family  fort.  Here  Roger  Williams  was  a  frequent  visitor.  Here 
Richard  Smith  gave  free  lodging  and  entertainment  to  all  travelers,  and  here 
he  opened  up  a  trading  post  with  the  Indians,  John  Greene  assisting  him. 
When  about  36  years  of  age  John  of  Quidnessett  married  a  young  widow. 
Of  his  children  and  history  the  next  chapter  will  tell. 


*The  St.  Thomas  Church  records  are  interesting.  They  give  the  baptism  of  "ye  sonnes  and  daughters 
of  Mr.  John  Greene  and  Mris.  Joane  Greene."  "Mris."  is  an  old  abbreviation  of  Mistress.our  present  Mrs. 
John  Greene  is  variously  described  as  "'  Gentleman  "  and  "  Chirurgeon." 


CHAPTER    Vni 

EARLY  R.  I.  HISTORY  TO  DEATH  OF  SURGEOX  JOHN  OF  WARWICK.   1636-1659 

The  first  Greenes  of  Rhode  Island.  Resemblatice  of  character  between  Surgeon  John  of 
Wanvick  and  John  of  Quidnessett.  Honors  that  fell  to  the  Wanvick  line.  Early 
days  of  Providence.  The  wrangle  with  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  Arrest  of 
Surgeon  John  in  Boston.  The  Massachusetts  version  of  the  affair.  Settlement  of 
Shawomet,  afterwards  Wanvick.  Death  of  Mrs.  foan  Gi  eene  amotig  the  Indians. 
Wholesale  arrests.      Surgeon  John  in  London.      His  last  days. 

Rhode  Island  might  better  have  been  named  the  State  of  Greene.  It  is 
said  to  not  be  safe  to  speak  evil  of  any  man  in  the  State,  for  if  not  a  Greene, 
he  is  liable  to  be  of  kin  to  them.  Rhode  Island  is  the  one  state  where  the 
Smiths,  Browns  and  Johnsons  are  outnnmbered.  There  are  more  Greenes 
in  the  State  than  of  any  other  name  whatever,  and  they  ha\-e  enjoyed  more 
state  and  civic  honors  than  any  other  family  within  her  borders. 

The  Mississippi,  as  its  headwaters  flow  from  Lake  Itaska,  is  but  a  small 
stream.  It  gathers  momentum  as  it  descends,  and  becomes  a  mighty  torrent 
ere  it  empties  into  the  ocean.  So  the  stream  of  descent  for  this  numerous 
family,  great  as  it  is,  has  its  rise  in  the  trijDle  father  fountains,  the  three  John 
Greenes  of  Rhode  Island. 

The  early  records  are  by  no  means  complete.  Knowing  this,  many 
take  it  for  granted  that  the  first  hundred  years  of  R.  I.  history  must  be  con- 
fused and  tangled  as  to  the  Greenes,  as  each  of  the  stem-fathers  had  the  same 
name.  Others  suppose  that  other  Greenes  came  to  R.  I.  in  an  early  day, 
and  that  their  descendants  are  mixed  up  with  the  others.  I  have  made  a 
careful  and  special  study  on  this  very  subject.  I  state  emphatically,  (i)that 
up  to  the  year  1700  there  is  no  record,  tradition  or  trace  of  any  stem-father 
by  the  name  of  Greene,  other  than  these  three  Johns.  (2)  There  is  no  con- 
fusion whatever,  up  to  the  same  year,  A.  D.  1700.  After  that  there  is,  in 
some  cases.  But  to  that  time,  evepi"  son  or  daughter  of  that  house  ma}"  be 
readily  and  correctl}'  placed  among  the  descendants  of  the  particular  John 
to  whom  he  or  she  belonged. 


^be   (Srcene   jfamil?  49 


John  of  Newport's  children  have  been  the  least  numerous.  They  kept 
to  their  own  part  of  the  state  and  did  not  intermarry  with  the  others.  Sur- 
geon John  moved  to  Warwick  before  any  of  his  children  married,  and  for  a 
long  time  his  descendants  lived  almost  exclusively  at  Warwick  and  East 
Greenwich.  John  of  Quidnessett's  line  lived  at  Kingstown,  now  Wickford, 
Westerly,  Charleston,  Coventry',  and  West  Greenwich  quite  as  commonly. 
I  repeat  that  no  one  need  fear  that  any  of  the  early  generations  are  assigned 
to  the  line  of  the  wrong  John.  It  has  been  easier  to  get  the  first  century's 
links  of  descent  accurate  than  those  of  a  later  date,  when  the  families  began 
to  scatter. 

John  of  Newport  passes  at  once  from  this  narrative,  as  no  incidents  are 
recorded  of  his  history'.  The  other  Johns  were  both  leaders,  both  prominent 
men,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  in  the  records  about  them.  They  showed  a 
resemblance  in  their  traits.  No  doubt  they  were  good  and  able  men,  and 
left  a  record  their  descendants  are  justly  proud  of.  But  they  were  not  saints. 
They  were  both  positive,  aggressive,  stand-on-the-defensive  men.  Their 
fighting  armor  was  ever  on.  In  fact,  they  were  two  typical  Englishmen, 
that  could  neither  be  scared  nor  driven,  and  were  on  general  principles  not 
a\-erse  to  a  scrap  now  and  then. 

Both  men  were  prominent.  Of  the  two,  Surgeon  John  of  Warwick's 
fame  is  the  greater.  He  was  a  generation  older  than  the  younger  John,  and 
the  more  naturally  selected  as  a  representative  of  the  Pro\'idence  Plantations* 
to  cross  the  ocean  and  lay  their  side  of  the  controversy  with  Massachusetts 
before  the  English  authorities.  In  England  he  became  the  best  known  man 
of  the  Colony,  with  the  exception  of  Roger  Williams.  Naturally  official 
favor  was  shown  to  both  him  and  his  sons. 

Of  the  Surgeon's  three  sons  who  lived  to  be  middle-aged,  all  three  were 
at  various  times  Assistant  President  of  the  Colony.  The  oldest  son,  whose 
name  was  also  John,  held  office  from  the  Crown  for  forty-nine  years,  having 
been  Recorder,  Attorney  General,  President's  Assistant,  one  of  the  Council 
of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  Major  of  the  ]\Iain,  which  is  equivalent  to  our  ]Major 
General,  and  for  ten  years,  1690-1700,  was  Deputy  Governor,  the  highest 
office  in  the  Colony,  Sir  Edmund  Andros  being  Governor  over  all  the  New 
England  Colonies  as  a  whole. 


*  Till- (.•olony  was  fu -trill,.  I  n  .m,!  mum- Plant  ifi  .n-    In  ici^,  Rfv.  John  Clarke,  whose  trial  for  heresy 
is  given  in  the  preMini-    I       t   i     i     Ml   -    \  I!       I  '        mi  innished  "heretic."  purehaseil  Aquid- 

Deok  Island  of  the  Nr  I  I        i,  t  d  the  town  of  Pooassetor Portsmouth. 

Clarke  started  the  t'i     i       "        i  I         i  _    t  A.iuidneek  a  good  name  for  the  entire 

region  and  found  aiaiij  v.h.,.,.  „.  J  hi-, .  a,.u.,  i  in  .  a.,...^  .1  ;liat.  In  1644,  the  year  Surgeon  John  went 
back  to  England,  the  Assembly  met  and  debated  which  of  the  several  names  used  should  be  adopted  by 
the  colony.  They  settled  upon  the  name  Island  of  Rhode,  or  Bhode  Island.  The  name  spread  so  slowly 
that  Surgeon  John,  fifteen  years  later,  used  in  his  will  the  term  Providenee  Plantations.  In  1663.  the 
name  of  Rhode  Island  was  finally  and  officially  confirmed. 


(Ibe   6recne   Jfamil^ 


This  brave  record  has  been  well  kept  up.  Of  this  family  have  been 
General  Nathaniel  Greene,  greatest,  save  Washington,  of  all  the  Revolution- 
ary War  heroes  ;  General  George  Sears  Greene  and  General  Francis  Vinton 
Greene.  It  has  supplied  Rhode  Island  with  representatives,  senators,  su- 
preme judges  and  governors.  As  a  result,  when  a  Greene  first  begins  to 
study  his  pedigree,  his  first  question  is, — "Am  I  of  the  War^vick  Greenes?" 

To  take  up  Surgeon  John  of  Warwick,  R.  I.'s  history  first  of  all. 

Roger  Williams  purchased  the  land  upon  which  the  city  of  Providence 
stands,  from  the  Indians.  Then  as  grantor  he  deeded  it  to  twelve  trustees 
for  the  use  of  the  colony.  Stukeley  Westcott  is  the  first  trustee  mentioned, 
John  Greene  the  fifth,  and  Ezekiel  Holyman  the  last.  Two  years  later,  the 
time  being  ripe  for  division,  the  land  was  divided  into  fifty-four  lots  or 
shares,  one  lot  being  allowed  to  each  single  man  or  head  of  a  family  who 
had  been  an  "  associate,"  as  the  records  phrase  it,  with  Roger  Williams  at 
the  time  of  the  Providence  settlement.  Where  a  husband  had  died  the 
widow  was  given  his  share,  so  that  none  were  either  overlooked  or  given  a 
double  portion. 

John  Greene  Senior  and  John  Greene  Junior  each  received  an  allotment. 
The  first  of  these  was  of  course  Surgeon  John.  It  has  been  held  that  John 
Greene  the  Younger  was  the  Surgeon's  oldest  son.  But  inasmuch  as  he  was 
a  lad  of  less  than  sixteen  in  June,  1636,  when  Providence  was  settled,  this 
seems  improbable.  It  seems  more  reasonable  that  the  younger  John  was 
John  Greene  of  Quidnessett,  a  man  of  thirty  at  the  time  of  the  exodus. 

When  Providence  bid  fair  to  become  a  prosperous  settlement,  r^Iassa- 
chusetts  began  to  make  trouble  by  claiming  it  was  within  the  limits  grant- 
ed to  her,  and  belonged  to  her  jurisdiction.  She  did  not  hesitate  to  step  in 
and  nullify  Providence  Plantation's  laws,  and  she  threatened  to  prosecute 
those  of  heterodox  religious  views.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  strug- 
gle that  lasted  for  years,  and  in  which  neither  Rhode  Island  nor  Massa- 
chusetts show  up  to  advantage.  They  quarrelled,  took  unfair  advantages  of 
each  other,  appealed  to  the  mother  country',  and  were  as  stiff-headed  and  un- 
reasonable a  set  of  mortals  as  could  well  be  imagined. 

Roger  Williams  in  1641  sailed  to  England  to  get  a  charter  for  R.  I.  that 
would  stop  these  clamors.  The  spite-work  and  quarrelling  waxed  worse 
after  his  departure.  There  were  Samuel  Gorton,  Richard  Carder,  Randall 
Holden  and  Robert  Potter,  particularly  violent  in  speech,  and  ring-leaders 
on  the  R.  I.  side.  Surgeon  John  was  a  warm  friend  of  these  men,  and  in 
the  thickest  of  the  fray.  The  Surgeon  wrote  a  bold  pamphlet  o  n  what  was 
called  the  Verin  Controversy,  a  question  of  heresy  and  the  State's  right  to  put 
down  such  beliefs.  He  flatly  charged  the  Legislature  of  the  Bay  (Mass.)  with 
"  Usurping  the  power  of  Christ  over  the  Churches  and  men's  consciences." 


^be    Greene    family  51 


There  was  nothing  of  the  craven  about  the  doughty  Surgeon.  The  year 
after  his  settlement  at  Providence,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Boston.  Here  he  ex- 
pressed himself  freely  as  to  the  tyranny  of  town  officers  trying  to  control  men's 
consciences.  Palfrey  tells  us  that  the  Boston  authorities,  Sept.  19,  1637, 
fined  him  twenty  pounds  (nearly  $100.00)  for  "  seditious  discourse,"  and  sent 
him  away  with  an  injunction  to  keep  away  for  the  future. 

Captain  Edward  Johnson  in  his  "  Wonder-working  Providence,"  tells  us 
the  Massachusetts'  side.  He  says  Surgeon  John  Greene  "  spoke  contemptu- 
ousl}'  of  Magistrates,"  and  because  of  it  was  heavily  fined  and  "  forbidden  this 
jurisdiction  on  pain  of  further  fine  and  imprisonment."  Aleanwhile  three  of 
his  especial  friends,  Potter,  Carder  and  Holden  were  "  disenfranchised  of 
their  privileges  and  prerogatives,  and  their  names  cancelled  out  of  the  re- 
cord." Captain  Johnson  thought  these  men  deserved  this  punishment,  for  he 
says  they  were  "full  gorged  with  dreadful  and  damnable  errors."  Another 
author  tells  us  that  these  men  disturbed  the  authorities  by  "  their  insolent 
and  riotous  carriages,"  and  that  they  wrote  "  insulting  and  abusive  letters"  in 
defending  their  course  to  their  superiors. 

Gorton,  the  most  turbulent  of  the  lot,  determined  to  start  a  new 
settlement.  In  1642,  he  purchased  Occupessuatuxet,  or  Pawtuxet,  of  Mian- 
tonomo,  the  head  sachem  of  the  Narragansett  Indians.  This  was  called 
Shawomet  or  Shawmut  until  35  years  later,  when  it  was  changed  to  War- 
wick. Following  Roger  Williams'  example,  this  land  was  deeded  to  a  dozen 
trustees  or  proprietors,  the  coterie  of  the  five  close  friends  already  mentioned, 
and  John  Wicks,  Francis  Weston,  Richard  Waterman,  John  Warner,  Sam- 
son Shatton,  William  Wardwell*  and  Nicholas  Power.  How  close  and  strong 
was  the  friendship  between  these  men  who  faced  peril  and  hardship  togeth- 
er, is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Surgeon  John's  near  descendants  married  into 
the  Wicks,  Holden,  Gorton,  Potter  and  Carder  families. 

]Massachusetts  took  this  new  settlement  to  be  a  challenge  to  her  from 
her  most  seditious  and  rebellious  subjects.  The  long  threatened  storm  burst 
upon  them  in  a  fur\-.  The  IVIassachusetts  authorites  sent  commissioners  and 
forty  soldiers,  who  broke  up  the  settlement  by  force,  and  took  nearly  all  the 
settlers  of  Shawomet  prisoners.  This  was  in  1643.  Joan,  wife  of  Surgeon 
John,  was  drawing  near  death.  In  her  weak  state,  she  was  dreadfully  alarmed, 
and  her  husband  carried  her  off  for  refuge  to  the  friendly  Indians  at  Conan- 
icut,  R.  I.  Tradition  says  that  here,  with  dusky  faces  watching  about  her 
death-bed,  she  passed  away.  Her  husband  remained  with  her  until  the  mor- 
tal breath  had  left  her  body,  and  so  escaped  the  trials  of  his  comrades. 

*  Wuddall  in  records.  This  is  the  'William  Wardwell  whose  daughter  Frances  married  John  Anthony, 
and  was  thus  the  tore-mother  of  Susan  B.  .-inthoiiy.  This  was  a  Quaker  family,  and  afterwards  lived  at 
Portsmouth  where  there  was  a  large  Friends'  settlement. 


52 


itbe   (Breene   Ifantil^ 


Gorton  and  ten  others  were  taken  to  Massachusetts.  They  were  tried 
on  the  charge  of  being  "  damnable  heretics."  They  were  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  hard  labor  at  Charlestown,  Mass.  The  next  year,  1644,  this 
sentence  was  commuted  to  banishment.  Surgeon  John  Greene  was  selected 
by  the  indignant  Rhode  Islanders  to  present  their  grievances  to  England. 
He  got  safely  away  in  1644,  and  made  so  favorable  an  impression  in  the 
mother  country  that  he  secured  valuable  concessions  and  privileges  for  R.  I. 
While  in  England  he  married  a  former  R.  I.  friend,  the  widow  Alice  Daniels, 
who  had  returned  to  her  old  home.  She  lived  but  a  short  time,  and  after 
his  return  to  R.  I.  he  married  a  third  wife,  Phillipa  (or  Phellix),  who  sur- 
vived him.  He  died  in  1759  at  Warwick  (Shawomet).*  He  was  buried  at 
Conanicut  (or  Connimicut)  by  the  side  of  his  faithful  Joan.  x\s  has  already 
been  said,  his  children  for  many  years  held  high  official  positions  under  the 
government.  Nevertheless,  after  his  death,  John  of  Ouidnessett  was  the  lead- 
ing Greene  of  Rhode  Island,  and  stands  out  in  a  plain,  clear  light  of  his  own. 

I  prepared  a  condensed  genealogy  of  the  Warwick  Greenes,  but  find 
that  it  takes  more  space  than  can  well  be  given  it.  I  will  only  say,  that  but 
four  of  his  children  left  issue,  Mary  Greene-Sweet,  Deputy-Governor  John, 
James  and  Thomas.  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  the  greatest  of  the  Warwick 
Greenes,  was  the  great-great-grandson  of  Surgeon  John,  [John',  James^ 
Jabez^,  Nathaniel  and  General  Nathaniel  Greene".] 

From  thenceforth  the  line  of  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett  alone  is  traced. 


*  The  spelling  in  Surgeon  John  Greene's  will  is  calculated  to  excite  a  smile:  "  ffurthermore."  "  Sonne, 
'aliers."  '  lott."  etc.,  are  some  of  these  aueer  spellings.    The  will  closes  thus: 

"Signed  by  mee.  John  Greene,  Senior. 
A  True  Copple  as  atests  John  Greene,  Town  Clarke. 

per  Ezekiel  Hollyman.  debety— " 


CHAPTER    IX 

R.    I.    HISTORY   TO   DEATH   OF   JOHN    OF   QUIDNESSETT,    1 69 5 

History  of  Richard  Smith.  His  trading  post.  His  Block  House.  CoJtnection  with  John 
Greene.  The  Atherton  Company  and  the  Quidnessett  land  dispute.  Trials  of  John 
Greene,  the  chief  leader  for  Quidnessett.  His  quarrel  with  Awashuivett.  His  last 
days.      His  burial.     Joan  Greene  and  her  character. 

Pugnacious  old  John  of  Quidnessett !  The  author  being  twice  de- 
scended from  him,  takes  a  relative's  privilege  of  plain  speaking.  John  Greene 
of  Quidnessett  was  good  to  his  women  folks,  as  New  Englanders  say,  and 
was  as  true  as  steel  to  his  friends.  The  Quidnessett  land  dispute  that  lasted 
for  twelve  long  years,  would  never  have  been  won,  as  it  eventually  was,  by 
the  purchasers  of  the  Atherton  concession,  had  it  not  been  for  John  of  Quid- 
nessett's  grit  and  perseverance,  and  the  stoutness  with  which  he  stood  out  for 
his  own  rights  and  his  neighbors'  rights  as  well.  But  with  all  his  admirable 
qualities,  we  must  confess  that  he  looked  to  John  Greene's  comfort,  John 
Greene's  interest,  and  John  Greene's  pocket-book,  and  that  he  was  a  stormy 
character. 

His  history  is  so  interwoven  with  Richard  Smith's,  that  something  of 
the  latter's  history  must  be  given  also. 

Richard  Smith  was  known  as  the  Patriarch  of  Narragansett.  He  was 
among  the  first  refugees  in  R.  I.,  being  then  40  years  of  age,  and  having  a 
wife  and  four  children.  Although  he  came  into  this  wild  land  for  consci- 
ence's sake,  he  was  not  averse  toward  bettering  his  condition,  when  once  he 
was  there.  He  saw  his  opportunity  in  the  neighboring  Indian  stronghold  of 
Aquidnessett,  or  as  the  white  men  soon  shortened  it,  Quidnessett. 

In  the  History  of  Narragansett,  Potter  tells  us  that  the  Narragansett  In- 
dians occupied  the  present  county  of  Washington,  R.  I.  At  this  time  their 
head  sachem  was  Miantanomo.  The  tribe  numbered  30,000  souls,  of  whom 
5,000  were  warriors.  Most  of  the  tribe  were  congregated  in  Aquidnessett, 
along  the  banks  of  the  Cocumquissett  and  at  Nancook.  So  that  this  region 
was  ver}-  densely  populated.     Quidnessett  extended  from  Potowomut  River 


abe   Greene   jfamil? 


to  Xarragansett  Bay,  and  its  western  boundary  was  the  Pequot  Path,  (later 
called  the  Post  Road,)  that  was  the  common  thoroughfare  between  the  tribes, 
and  for  all  comers  and  goers  to  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  or  to  the  sea. 
The  Pequot  Path  led  to  the  sea  b}-  way  of  Cocumquissett  Brook.  Here,  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  the  present  Wickford,  Smith  decided  to  build  a  trading  post. 
Smith  was  politic  enough  to  humor  the  Indian  love  of  ceremony,  and 
to  gain  their  good  will  by  formally  asking  their  consent  to  locate  among 
them.  After  some  years,  he  purchased  outright  from  them  the  land  he  had 
previously  been  using.  After  his  death,  when  his  son's  title  to  the  land  was 
disputed,  John  Greene,  who  had  been  with  him  from  the  first,  made  this  de- 
position, that  throws  a  vivid  light  on  Smith's  early  dealings  with  the  Indians. 

"King's  Province  in  Narragansett  21  July,  1679. 
To  All  Whom  This  May  Concern  : 

I,  John  Greene,  inhabiting  in  the  Narragansett  Country,  called  King's  Province,  I 
being  a  sworn  Conservator  of  the  Peace,  do  on  my  Oath  affirme,  that  forty  years  and 
more  ago,  j\Ir.  Richard  Smith  that  I  then  lived  with,  did  first  begin  and  make  a  set- 
tlement in  the  Narragansett,  and  that  by  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the  Indian 
Princes  and  people,  and  did  improve  land  mow  meadows  severall  yeares  before  War- 
wick was  settled  by  any  English  man  ;  and  I,  being  present  did  see  and  heare  all  the 
Narragansett  Princes  being  assembled  together  give  by  livery  and  seizing  some  hun- 
dreds of  acres  of  land  about  a  mile  in  length,  and  so  down  to  the  sea  ;  this  being  about 

thirty  years  agoe,  many  hundred  Indians  being  present,  consenting  thereunto 

This  I  certify  to  be  true  as  I  am  in  Publique  office,  on  oath  and  under 
my  hand. 

John  Greene. '' 

Smith  chose  for  the  site  of  his  trading  post  the  spot  already  spoken  of, 
near  Cocumquissett  Brook,  and  hard  by  the  Pequot  Path.  Here  he  built  a 
heavy  and  substantial  block  house  or  castle,  as  it  was  called.  It  was  built 
of  thick  logs,  brick  and  heavy  timbers.  The  bricks,  hardware  and  lumber 
used  in  constructing  it  were  brought  from  Taunton,  Mass.,  in  boats.  When 
the  King  Philip  Indian  War  was  on  hand,  Smith's  castle  became  a  fort. 
Forces  assembled  and  marched  from  here.  After  the  Great  Swamp  Fight, 
both  the  wounded  and  the  dead  were  brought  here ;  42  of  the  latter  were 
buried  in  one  grave  near  the  house.  This  "  Big  Mound  "  can  yet  be  identi- 
fied. This  noted  landmark,  the  oldest  building  in  this  part  of  Rhode  Island, 
is  still  standing.  Richard  Smith  left  it  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Updike,  and 
it  is  yet  called  the  Updike  House.  It  has  been  newly  covered  on  the  out- 
side, but  the  old  timbers  and  brick  yet  remain  in  it,  and  the  interior  is  said 
to  be  very  much  as  of  old. 

The  Block  House  was  at  once  home,  fort,  trading  post  and  inn.  All 
travelers,  whether  white  men  or  Indians,  were  fed  and  lodged  for  as  long  a 


^bc   (Srcene   family 


i:? 


time  as  they  chose  to  stay,  free  of  all  charge.  Here  Roger  Williams  Avas  a 
visitor,  staying  days  at  a  time,  and  preaching  frequently.  Some  of  his  letters 
are  dated  from  Smith's  Block  House.  Smith  was  a  shrewd  trader.  He 
sold  the  Indians  glass  beads,  knives,  hatchets,  blankets  and  red  cloth  at  ex- 
travagant prices,  and  took  his  pay  in  skins  and  furs  at  ridiculously  low 
values.  A  plan  a  good  many  post  traders  have  since  followed  in  their  deal- 
ings with  the  red  man. 

From  the  very  first  there  was  with  him  an  Englishman,  ten  years  his 
junior — John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett.  This  is  one  of  the  John  Greenes  al- 
ready referred  to  as  belonging  to  the  English  Gillingham  Greenes.  Born  in 
1606,  he  had  come  over  in  1635,  the  year  of  the  great  exodus;  he  had  made 
a  brief  stay  in  the  Westjndies,  and  had  then  joined  the  Massachusetts  col- 
ony, only  to  push  onward  to  R.  I.  the  next  year,  disgusted  with  Massachu- 
.setts' illiberality  in  matters  of  religion.  The  year  after  that,  1637,  found 
him  the  sole  white  man,  save  Smith  himself,  in  the  Indian  settlement  of 
Ouidnessett.*  Whether  there  was  a  relationship  between  the  two  men,  or 
an  old  friendship  in  England,  is  now  unknowable. 

The  relation  between  them  at  first  was  that  of  emploj'er  and  employe. 
In  time  this  is  supposed  to  have  become  a  partnership.  Greene  was  a  bach- 
elor when  he  went  to  R.  I.,  and  was  in  no  haste  to  change  his  condition.  He 
lived  in  Smith's  home  as  one  of  the  family  for  years.  There  was  the  warm- 
est possible  friend.ship  between  the  men  and  between  their  families.  From 
various  circumstances  it  is  supposed  that  Greene  married  not  far  from  1642, 
when  he  was  about  36  years  of  age.  A  good-sized  family,  mostly  boys,  grew 
up  around  them.  The  stirring  times  when  England  was  convulsed  in  civil 
war,  when  Charles  I  was  beheaded,  and  Oliver  Cromwell  was  Lord  Protector 
over  England,  were  the  quietest  days  of  Early  Rhode  Island.  Of  the  most 
of  these  years  the  records  are  absolutely  silent  as  to  John  of  Quidnessett. 
We  know  that  he  remained  in  business  with  Smith,  and  that  all  went  well 
with  him.  Then  came  the  great  land  muddle  of  Ouidnessett,  and  John 
Greene  at  once  became  the  most  central  figure  on  the  canvas  of  that  history. 

Smith  and  Greene  were  for  some  years  the  only  white  settlers  at  Ouid- 
nesset.  A  Mr.  Wilcox  and  Roger  Williams  purchased  land  there  about  1643 
or  1644.  Williams,  however,  in  the  year  165 1,  sold  his  "  trading  house,  two 
big  guns  and  a  small  island  for  goats,"  to  Richard  Smith.  Probably  a  few  sqtiat- 
ters  were  here  and  there,  but  practically  it  was  still  Indian  territory  up  to 
June  II,  1659.  On  that  date.  Sachem  Coquinaquant,  on  behalf  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  sold  the  entire  region  of  Quidnessett  to  a  company  of  land  specu- 


*  The  date  of  Smith  settlemeQt  at  Quidnessett  is  given  by  Daniel  Gould  Allen  in  his  Histors'  of 
Quidnessett. 


56  ^be   (Brccne   jTamii^ 

lators  who  were  headed  by  Major  Humphrey  Atherton.  There  were  a  few 
R.  I.  parties  in  the  company,  notably  the  Patriarch,  Richard  Smith  himself, 
but  the  most  of  them  were  Boston  and  Connecticut  speculators. 

Major  Atherton  talked  the  Narragansett  tongue  as  fluently  as  an  Indian 
himself.  He  had  great  influence  with  the  chiefs.  It  is  said  that  he  paid  but 
i6%  cents  per  acre  for  this  land,  which  40  years  later  sold  in  market  at  an 
increase  of  1,000  per  cent !  Small  wonder  that  the  Atherton  Purchase  was 
backed  by  the  then  leading  capitalists  of  the  new  world.  John  Greene  of 
Quidnessett  was  not  one  of  the  original  company,  but  became  an  early  share- 
holder. Trouble  at  once  sprang  up.  The  settlers  who  came  in,  bought  land 
as  they  knew,  with  a  clouded  title.  But  once  having  paid  their  money  for 
it,  they  were  determined  to  defend  their  title  at  all  hazards.  John  Greene, 
by  general  consent,  was  the  leader  for  the  Atherton  land  purchasers.*  He 
put  up  a  hard  and  brave  fight.  He  took  abuse  and  arrest,  insult  and  imprison- 
ment; but  he  stuck  to  his  claim  with  a  bull  dog  grip,  and  in  the  end  forced 
the  R.  I.  Colony  to  aknowledge  his  title,  and  give  himself  and  his  companions 
peaceful  possession  of  their  lands. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  single  paragraph  to  make  clear  why  this  Atherton 
land  purchase  had  so  shadowy  a  title  To  begin  with,  Rhode  Island,  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut  each  claimed  this  region.  Then  R.  I.  had  passed 
a  law  that  no  more  land  should  be  purchased  from  the  Indians,  without  the 
Colony  of  Rhode  Island's  consent.  ]\Iajor  Atherton  paid  no  attention  to  this 
law.  and  R.  I.  at  once  proceeded  to  make  things  lively  for  the  Quidnessett 
settlers.  They  were  told  they  must  purchase  their  property  over  from  R.  I., 
or  she  would  not  acknowledge  their  title,  and  she  threatened  them,  if  they 
claimed  allegiance  to  Connecticut,  that  she  would  confiscate  their  property. 
The  result  was,  the  settlers  banded  together,  and  declared  for  Connecticut, 
which  at  once  made  R.  I.  their  enem}-. 

But  Connecticut  was  jealous  also.  She  arrested  John  Greene,  Thomas 
Gould  and  George  Whitman,  three  very  prominent  men,  and  put  them  in  jail 
at  Hartford,  because  they  had  sent  up  a  petition  to  the  R.  I.  legislature  for  the 
release  of  their  lands,  thus  acknowledging,  as  Connecticut  thought,  Rhode 
Island's  claims. 

In  1663  John  Greene,  Richard  Smith  and  others  petitioned  to  be  under 
Connecticut  jurisdiction.  This  made  the  R.  I.  ofi&cials  very  angry.  In  due 
time  came  this  order  : 


*  In  a  certain  New  England  history  it  is  stated  that  the  second  John  Greene  of  Warn-ick-he  who 
afterwards  was  known  as  Deputy-Gov.  John-led  the  Quidnessett  land  fight.  This  is  an  error.  When 
that  gentleman  was  in  England,  he  got  the  Atherton  Co.,  then  in  the  midst  of  their  troubles,  to  concede 
their  lands  to  the  crown  through  him,  in  order  to  get  a  royal  grant  for  the  same.  This  lawyer  service 
was  the  extent  of  his  efforts,    The  mi.stake  arose  from  the  similarity  of  names,  both  being  John  Greene. 


?Ibe   (Breene   jfamii^ 


57 


"  Newport  1664,  May  5. 
Ordered,  that  a  warrant  goe  from  the  Court  to  require  John  Greene  Senior  living 
at  Narragansett,  to  come  before  this  Court." 

It  is  evident  he  did  not  go  peacefully,  for  in  the  official  records  there  is 
yet  preserved  this  indignant  letter  written  nine  days  later  by  John  Greene's 

fast  friend,  Richard  Smith  : 

"  Wickford,  14   May,   1664. 
Captain  Hutchinson  : 

l\Iy  kind  respects  unto  you  sir.  This  may  give  you  to  understand 
some  late  actions  and  proceedings  of  R.  I.  men,  and  if  these  actings  of  theyrs  be  not 
countermanded  by  the  government  of  Conn. ,  they  will  insult  beyond  measure.  Three 
days  since  they  came  to  John  Greene's  house  at  Aquidnessett  with  a  warrant  from 
theyre  Court  under  the  Governor's  hand,  and  forceably   fetched   him   away   to  Rhode 

Island  where  he  yet  remaynes.      His  goeing  was  also  not  known  to  any  here 

Rich.    Smith,  Sen'r. " 

There  was  a  warm  time  at  Newport.  But  the  bluff  old  Indian  trader 
stood  his  ground  so  sturdily  that  the  authorities  came  to  his  terms,  though 
none  too  graciously,  as  this  official  record  shows  : 

"Newport,    May  1664. 

Ordered,  that  John  Greene's  petition  shall  be  considered. 

John  Greene  Sen'r,  living  at  Narragansett  or  Aquidnessitt,  having  been  called  be- 
fore the  Court  for  to  answer  before  the  Court  for  his  adhearing  to  the  government  of 
Conn,  and  having  been  examined  consearning  the  premises,  hee  so  answered  as  did 
give  the  Court  just  offence  ;  and  upon  the  sence  thereof,  the  sayd  John  Greene  doth 
present  his  petition,  praying  the  Court  to  pardon  sayd  offence  in  his  adhearing  to  the 
government  of  Conn,  and  his  answering  to  the  same  before  the  Court  as  hee  did  ; 
upon  the  real  consideration  of  the  aforesayd  petition  the  Court  doe  pass  by  his  offence, 
and  doe  promise  to  the  aforesayd  John  Greene  all  lawful  protection  and  doe  declare 
that  he  is  still  looked  on  as  a  freeman  of  the  Collony." 

We  all  know  the  old  rhyme, 

' '  When  the  Devil  was  sick, 
The  Devil  a  saint  would  be  : 
When  the  Devil  got  well, 
The  d 1  a  saint  was  he  !  " 

Stiff-headed  old  John  of  Quidnessett  was  a  loyal  "freeman of  R.  I."  long 
enough  to  get  home,  and  not  much  longer.  For  seven  more  years  the  strug- 
gle went  on,  then  R.  I.  gave  in.  In  May,  1671,  a  special  court  was  held  at 
Aquidnessett,  and  Greene  and  his  comrades  were  assured  of  full  possession  of 


58  Sbe   Greene   famili? 


their  lands,  if  they  would  acknowledge  Rhode  Island's  jurisdiction.  John 
Greene  became  a  "  freeman,"  as  did  his  son  Daniel  upon  the  same  day,  May 
20,  1 67 1,  and  the  12-years  land  dispute  was  forever  at  an  end. 

The  next  year  John  of  Ouidnessett,  with  John  Fones  and  five  others, 
bought  of  Awashuwett,  chief  sachem  of  the  Narragansett  Indians,  a  large 
tract  of  land  known  as  the  Devil's  Foot,  or  the  Fones  Purchase.  This  tract 
included  a  strip  of  country  a  long  distance  northwest  of  the  Pequot  Path 
from  Devil's  Foot  Rock  to  Hunt's  River. 

When  the  King  Philip  War  broke  out,  some  three  years  later.  Chief 
Awashuwett  kept  a  sullen  neutrality.  About  this  time  a  dumb  boy  died 
under  mysterious  circumstances.  There  were  not  wanting  whispers  that  the 
Indians  had  something  to  do  with  his  death.  Old  John  probably  voiced  the 
community's  suspicion  of  the  sachem's  sincerity  and  of  his  conniving  at  the 
boy's  death.  A  quarrel  arose  between  them.  After  the  war  was  over 
Awashuwett  was  tried  by  court  martial  in  Newport  for  his  treatment  of  John 
Greene.  John  Andrews,  (into  whose  lines  the  Quidnessett  Greenes  afterwards 
married,)  testified  that  Awashuwett  had  "  laid  hands  "  upon  him.  What  the 
chief's  punishment  was  we  do  not  know.  John  of  Ouidnessett's  sons.  Captain 
Edward  and  Lieut.  John,  are  believed  to  have  won  their  titles  in  this  Indian 
War.  Possibly  Lieut.  James,  a  younger  son,  received  his  honors  in  the  same 
war,  though  being  barely  of  age  when  the  war  closed,  this  is  not  certain. 

July  29,  1679,  ^^1  "^vith  41  other  leading  Narragansett  citizens,  signed  a 
petition  to  the  King  praying  that  he  "  would  put  an  end  to  these  differences 
about  the  government  thereof,  which  has  been  so  fatal  to  the  prosperit}-  of 
the  place,  animosity  still  arising  in  the  people's  minds,  as  they  stand  effected 
by  this  or  that  government." 

Several  times  after  this,  John  of  Quidnessett's  name  appears  on  the  re- 
cords as  a  witness  to  the  transfer  of  land,  etc.  March  24,  1682,  he  divided 
his  land  among  some  of  his  sons  who  remained  in  R.  I.  Beside  these  there 
were  two  or  three  sons  who  went  to  New  Jersey,  and  a  daughter  or  two. 
These  other  sons  probably  received  their  portion  in  money.  As  for  the  daugh- 
ters, they  did  not  count  for  much  in  those  days,  and  received  almost  nothing 
from  their  fathers'  estates.  John  Greene's  wife  was  alive  when  these  deeds 
were  executed.  There  are  three  old  and  dilapidated  graves  in  what  was 
once  a  part  of  John  of  Quidnessett's  land.  Two  of  these  rude  head-stones  bear 
the  initials  D.  G.  and  R.  G.,  and  mark  the  graves  of  John  of  Quidnessett's 
son  Daniel  and  his  wife  Rebecca.  The  other  gravestone,  the  oldest  of  all,  is 
marked  I.  G.*  It  is  believed  to  mark  the  grave  of  ]\Irs.  Joan  Greene,  wife 
of  John  of  Quidnessett. 

*  Evidently  intended  for  J.  G.  In  olden  times  the  two  capital  letters  I  and  J  were  made  almost  exaatl? 
alike. 


Sbe    (Brccne   family 


59 


His  grave  does  not  appear  beside  hers.  In  Rhode  Island  they  point 
out  a  grave  some  miles  away,  as  that  of  John  of  Quidnessett.  He  is  believed, 
from  various  things,  to  have  died  in  1695.  Tradition  says  he  was  96.  He 
was  really  89.  Where  Rhode  Island  people  believe  John  Greene  to  have  been 
buried  is  at  the  Old  Field  Graveyard,  a  mile  west  of  Maple  Root  Church, 
that  a  hundred  years  later  itself  became  a  noted  Rhode  Island  landmark.  It 
IS  supposed  that  he  left  Quidnessett  to  live  with  his  son  John,  and  was  bur- 
ied where  he  died*. 

John  of  Quidnessett's  wife's  name  was  Joan.  There  has  been  much  idle 
conjecture  as  to  whom  she  was.  She  was  not  the  daughter  of  Surgeon  John 
Greene,  as  some  have  claimed,  for  the  Surgeon's  daughter  Joan  died  in  child- 
hood. Nor  was  she  the  4aughter  of  Richard  Smith,  as  others  have  insisted, 
for  Joan  Smith  married  a  "Sir.  Newton.  Gov.  Diddfuxd~Df  Massachusetts,  \A/cM Cftlt 
speaking  of  one  held  to  be  John  of  Quidnessett,  uses  this  language:  "One 
Greene  who  married  the  wife  of  one  Beggarly."  So  his  wife  was  a  young 
widow,  Mrs.  Joan  Beggarly,  whom  he  probably  married  on  one  of  his  busi- 
ness trips  to  Massachusetts. 

Whether  she  was  handsome  or  plain-featured  ;  whether  she  was  brilliant 
or  dull,  we  do  not  know.  But  we  do  know  she  possessed  a  remarkably  even, 
sweet  temper  that  nothing  could  ruffle  or  disturb.  After  the  then  English  cus- 
tom, she  had  been  baptized  Joan,  but  was  always  called  Jane.  There  is  an 
old  family  superstition  among  the  Quidnessett  Greenes  that  all  their  Janes 
will  be  self-sacrificing  women  who  will  take  special  care  of  the  sick,  and 
tenderly  care  for  the  old  and  infirm  among  the  relation.  It  is  likely  that 
this  superstition  dates  from  the  life's  record  of  this  good,  placid  Jane  herself. 

Ever  since  this  good  dame's  day  there  have  appeared  again  and  again 
among  her  descendants  some  of  her  own  sunny  tempered  kind.  They  look 
through  rose-colored  spectacles,  and  keep  up  good  heart  and  serene  spirits 
whatever  betide.  This  disposition  is  illustrated  by  the  stock  family  story  of 
one  of  these  good-natured  Greenes  whose  wife  had  a  furious  temper.  The 
story  goes  that  when  she  was  pleasant,  he  always  blandly  spoke  to  her  as 
"Wife."  When  she  began  to  fret  and  scold,  he  would  soothingly  remon- 
strate,— "  Come,  come.  Sister  Greene,  let's  have  no  trouble;"  but  when  the 
storm  broke  into  a  tantrum  of  rage  and  abuse,  he  would  pick  up  his  hat  and 
beat  a  retreat,  philosophically  saying, — "  Well !  well !  Mrs.  Greene,  have  it 
30ur  wa\' !     Have  it  your  way  !" 

*  There  is  tradition  that  sometime  after  the  death  of  his  wife  Joan,  the  aged  husband  left  the  home 
rlaoe  where  his  son  Daniel  lived,  and  took  up  his  abode  with  his  son  Lieut.  John,  at  Coventry,  and  when 
he  died  he  was  buried  in  the  Old  Field  grave  lot.  Mrs.  Hannah  Howard  says  there  are  many  graves 
there.  Some  are  unmarked,  and  the  head  stones  of  part  of  the  others  are  illegible.  The  head  of  the  Am- 
erican line  probably  lies  in  one  of  these  unmarked  graves. 


CHAPTER    X 


THE  HUMAN  SIDE  OF  THE  STORY 


The  early  Greenes  as  slave-holders  and  dram-drinkers.  Their  petty  economies.  Their  sup- 
erstitions and  beliefs  in  witches  and  ghosts.  Their  freaks  of  conscience,  and  fear  of 
education  for  women. 

Nor  Right,  nor  Wrong  ?     Who  shall  declare 

When  much  depends  upon  the  point 
Of  view.      In  justice,  then,  forbear 

To  judge  these  upright  men  of  old. 
They  did  as  seemed  the  Right  to  them. 

And  when  two  hundred  years  have  rolled 
Adown  the  stream  of  Time,  our  lives, 

With  taint  of  Wrong,  may  seam  as  fraught, 
To  those  who  follow  us,  as  theirs 

These  older  ones seem  now.      Judge  not 

Our  fathers,  then.      Their  point  of  view- 
Was  widely  varient  from  our  own  ; 
Yet  that  they  lived  true,  righteous  lives, 

And  loved  the  Lord,  is  clearly  shown. — A.  A.  S. 

It  is  with  no  small  degree  of  complacency  that  the  descendants  of  the 
early  Greenes  rehearse  their  foreparents'  sacrifices  for  liberty  of  conscience. 
They  reckon  them  holy  men  and  devout  women;  they  speak  approvingly  of 
their  thrift  and  prudence  ;  they  think  of  them  as  persons  above  pel'y  super- 
stition, and  as  having  a  bias  toward  learning  and  a  liberal  education  in  all 
things. 

But  the  truth  is,  our  far-off  fathers  and  mothers  were  as  human  as 
ourselves.  They  were  not  two  or  three  centuries  in  advance  of  their  age, 
nor  were  they  saints.  Perhaps  it  may  bring  the  over-weening  pride  of  family 
down,  to  consider  some  of  their  short-comings. 

The  early  Greenes  were  slave-holders.  So  were  the  Waites,  Ward- 
wells,  Nichols,  Coggeshalls,  Tripps,  Pierces,  and  almost  every  other  family 


^be   (Sreene   jfamil^  6i 

into  which  they  married.  Some  of  those  old  New  Englanders  made  fortunes 
buying  up  West  Indies'  molasses  and  making  it  into  rum.  There  was  no 
tax  on  the  rum,  and  in  wholesales  quantities  it  was  supplied  at  sixpence  a 
gallon.  Some  of  the  forefathers  used  to  regularly  load  vessels  with  rum,  take 
it  to  Africa  and  trade  it  for  slaves  and  gold  dust.  They  sold  the  rum  dear, 
and  bought  the  slaves  cheap.  So  far  from  feeling  guilty  of  a  crime,  some  of 
those  pious  captains  used  to  call  all  hands  together  for  daily  devotions,  and, 
we  are  told,  never  failed  to  ask  God's  blessing  on  their  slavery-  enterprise ! 

They  w-ere  not  h)-pocrites.  In  that  day,  no  one  thought  it  wrong  to 
traffic  in  human  flesh.  Dr.  ]\IcSparran,  the  noble  old  Episcopalian  minister 
who  baptized  the  children  of  the  La  Valley-Kings — a  branch  of  the  Ouidnes- 
S2tt  Greenes — owned  no  less  than  ten  slaves.  An  eminent  Massachusetts 
clergyman  preached  from  the  pulpit  that  Negroes,  Indians  and  Quakers  were 
the  spoil  of  the  righteous,  i.  e.  given  to  their  portion  as  slaves  by  an  all-right- 
eous Providence.  As  for  drinking,  it  was  only  disgraceful  to  get  drunk. 
E^■en  then,  the  Deacon  or  the  Elder  himself  might  get  a  little  "foxy"  on 
Training  Day  or  Christmas,  without  losing  caste. 

Again,  the  forefathers  were  undeniably  thrifty ;  but  we  would  be  hor- 
rified to-day  at  their  petty  shifts  and  economies.  A  certain  Massachusetts 
deacon  used  to  blow  out  the  light  just  before  he  commenced  on  his  20-min- 
utes  prayers  so  as  to  save  the  candle  from  wasting.  It  was  a  common  thing 
to  soak  backlogs  in  water,  so  that  they  would  burn  slower  and  last  longer. 
In  summer,  if  the  church  was  some  distance  away,  the  goodman  and  his 
dame,  and  their  brood  of  Ezras,  Ebenezers,  Thomases  and  Josiahs,  Pollys, 
Elizabeths  and  Susannahs,  would  carry  their  shoes  and  stockings  in  their 
hands  until  in  sight  of  the  church,  and  thus  save  the  wear  and  tear  on  two- 
thirds  of  a  dozen  or  so  pairs  of  shoes.  The  daughters  were  taught  to  rub 
the  bread  dough  so  cleanly  out  of  the  rising-pan  that  the  dish  looked  as 
though  it  had  been  washed  and  wiped.  Rigid  economy  in  those  days  of 
great  families  was  indeed  a  cardinal  virtue. 

As  to  superstitions,  the  Greenes,  like  their  neighbors,  were  chock  full 
and  running  over  with  it.  If  a  wart  appeared  on  a  girl's  hand,  she  was  told 
to  steal  a  neighbor's  dish-cloth,  rub  the  wart  with  it,  and  then  bury  the  rag ; 
they  never  doubted  but  what  the  wart  would  shrivel  away  as  the  dish-cloth 
decayed.  If  the  son  cut  his  foot,  the  "wise  man"  was  called,  and  he  stanch- 
ed the  blood  by  a  mysterious  muttered  gibberish  and  by  "  touching"  the 
patient.  They  saw  "ha'nts,"  spooks  and  hob-goblins,  and  heard  unearthly 
noises  in  graveyards.  They  suspected  people  of  the  Evil  Eye,  and  as  for 
witches,  they  firmly  believed  in  them.  It  was  not  only  in  Salem  that  the 
witch  excitement  of  1692  ran  high.  All  over  Massachusetts,  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island  the  witch  craze  spread.     Hair-raising  stories  of  witch 


62  ^be   Greene   JTamil^ 

doings  and  conjuring  were  told  as  gospel  truth  for  generations  after.  The 
first  family  historian,  Mrs.  Nancy  Nichols,  collected  several  of  these  stories 
still  handed  down  in  her  day,  1 767-1 820.*  Unfortunately  her  recitals  were 
verbal  ones,  and  have  become  so  dimmed  in  her  descendants'  memories  that 
they  cannot  be  given  with  any  degree  of  accurac}\ 

The  Greenes  had  many  purely  family  superstitions.  One  of  them  was 
their  dislike  to  have  a  picture  made  of  themselves.  Even  as  late  as  1850, 
some  of  them  would  not  permit  a  picture  to  be  made  of  themselves  under 
any  circumstances.  They  believed  that  in  every  family  there  would  be  one 
daughter  who  would  be  her  mother's  double  in  looks,  disposition  and  station 
in  life.  They  were  exceedingly  superstitious  as  to  names.  But  much  of 
their  belief  in  this  has  been  lost.  It  is  known  that  they  thought  each  one 
of  their  Janes,  whether  born  or  married  into  the  family,  would  be  remarka- 
bly affectionate  in  her  family,  and  would  be  exceedingly  kind  to  the  sick 
and  the  afflicted.  It  has  already  been  told  that  one  great  branch  of  the 
Greenes  adopted  in  England  the  custom  of  calling  their  Annes  by  the  name 
of  Welthian.  After  coming  to  the  Colonies,  they  used  the  name  of  Welthian 
as  both  baptismal  and  given  name  ;  their  Annes  they  now  called  Nancy, 
after  the  common  custom  of  the  day.  The  Greenes,  one  and  all,  firmly  be- 
lieved that  their  Nancys  would  have  a  strenuous  life,  full  of  cares,  trials  and 
vexations.  They  believed  just  as  firmly  that  these  Nancys  would  be  extra- 
ordinary workers,  and  that  somehow  they  would  get  through  all  their  trials 
and  be  none  the  worse  for  them. 

Several  of  these  good  ancestors  were  of  so  tender  a  conscience  that  they 
would  leave  the  House  of  God  rather  than  to  stay  and  see  it  desecrated  by 
people  singing  within  its  walls.  A  century  later,  other  pious  ancestors  were 
shocked  by  the  introduction  of  hymn  tunes  with  printed  notes ;  and  also 
the  introduction  of  instruments  of  music  into  the  church.  Plenty  of  them 
refused  to  let  their  daughters  learn  beyond  the  rudiments  of  reading,  spell- 
ing, writing  and  arithmetic,  from  fear  that  education  would  "  spile  'em." 

Bless  their  dear,  unreasonable,  rigid  and  narrow  old  souls !  If  we  were 
half  as  honest,  industrious,  and  attentive  to  OTir  own  affairs  as  they  were,  we 
could  more  fittingly  criticise  them.  Be  assured  they  measured  up  to  the  re- 
quirements of  honored  ancestors  better  than  we  measure  up  to  being  their 
worthy  descendants. 

"Mrs.  Nichols  was  a  great---;     •---:    .•_•:  .iliaughter  of  the  emigrant  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett. 
She  was  a  born  historian.    Slv  ■  :.  when  parties  were  yet  alive  who  could  remember  back 

intotheflrsteentury  of  New  Ell-               ■  m.    Owing  to  the  prejudice  of  that  day  against  literary 

women,  her  carefullrciiUnt.'d  111-  .  li^graphy,  ancestry,  folk-lore  and  anecdotes  was  never 

written.  She  delight.  1  :•.  •  _■■■:  ^ mtive  listeners,  however.  By  an  unusual  stretch  of  gen- 
erations she  was  mv  !-■■  '  '  .  ■  in  ninety  years  before  me.  When  a  child  I  fortunately 
heard  parts  of  this  vr  I  I  ;,,-:;..  ;  -  ;  >i  people  who  had  heard  it  from  her  own  lips.  Much  of 
her  history  has  peri-li-.l.  •■va  ii-m  ih.u  il.ai  i.as  r-ome  down  to  us.  I  obtained  clues  to  interesting  pages 
of  family  history  that  otherwise  would  nave  been  forever  lost. 


PART    TWO 

GENEALOGY  OF  THE  QUIDNESSETT  GREENES 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE    FAMILY   OF   JOHN    GREENE   OF    OUIDNESSETT 

In  preparing  this  genealogy  over  1300  letters  of  inquiry-  have  been 
written,  family  records  hunted  up,  and  gravestone  inscriptions  copied.  Every 
author  who  could  throw  light  on  the  subject  has  been  consulted,  and  church 
and  military  records  have  been  searched.  In  addition,  the  official  town  and 
state  records  of  Rhode  Island  have  been  copied  word  for  word,  so  far  as  they 
related  to  any  of  this  family.* 

There  is  no  dispute  as  to  the  greater  part  of  the  Ouidnessett  Greenes' 
genealogN'.  In  a  few  cases  there  are  serious  disagreements.  As  a  man  can- 
not possibly  have  but  one  correct  pedigree,  a  disputed  ancestry  is  a  serious 
thing.  In  these  cases  I  have  taken  a  uniform  course.  The  official  records, 
being  considered  in  law  as  upon  their  face  documentary  proof,  are  taken  as 
the  true  statement,  unless  an  error  can  be  clearly  proven  in  them.  And  to 
determine  whether  an  error  has  been  possible,  all  other  evidence  has  been 
gathered  together  and  weighed  as  impartially  as  may  be. 

Although  the  official  records  are  received  authority  in  law,  a  class  of 
minor  errors  is  bound  to  occur.  Some  of  the  town  clerks  were  wretched 
penmen,  and  the  early  spelling  was  atrocious.  In  many  cases  the  ink  has 
faded  so  that  it  must  be  read  under  a  glass.  Hence  arose  such  copyist's  mis- 
takes as  Infield  for  Enfield,  John  for  the  abbreviation  Jas.,  etc.  Much  care 
has  been  taken  to  correct  these  mis-readings. 

Again,  the  records  often  abruptly  cease,  or  perhaps  skip  a  generation. 
The  North  Kingstown  records  that  particularly  concerned  this  family  have 
been  injured  by  fire,  and  partially  destroyed. f     It  is  in  these  cases  that  pri- 


*The  Vital  Records  of  Rhode  Island  liave  been  officially  tabulated  by  James  N.,\rnold.  who  has  given 
his  life  to  genealogical  studies.  The  R.  I.  legislature  not  only  sanctioned  his  work,  but  made  a  liber- 
al appropriation  to  cover  the  expense  of  the  same.  Subsequent  legislatures  have  given  it  their  ap- 
proval and  support.    Mr.  Arnold  in  person,  loaned  the  author  much  that  was  invaluable  to  her  work. 

t  The  original  name  of  this  region  was  the  Indian  name  of  .iquidnessett.  contracted  to  Quidnessett. 
In  1663.  't  was  incorporated  as  Wiekford.  and  again  in  1674 as  King's  Towne.  In  1722,  the  southern  part, 
originally  called  Pette'Ub.iiscutt,  was  re-named  South  Kingstown,  and  the  remainder  was  ever  after 
knovr  as  North  Kingstown. 


66  Cbe   (Sreene   ifatitU^ 


vate  records  and  family  Bibles  have  played  so  important  a  part  in  bridging 
the  gaps  in  the  record. 

One  word  more.  To  avoid  confusion,  the  many  early  Johns  and  James 
are  distingirished  by  some  certain  appellation.  This  is  either  some  title  to 
which  they  were  entitled,  or  the  nickname  by  which  they  were  known  dur- 
ing their  life-time.  Thus,  the  founder  of  this  American  line  is  John  of 
Ouidnessett ;  his  son,  Lieut.  John  of  Coventry  ;  and  in  the  third  generation 
it  is  John  of  Bristol,  White  Hat  John,  and  Wealthy  John. 


John  Greene'  of  Ouidnessett  did  not  marry  mitil  of  middle  age.  It  was 
a  day  of  early  marriages,  which  makes  more  noticeable  the  inclination  of  so 
many  of  the  related  Warwick  and  Ouidnessett  Greenes  toward  late  marriages. 
Surgeon  John  Greene  was  thirty-four  and  his  son,  Deputy-Governor  John, 
thirty,  when  they  became  Benedicts.  The  Surgeon's  cousin,  the  John  of 
Quidnessett  of  this  history,  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  36  when  he  took  a 
wife.  His  son  and  namesake,  lyieut.  John,  was  39,  and  another  son,  Daniel, 
was  about  the  same  age,  when  they  married.  Somewhere  in  the  blood  was 
a  streak  of  unhaste  to  assume  the  ties  of  matrimony.  But  our  dilator}'  an- 
cestors were  strong  of  physique  and  long-lived,  and  their  crop  of  olive 
branches  seemed  in  nowise  lessened  by  their  fathers'  late  start  in  "  multiply- 
ing and  replenishing  the  earth." 

The  date  of  John  of  Ouidnessett's  marriage  can  be  nearly  approximated. 
After  living  several  years  in  Richard  Smith's  family,  he  married  a  young 
widow,  IMrs.  Joan  Beggarly.  It  is  Governor  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts  who 
gives  her  name.  Therefore,  she  was  doubtless  a  member  of  that  Colony. 
Greene  and  Smith  must  have  made  many  trips  to  Boston  after  goods  for 
their  Indian  trading  post.  On  one  of  these  trips,  Greene  may  have  married 
the  widow. 

They  raised  a  good-sized  family.  Like  all  the  Gillingham  Greenes 
they  had  more  sons  than  daughters.  As  they  had  four  sons  old  enough  to 
be  freemen  in  1671,  the  date  of  their  marriage  was  probably  about  1642. 
Captain  Edward  was  the  oldest  son,  and  born  about  1643,  ^^  he  had  a  grand- 
son ten  to  twelve  years  of  age,  in  1695.  Lieut.  John*  appears  to  have  been 
the  next  son.  He  must  have  been  near  man's  estate,  in  1664,  when  in  of- 
ficial records  John  of  Ouidnessett  is  styled  John  Greene,  Senior.  He  is  re- 
garded as  the  "Son"  in  the  tracts  of  land  held  by  "John  Greene  and  Son," 
in  1666,  when  he  nuist  have  been  of  full  legal  age.  Daniel  and  Henr\' 
were  both  "  engaged"  as  R.  I.  freemen  the  same  day  with   their  father,  the 

*In  nearly  all  R.  I.  histories.  Lieut.  John-  of  Coventry's  birth  is  given  as  on  June  16, 1651.  This  date  is 
not  that  of  Lieut.  John's  hirth.  but  that  of  Lieut-Governor  John  Greene  of  JKancicfc.  The  similarity  of 
names  ami  title  has  caused  the  confusion. 


Sbe   Greene   iTamii^ 


day  of  the  great  compromise  of  the  Ouidnessett  land  suit,  ]\Iay  20,  1671. 
So  the  younger  of  the  two  could  not  have  been  born  later  than  1650.  A 
daughter  is  probably  next;  then  came  Robert,  born  in  1653,  for  he  was  a 
freeman  in  1674.  Huling  gives  James'  birth  year  as  1655.  There  was  a 
son  Benjamin,  supposed  to  be  the  youngest  of  them  all.  There  was  almost 
certainly  a  daughter  Enfield,  bearing  that  peculiar  name  that  for  five  gen- 
erations was  handed  down  in  the  Ouidnessett  family.  Probably  there  was 
a  Welthian  also.  It  was  a  Gillingham  family  name,  and  is  found  in  the  names 
of  the  brothers'  daughters  and  granddaughters. 

There'*\vere  therefore  eight  children,  and  probably  nine.  Henry  went 
to  New  Jersey,  and  Robert  is  supposed  to  have  gone  there  also.  No  attempt 
is  made  to  trace  their  lines  or  the  daughters'  families.  The  Quidnessett 
Greenes  are  therefore  descended  from  one  of  these  five  brothers,  Edward^, 
John",  Daniel",  James"  or  Benjamin". 

I  have  numbered  the  American  generations  from  John  Greene'  of  Ouid- 
nessett. He  was  fifteenth  from  Lord  Alexander  de  Greene  de  Boketon,  who 
received  his  title  in  1202  ;  ninth  from  Sir  Henry  Greene,  beheaded  in  1399, 
and  sixth  from  John  the  Fugitive.     His  pedigree  runs  thus : 

Greene  Line.  Sir  Alexander';  his  son-  and  grandson^,  whose  names 
are  lost ;  Sir  Thomas*;  Sir  Thomas'',  who  married  Lady  Lucie  de  la  Zouch, 
descended  from  the  royal  Capetian  line;  Lord  Chief-Justice  Sir  Henrv'';  the 
beheaded  Sir  Henry";  Thomas*;  an  unknown  son";  John  the  Fugitive'";  Robert 
of  Gillingham";  John'"';  Henry'';  Robert";  John  of  Ouidnessett''. 

C.A.PETIAN  Line.  Robert  the  Strong',  made  Duke  de  France  in  861; 
Duke  Robert^ ;  Count  Hugh  the  Great"' ;  Hugh  Capet^  King  of  France ; 
King  Robert  the  Pious' ;  King  Henry" ;  Hugh  JMagnns'',  Count  de  Verman- 
dois  ;  Lady  Isabel*,  married  to  Earl  of  Leicester  ;  Earl  Robert",  Lord  Chief- 
Justice  of  England  ;  Earl  Robert'" ;  Lady  Margaret",  married  to  Earl  of 
Winchester;  Earl  Roger*^ ;  Lady  Elene'',  married  to  Alan,  Lord  de  la  Zouch, 
Governor  of  Northampton  ;  Lord  Eudo  de  la  Zouch" ;  Lady  Lucie  de  la 
Zouch",  who  married  the  fifth  Lord  de  Greene. 

John  of  Quidnessett'  was  therefore  twenty-fifth  in  descent  from  Robert 
the  Strong;  twenty-second  from  the  king,  Hugo  Capet,  and  nineteenth 
from  Hugh  de  Vermandois,  the  Great  Crusader. 

Those  who  like  to  get  as  far  back  as  possible  toward  Noah,  have  only 
to  count  the  generations  between  John  of  Ouidne.ssett  and  themselves,  and 
add  to  the  above.  This  will  show  the  number  of  generations  in  all,  back 
to  the  fountain  head. 


Trace  back  along  the  line  ; 

Acquaint  you  witli  the  deeds 
Of  these  old  sires  and  dames. 


68  'Cbe   ^vccnc   jfamili? 

And  it  shall  prove,  if  needS; 
The  strongest  reason  why 

We,  too,  should  do  our  best; 
We,  too,  should  live  our  lives — 

Those  lives  in  comfort  blest — 
Ag  suits  the  highest  good, 

Nor  heeds  the  Wrong's  behest. 

A.  A.  S. 


\ 


i 


CHAPTER    Xn 

LINE  OF  CAPTAIN  EDWARD  GREENE' 

Little  is  known  of  Captain  Edward  Greene",  or  of  his  line.  He  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  oldest  son  of  John  of  Ouidnessett,  born  about  1642. 
The  clue  to  his  age  is  tlrat  he  deeded  land  in  1695  to  his  grandson,  George 
Havens*.  The  lad  to  whom  the  land  was  given  must  have  been  ten  to 
twelve  years  of  age,  as  but  a  few  years  after  himself  and  'a'ife  conveyed  the 
same  land  to  his  great-uncle,  Benjamin  2". 

It  is  not  known  where  he  acquired  his  title,  though  most  probably  in  the 
Indian  wars.  He  was  married  young,  his  wife  being  jNIary  Tibbetts,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  Tibbetts,  an  old  settler  of  Quidnessett,  who  always  followed. 
John  Greene's  leadership  in  the  land  dispute,  and  was  once  imprisoned  for 
resisting  certain  claims  of  jurisdiction.  Lieut.  John  Greene",  the  next 
brother,  is  spoken  of  in  a  record  of  1684  as  of  N.  Y.  It  is  supposed  that 
Captain  Edward  and  he  went  together  to  that  then  "far  west"  country. 
This  must  have  been  during  the  heat  of  the  land  dispute,  as  their  names  are 
not  with  their  father's,  brothers'  and  neighbors',  who  enrolled  themselves  as 
"engaged  "  to  the  R.  I.  side,  at  the  day  of  the  great  compromise,  May  20, 
1671.  Lieut.  John  returned  after  a  few  years.  Captain  Edward  evidently 
did  not.  Four  of  the  sons  were  given  land  by  1683,  but  he  was  not  one. 
The  records  are  silent  for  twelve  years  beyond  that,  to  1695,  which  was 
probably  near  the  date  of  his  return  to  R.  I.  This  is  when  he  gave  his 
grandson  a  deed  to  a  certain  piece  of  land. 

In  1695,  he  was  enrolled  as  a  freeman  of  North  Kingstown,  another  proof 
that  he  had  not  been  long  a  resident.  In  1697,  he  sold  90  acres  of  land  in 
East  Greenwich,  which  is  described  in  the  deed  as  having  been  left  to  him  by 
the  will  of  his  "honored  father,  lately  deceased."  There  is  a  brief  mention 
of  Captain  Edward  Greene  in  the  Council  records  of  1 702.  Again,  Henry 
Tibbetts,  in  his  will  of  171 3,  left  land  to  all  his  grandsons,  excepting  the 
sons  of  Edward  Greene,  "  who  are  provided  for."  This  is  the  last  trace  of 
Captain  Edward"  in  the  records. 

As  he  lived  in  N.  Y.  twenty -five  >  ears  or  more,  he  probably  left  married 


70  Z\K   (Breene   family 

children  Ijehind  him  when  he  moved  back  to  R.  I.  He  is  not  certainly 
known  to  have  had  but  three  children.  The  two  older  ones  were  both  born 
before  1680.     Their  descendants  are  as  follows: 

Greene-Havensl  This  daughter  married  into  the  Havens  fam- 
ily who  owned  immense  tracts  of  land  in  Southern  Connecticut.  Her  only 
known  descendant  was  George*,  to  whom  his  grandfather  deeded  land. 
Mary,  Desire,  Thomas,  Jonathan  and  Robert  Havens  were  all  of  proper  age 
to  have  been  sisters  and  brothers  to  George  Havens,  but  the  records  fail  to 
give  their  descent. 

GEORGE  GREENE".  He  married  l\Iary  whose  surname  is  believed 
to  have  been  Pierce,  and  thus  she  was  related  to  his  cousins,  Peleg,  Wealthy, 
Jolm  and  Usal  Greenes'  wives.  Her  children  and  grandchildren  have  un- 
doubted Pierce  names,  Bathsheba,  Peleg,  George,  etc. 

Anne  Greene*  born  1702. 

Sarah  Greene*. 

George  Greene*  born  1704. 

George  Greene^,  m.  Ann .     They  had  William,  b.  1773,  Esther 

and  Susanna. 

Benjamin  Greene^,  b,  1750. 

Mary  Greene",  b.  1733. 

Henry  Greene*,  m.  Hannah .     Had  Henry,  born  1735  ;  Sarah,  George, 

John,  Jonathan,  Benjamin,  Joseph  and  Hannah. 

George^  is  believed  to  have  had  a  third  daughter,  Bathsheba*,  next 
older  than  Henry*.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character,  and  her 
descendants  are  proud  to  claim  her  as  a  fore-mother.  She  married  a  widower, 
William  Bentley,  and  by  him  had  five  sons,  William',  born  1735  ;  Thomas^, 
James",  Greene  M.°  and  Benjamin".  One  of  her  step-sons  having  already 
been  named  George,  she  named  her  fourth  son  Greene,  after  her  father,  and 
this  name,  Greene,  has  been  continued  ever  since  in  her  line.  Her  son 
Greene^  married  Dinah  Straight.  Their  daughter  Hannah"  married  Ephraim 
Bennett.  The  grandson  of  this  last  couple,  Stephen  B.  Bennett'^,  has  written 
a  family  history  of  much  interest.  In  it  the  descendants  of  Bathsheba 
Greene-Bentley  are  traced  in  full. 

Bath.sheba's  oldest  son  became  an  eminent  Massachusetts  divine,  an  in- 
timate friend  of  the  Adamses  of  that  day.  Three  of  the  others,  Thomas^, 
Greene  M.'^  and  Benjamin'^  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Eventually, 
Benjamin  settled  at  Sharon  Center,  Ohio,  and  Thomas  and  Greene  M.  Bent- 
ley  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  became  prominent  citizens. 

Austin  in  his  Genealogical  Dictionary  gives  Robert'  as  a  son  of  Edward. 
There  is  a  town  record,  "Robert  of  Robarth  Greene,  born  1741,"  that  prob- 
ably is  of  that  man's  son.  Robarth  is  a  frequent  spelling  for  Robert  among 
the  Ouidnessett  Greenes. 


Author  of  "Bennett,  Bentle\-  and  Beers  Families' 


^be   Greene   familv 


There  is  yet  another  grandson  of  CajDtain  Edward-,  who  was  Edward 
also,  whether  the  son  of  George'  or  of  Robert^  is  not  clear.  He  married  a 
danghter  of  William  Tanner  in  1739.  He  died  before  1785,  leaving,  it  is 
supposed,  a  son  William'.  Nothing  more  is  known  of  the  line  of  Captain 
Edward  Greene. 

It  is  reasonable  that  Captain  Edward  may  have  left  a  married  son  in  N. 
Y.  when  he  returned  to  R.  I.  There  is  a  family  of  York  State  Greenes,  -\\-ho 
claim  to  be  descended  from  the  Quidnesset  or  Kingstown  Greenes  of  R.  I. 
These  are  probably  of  Captain  Edward's  line.  They  can  give  by  name  no 
ancestor  farther  back  than  Philarmon  Greene,  born  after  1740.  A  partial 
continuance  of  this  man's  line  is  this: 

John  Davis  Greene  of  Philarmon. 

William  Greene, 

Samuel  Greene, 

Andrew  Greene,       "  " 

Alonzo  Greene 

These  last  would  have  been  of  about  the  se\-enth  generation  from  jonn 
Greene  of  Quidnesset,  if  of  Captain  Edward's  line,  as  he  was  the  oldest  child, 
and  early  married. 

ADDENDA 

Since  Chapter  XII  was  proofed  considerable  data  has  come  to  light 
about  this  line.     Under  A,  B,  C  and  D,  these  new  facts  are  given  : 

(A.)  Other  N.  Y.  Descendants  of  Capt.  Edward  Greene^.  After 
a  quarter  of  a  centur>''s  pioneer  experience  in  N.  Y.,  Captain  Edward  Greene 
returned  to  R.  L  A  grown  son  or  sons  remained  in  N.  Y.  The  Philarmon 
Greene  branch  has  already  been  given.  We  now  have  records  of  a  brother 
and  sister  who  were  almost  beyond  question  grand-children  of  Capt.  Edward. 

Rachel  Greene-De  La  Vergue^  born  in  the  lake  or  central  regions  of 
N.  Y.  in  1737.  She  married  Louis,  son  of  Dr.  Nicholas  de  la  Vergue,  who 
came  from  France  about  1630,  during  the  last  Huguenot  persecution. 

Jacob  Greened  INIarried  Patience  Sole.  One  of  their  children  was 
Zophar^,  born  Aug.  13,  1766.  This  son  married  in  1793,  the  half  sister  of  his 
Aunt  Rachel's  husband  ;  his  wife  being  Susannah,  the  13th  child  of  Dr.  de 
la\'ergue.  They  had  10  children,  i\Lartha,  Elizabeth,  Mat};  Husted,  Patience, 
Amy,    Julia,  Susan,  Catherine  and  Emeline. 

Patience  Greene'^,  born  Oct.  15,  1800,  was  married  in  1820  to  Job,  son  of 
John  and  Abigail  Briggs.  John  was  sixth  in  descent  from  John  Briggs  the 
contemporary  of  old  John  Greene  at  Ouidnessett.  He  was  doubly  descended 
from  the  Spencers  and  Griffins,  and  was  sixth  in  descent  from  the  head  of  the 


Zbc    6reene    jfamilv? 


Warwick  Greenes,  thus.  Surgeon  John  Greene\  IMan,'  Greene-Sweet', 
Benjamin',  Welthian  Sweet  Briggs*,  John'  and  Job*'.  The  line  of  Job  Briggs' 
father,  John',  has  been  tabulated,  and  includes  over  460  persons.  I  shall  not 
attempt  therefore  to  give  the  descendants  of  Job  and  Patience,  but  merely  note 
that  all  their  line  have  the  blood  of  both  Warwick  and  Quidnessett  Greenes. 

(B.)  More  of  Bathsheba  Greene's  Line.  It  has  already  been  told 
that  Bathsheba  Greene*  was  first  married  to  a  Lewis.  Her  date  of  birth  is 
not  recorded,  but  it  r.ppears  to  have  followed  that  of  George  Greene^  who 
was  born  in  1704.  These  children  were  all  close  together,  but  little  over  a 
year  between  any  of  them,  so  that  she  was  probably  born  in  1705.  She  was 
then  but  about  15  when,  as  the  justice  carefully  records  it,  she  and  Israel 
Lewis  "  Of  ye  towne  of  Westerly,  according  to  ye  Laws  Custom  and  Usage 
of  our  Government  are  now  this  Day  Lawfully  Joyned  together  in  the  hon- 
erable  state  of  matremony  June  ye  30,  1720."  Israel  Lewis  died  in  the 
spring  of  1732,  making  his  wife  executrix,  and  leaving  her  land  and  money. 
She  had  7  Lewis  children,  Enoch,  Israel,  Ebenezer,  Robert,  Bathsheba,  Eliza- 
beth and  Hannah.  Enoch,  the  oldest  son,  married  Mar>-  Kenyon  and  died  at 
Westford,  Conn.,  where  his  old  home  is  yet  a  landmark  of  the  region.  His 
heirs  were  Tacy,  Mary,  John,  Israel,  Bathsheba,  Enoch,  Elizabeth,  Bene- 
dict and  Joshua.  There  are  no  records  of  the  other  Lewis  children  of 
Bathsheba's. 

Bathsheba's  second  husband  was  much  her  senior,  he  having  married 
the  first  time  in  1703,  two  years  before  Bathsheba  herself  was  bom.  He  had 
8  children  of  his  own,  she  had  7,  and  5  more  were  born  to  them,  making  a 
family  of  fair  size!  Samuel  Wilbour,  J.  P.,  records  the  marriage  of  "Wil- 
liam Bentley,  of  William  and  Sarah,  Westerly,  R.  I.,"  to  the  "Widow- 
Lewis,"  Aug.  I,  1734. 

(C.)  Descendants  of  Hannah  Bentley-Bennetf^  have  been  given.  Greene 
M.  Bentley^  the  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  the  eleventh  child  of  Bathsheba 
Greene-Bentley,  became  the  head  of  another  numerous  line  by  his  daughter 
Sarah.  A  full  and  careful  history  of  this  branch  is  being  prepared  by  Dr. 
Frank  H.  Titus,  U.  S.  A.  I  shall  give  but  two  generations  from  Sarah,  and 
leave  fuller  and  meatier  particulars  to  him. 

Sarah  Bentley*'  was  married  (probably  in  N.  Y.)  to  Daniel  Coryell.  Her 
descendants  still  show  one  trait  of  Greene  inheritance,  one-sixth  more  sons 
being  born  to  them  than  daughters. 

Rachel,  Sarah's  oldest  daughter,  m.  James  Van  Gorder,  said  to  have 
been  of  a  family  originally-  from  New  Jersey.  They  had  i  daughter  and  4 
sons.  Of  these  Sarah  m.  Matthew  Neary  and  had  9  children.  Henr>-  m. 
Polly  Shumway  and  had  2  daughters,  and  Louis  m.  Eliza  Wilson  and  had 
3  children. 


^be    (5rccnc   jfanul^ 


73 


Michael  Con'ell,  Sarah's  oldest  son,  m.  Lydia  Titus.  They  had  7  child- 
ren. Of  these  Clarissa  Ann  m.  Samuel  Wallace,  and  had  3  children,  and  many 
grand-children ;  Matilda  m.  John  Miller,  and  had  3  children  and  24  grand- 
children ;  Samuel  m.  Esther  Schofield  and  was  the  father  of  4  children ; 
Lydia  m.  George  McNaughton,  and  was  the  mother  of  5  sons  and  3  daughters. 

Sarah's  next  two  sons,  James'  and  Hiram  CoryelF,  married  respectively 
Ellen  Wolf  and  Amanda  Colegrove.  To  the  latter  was  born  2  daughters. 
Jane  Cor\-eir,  by  her  first  husband,  Horace  Hungerford,  had  a  daugh- 
ter, Lucinda.  Susan  Coryell"  m.  Henr>^  Hungerford,  and  had  5  sons  and  i 
daughter.  Of  Susan's  children,  James  Hungerford^  m.  twice  and  had  three 
children,  and  Julia  A.  Hungerford*  m.  twice,  and  had  Leilie  Nourse  and 
George  Flower,  one  by  each  husband.  Daniel  Coryell'  m.  Eliza  Wood,  and 
had  4  sons  and  i  daughter. 

Clarissa  Cor^-ell",  7th.  child  of  Sarah  Bentley-Cor>-ell,  and  great-grand- 
daughter of  Bathsheba  Greene-Bentley\  married  Samuel  Titus.  They  had 
1 1  children,  7  sons  and  two  daughters.  Of  these,  Daniel*  m.  Eulalia  Dodge, 
and  had  5  sons  and  3  daughters.  Polly*  m.  Eli  Shope  and  had  3  children. 
Greene  Bentley*  m.  twice,  and  had  3  sons  and  i  daughter.  Jane*  m.  John 
Wigley  and  had  4  children  by  him.  She  then  married  Peter  Magnet  and  had 
4  more  children.  John*  m.  ]\Iary  Waldron  and  became  the  father  of  a  dozen 
children. 

I\Iajor  Arthur  Titus*,  was  the  fourth  son  of  Clarissa  Coryell'  and  Samuel 
Titus.  He  is  a  physician,  and  in  the  Civil  War  was  ]\Iajor  and  Regimental 
Surgeon  in  the  ist  W.  Va.  Cavaliy.  He  married  Sophia  Chabot.  They  had 
Frank,  Samuel  and  Hattie. 

Dr.  Frank  H.  Titus''  followed  in  his  father's  footsteps,  and  in  the  Spanish- 
American  War  was  a  J\Iajor  and  Brigade  Surgeon.  He  is  still  connected  with 
the  Regular  Army.     He  married  Louise  C.  King,  and  has  a  daughter  Louise'". 

(D.)  Eunice",  another  daughter  of  Greene  M.  Bentley^,  was  the  second 
of  this  family  to  marry  a  Bennett.  Over  300  descendants  belong  to  her  line. 
These  live  mostly  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  Dr.  Titus  intends  to  include  this 
line  in  his  history  also.     I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

LIEUTENANT   JOHN   GREENE'S   LINE 

In  Rhode  Island  they  have  a  strong  tradition  that  this  man  was  not  the 
son  of  John  of  Quidnessett,  or  indeed  at  all.  John  of  London,  as  they  call 
him,  is  held  to  have  been  John  Clarke,  a  Regicide  Judge  who  condemned 
King  Charles  to  death  in  1649,  ^"^i  ^^'^^°  ^^^  to  America  under  the  assumed 
named  of  Greene,  and  married  Abigail  Wardwell.  Without  stopping  to  ask 
how  he  came  to  give  Greene  names  to  his  children,  and  how  he  came  to 
own  land  that  had  been  the  elder  John  Greene's,  we  can  show  the  ground- 
lessness of  the  claim  that  he  was  John  Clarke  instead  of  John  Greene,  by 
comparing  a  few  dates. 

To  have  been  a  Regicide  Judge  he  would  have  been  a  middle-aged  man 
in  1649,  say  35  to  60.  Now  19  year  old  Abigail  married  in  1684.  He  would 
have  been  70  to  95  3-ears  old,  a  youthful  bridegroom  indeed !  He  would 
have  lived  45  years  longer,  as  this  John  certainly  died  Oct.  6,  1729,  by  which 
time  any  of  the  Regicide  Judges  would  have  been  115  to  140  years  old! 
The  stor}-  is  only  a  revamping  of  John  of  Ouidnessett's  reminiscences  of 
his  ancestor,  John  the  Fugitive,  with  just  enough  changes  to  localize  it.  See 
Chapter  V,  where  the  question  is  discussed  at  some  length. 

John-  is  believed  to  have  been  born  in  1645,  The  birthdate  of  June  16, 
1 65 1,  usually  giA'en  as  his  being  of  John'  of  the  Warwick  line.  He  owned 
land  with  his  father  in  1666.  Birt  the  land  squabble  so  depreciated  land  that  he 
became  disgusted  and  went  to  N.  Y.  with  his  brother  Edward.  Both  were 
absent  when  the  land  suit  was  compromised,  in  May  167 1.  Edward  re- 
mained away  for  25  jears  or  so.  But  John,  being  a  bachelor,  and  foot-loose, 
appears  to  have  been  part  of  the  time  in  R.  I.  and  part  of  the  time  in  N.  Y. 
The  Greenes  were  famotis  walkers.  A  150  years  later  than  this,  it  was 
nothing  unusual  for  a  Greene  to  walk  from  R.  I.  to  N.  Y.  and  back,  merely 
to  see  the  countn,-,  or  to  pay  a  visit.  It  is  quite  probable  that  John  came 
back  during  the  Indian  disturbance  of  1675-6.  It  is  thought  he  earned  his 
title  of  Lieut,  in  this  King  Philip's  war. 

Lieut.  John,  on  some  of  his  visits,  had  had  his  portion  of  his  father's 
74 


^bc   6recne   J'aniil? 


land  set  off  to  him.  In  March  1682,  the  elder  John  gave  Benjamin,  Daniel, 
and  James  their  land,  that  joined  the  land  already  deeded  to  John.  After  his 
marriage  in  1684,  he  decided  to  remain  in  R.  I.  However,  when  he  moved 
to  East  Greenwich  in  1685,  and  was  enrolled  as  a  freeman  there,  he  was 
recorded  even  then  as  "L,ieut.  John  Greene,  Jr.,  of  N.   Y." 

In  1684,  being  then  39  years  old,  he  married  a  Massachusetts  girl  of 
less  than  half  of  his  age,  Abigail  Wardwell.  She  was  of  the  Lascelle-Ward- 
well  family  described  in  the  Appendix.  The  love-smitten  Lieutenant  is  sup- 
posed to  have  become  accquainted  with  the  young  lady  on  the  occasion  of  a 
visit  paid  by  her  to  her  many  relatives,  the  Woddles  (Wardwells),  Pierces 
and  Anthonys  of  Portsmouth,  R.  I.  After  her  return  to  her  home,  at  Ips- 
wich, each  visit  required  a  trip  of  250  miles  or  so,  if  he  went  by  ship  around 
Cape  Cod.  If  he  rode  across  country,  he  had  a  journey  of  75  miles,  along 
the  Pequot  Path  and  through  the  gloomy  forests  and  sparse  settlements  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts. 

A  bachelor's  courtship  is  proverbially  an  ardent  one.  Tradition  tells  us 
that  after  one  of  these  lonely  rides,  he  returned  to  Ouidnessett  with  a  comely 
young  woman  riding  on  a  pillion  behind  him.  This  was  bride  Abigail  Ward- 
well,  or,  as' her  intimates  called  her,  Nabbie  Woddle.  Wardwell  was  a  name 
that  our  ancestors  pronounced  a  dozen  different  ways,  but  never  by  any 
chance  as  it  was  spelled. 

Of  Abigail  herself  we  know  little.  She  was  of  mixed  English- Welsh- 
French  stock.  ( William'  of  Richard  Wardwell,  who  married  Meribe'  of 
Gershom  Lascelle ;  Lascelle  Wardwell",  William  W^ardwell"  and  Alice,  emi- 
grants;  Usel\  their  son,  born  1639,  married  in  1664  to  widow  Mar)-  Kins- 
man-Ringe,  and  Abigail,  born  Oct.  27,  1665.)  The  family  had  remarkable 
longevity.  Her  father,  Usel,  lived  to  be  93,  and  one  of  her  sons  lived 
to  be  103.  From  the  Huguenot  side  of  the  house  came  a  brave,  fearless, 
and  venturesome  disposition.  They  were  a  family  of  sailors,  and  those  who 
remained  on  shore  owned  many  sla^•es.  Her  own  father  was  a  slave  holder. 
Nevertheless  they  were  pious  people.  Probably  from  their  Huguenot  blood, 
they  were  a  family  that  had  a  strong  aversion  to  religions  coercion  or 
tyranny.  Abigail's  own  grandfather  had  his  freeman's  privileges  taken  from 
him  because  he  showed  sympathy  with  those  banished  for  heresy. 

In  1685,  soon  after  his  marriage,  Lieut.  John  moved  to  East  Greenwich. 
Here  he  remained  five  years,  and  here  two  of  his  children,  James  and  John, 
were  born.  In  1690  he  moved  to  Coventry,  built  a  sawmill  which  he  is  said  to 
have  put  up  with  his  own  hands,  and  ran  it  there.  He  had  been  living  there 
a  couple  of  years  when  the  word  came  that  his  wife's  cousin  had  Ijeen 
hung  in  ^Massachusetts  as  a  witch.  Doubtless  it  was  felt  as  a  deep  disgrace 
at  the  time. 


76  Zhc   (Breene   jfamili^ 


Lieut.  John  was  what  is  known  as  forehanded.  He  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  land  in  the  township  of  Coventry,  which  was  afterwards  divided  into 
many  farms.  It  was  all  forest-land.  He  built  his  house  at  the  foot  of  Hark- 
ney  Hill. 

Harkney  Hill  is  a  landmark.  At  one  place  there  is  a  plain  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  watered  by  a  small  stream.  Long  before  the  white  man's  day 
this  spot  was  a  noted  Indian  camping  place.  A  village  of  wigwams  was 
usually  sheltered  under  the  great  forest  trees  that  stood  on  the  banks  of  "  the 
ringing  brook,"  as  a  family  poet  phrases  it.  Greene  cleared  this  land.  After- 
wards he  took  it  for  a  family  burying  ground,  and  several  generations  lie 
sleeping  there.  Some  of  the  graves  are  unmarked,  and  some  have  only 
common  field  stone  markers  at  head  and  foot.  At  this  late  day  it  can  never 
be  determined  who  all  are  buried  there.  If,  as  is  often  claimed,  Old  John  of 
Quidnessett  spent  his  last  days  with  his  son  John,  he  also  lies  there.  This 
old,  old  burial  place  is  even  now  known  as  the  Old  Field  Cemetery. 

It  was  about  a  mile  away  from  this  clearing,  where  afterwards  he  was  to 
lie,  that  Lieut.  John  built  his  cabin.  It  was  built  in  what  w-as  called  the 
meadows,  which  lay  at  the  foot  of  another  part  of  Harkney  Hill.  Pioneers 
care  little  for  architecture.  Any  kind  of  a  shack  will  do  them,  so  that  it 
will  shelter  them.  Usually  a  plain  box-like  house  of  logs  is  built,  contain- 
ing a  single  good-sized  room,  and  a  low  loft  above,  reached  by  a  steep 
ladder.  As  the  family  grows,  a  lean-to  is  built  on,  a  summer  kitchen  added, 
rough  porch  and  smoke-house  built.  The  true  pioneer  was  as  happy  in 
these  narrow  quarters  as  his  favored  sons  in  their  i6-room  mansions.  It  is 
all  in  the  point  of  view.  Well-to-do  John  and  Abigail  lived  in  that  cabin 
the  balance  of  their  days. 

Lieut.  John  died  Oct.  6,  1729,  at  the  good  old  age  of  84,  His  brother 
James  died  the  year  before,  and  his  brother  Daniel  the  year  after. 

John  and  Abigail  had  11  children,  all  of  whom  grew  up.  They  were 
James,  John,  Jane,  Usual,  Ebenezer,  Robert,  William,  Enfield,  Mar}-,  Han- 
nah and  Andrew.  There  is  no  further  record  of  William  or  Andrew.  The 
other  nine  were  married  and  became  heads  of  families. 

The  third  child  and  oldest  daughter  was  born  at  Coventry,  Jan,  3.  1691. 
She  was  named  Jane  for  her  grandmother.*  She  married  a  man  named  Low. 
It  was  probably  her  daughter  Alice  who  married  Nathaniel  Greene,  in  1739, 
as  Alice  was  a  family  name  with  the  Wardwells. 

Enfield  Greene  was  the  eighth  child  and  second  daughter.  She  was 
married  March  21,  17 19,  to  Samuel  Cook.     She  evidently  had  much  of  her 


*  John  of  Quidnessett's  wife  invariably  signed  her  name  Joan,  but  was  always  called  Jane.    Her 
namesakes  were  all  called  Jane. 


Zbc   (Breene   jfamilp  77 

grandmother's  sweet  disposition,  for  her  namesakes  were  plentiful  for  three 
generations  in  her  brother's  families.  In  those  days  a  popular  relati\'e  was 
always  much  named  after.  Mary,  the  third  daughter,  married John- 
son.    No  attempt  is  made  to  give  the  lines  of  these  daughters. 

The  remaining  six  children,  James,  John,  Usual,  Ebenezer,  Robert  and 
Hannah,  became  the  heads  of  large  families.  Their  lines  will  be  ne.xt 
considered. 

Two  of  this  family,  Robert  and  Hannah,  married  Andrews,  the  first  of 
almost  numberless  marriages  between  these  two  early  Rhode  Island  lines. 
The  in-and-in  marrying,  so  characteristic  of  the  Greenes,  was  well  exampled. 
John  and  Usual  married  two  sisters,  Ann  and  Susannah  Hill,  their  distant 
cousins  on  their  mother's  side.  If  Ebenezer's  wife  was  a  Pierce,  as  from 
various  circumstances  seems  likely,  his  wife  was  also  a  distant  cousin  both 
to  himself  and  to  the  two  sisters-in-law  just  named. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

LIEUT.   JOHN    GREENE    OF    COVENTRY'S    LINE 
Descendants  of  James  of  Maroon  Szvanip 

James^  [  Lieut.  John-,  John',  ]  was  born  at  East  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  Aug. 
l8,  1685.  He  was  the  first-born  of  Lieutenant  John  and  Abigail  Ward  well- 
Greene.  He  was  married  December  18,  171 7,  to  Rebecca  Cahoon.  He  was 
32,  she  barely  15.  They  had  seven  children,  six  of  whom  certainly  married. 
James  died  in  1771,  at  the  age  of  86,  and  his  wife  surA-ived  him.  When 
she  died  in  1782,  she  divided  the  old  homestead  near  Maroon  Swamp  by  will 
among  three  of  her  six  sons,  James,  Isaac  and  John.  Lieut.  John  owned  a 
large  tract  of  land,  all  forest  when  he  purchased  it.  This  farm  of  his  sou 
James,  near  the  Maroon  Swamp,  was  part  of  the  original   tract. 

Rebecca  Cahoon  was  the  oldest  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Cahoon  and  his 
wife,  Jane  Jones,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Jones.  Properly  the  name  should 
have  been  spelled  Colquhoun.  The  Colquhouns  are  an  old  Scottish  family 
who  pronounce  their  name  Cahoon,  but  write  it  Colquhoun.  The  Colqu- 
houns had  their  own  clan  plaid,  their  clan  pibroch  or  tune,  and  clan  "flowers," 
the  Bear-berry,  Hazel  and  Dog-berr\',  a  sprig  of  the  foliage  of  which  they 
wore  in  their  "  bonnets"  in  parades  or  in  battle.  And  as  might  be  expected, 
their  descendants  are  also  clannish  in  their  ways. 

James  and  Rebecca  had   the  usual  Greene   fortune, — more  sons  than 
daughters.     Their  children  were  : 
Nathaniel,  born  June  4,  171S. 
James,  "     Nov.  25,   1720. 

Wardwull,    "     Jan.   23,  1723. 
Isaac,  "     Nov.  6,  1724. 

Patience,       "    April  7.  1727. 
Charles,        "  1729. 

Othniel. 
A  wing  of  the  Rebecca  and  Jane  Greene- Andrews  line  claim  these  two 
women  were  also  daughters  of  James  and  Rebecca  Cahoon.     If  so,  they  must 
have  been  born  after  1730.     There  is  no  official  record  of  them. 

Of  Othniel  we  have  only  the  birth  record.     Two  of  the  sons,   James 


Sbe   vSrecnc   J^ainil^ 


79 


and  Wardwell,  married  cousins,  two  Greene  girls.  Nathaniel  married  Alice 
Low,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  his  aunt  Jane  Greene- Low's  daughter. 
So  that  half  the  family  married  relatives.  Patience  married  Benjamin  An- 
drews, Aug.  lo,  1746.  So  far  as  can  be  traced,  the  descendants  of  Maroon 
Swamp  James  are  as  follows : 

"  SQUIRE  "  NATHANIEL  GREENE.^  [James\  John^  John'.]  He 
was  born  June  4,  171S,  and  died  Sept.  2,  1S09,  in  his  92nd  year.  He  was 
usually  called  Esquire  or  Squire  Nathaniel.  He  was  married  March  8, 
1739,  in  his  2 1st  year,  to  Alice  Low,  daughter  of  John  Low.  He  married 
(2)  Mary . 

Not  far  from  where  Lieut.  John  of  Coventn,-  had  his  unpretentious 
home,  Squire  Nathaniel  built  a  gambrel-roofed  house.  This  house  was  in 
the  meadow,  and  still  staliding  not  half  a  century  ago.  Some  of  the  Squire's 
great-grandchildren  were  born  there.  He  never  recorded  his  family.  All 
that  we  certainly  know  of  his  family  by  his  first  wife  is  that  he  had  a  daugh- 
ter Alice,  (Alcy,)  who  married  Jonathan  Bennett,  May  12,  1765.  All  that 
we  know  of  his  second  family  is  that  he  had 

Nathaniel  Greene,  Jr.^  born  June  27,  1765.  Like  his  father,  he  lived  to  be  old,  dying 
April  1S55,  nearly  90.  He  it  was  who  built  the  Greene  House  upon  Harkney  Hill,  a  land- 
mark of  the  region. 

Nathaniel  Jr.  married  his  third  cousin,  Patience  Matteson,  still  remembered  as  a  sprightly 
little  old  lady,  wearing  a  white  lace  cap.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Eliza- 
beth Matteson.  [Jonathan^  Martha  Green-Matteson*,  John  Greene',  James',  John'.] 
Through  Martha  Greene-Matteson,  she  was  descended  from  Elder  Obediah  Holmes,  who 
for  his  Baptist  doctrines  was  so  cruelly  whipped  by  the  Boston  authorities  (1651) 
that  he  could  not  stand.     They  had  seven  children. 

Paris  M.  Greened  [Nath^,  Nath*.,  Janiesl,  John=.  John'.]  He  was  born  July 
2,  1790,  died  Dec.  20,  1S17.  His  first  wife  was  Hannah,  daughter  of  Joseph  Wicks, 
and  the  second  was  her  sister  Elizabeth. 

Hannah  Wicks  Greene-Howard',  b.  Jan.  12,  1812;  d.  July  26,    1S77.     She 
was  named  for  her  young  mother,  who  died  when  she  was   four  months  old. 
Hannah  married  Ephraim  How-ard.     See  Chapter  XXVH. 
Benjamin  Greene',  b.  iSi4;d.   1832. 

Mary  E.  Greene-Weaver'.  [Parish  Nath^.,  Nath'.,  Jas'.,  John",  John^]  She 
was  born  Sept.  q.  1S15;  d.  Feb.  25,  1S92.  M.  1836  to  Jason  Weaver.  They 
afterwards  removed  to  Conn.     They  were  much  esteemed  people. 

William   P.    Weaver*,   b.   Feb.  20,  183S.     M.  Angie  Brown.     They 
live  in  Canterbury,  Conn. 

Lucius  Edward  Weaver**,  b.   Jan.  13,  1S74,  m.  Ruth  T.  Champlin. 
They  live  in  Willimantic,  Conn.     They  have  one  daughter, 
Doris  Lilian  Champlin'. 
Mary  Elizabeth  Weaver-Potter^  b.  Nov.  8,  1842  ;  m.  March  27.  1S62, 
to  George  W.  Potter.     No  children.     She  has  been  a  widow  since  igoi. 
Edward  Francis  Weaver^,  b.  Sept.  19,  1851  ;  m.  Melissa  M.  Burgess- 
One  son. 

Harry  Francis  Burgess'. 
Jennie  Maria  Weaver-Harris*,  b.  Dec  31,  1852  ;  m.  Lyman  W.  Har- 
ris.    Is  now  a  widow.     One  son  living. 


8o  ^be   (Brecnc   jfamilp 

Clarence  Walter  Harris^, 
George  B.  Weaver*,  b.  Jan  4,  1S55.  ■  Unmarried.   Lives  in  BroolclviJ, 
Conn. 

Alice   Emma  ^Veaver-Bass^  b.  March  3,  1S5S  ;  m.   Edwin    Bass   in 
1S86.     No  children. 
Paris  Greene,'  b.  1817  ;  d.   1822. 
Aaron  Greene*.     [Nathaniel*,  Nathaniel^,  James',  John^,   John'.]    He  was  born 
June  15,  1792,  and  died  March  15,  1841,  aged   49    years.      He   was    never    married. 
but  the  bans  of  marriage  had  been  published  between  he  and  Cynthia  Johnson.     She 
afterwards  made  her  home  with  his  father,  as  an  own  daughter  would  have  done,  and 
on  the  death  of  her  betrothed's  father  and  brother,  she  received  a  large  sum  of  money 
in  token  of  their  appreciation  of  her  homekeeping  for  them  so  many  years. 

George  W.  Greene'*,  ne.\t  brother  to  the  above,  b.  Jan.  4  1794;  d.  Nov.  £8,1878, 
in  his  Ssth  year,  unmarried.  He  built  a  considerable  addition  to  his  father's  house, 
and  opened  up  a  store  in  one  wing  and  the  basement.  The  innovation  succeeded, 
and  he  amassed  in  this  country  store  $60,000.  He  had  a  pride  in  the  Greene  family. 
He  erected  several  monuments  to  forefathers  of  his  line. 

\Vaterm.\N  Greene'*.  [  Nathaniel*,  Nathaniel*,  James^  John-,  John'.  ]  He  died  in 

Massachusetts,  which  had  been  his  home  for  many  years.    He  married  \'iolata . 

Orris  Greene'. 
Sarah  Greene-Johnson",  sixth  child  of  Nathaniel  Jr.,  was  born  May  16,  1S02, 
and  died  July  19,  1S64. 

John  Francis  Johnson'  died  in  the  Civil  War,  .\ug.  22,  1863,  in  his  24th  year. 
Sybil  Greene-Miller",  next  daughter  of  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  m.  to  John  P  Jlilier  of 
Coventry.     No   records. 

Damaris  Greene-Greene",  youngest  daughter  of  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  was  born  March 
2,  1807,  and  died  Aug.  2,  1861.     She  married  Lawton  Greene,  son  of  Elijah. 

Nathaniel  C.  Greene',  b.  in  1841  ;  d.;  1864,  in  Andersonville  Prison,  Georgia, 
during  the   Civil  War. 

JAMES  GREENE'.  [James'',  John",  John'.]  Born  Nov,  20,  1720. 
First  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Increase  Allen.  Second  wife  and  mother 
of  his  two  youngest  children  was  his  second  cousin.  Humility  Greene*. 
[Henry^,  Benjamin^,  John'.] 

Increase  Greene*,  b.  Aug.  30,  1740;  m.  Comfort  Weaver. 
James  Greene",  b.  in  1742. 
Comfort  Greene",  b.  in  1765. 
Thom.\s  Greene*,  b.  March  24,  1743  ;  m.  Sarah  Corey. 
Matteson  Greene",  b.  March  25,   1772. 

Waity  Greene-Cahoon',  m.  Wm.  Cahoon,  Jr. 
Wanton  Greene',  m.  Susan  A.  Cornell. 
Jedediah  Greene*,  b.  April  13,  1747  ;  m.  Waitstill  Bates,  1769. 
Olive  Greene-Potter",  m.  to  William  Potter. 
Rhoda  Greene-King",  m.  to  Randall  Kingof  Coventry. 
Jonathan  Greene*,  b,  Feb.  20,  1748;  m.  Lydia  Nichols- 

Henry  Greene*,  b.  July  28,  1754  :  m.  Mercy  Corey.     Henry  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 
Job",  1778  ;  Cyril",  1779;  Spicer",  1781  ;  W'hipple",  1782  ;  Cynthia",  1786  ;  Humility", 
17S9.     All  that  is  knowm  of  them. 
Hannah  Greene-Johnson,"  b.  1784  ;  m.  Reuben  Johnson. 

Cynthia  Johnson'.     See  paragraph  of  Aaron  Greene. 
Rebecca  Greene*,  b.  May  22,  1756. 

WARDWELL  GREENE*.  [James',  John^  John'.]  Born  Jan.  23, 
1723.;  m.  Oct.    7,    1748,   to  his  16-year  old  cousin  Ann   (Nancy)     Greene*. 


iEbe   (Breene   ifamti^  8i 

[Robert*,  John-,  John'.]  Their  family  was  divided  after  the  usual  Greene 
proportion,  six  sons  to  two  daughters.  Catharine  was  born  174S  ;  Edmutid, 
May  12,  1752;  Robert,  Nov.  10,  1755;  Ann,  1763;  and  Benjamite,  March 
7,  1 771.     No  further  records  of  these. 

Wardwell  Gkeene^,  b.  Sept,  2,  1760;  m. Johnson.  He  lived  to  be  90.  Ward- 
well  removed  to  Richland,  N.  Y.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  he  was  shot  through  the 
neck  and  left  for  dead  upon  the  field.  The  Captain  sent  men  back  after  the  body,  and  they 
found  him  pressing  each  opening  together  with  his  hands,  thus  stanching  tlie  blood.    When 

restored  to  his  family,  his  Quaker  mother  said, "  Thee  should  be  thankful  to  the   good 

Lord  for  the  preservation  of  thy  life."     To  which  he  replied, "  Rather  to    the  Captain 

and  the  volunteers  who  brought  me  away  I" 

Vedare  Greene*.  A  celebrated  N.  Y.  lawyer  in  his  day. 
Rathbun  Greene=,  b.  17S7.  Married  Feb.  25,  1810,  to  Jane,  dau.  of  Capt.  Samuel 
Millard.  He  moved  with  wife  and  5  children  to  Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y.  in  1820.  They  had 
13  children.  I  have  these  records.  Wardwell,  b.  July  3,  1S12  ;  Samuel,  b.  Jan.  g,  1814  ; 
Olive,  1815  ;-i870  m.  to  Charles  Georgia  ;  Hannah,  m.  Joseph  Wilson  ;  John  R.  died  in 
Brooklyn  ;  Job  lived  in  N.  Dakota  ;  Orpha  m.  Benjamin  Mackey  ;  George  moved  West; 
Mary  m.  Chancellor  Houghtaling,  of  Union,  N.  Y.  De.xter  died  in  Civil  War  ;  Albert  lived 
in  Central  N.  Y. ;  Eliza  became  the  wife  of  Belden  Allen. 

Almanzo  Johnson  Greene*,  oldest  son  of  Rathbun  Greene,    of   above    paragraph, 
was  born  April  1810.      His  first  wife  was  Vilette  Johnson.     They  had   II    children, 
of  whom  the  second  is  John  W.  Greene,  M.  D.,  who  was  born  in  1S36. 
James  Greene*,  b.  April  25,  176S. 

Wardwell  Greene'  [  Jas.«,  Wardwell^,  Wardwell'.  Jas^,  John=.  John.']    He 

m.  (l)  Eunice  Short,  and  (2)  Polly  Peabody.     All  but  Leland  and  Ann  of  his 

children  were  by  the  last  wife.  Wardwell  lived  at  Farmington,Mich.  II  children. 

Leland,  Ann,   Emily,  Wardwell,  Sidney,   Betsey,  Maria,   Seneca,  and 

■     Helen,  name  records  only. 

LucinJ.i  Greene-Webster",  m.  G.  Webster  of  Farmington,  Mich. 
Jarvis  Greene,'  leading  citizen  at  Pontiac,  Mich. 
Champlin  Greene'.[  Jas«.,  Wardwell^  Wardwell*,  Jasl,  John^,  John.']  He 
m.  Fanny  Hazen  and  lived  at  Farmington,  Mich.     His  children  were  Warren, 
Mariette,  Amanda,  George  W.,  Ann,  Theodosia,  Caroline  and  Edward 

Leland  Greene',  [Jas.,*  Wardwell',  Wardwell*,  Jasl,  John^  John^.]  He  m. 
Nancy  Wilmarth,  and  lived  at  Farmington,  Mich.  His  children  were  De.xter, 
Adelia  and  Amelia,  Wesley  and  Thomas. 

Luther  Greene'.  Brother  to  the  above.  He  m.  Mary  Ann  Lee.  He  also 
lived  at  Farmington,  Mich.  He  had  two  children.  Dr.  Marshall  and  Caroline 
Greene. 

Calvin  CJreene,'  brother  to  the  preceeding.  He  m.  Louise  Baldwin.  They 
had  Addison,  Ray,  Mary,  Lucy  and  Avis. 

Chauncey  Greene',  younger  son  of  James*,  of  Wardwell",  etc.  Born  about 
lSi6  ;  m.  Cornelia  Henry.  He  was  a  well-known  agricultural  writer.  There 
were  four  children.  Florence,  Edith,  Ida  and  Meredith. 

COL.  ISAAC  GREENE*.  [Jas^  John^  John'.]  Born  Nov.  6,  1724; 
m.  Mary  Weaver  in  1754.  One  child  died  young.  Only  birth  records  of 
Mehitable  and  Joseph.  Abigail  m.  Oliver  Wicks,  and  James  m.  Genevieve 
Case.     One  son  alone  leaves  traceable  line. 

Judge  Ben'Jamin  Greene'.  Born  Feb.,  1760  or  1764.  Died  Jan.  4.  or  Tan.  14,  1842. 
(Records  vary.)  First  wife,  Sarah  Brayton.  By  her  he  had  Caleb,  who  m.  Phebe  Mat- 
teson,  Hannah  and  Isaac.      By  second  wife,  Henriette,  he  had  Sarah,  Barbara  and  Hiram. 


82  ^be   6reene   Ifaiiiil^ 


Hiram  Greene^,  son  of  Judge  Benjamin  and  grandson  of  Col.  Isaac.  His  first  wile's 
only  son  died  at  manhood.  His  second  wife  was  Abigail  Johnson  of  Greene  des- 
cent. [Abigail^  Daniel^,  Abigail  Greene-Johnson*,  Usal  Greene',  John-  John^  ]  By 
her  he  had  Tryphena  and  Benjamin.  Hiram  died,  aged  but  23,  though  twice 
married  and  the  father  of  three  children. 

Tryphena  Greene-Johnson',  daughter  of  Hiram,  m.  her  second  cousin,  Philip 
Johnson.   [Philip',  Philip*,  Ezelviel*,EIizabeth  Greene-Johnson*,  Usal  Greene^, 
John-,  John'.]     Their  children  have  five  strains  of  Greene  blood. 
Harty  Johnson-Whitford*,  m.  Carmi  Whitford. 
Philip  R.  Johnson'.      Has  a  son  and  a  daughter. 

Tryphena  Johnson-Howard',  m.  George  P.  Howard.  [George',  Han- 
nah W  Greene-Howard',  Paris  M,  Greene'*.  Nath.  Jr.,°  Xath*.,  Jasl, 
John=,  John!.]  See  Chapter  XXVII. 

Edna  Priscilla  Johnson-Shippee'.  wife  of  Henry  Shippee, 
Patience  Jane  Johnson-Batty',  m.  Lauriston  Batty;  d.  in  18S2. 
Zilpha  Johnson-Foster*. 

CHARLES  GREENE*.      [Jas^  Johir,  John\]      Born  July  28,  1729. 
Othmel  Greene-. 

Lois  Greene,^  b.  1770. 
Charles  Greene^.      This  may  possibly  be  a  son  of  Othniel,   but  is  thought  to  be   his 
younger  brother. 

Charles  Greene*,  b.  Oct.  4.  179S. 

William  Greene*,   b.  in  1799. 

Paul  Alien  Greene*,  b,  Oct.  26,  1808. 


CHAPTER   XV 

LIEUT.    JOHN    GREEXE-'S   LINE 
Descendants  of  M'calthy  Joint' 

John  Greene^  who  is  here  designated  as  Wealthy  John,  was  born  in 
East  Greenwich,  April  9,  1688.  He  was  the  second  son  and  child  of  Lieut. 
John"  and  Abigail  Ward  well-Greene.  Nov.  30,  1713,  when  in  his  twenty- 
sixth  year,  he  married  Ann  Nancy  Hill.  The  knot  was  tied  by  John  Spen- 
cer, Justice.  Here  the  Puritan  cropped  to  the  surface.  In  rebelling  against 
England's  ecclesiasticism,  the  Puritans,  almost  to  a  man,  refused  to  have  a 
clergyman  marry  them,  so  insistent  were  they  on  an  entire  separation  of 
church  and  state.  The  Ouidnessett  Greenes  stuck  to  this  rule  until  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

Though  his  wife's  name  was  always  written  as  Ann,  after  the  custom 
of  the  day,  she  was  familiarly  called  Nancy.  She  was  a  distant  cousin  of 
her  husband.  She  belonged  to  a  branch  of  that  ultra-Puritan  family,  the 
Lascelle-Wardwells,  for  a  fuller  account  of  which  see  Appendix.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Henry  Hill,  the  first  of  his  line  in  Rhode  Island.  [Richard 
Wardwell' ;  William",  m.  to  ]\Ieribe,  dau.  of  Gershom  Lascelle ;  Rosanna 
Wardwell-Waite'* ;  Mehitable  Waite-HilP  ;  John'';  Jonathan'';  Henry'';  Ann'.] 

Wealthy  John's  pedigree  on  his  mother's  side  ran  thus :  Richard 
Wardwell' ;  William^,  who  m.  Meribe  Lascelle  ;  Lascelle^ ;  William* ;  Usal^ ; 
A1)igail  Wardwell-Greene'' ;  John''.  So  the  children  of  John  and  Ann, 
(Nancy,)  had  two  strains  of  this  Lascelle- Wardwell  blood,  and  a  strain  each 
of  the  Waite  and  Hill  blood. 

It  is  known  that  Ann  or  Nancy  Greene  was  extremely  young  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage,  scarcely  more  than  a  child,  in  fact.  Her  life  was  not 
a  bed  of  roses.  She  had  eleven  children  in  a  little  over  sixteen  j-ears,  and 
had  the  hardships  of  a  half-settled  country  to  endure  in  addition  to  that. 

We  can  imagine  this  busy  Nancy  caring  for  her  brood  of  little  ones. 
We  can  think  of  her  washing  and  ironing,  spinning,  carding  and  weaving, 
milking  and  churning,  scrubbing,  soap-making,  sewing,  cooking  and  quilt- 


84  ^be   6rcene   ffaniil^ 

iiig,  caring  for  her  sick,  and  knitting  stockings  for  her  baker's  dozen  of  peo- 
ple each  \ear.  A  light  dawns  upon  us  then  as  to  how  the  family  superstition 
arose  as  to  our  Nancies  always  being  over-crowded  with  work  and  responsi- 
bility, and  how,  stirring,  bustling,  and  moving  on,  they  always  get  through 
with  it  with  great  credit  to  themselves.  This  was  the  first  Nancy  among 
the  Ouidnessett  Greenes.  Doubtless,  she  was  the  typical  Nancy  that  the 
others  are  supposed  to  pattern  after, — particularly  so,  after  one  or  two  of 
them  happened  to  lead  a  life  as  strenuous  and  yet  as  successful   as  her  own. 

Wealthy  John  knew  well  how  to  hold  onto  all  that  came  into  his  hands. 
His  wife,  by  her  thrift  and  industry,  helped  him  along.  He  went  to  West 
Greenwich,  then  rather  a  new  region,*  and  opened  up  a  large  farm.     Nancy 

(Ann)  died,  and  he  married  :\Iary for  his  second  wife.     He  himself 

died  in  the  autumn  of  1756,  aged  68.  Beside  his  land,  and  the  two  farms 
he  gave  his  sons  Silas  and  John,  he  left  personal  property  that  was  inven- 
toried at  ^3,212,  5s.,  jd.,  or  about  $15,200.  As  the  purchasing  power  of  a 
dollar  was  as  great  as  three  or  four  dollars  is  now,  such  a  sum  was  equal  to 
about  $50,000  at  the  present  day.  A  plain  farmer  who  possessed  this  much 
personal  property,  and  land  beside,  was  held  in  those  days  to  be  a  very 
wealthy  man  indeed. 

There  is  a  good  deal  in  heredity.  Nathan\  the  youngest  son  of  Wealthy 
John,  had  a  son  Jabez^  who  went  to  N.  Y.  and  became  the  head  of  an  im- 
portant line.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  are  more  men  of  great  wealth  in 
the  Jabez  Greene  line  than  in  any  other  Greene  branch  whatever. 

The  fifth  child,  Elizabeth,  is  supposed  to  have  died  young,  as  she  is  not 
mentioned  in  her  father's  will.  Of  the  ten  remaining  children,  three  mar- 
ried IMattesons,  for  these  two  clannish  families  were  particularly  drawn  to- 
gether. The  oldest  son,  Silas,  married  Humility  Greene,  his  second  cousin, 
the  granddaughter  of  his  great-uncle,  Benjamin. 

The  descendants  of  Ann,  Enfield,  Silas,  ]\Iary,  John,  Margaret,  Timothy, 
Samuel,  Esther  and  Nathan  are  as  follows  : 

ANN  GREENE-NICHOLS'.  She  was  the  oldest  child,  and  was  born 
December  i,  1714.  She  was  married  to  John  Nichols,  Jr.,  March  22,  1733. 
The  marriage  must  have  been  quite  a  family  affair.  Five  years  before,  the 
young  man's  uncle,  William  Nichols,  married  Ann's  aunt,  Mary  Hill ;  a 
couple  of  years  after  that,  his  father's  cousin,  John  Nichols,  married  Ann's 
aunt,  Esther  Hill ;  some  time  after,  his  own  cousin,  Hannah  Nichols,  mar- 
ried Ann's  nephew.  Captain  Ebenezer  Hill.  All  of  wdiich  transactions  are 
a  fair  sample  of  the  way  earh-  Rhode  Island  families  are  crossed  and  re- 
crossed  with  each  other  in  marriage. 

*  It  was  made  Into  a  town  or  towusliip  in  1741. 


tlbe   6reene   iramil^  85 


^ 


As  many  who  read  this  are  descended  from  this  couple,  the  bride- 
groom's pedigree  is  given  at  some  length.  The  family  of  Nichols  descend 
from  Nicholas,  (or  Nigell,  or  Nichol),  de  Albine.  He  came  to  England 
from  Normandy,  and  was  advanced  into  the  favor  of  Edward  the  Confessor, 
1042-1066.  He  was  the  stem-father  of  this  family.  All  the 
English  Nicholses  had  a  pheon  as  a  device  on  their  coat-of-arms. 
A  pheon  is  the  head  of  a  javelin  or  dart ;  it  is  called  the  Broad 
R,  or  broad  arrow,  because  used  to  mark  Crown  property. 
Originally  the  king's  sergeant-at-arms  carried  this  device  before 
his  majesty  in  ro)-al  parades.  By  this  it  is  supposed  that  an 
early  ancestor,  probably  Robert  Fitz-Nigell,  son  of  Nicholas  de  ^Ic^xcu^^- 
Albine,  and  high  in  power,  held  this  office  under  either  William 
the  Conqueror,  or  his  son.  There  was  a  large  and  wealthy  branch  of  the 
family  in  Glamorganshire,  Wales,  from  which  particular  line  John  Nichols, 
Jr.,  was  descended.  He  was  fourth  in  descent  from  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols,* 
of  Newport.  Thomas  came  from  Wales.  He  was  married  about  1569  to 
Hannah  Griffin,  born  1642.  They  came  to  Nev/port,  where  he  became 
prominent.  He  is  spoken  of  as  having  been  Deputy  t  for  twenty  years, 
from  1678  to  1698.  He  was  one  of  the  48  grantees  to  whom,  in  1677,  the 
township  of  East  Greenwich  was  original!}'  deeded.  He  died  in  1708 
at  East  Greenwich.  His  sons  were  men  of  influence,  Captain  Benjamin 
being  Deput}--Governor  for  some  years,  the  highest  office  in  the  colon}-. 

The  second  son  and  third  child  of  Hon.  Thomas  was  "Aristocratic 
John,"  born  April  16,  1666,  and  died  1725  at  East  Greenwich.  The  mother 
of  his  children  was  his  first  wife,  Hannah  Forman.  His  name  frequently 
appears  in  the  records.  Evidently  he  was  a  stirring,  energetic  man.  Tra- 
dition says  he  was  a  proud  man,  quite  inclined  to  think  himself  above  the 
common  herd.  His  tastes  were  those  of  a  gentleman.  He  possessed  much 
land,  and  left  personal  property  valued  at  £57^^  ^^s.,  ($2,850),  equivalent  to 
nearly  $io,coo  at  the  present  day.  This  was  esteemed  a  comfortable  fortune 
in  those  days.  His  silver  plate,  pictures  and  books  are  spoken  of  as  of  some- 
thing considerable  in  the  inventory,  the  silver  plate  alone  being  valued  at 
/55>  17s.,  6d. 

His  oldest  son  was  John,  born  in  1689.  His  father  left  him  one-fourth 
of  his  East  Greenwich  real  estate.  The  oldest  son  of  the  third  John  was  this 
John,  who  married  Ann  Greene.  Family  tradition  asserts  that  he  was  fully 
as  aristocratic  as  his  grandfather,  and  that  he  liked  to  live  in  good  style. 


*  Additional  Nichols  matter  was  received  after  this  chapter  was  in  the  publisher's  hands.    It  will  be 
found  in  Appendix. 

1  Mitchell,  in  his  History  of  Bridgewater,  says  this  is  the  old  term  fora  Representative  to  the  Colonial 
Assembly.    (Legislature.) 


86  Cbc    (5rccne   jfanul^ 

In  fact,  the  whole  line  are  what  is  known  as  "  good  livers."  This  John  lived 
for  a  time  at  East  Greenwich,  then  removed,  to  Providence,  it  is  said.  He 
was  miserably  careless  about  recording  his  children's  names.  There  are 
three  children  supposed  to  ha\-e  been  his,  though  there  is  a  certainty  only  as 
to  two  of  them,  Enfield  and  Job. 

Enfield,  born  Marcli  4,  1734. 

.•\N.N  (Probably').      Married  about  1763. 

Job.     He    married    Susanna    King,*  a  dausfhter  of  that   Huguenot    couple,   Magdalen  and 

Marie  La  Valley-King.      Her  line  is  traced  in  Chapter  .\.\n. 

It  is  strange  how  long  a  feeling  of  ill-will  is  handed  down  in  old  fami- 
lies. In  16S7,  a  few  years  after  East  Greenwich  was  thrown  open  for  settle- 
ment, a  number  of  Huguenots  fled  from  religious  persecution  in  France,  and 
came  to  R.  I.,  settling  at  what  is  now  Frenchtown  in  the  township  of  War- 
wick, which  is  not  far  from  the  East  Greenwich  line.  Hay  was  a  valuable 
commodity.  Leading  East  Greenwich  men,  working  in  agreement  with  each 
other,  put  up  large  quantities  of  hay  on  the  unfenced  East  Greenwich 
''meadows."  The  Frenchmen  saw  an  opportunity  to  turn  a  pretty  penny 
for  themselves,  so  the}-  began  to  cut  and  cure  hay  without  leave  or  permis- 
sion from  anyone.  This  provoked  words  and  much  wrangling.  The  quar- 
rel became  too  warm  for  the  Deputy-Governor  of  the  Colony,  so  it  was  re- 
ferred to  the  chief  officer  of  the  Crown  in  America,  Governor  Andros  of 
Massachusetts.  Andros  professed  to  be  greatly  moved  by  pity  for  the  new- 
comers, who  unless  favored  would  doubtless  suffer  for  necessities.  But 
Andros  was  usually  at  loggerheads  with  the  colonists,  and  there  may  have 
been  some  truth  in  what  the  colonists  thought,  that  he  sided  against  them 
to  "  even  up"  matters  with  them. 

Andros  ordered  two  Justices  of  the  Peace  to  divide  the  stacks  of  hay 
into  two  even  lots.  The  one  lot  was  given  outright  to  the  Frenchmen.  The 
other  was  divided  into  eleven  shares  and  given  to  eleven  men.  Among  these 
were  John  Nichols,  Giles  Pierce,  George  Vaughan,  John  Andrews  and  John 
Sweet,  with  whose  lines  the  Greenes  afterward  much  intermarried.  Aristo- 
cratic John  was  particularly  angered  at  what  he  considered  an  outrage,  and 
the  yet}'  sight  of  a  swarthy-faced  Frenchman  roused  his  ire.  He  passed  his 
Frenchiphobia — to  coin  a  word — on  to  his  line.  Great,  therefore,  was 
John's  anger  when  his  son  Job  fell  in  love  with  a  black-eyed  French  girl, 
and  married  her.  It  is  said  that  he  never  fully  forgave  his  son,  and  never 
overcame  his  dislike  to  his  foreign  daughter-in-law. 

Job''^  was  as  careless  as  his  father  in  neglecting  to  record  his  family. 
We  know  that  he  lived  in  Providence,  and  that  he  had  more  than  one   son 

ine,  which  in  America  became  Anglicized  int^  ■  Susannah 


^be   (3rccne   Jfamil^  87 


in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  had  a  son  John,  and  a  daughter  Ahnira, 
who  died  at  23.  Beside  these  was  a  son  David,  born  in  1763.  David  enlist- 
ed June  14,  1778,  in  Captain  Philip  Traffarn's  company  of  Col.  John  Top- 
ham's  regiment,  and  served  as  a  bugler  in  the  Revolutionary-  War.  He  was 
less  than  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  company  was  disbanded  March  16, 
1779,  but  he  enlisted  again.  David  married  Nancy  King.  She  was  doubly 
related  to  him,  being  of  Greene  descent  on  her  mother's  side,  and  a  niece  of 
David's  mother  on  the  father's  side.  Part  HI  of  this  book  is  almost  wholly 
taken  up  in  tracing  the  descendants  of  this  couple.  To  these  chapters  those 
interested  are  referred. 

ENFIELD  GREENE-MATTESON.^  She  was  the  second  child  of 
Wealthy  John  Greene.  She  was  born  March  31,  1716,  and  was  married  to 
James  Matteson,  March  3,  1738.  He  was  the  son  of  Capt.  Henry,  the  son 
of  Henry  Matteson.  Six  and  seven  years  later,  Enfield's  brother  John  and 
sister  Margaret,  married  two  Mattesons,  sister  and  brother,  who  were  niece 
and  nephew  of  this  James  Matteson  who  married  Enfield.  Fully  one-third 
of  the  Quidnessett  Greenes  have  Matteson  blood.  The  affinity  of  the  two 
families  for  each  other  is  something  remarkable.  The  Mattesons  have  an 
old  and  romantic  family  history.     It  is  given  at  length  in  the  Appendix. 

James  JMatteson''  and  his  wife  moved  to  Foster,  R.  I.  They  had  these 
children,  beside  two  who  died  in  infancy : 

Uriah",  born  Jan.  23,  1739. 

Silas",   b.  Dec.  10,  1740. 

Ann",   b.  Feb.  8,  1742. 

Enfield", b.  Sept.  23,  1750. 

SILAS  GREENE'  was  born  Sept.  29,  1717.  He  was  the  oldest  son. 
He  was  married  about  1743  to  his  second  cousin.  Humility  Greene',  [Ben- 
jamin', Benjamin",  John']  who  was  one  year  his  senior.  There  has  been 
great  confusion  in  family  biographies  between  this  man's  wife  and  the  wife 
of  his  cousin  James,  [James'*,  John",  John']  whose  wife  was  Humility  Greene 
also.  As  accurate  and  painstaking  histographer  as  Frank  L.  Greene,  A.  M., 
says  that  Silas  married  Humility,  daughter  of  Henry  Greene.  That  Humil- 
ity, on  the  contrary,  married  James,  as  his  second  wife.  The  two  Humilities 
were  the  children  of  brothers,  Henry  and  Benjamin,  sons  of  Benjamin.-  Each 
named  a  daughter  after  his  mother.  Humility  Coggeshall-Greene.  Benja- 
min's Humility  was  a  few  years  the  elder.  Her  father's  home  was  in  West- 
erly. When  James  Greene  took  his  second  wife,  to  show  certainly  which 
Humility  he  married,  it  was  added  on  the  records,  "of  West  Greenwich." 
West  Greenwich  was  the  home  of  Henry  Greene,  and  therefore  Silas  married 
the  other  Humility.  Beside,  James  was  not  born  until  near  the  close  of 
1720.  Had  he  married  Benjamin's  Humility  she  would  have  been  between 
four  and  five  years  his  senior,  itself  improbable. 


8s  ^be   (Brccnc   family 

Obediah',  b.  1744. 

Anne^,  b.  Aug.  6,  1745  ;  ra.  Jan.  24,  176S,  to  Joseph  King  of  Coventry. 

Eliz.\beth=,  b.  1746. 

Margaret^. 

Henry*  (?)     Not  on  some  lists.     Doubtful  if  of  this  family. 

Mary*,  b.  March  17,  1751.     rerh.-ips  m    Rufus  Collins,  1771. 

MARY  GREENE-JOHNSON.-'  She  was  born  Jan.  31,  17 19,  and  ni. 
Bartholomew  Johnson,  Jan.  14,  1741.     No  further  trace  of  her  line. 

JOHN  GREENE.-'  He  was  born  May  31,  1722.  He  m.  Ruth  Matte- 
son,  the  niece  of  his  brother-in-law,  James  Matteson,  in  1745.  [Ruth', 
Henr\'',  Capt.  Henry^,  Henry'.]      They  had  these  children  : 

Elizabeth*,  b.  Aug.  20,  1746. 

Caleb*,  b.  July  8,  1748;  m.  Mary .     Lived  in  E.  Greenwich. 

Lucy*,  b   June  2S,  1750;  m.  Stephen  Briggs,  1767. 

Silas*,  b.  July  26,  1752. 

Fear*,  b.  Oct.    2,  1754. 

John*.  b.  Dec.  17,  1756;  m.  Catherine . 

Clarke*,         b.  Jan.  31,  1759. 

MARGARET  GREENE-MATTESON^  She  was  born  Jan.  27, 
1724,  and  was  married  to  Henry  Matteson  of  West  Greenwich,  in  Sept., 
1743.  He  was  a  brother  to  her  brother  John's  wife.  Their  children  that 
lived  were  these : 

Rhod.\*. 

Caleb*,    b.   Sept.  2,  1751. 

Joshu.a*,  b.  Aug.  17,  1753. 

Fear*. 

James*,     b    July  20,  1757. 

Henry*,  b.  June  18,  1760. 

TIMOTHY  GREENE*.     He  was  bom  Ji:ly  14,  1725  ;  married  Silence 
Burlingame,  who  in  one  record  is  called  Mrs.  Silence  Burlingame,   and  was 
probably  a  young  widow.     He  was  well  known,  his  fame  continuing  even 
until  this  day.     He  is  usually  spoken  of  as  Elder  Timothy.     He  was  the 
first  pastor  of  the  famous   Maple  Root   Six   Principle   Baptist  Church,  and 
served  them  from  1763  to  1770.     He  was  married  in   West  Greenwich,  but 
resided  mostly  in  Coventry.     He  died  about  1780.     His  oldest  son,   Peleg, 
has  been  much  confused  with  another  Peleg  Greene,  born  four  years  earlier, 
the  son  of  George  Greene,  and  grandson  of  Edward.^    A  careful  comparison 
of  records  convinces  me  that  Timothy's  son  Peleg  has  the  record  here  given : 
Peleg  Greene*,  b.  April  1752;  m.  Freelove  Crawford  in  1779.    Had  these  children:  Rus- 
sell, .\llen,  Ellen,  Warren,  Sarah,  Peleg  and  Benjamin  Franklin.     Nothing  of  their  lines  is 
recorded,  save  that  Sarah  m.  a  Mr.  Bill,  and  their  daughter,  .\nn  Eliza,  m.  Pulaski  Greene, 
son  of  David. 

Enfield*,    b.  May  15,  1754. 

Huldah*,    b.  Dec.  21.  1757;  m.  Caleb  Wood  of  Coventry,  1789. 

Levi*,  b.  June   6,  1759.   He  had  11  children.   Huldah  m.   Godfrey  Slocum;    Fanny 

m.  Orange  Chaplain;  Eunice  m.  DaN-id  Crippin;  Aurilla  m.  a  Mr.  Chappel;  Sophia  m.  David 
Curtis;  Emma  m.  Abner  Beardsley;  late  in  life,    they  moved   to    Minn.,    where   she   died; 


^be    (Brcene   jfamil^  89 


Waterman  died  single;  Horace  m.  Diantha  Powell;  Zephaniah  m.  Zerilla  Gould;  Speedy  m. 
Gerothman  McDonald  and  Laura  m.  Sheldon  Wilcox, 

Marv\  b.  Mays,  1760.  Was  possibly  she  whom.  David  Nicholas  and  had  daughter, Pris- 
cilla,  b,  17S5. 

Silence^,  b,  April  14,  1762, 
Rowland^,  b.  April  12,  1766. 
Lester^, 
George^. 
Elizabeth^,  b.  May  9,  1768. 

SAMUEL  GREENE'.  He  was  born  May  29,  1727.  Probably  it  is 
he  who  m.  Hannah  Weaver  of  West  Greenwich,  March  31,  1751. 

ESTHER  GREENE-WEEKS'.  She  probably  m.  John  Weeks  or 
Wicks,  of  W.  Greenwich,  Dec.  21,  1747. 

NATHAN  GREENE'.  He  was  born  May  9,  1731  ;  m.  Huldah 
Bowen,  Sept.  24,  1756.  The  name  of  Richard  Bowen,  (spelled  in  the  old 
records  Bowin,  Bowyn,  Bowyng,  etc.,)  has  been  borne  in  this  same  family 
since  1600.  Several  brothers,  Richard,  Thomas  and  Obediah,  were  early 
and  leading  residsnts  of  Rehoboth,  Massachusetts.  It  is  not  clear  which  of 
these  was  the  father  of  Richard',  though  his  grandfather  was  certainly  Rich- 
ard Bowen,  Senior,  who  died  in  Feb.,  1674.  Richard  Bowen'  was  married 
to  Mercy  (Mercye)  Titus,  Jan.  9,  1783.  The  fifth  child  of  this  union  was 
Jabez',  born  Oct.  19,  1696.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1718,  he  married 
Huldah  Hunt,  herself  of  the  third  generation  of  the  Rehoboth  Hunts.  One 
of  their  daughters,  Huldah  Bowen^  married  this  Nathan  Greene  of  Rhode 
Island.  Evidently,  she  was  exceedingly  popular  in  her  husband's  family, 
as  she  had  many  namesakes.     After  her  death  her  husband  married  Ruth 

and  named  the  only  child  of  this  marriage   Huldah,   after  the  wife 

of  his  youth.     Nathan  had  six  children  by  his  first  wife,  and  one  by  the  last. 

Esther',  b,  1756, 

Bowen',  b.  1758.     Served  as  Revolutionary  soldier,  1776,  in  Col.  Topham's  regiment. 

Chaffee*,  b.  1760.     Served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  1776,  under  Col.  Topham. 

Jabez',  b,  Dec.  14,  1762.   Revo.  so!.     See  paragraph  below. 

Daniel^,  b.  1765, 

Nathan*,  b,  March  4,  1768. 

Huldah*,  born  May  2,  1774  ;  child  of  the  last  wife. 

Jabez^  became  the  head  of  a  numerous,  wealthy  and  important  line. 
The  history  of  this  branch  has  been  written  by  Myron  W.  Greene,  himself 
a  descendant  of  Jabez.  Mr.  Greene  has  given  me  full  permission  to  use  his 
work.  I  have  therefore  condensed  it  into  a  single  chapter,  and  have  made 
my  own  comments.     But  the  data  is  nearly  all  Myron  Greene's. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

LINE   OF    JABEZ   GREEN^* 
Fifth  in  Descent  from  John  of  Qiiidnessett 

And  Jabez  was  more  honorable  than  his  brethren And  Jabez  called  on  the 

Lord  of  Israel,  saying,  '  O  !  That  Thou  wouldst  bless  me  indeed,  and  enlarge  my  coast, 
and  that  Thy  hand  might  be  with  me,  and  that  Thou  wouldst  keep  me  from  evil,  that  it  may 
not  grieve  me,'     And  God  granted  him  that  which  he  requested." 

— /.  Chroiucles,  Chap.  IV,  q-io  v. 

The  line  of  Jabez  Green'  has  held  more  public  offices  and  acquired 
greater  wealth  than  any  other  branch  of  the  Ouidnessett  Greenes.  Jabez's 
descent  was  this :  Nathan*,  John',  John^,  John^  The  particulars  of  his  de- 
scent are  given  in  former  chapters.  Jabez'*  was  the  middle  child  in  his 
father's  family,  Esther,  Bowen  and  Chaffee  being  older,  and  Daniel,  Nathan 
and  Huldah, — the  last  a  half-sister — being  younger.  He  was  born  Dec. 
19,   1762. 

When  the  Re\'olutionar}'  War  was  fairly  begun  this  family  of  brothers 
were  determined  to  take  part  in  it.  And  the  records  show  that  in  1776, 
when  Bowen,  the  oldest  brother,  was  but  18,  Chaffee  but  16,  and  Jabez 
lacking  a  few  months  of  14,  all  three  enlisted  in  Col.  John  Topham's  regi- 
ment, in  which  were  already  nearly  a  dozen  of  their  cousins.  Bowen  saw 
service  for  a  time  in  Col.  Lippitt's  regiment  also.  The  others  remained 
with  their  original  brigade,  which  saw  acti\-e  ser\dce  for  several  years.  It 
is  probable  that  Jabez,  from  his  tender  years,  was  at  first  a  drummer  boy  or 
bugler,  as  boys  under  military  age  were  accepted  for  this  ser\-ice.  \\&  know 
that  two  years  later  Jabez's  own  cousin,  David  Nichols,  a  lad  of  fifteen, 
joined  this  same  Topham's  regiment  as  a  bugler,  being  considered  too  young 
to  bear  arms. 

This  regiment  saw  hard  ser\'ice  in  the  state  of  New  York.  It  is  a 
curious  coincidence  that,  after  the  Revolutionar}^  War  was  over,  one  by  one 
these  cousins  found   their  way  back  to  N.  Y.,  until  by  1801,  seven  of  the 

■  Most  of  this  branch  drop  the  final  e. 


^be   <5reene   jramii^  91 

dozen  cousins  in  that  regiment  were  living  in  the  Empire  State.  The  war 
seems  to  have  led  to  a  general  uphea^•al  and  moving  about.  A  large  num- 
ber of  R.  I.  people  moved  to  Massachusetts.  About  the  close  of  the  century 
a  w'estern  fever  struck  them,  and  nearly  all  of  them  again  moved  on,  this 
time  to  the  state  of  New  York. 

Jabez  Green  was  one  of  this  family  colony.  He  lived  for  a  time  at 
L,anesborough,  Berkshire  County,  Mass.  He  moved  to  Scipio,  N.  Y.,  in 
1798,  with  wife  and  seven  children.  His  wife  was  Abigail  Wilcox,  wdiom 
he  married  October  7,  1784. 

Jabez  acquired  a  large  amount  of  land,  and  in  the  half  of  a  dozen  years 
that  he  lived  in  his  new  home  he  had  already  become  a  well-kiiown  citizen. 
He  was  the  Crier  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court  at  Aurora,  N.  Y.,  and  was  there 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  when  he  died  suddenly  at  Court,  Sept.  19, 
1804,  in  his  forty-second  year.  He  left  his  widow  with  eight  children,  the 
youngest  a  baby  five  months  old.  She  was  a  mother  that  looked  well  after 
her  children's  interests,  and  she  gave  them  a  superior  education  for  that 
time  and  age. 

There  had  been  nine  children  born  to  Jabez  and  Abigail,  but  Esther 
died  young,  and  Sarah  died  in  1814  at  the  age  of  twenty-six.  Nathaniel", 
the  oldest  son,  born  1786,  married  Delia  Greene  of  the  Warwick  line,  but 
died  childless  at  Rush,  N.  Y.,  in  1857.  The  descendants  of  Jabez's  line  are 
therefore  from  one  of  the  three  brothers,  Archibald  Harper*^,  Abner",  or 
Nathan  Green",  or  from  one  of  the  three  sisters,  Huldah  Green- West",  Laura 
Green-Brainard",  or  Jerusha  Green-Green''.  Three  of  the  seven  children 
who  lived  to  marn>-,  Nathaniel,  Nathan  and  Jerusha,  married  a  brother  and 
two  sisters,  Delia,  Maria  and  John  Green,  who  were  of  the  Warwick 
Greene  line. 

HULDAH  GREEN- WEST".  [Jabez',  Nathan^  John^  John^  John\] 
She  was  born  Feb.  8,  1791,  and  was  married  in  her  twenty-seventh  year  to 
Pelatiah  West,  Nov.  27,  1817.  She  died  May  23,  1867.  To  her  were  born 
nine  children.  She  lost  two  children  in  infancy,  both  named  Edgar  Nathan- 
iel. Three  adult  children,  Samuel  Shepherd,  Ira  Brainard  and  George 
Peletiah,  died  single  at  various  ages  from  nineteen  to  forty-three.  Another 
daughter,  Abigail  Maria  West",  born  March  11,  1827,  became  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary. At  twenty-six  she  went  to  Constantinople,  Turkey,  and  became 
the  Principal  of  a  missionary  boarding  and  training  school  for  Armenian 
girls.  For  thirty-five  years  she  was  either  in  the  active  missionary  work  in 
Turkey  and  Armenia,  or  tra\'eling  in  the  interest  of  missions  in  England 
and  i\merica.  She  returned  from  the  mission  field  in  1888.  Miss  West 
wrote  much  on  missionary  themes.  Her  "  Romance  of  Missions  "  passed 
through  many  editions.     She  died  June  21,  1894. 


Zbc   (Brccne   jfamil^ 


Henry  Tracy  West',  [  Huldah«,  Jabez'.  Nathan*.  Johnl  John=,  John',]  the  only  son  of 
Huldah  Green-West  that  lived  to  marry,  was  born  Oct.  17,  1S24,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  He 
early  began  a  stirring  career,  having  taught  in  both  the  public  schools  and  the  academy  at 
Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  before  his  marriage,  and  he  was  not  yet  21  when,  on  June  10,  1845.  he 
married  Mary  Olivia  Sears,  the  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Sears.  The  ne.xt  day  the  youthful 
couple  started  for  Lake  Co.,  Illinois,  where  for  a  time  he  divided  his  time  between  farming 
and  teaching.  Then  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business,  living  in  different  states,  and  rising 
until  he  was  the  general  western  agent  for  several  patent  medicine  firms,  and  lastly  one  of 
the  firm  of  wholesale  druggists,  Eurnhams  &  Van  Schaaek,  of  Chicago. 

He  went  to  Colorado  in  1870,  as  one  of  the  Committee  which  located  the  city  of  Greeley 
for  the  Union  Colony  of  Colorado.  He  was  first  Secretary,  and  then  President  of  the  Col- 
ony, and  started  the  first  bank  in  Greeley.  In  1878  his  fortune  was  swept  away  by  an  un- 
fortunate coal-mining  investment.  He  again  worked  his  way  up,  only  to  lose  all  fourteen 
years  later  by  the  failure  of  a  company  in  which  he  had  invested.  For  the  third  time  he 
began  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  taking  up  book-keeping,  insurance,  etc.,  with  the  zeal  of 
a  young  man.  Mr.  West  has  risen  to  very  high  rank  in  the  Masonic  order.  He  joined  the 
order  in  1851,  and  rose  to  be  a  Kniyht  Templar,  having  filled  no  less  than  thirty-one 
distinct  offices  in  that  time,  including  that  of  Grand  High  Priest.  Eminent  Commander,  and 
Captain  General. 

Henry  T.  and  Mary  O.  West  had  five  children,  of  whom  Walter  and  an  infant  son  are 
dead.     Their  other  children  are  these  : 

George  Henry  West',  b.  Jan.  29,  1850.   He  has  been  m.  twice.   The  first  wife  was 
Mary  Caroline  Wheeler.      He  has  been  twice  Mayor  of  Greeley  and  is  the  Secretary  of 
The  Colorado  Farm  and  Live  Stock  Company,  an  important  business  firm  of  Denver, 
Colorjido.      His  children  were  all  born  in  Greeley. 
Edna  Wheeler  West^  b.  Feb.  15.  1S73. 
Amy  Treadwell  West',  1876-1SS9. 
George  Henry  West'',  1878-1879. 
Olive  Caroline  West',  b.  Nov.  14,   1882. 
Paul  Sears  West',  b.  July  26,  1885. 
John  Roylance  West',  b.  Sept.  29,  188S. 
Lina  M.  West-Gipson'.  b.  .\ug.  20,    1852.     She  ra.   Albert  E     Gipson,   of  Cald- 
well. Idaho.     He  is  now  the  publisher  of  the  Gem  State  Rural.       He  is  Secretary  of 
the  State  Board  of    Horticulture,    and    was    formerly  a   prominent  attorney.     Their 
children  are 

Mary  Florence  L.  Gipson-Stalker'.  wife  of  Dr.  W.  C.  Stalker. 
Albert  W.  Gipson'. 
Ruth  Gipson'. 
Lawrence  H.  Gipson'. 
Alice  Gipson'. 
James  li.  Gipson'. 
Margaret  Gipson'. 
Edgar  V.  Gipson'. 
Harry  T.  West*,  b.  Dec.  18,  1857,  in  Kenosha,  Wis.     He  was  a  lumber  and  com- 
mission merchant  of  Denver,  Col. 
S.\RAH  El.lz.\BETH  West-Grassie'.  [Huldah*,  Jabez^,   Nathan*,  John^,  John-,  John^] 
She  was  born  April,  27,  1829.       She  was  a  Foreign  Missionary  for  seven  years,  returning 
in  1862.     The  next  year  she  married  Rev.  William  Grassie,  D.  D.   Their  home  is  in  Mead- 
ville,  Pa. 

Jessie  Duncan  Grassie',  b.  June  15,  1S64. 
Edna  Maria  Grassie',  b    Sept.  3,  1867,  d.  July  31,  1870. 
Annie  Eaton  Grassie',  b.  July  23.  1869,  d.  Sept.  20,  1887. 
William  SchaufHer  Grassie'.  b.  Jan.  28,  1872,  m.  Katherine  Mellinger,  Sept.  12, 
1S99.     They  have  Sara  Fearnis  and  Marie  Mellinger. 


HENRY   T.    WEST 


Z\K    i3\:ccnc   jfaiiul^ 


93 


ARCHIBALD  HARPER  GREEN".  [Jabez^  Nathan',  John^  John", 
John'.]  He  was  born  May  31,  1794,  in  N.  Y.  He  married  (i)  Esther 
Tnpper,  Jan.  16.  1818.  She  was  the  mother  of  his  children.  She  died  in 
1S30,  and  the  next  year  he  married  Ehiora  Parker.  He  moved  to  Michigan 
in  182S,  and  died  at  Adrian,  in  that  state,  April  7,  1887,  aged  93  years. 
Farmer,  blacksmith  and  insurance  agent.  He  was  a  strong  Abolitionist, 
associating  himself  with  such  anti-slavery  leaders  as  Gerrit  Smith,  Wendell 
Phillips  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison.     He  had  three  children  : 

Betsey  Ann  Green'.       She  was  born  Nov.  17,  1818.     She  ra.  (i)    Norman   Rowley, 
Dec.  29,  1836  ;     (2)  Benjamin  Weluon,  in  1855  ;     (3)  William   D.  Conat,  in   186S.       She 
had  five  children,  all  but  one  by  the  first  husband. 
John  Tupper  Rowley^,  b.  June  5,  1838 
Esther  Anna  Rowley",  b.  Dec.  9,  1840. 
Sarah  Hannah*  Rowley"*,  b.  Feb.  11,  1844 
Alfred  Brainard  Rowley",  b.  April  17,  1S54  ;  d.  1854. 
Albert  C.  Weldon*,  b.  Sept.  7,  1856.     Is  living  at  Ransom  City,  Dakota. 
Helen  .\ntionette    Green  Smith".       [Archibald   Harper^,  Jabez^,    Nathan*,   John', 
John^,  John^.]     She  was  born  Oct.  12,  1823.     Married  Nathan  Smith  in  1842.    They  have 
two  children  ; 

Alfred  N.  Smith",  b.  June  22,  1843  ;  d.  1863. 
Elmer  D.  Smith",  b.  Nov.  20,  1854  ;  m.  Carrie  L.  Bailey,  1886. 
John  West  Green'.  [Archibald  Harper",  Jabez^,  Nathan*,  John^  John-,  John'.] 
He  was  born  April  9,  1828,  at  Rush,  N.  Y  M.  Helen  D.  Moore,  Oct.  22,  1854.  He 
led  a  life  of  much  responsibility.  His  fidelity  to  every  trust,  and  the  absolute  integrity  of 
his  life,  left  a  record  of  which  any  man  might  be  proud.  He  had  the  courage  of  his  con- 
victions and  dared  to  be  an  out-spoken  anti-slavery  man  and  at  a  time  when  it  cost  some- 
thing to  take  such  a  stand, 

John  West  Green  lived  in  Michigan,  Tenn.,  Washington,  D.  C.  and  California.  He  was 
successively  clerk,  telegraph  operator,  book-keeper,  business  manager  of  a  city  paper,  and 
rail-road  constructor,  all  in  the  space  of  13  years.  Then  in  1862  he  accepted  a  position  in 
the  Post  Office  Department,  Washington,  D.  C.  Soon  after  he  was  appointed  to  a  position 
in  the  Treasury  Department,  where  he  remained  nine  years.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
John  Sherman,  paid  him  the  high  compliment  of  appointing  him,  in  1877,  one  of  the  three 
Commissioners  to  go  to  England  in  charge  of  $18,950,000.  in  U.  S.  bonds  to  be  refunded 
by  the  Rothschilds.  Afterwards,  he  was  made  Chief  Inspector  of  the  P.  O.  Department. 
In  all  he  served  continuously  21  years  in  trusted  government  positions.  After  removing  to 
C.ilifornia,  he  was  for  a  time  Cashier  of  the  Southern  Pacific  R.  R.  He  was  twice  appoint- 
ed Postmaster  of  the  city  of  Los  Angeles,  dying  in  office,  Aug.  3,  1891.  To  him  and  his 
wife  was  born  one  son. 

Charles  Earnest  Green",  b,  Oct.  31,  1855.  He  is  m.  to  Mary  Elizabeth  Eldridge, 
daughter  of  John  Oscar  and  Elizabeth  Risdon  Eldridge,  of  Springfield,  Mass.  He 
was  connected  with  the  Southern  and  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Companies  of  Cali- 
fornia in  various  capacities,  from  1875  to  1898.  At  present  he  is  the  Manager  of 
the  Crocker  Estate  Company  and  Vice-President  of  the  Crocker- Woolworth  Nation- 
al Bank  of  San  Francisco.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  being  a 
Knight  Templar  and  33°  Scottish  Rite  Mason.  He  has  the  usual  Greene  luck,  his 
children  being  sons. 

Eldridge  Greens',  t,.  Nov.  3,  1883. 
Allan  Lee  Green»,  b.  Jan.  14.  1886, 
Charles  Arthur  Green^,  b.  July  16,  1887. 


94 


TL\K   (Srcene   jfamil^ 


BvRDN  Strong  Brainard', 

ABNER  GREEN'. 


LAURA  M.  GREEN-BRAINARD''.      [Jabez',  Nathan*,  John',  John=, 
John'.]      She  was  born  Aug.  14,  1796,  and  married  to  Hezekiah  Brainard  in 
1820.     She  died  in  1835,  aged  39  years,  and  was  buried  at  Rush,  N.  Y. 
Orrin  Nathan  Brainard',  b.  1821  ;  lives  at  Carbondale,  Illinois. 
Augustus  Brockway  Brainard',  b.  1824  ;  lives  in  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan. 
31,  1826  ;  lives  in  Ogden,    Utah. 

[Jabez°,  Nathan',  John^,  John",  John'.]  He  was 
born  in  Lanesborough,  ]\Iass.,  Sept.  17, 
1798.  Came  as  a  babe  to  N.  Y.,  where 
he  lived  and  died.  March  27,  1825,  ^^"^ 
married  Nancy  Ketchum.  He  was  a 
strong,  robust  man,  and  lived  to  his  94th 
year,  dying  April  17,  1892. 

Abner  Green  was  every  inchat}-pi- 
cal  Greene.  He  had  the  square,  heavy- 
set  frame,  the  broad  forehead  and  kindly 
mouth  of  the  family.  He  was  a  farmer, 
and  a  liberal  supporter  of  what  he  es- 
teemed worthy  enterprises.  He  con- 
tributed toward  the  endowment  of  the 
Gene.see  Wesleyan  Seminary  in  1832, 
not  waiting,  as  some  rich  men  do,  to 
will  away  in  gifts  Avhat  they  can  no 
longer  use.  Of  his  seven  children,  Henry 
Granville  and  Abner  Baxter  died  in 
early  childhood,  and  a  daughter,  Ellen  L.,  died  in  her  20th  year.  The  fam- 
ilies of  the  other  four  children  are  as  follows  : 

Mortimer  H.  Green',  [.\bner«.  Jabez^,  Nathan*.  Tohn^  John=,  John'.  ]  B.  March  7, 
1826.  He  m.  Ellen  M.  Flinn.  Jan.  6.  1S48.  He  was  successively  farmer,  postmaster  and 
banker.     He  died  Sept.  14.  1879,  and  was  buried  at  Rush,  N.  Y. 

Azalia  Ethel wyn  Green-Weavei^,  b    Nov.  25,  1848  ;  m.   Lucius   E.   Weaver   Dec. 
13,  1871. 

Paul  Weaver",  b.  May  8.  1873. 
Margaret  Ethelwyn  Weaver",  b.  April  16,  1S77. 
Abner  Green^,  d.  young. 

Marion  Keeler  Green-Beet",  b.  Dec.  6.  1S56  ;  m.  to  James  Clinton  Feet,  Jan.   14, 
1880. 

Mortimer  Silas  Peet',  b    May  15,    1S81. 
AzaliaEmma  Peet^  b.  Sept.  3,  1887. 
Nelson  Rusk  Peet»,  b.  May  17,  1S89. 
Aurora  Matilda  Green-Bald^vi^^  b.  Jan.  30,  1S60;  m.  to  Le  Grand   M.    Baldwin, 
Dec.  15,  1884. 

Pierre  Baldwin',  b.  Jan.  4,  1886. 
Myron  Harley  Baldwin",  b.  April  23,  1889. 
Marvin  Jabez  Green',  [Abner^,  Jabez^  Nathan*,  John^   John^   John'.]  born  Jan.   11, 
1829,  at  Brighton,  N.  Y.     He  married  Co>-nelia  Gillman,  Dec.  28,  1853.     lie  was  a  banker 


a.b:xer  greem 


i 


iw 


"i 


r-it-— 


96  tibe   6reenc   J'aniil^ 

in  Cuba,  N.  v.,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  Reentered  the  army,  and  became 
First  Paymaster.  Afterwards  he  was  appointed  Brigade  Commissary.  .After  the  war,  lie 
was  engaged  in  the  banking  business  at  Rochester  until  his  death,  May  22.  1S70.  Three 
children. 

Delfred  Green*.     Died  young. 

Geraldine  Green-Mudge",  b.   Jan.  20,  1S59  ;  m.  to  Charles  Mudge,  Dec.  13,  1883. 
Winifred  Mudge»,  b.  Nov.  17.  1884. 
Helen  Louise  Mudge^,  b.  Aug.  26,   1887. 
Geraldine  Mudge».  b.  Nov.  26,  1SS8. 
William  Sprague  Green',  b.  Oct.  31.  1S61  ;  m.  Virginia  Reynolds,  April  24,  1883. 
He  is  a  farmer. 

Edvvard  Randolph  Green",  b.  May  30,  18S4,  at  Sodus,  N.  V. 
Mary  E.   Green-Bkown',  [.^bner",  Jabez^,  Nathan*,  John',  John".   Jonn'.]     She    was 
born  Dec.  I,  1830,  and  was  married  to  James  Douglas  Brown,  Dec.  16,  1858.      Her  husband 
is  a  lawyer,  and  their  home  is  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Ellen  Ethlyn  Brown^,  b.  and  d.  in    i860. 

Ba.xter  Lamont  Brown',  b.  Jan.  20,  1864,  m.   Cora  Cowgill,    Feb.    26.  1SS9.      He 
is  a  Civil  Engineer,  and  lives  at  Pineville,  Kentucky. 

Clarence  Cowgill  Brown',  b.  Nov.  24,  lS8y,  in  Lawrence,  Kansas 
Maritza  Brown",  b.  Jan.  17,  1875. 
Charles  A.  Greex',  [.IbneH",  Jabez^,  Nathan*,  John^  John-,  John'.]  He  was  the 
youngest  child  of  Abner  Green,  and  was  born  in  Rush,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  1,  1843.  He  married 
Jennie  C.  Hale,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  on  Sept.  3,  1873.  He  was  with  his  brother  Marvin 
Jabez  in  a  bank  in  Cuba,  N.  Y.,  until  the  dark  days  of  the  Civil  War,  during  which  time  he 
became  a  Commissary  clerk  at  Washington,  D.  C.  After  the  war  he  engaged  in  the  banking 
business  until  the  panic  of  1873  compelled  him  to  suspend.  It  was  a  fortunate  thing  for 
him.  He  had  inherited  that  seven-centuries  love  of  the  Greenes  for  horticultural  and  land- 
scape art,  for  trees  and  fruit  and  flowers  ;  for  broad  acres  kept  in  apple-pie  trim,  and  for 
a  park-like  setting  about  the  home.  He  bought  an  old  homestead  at  Clifton,  N.  Y.,  and 
began  farming,  and  the  propagation  of  plants.  He  soon  became  one  of  the  leading  nursery- 
men of  America.  His  firm  is  known  as  the  Green  Nursery  Co.,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  He 
publishes  Green's  Fruit  Grower,  and  has  written  several  helpful  horticultural  works  that 
have  had  a  wide  circulation.  As  an  author  his  style  is  clear  and  unaffected,  and  he  is  en- 
tirely free  of  the  fault  of  writing  over  people's  lieads.  The  struggle  of  his  tirst  horticultural 
efforts  is  amusingly  told  in  the  book, — "How  I  Made  the  Old  Farm  Pay."  He  and  his 
wife  have  three  chrildren. 

Mildred  E.  Green-Burleigh',  wife  of  Robert  E.  Burleigh,  b.  Sep.  3.  1875. 
Onnolee  M.  Burleigh',  b.  Aug.  22.  iSgg. 
Kenneth  E.  Burleigh",  b.  Sep.  24,  1901. 
Robert  Green  Burleigh',  b.  Sep.  21.  1903. 
Marion  E.  Green',  b.  Jan.  24,  1882    at  Clifton. 
Marvin  H.  Green',  b.  Aug.  S,  1S84.    " 

JERUSHA  GREEN-GREENE  [Jabez^  Nathan^  John',  John^  John^] 
She  was  born  Sept.  6,  1800,  in  Scipio,  N.  Y.  She  married  her  sister-in- 
law's  brother,  John  Green,  of  Balston,  N.  Y.  She  died  Jnne  30, 1861.  She 
had  seven  children,  of  whom  all  but  the  oldest  died  young.  Jerusha's  hus- 
band is  claimed  to  have  belonged  to  the  Warwick  branch  of  the  Greenes, 
and  was  therefore  about  her  sixth  cousin. 

James  A.  Green',  b.  Jan.  8,  1838.  in  Rush,  N.  Y.     He  m.  (i)  Susan  Margaret  Smith, 
in  i860  ;  (2)  Kate  Monroe  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  June  18.  18S4.     He  is  proprietor  of  the   Un- 
ion Transfer  &  Storage  Co.,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
Edith  G.  Green',  d.  young. 
Vincent  V.  Green',  b.  March  31,  1874. 


CHARLES    A.     GREENE 


Publisher  of  "Greene's  Fruit  Grower,"  and  author  of 
various  practical  agricultural  works 


x\utlior  of  "  Jabez  Greene  and  His  Descendants ' 


Zbc   (Brcene   J'aiiui^  97 

NATHx\N  GREENE  [Jabez^  Nathan',  John^  John^  John\]  He 
was  born  April  5,  1804,  at  Scipio,  N.  Y.,  but  five  months  before  his  father's 
death.  He  married  Maria  Green  of  Balston,  July  i,  1S27,  making  the 
third  marriage  between  Jabez  Green's  children  and  that  particular  Balston 
famih-  of  Greenes.  After  her  death  he  married  Rachel  Perr}',  of  the  cele- 
brated Perry  family,  from  which  came  Commodore  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  the 
hero  of  Lake  Erie,  and  Commodore  Mathew  Perr\-,  who  unlocked  the  gates 
of  Japan  to  the  civilized  world.  Her  father,  Elnathan  Perry,  was  in  the 
Revolutionary  War  battles  of  Bennington,  Saratoga,  Monmouth,  Trenton, 
Eutaw  Springs  and  Yorktown,  and  was  an  eje-witness  to  the  surrerider  of 
both  Burgoyne  and  Cornwallis. 

Nathan  Green  was  a  public-spirited  man.  He  owned  much  land.  He 
gave  the  building  sites  free  for  two  schools  and  two  churches,  and  in  many 
other  wa\'s  ga\-e  a  helping  hand  to  worthy  causes.  His  family  of  six  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  lived  to  beccme  heads  of  families. 

Jonathan  H.  Gkeen',  [  Xatlian",  Jabez=,  Nathan*,  Johii^,  John%  John',  ]  was  born  Sept. 
19,  1S28.  He  ra.  Jane  Cornelius,  Oct.  17,  1S49.  He  removed  to  Micliigan,  where  for  18  years 
he  filled  various  government  positions,  such  as  being  Deputy  Marshal,  U.  S.  Court  Bailiff, 
etc.     He  retired  from  active  life  in  1881.     Has  three  children. 

Addie  Green-Graves',  b.  March  5,  1S51  ,  m.  to  M.  M.  Graves,  Dec.  2g,  1870. 
Chauncey  Graves',  b.  June  3,  1873. 
Mabel  Graves",  b.  Sept.  11,  187-. 
Oiive  J.  Graves",  b.  Jan.  I,  1883. 
Alice  Green-Barker*,  b.  May  14,  1S56  ;  m.  to  David  Barker,  Nov.  i,   18S3. 
Anna  E.  ]!arker»,  b.  March  26.  1887  ;  d.  1889. 
Addie  E.  Barker",  b.  March  26,  1887 
Arthur  C.  Green',  b.  May  21,  1864  ;  m.  Sarah  Hunt  of    Macon,    Michigan,    Nov. 
19,   1SS5.     He  is  a  farmer,  and  lives  at  Adrian,  Michigan. 
Florence  E.  Green",  b.  Feb.  13,  1888. 
Ira  Wesley  Greene',  [Nathan".  Jabez-,  Nathan*,  John',  John^.  John'.]     He  was  born 
May   2,    1S32,   and   has  been  twice  married,  (i)  to  Hester  A.  Ruliffson,  Dec.  26,  1855  ;  (2) 
to   Ellen   Maria   Williams,   Dec.    26,   1S66.      He  was  a  banker  for  a  time,  then  turned  his 
attention  to  farming,  and  particularly  to  the  growing  of  choice  field  seed  crops.     This  is   an 
important  industry  in  the  state  of  New  York,  as  so   many  city   seedsmen  and   florists   must 
have  their  liigh  grade  seeds  raised  for  them.      Ira  Wesley  Greene  had  three  children  by  each 
marriage. 

DeLos  Ruliffson  Greene',  b.  Feb.  26,  185S,  in  Rush,  N.  Y.  Married  Ella  Jane 
Colburn,  1SS2.  lie  died  Sept.  10,  1887.  He  was  a  farmer  and  Superintendent  of 
the  State  Experimental  Station. 

Hattie  Maria  Greene',  b.  Feb.  3,  1861,  She  is  a  graduate  of  Rochester  City 
Hospital  Training  School. 

Myron  Wesley  Greene',  b.  Nov.  26,  7864,  at  Rush.  N.  Y.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary,  1SS7,  and  Williams  College,  class  of  i8go.  Myron 
W.  m.  Nancy  Laura  Lancaster,  of  Leadville,  Col.,  April  27,  1900,  and  has  twosons, 
Lancaster  Myron,  b.  Feb.  2i,  1901,  and  Norvin  Ruliffson,  b.  Sept.  13,  1902,  and  a 
daughter,  Zeta  Priscilla  Greene,  born  March  2,  1904.  He  is  a  private  banker  and 
dealer  in  government,  municipal  and  corporation  bonds,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Myron  W.  Greene  is  the  author  of  "  Tabez  Greene  and  his  Descendants,"  pub- 
lished in  Jan.  1S91.     It  is  a  business  man's  book,  short,  to   the  point,  and   without 


JLbc   (Breene   ifamil^ 


clap-trap  or  spread-eagleism.      He  started  out  to  tell   who  Jabez  Greene's  poster- 
ity are,  where  they  live,  and  what  they  are  doing.     With  a  few  exceptions,  he  is  my 

authority  for  all  statements  made  in  this  chapter. 
By  his  last  wife,  Ira  Wesley  Greene'  had  these  children  : 

Chester  Pollard  Greene^  b.  Nov.  4,  1869,  m.  Elizabeth  Smith. 

Carrie  E.  Greene-Hawley*,  b.  June,  30,  1872,  wife  of  H.  Hawley. 

Albert  Ira  Greene^,  b.  Nov.  30,  1S74. 
Theodore  De  Los  Green',  [Nathan",  Jabez=,  Nathan*,  John',  John-,  John^]  He  was 
born  in  Rush,  N.  Y.,  June  16,  1834,  and  married  Eliza  Harris.  Oct.  24,  i860. 

Leroy  Homer  Green^,  b.  Sept.  30.  1S74  ;  d.  l8g — . 
Jerome  Marion  Green',  [Nathan'^,  Jabez^,  Nathan*,  John',  John^  John'.]      He    was 
born  Jan.  23,  1841,  and  married  Emiiy  Barker,  Oct.  15.  1863.   He  was  a  farmer  at  Adrian, 
Michigan.     D.  March  26,  igoi. 

Carrie  M.  Green*,  b.  1865  ;  d.  1877. 
HoR.^CE  M.   Green',   [Nathan*.  Jabez^,  Nathan*,  John',  John^,  John'.]     He    was  born 
Sept.  3,  1842,  in  Rush,  N.  Y.     He  married  Julia  H.  Granger,  Oct.  4.  1S71. 

Florence  Green*,  b.  Jan.  5,  1873. 
Ellen  O.  E.  Green-Darrohn',  [Nathan*,  Jabez^,  Nathan*.  John',  John=.  John'.]  She 
was  born  Oct.  16,  1847,  and  married  to  Maurice  R.  Darrohn,  Oct.  26,  1S71.  Seven  children. 

Everett  Green  Darrohn*,  b.  July  21,  1S72. 

Perry  Simpson  Darrohn*,  b.  March  31,  1874. 

Eva  MayDarrohn*,  b.  Nov.  9,  1875. 

Maurice  Donald  Darrohn*,  b.  Dec.  30,  1877. 

Joseph  C.  Darrohn*.  b.  March  31,  1879. 

Clara  Ellen  Darrohn*,  b.  April  24.  1883. 

Anna  Mabel  Darrohn*,  b.  Nov.  7,  1884. 


CHAPTER    XVn 

LIEUT.    JOHN-   OF   COVENTRY'S   LINE 
Descendants  of  Usal,  Ebenezer  and  Robert  Greene 

Usal  Greene'  must  have  been  sorry  a  thousand  times  that  his  great- 
great-great-great-grandfather  was  a  Frenchman  with  a  French  name  that 
English  tongues  could  not  speak.  Old  Gershom  Lascelle's  daughter  must 
needs  name  her  son  Lascelle  after  her  father.  By  the  time  this  name  had 
reached  this^Lascelle  Wardwell's  grandson,  born  on  American  soil  in  1639, 
no  pretence  was  made  of  retaining  the  old  pronunciation.  And,  as  the 
town  recorders  spelled  "by  ear,"  there  arose  that  remarkable  putting  down 
of  a  name  that  caused  Savage  to  annote  it,  "  Usal,  Usual,  Uzal,  Usewell, 
Uzell  or  other  outlandish  name."  * 

Abigail  Gteene  was  the  Massachusetts  Usal's  daughter,  and  she  had  the 
temerity  to  name  her  third  son  after  her  father.  I  have  retained  the  spell- 
ing of  Usal  or  Usual,  as  the  simplest  form  of  the  name.  But  R.  I.  records 
give  it  in  these  different  ways :  Usal,  Uzal,  Uzall,  Youzell,  Yousiel,  and 
even  Usualell !  This  Usual  of  the  unusual  name  led  an  unusually  long  life 
and  left  an  unusually  tangled  family  record  behind  him.  His  children's 
births  are  some  of  them  given  as  at  three  diiferent  dates.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  98  years,  100  or  loi  years,  or  104,  or  as  tradition  says,  no  years  old 
when  he  died.  One  writer  puts  his  death  on  Oct.  14,  1794,  one  in  1795. 
But  James  N.  Arnold  in  his  Vital  Records  quotes  a  notice  from  a  contem- 
poraneous R.  I.  newspaper  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  states  that  "  Usall 
Greene  "  died  at  Coventry,  Oct.  24,  1797.  His  birth  records  show  him  to 
have  been  born  Jan.  23,  1694,  so  that  he  was  103  years,  9  months  and  i  day 
old  at  his  death.  The  Wardwell  blood  ever  showed  in  remarkable  longevi- 
ty, but  Usal  Greene  broke  the  record  for  the  R.  I.  branch  of  the  family. 

Usal  Greene  spent  his  long  life  in  Coventry.  His  first  four  children 
were  recorded  in  Warwick.     After  the  readjustment  of  the   townships  and 

*  See  Savage's  Genealosical  ami  Historical  Dietioiiary  of  New  Engiand. 


^be   (Breene   jfamil^ 


the  making  of  a  new  one,  he  recorded  these  same  four  children  and  two  that 
were  born  afterwards,  in  Coventry.  I  have  a  third  record  that  gives  these 
same  six  children.  These  are  the  only  authentic,  at-the-time  compiled  re- 
cords, and  only  these  six  children  are  certainly  his.  There  is  a  group  of 
names,  Timothy,  Jonathan  and  Jane,"  that  some  authorities  call  Uzal's,  but 
there  are  no  official  records  for  them. 

USUAL  GREENE*.  (Written  also  Usal,  Yousiel  and  Youzel.) 
[UsaP,  John-,  John'.]  Born  March  22,  1729,  or  March  22,  1730.  He  mar- 
ried a  Conn,  lady,  Mrs.  Martha  Polit,  Sept.  14,  1753.  He  lived  in  Coventrj-. 
He  joined  the  6-principle  Baptist  church  of  Maple  Root  in  1 785.  No  other 
documentary  record  of  him. 

HENRY  GREENE*.     Born  Feb.  20,  1730,  Feb.  20,  1731,  or  1732. 
ABIGAIL  GREENE-JOHNSON*.      [UsaP,  John-,  John'.]     She  was 
born  Feb.  9,  1732,  Feb.  9,  1733  or  1734.     According  to  official  records  she 
married  Elisha  Johnson,  Jr.,  Nov.,  1750.     Private  records  give  the  name  as 
Ezekiel. 

Daniel  Johnson".   In  two  private  records  he  is  given,  once  as  the  son  of  Abigail,  and 
once  as  her  sister,  Elizabeth  Greene-Johnson's  son.     Probably  Abigail's  son. 

Abigail  Johnson-Greene",  m.   Hiram  Greene^,  [  Benjamin^,  Isaac*,  James^,  John-, 
John'.]  her  third  cousin.     Line  given  in  Chapter  XIV. 

Ezekiel  Johnson'^.     Perhaps  he  whom.  Sarah  Matteson,  1787. 
HulJah    Tohnson^ 

ELIZABETH  GREENE-JOHNSON*.  [UsaP,  John-,  John'.]  She 
was  born  Jan.  28,  1735,  or  Jan.  28,  1736.  Almost  certainly  married  Ezekiel 
Johnson,  brother  or  cousin  to  i\bigail  Greene's  husband. 

Ezekiel  Johnson^,   m.   Ruth,  daughter  of  Joseph  Matteson.     Had  Phebe,  Catherine, 
Ruth,  Betsey,  Nancy,  Caleb,  Philip,  Rufus,  Joseph  and  Ezekiel. 

Philip  Johnson",   of  above,   m.    Priscilla,   daughter  of  David  and   Mary  Greene- 
Nichols.     Their  children  were  : 

Hiram  N.  Johnson',  b.  Aug.  17,  1808. 

Zina  Johnson',  living  in  Pheni.'C,  R.  I. 
Alexander  Johnson',  b.  April  25,  1810. 
William  G.  Johnson',  b.  May,   1815. 
Caleb  Johnson',  b.  Jan.  28,   1818. 

Philip  Johnson',  b.  March  30.  1822.  He  m.  Tryphena  H.  Greene,  his 
second  cousin.  He  is  particularly  versed  in  family  history,  and  is  considered 
good  aiithoritv  on  disputed  points.     See  Chapter  XIV. 

ROBERT  GREENE*.     Born  April  4,  1738. 
PHILIP  GREENE*.     Born  IMay  24,  or  26,  1740. 


Ebenezer  Greene^  [John",  John',]  was  the  fifth  child  of  Lieut.  John 
Greene.  He  lived  in  Coventry-.  His  wife's  family  is  unknown,  although 
certain  considerations  point  to  her  having  been  a  Pierce,  and  therefore  a 
distant  relative  on  his  mother's  side,  as  the  Pierces  were  a  branch  of  the 
Wardwells.     He,  too,  is  claimed  as  the  father  of  Rebecca  and  Jane  Greene- 


Sbc   6vcenc    family 


Andrews.  His  children  are  twice  recorded,  both  in  Warwick  and  Coventry. 
Two  daughters  are  among  the  number,  but  no  Jane  nor  Rebecca.  He  had 
six  sons  and  two  daughters. 

JOHN  GREENE'.      [Ebenezer',  John-,  John'.]      He  was  born  April 

15,  1732.     Married  Abigail . 

Daniel  Greene^,  b.  Dec.  ig,  1762  ;  m.  Lucenia  Matteson,  his  third  cousin.  [Lucenia'^, 
Wm.*,  JIartlia  Green-Matteson*,  John  Greene',  James-,  John'.] 
Clark  Greene',  ra.  Susannah  Westcott. 

Lavvton  Greene',  m.  Sarah  A.  Card. 

William  Ray  Greene^,  m.  Lilian  Andrews.     He    is   considered    un- 
commonly well  verseJ  in  family  history. 
Wanton  Greene",  (of  iJaniei,  grandson  of  Ebenezer),  m.  Mercy  Sweet,  daughter  of 
Burton   and    Rachel    Matteson-Sweet.       Burton    Sweet    was   the    grandson    of    the 
Huguenots  of  Ch.ipter  XXI,  Magdalen  and  Marie  La  Valley-King. 

Ray  Greene',  m.  Coggeshall. 

Laura  Greene-Sweet*.     Lives  in  Providence,  R.  L 
Silas  Greene^,  (of  John*  of  Ebenezer'.) 

EBENEZER  GREENES  [Ebenezer',  John=,  John'.]  Born  Feb.  13, 
1737.  Tradition  says  he  was  an  old  bachelor  when  he  married.  He  pre- 
sented each  of  his  namesakes  with  a  solid  silver  spoon  of  dessert  size,  with 
the  request  that  it  be  passed  on  to  an  Ebenezer  among  their  sons.  One  of 
these  spoons  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  sister  Olive's  great-grandson,  E. 
C.  Pierce,  of  Wolcottville,  Indiana.  This  is"  supposed  to  be  the  Ebenezer 
who  m.  Betsey  Briggs  and  had 

\Velthl\n  Greene",  b.  either  in  Dec.  lygi'or  Sept.  16,  1792.     The  first  date  is  proba- 
bly intended  for  his  marriage  date. 

Ecexezer  Greene^     Married  Sally  Ann  Vickery.     5  children. 
ROBERT  GREENE*.       [Ebeuezer^  John-,  John'.]      Born  April   14, 
1739.     He  married  Welthian  Greene,  his  Uncle  Robert's  youngest  daughter, 
March  10,  1762.     Had  these  children  : 
Peleg  Greene^,  b.  June  25,  1762. 
Mary  Greene^,  b.  July  23,  1764. 
Audrey   Greene",  b.  Nov.  i,  1766. 
Stephen  C.   Greene',  b.  April  11,  1768. 
Job  Greene^,  b.  June  15.  17 — .     ^L  Ann  Brown.     Not  on  one  record. 

Harriet  Caroline  Greene*,  b.  i8ig. 
Enfield  Greene^,  b,  June  25,  1742. 

ELISHA  GREENE'.  [Ebenezer^,  John^,  John'.]  Born  March  24, 
or  March  14  by  another  record,  1745.  He  married  the  widow  Priscilla 
Matteson  in  1775. 

TdSEPH  Greene',  b.  June  23,  1776. 

STEPHEN  GREENE'.  [Ebenezer",  John-,  John'.]  Born  April  6, 
1748.  He  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  in  1835  was  yet  alive.  He 
lived  near  Centerville,  where  his  family  is  buried.  His  daughter,  Freelove, 
fell  into  the  wheel-pit  of  the  mill  there  and  was  drowned,  March  6,  i839> 
aged  47  years. 


Z\K   (Breene   family? 


Seneca  Greene',  (probably,)  b.  Nov.  14.  17S2. 
Augustus  Greene',  (probably  )  ;  m.  Mary  Andrews.   1S06. 
Stephen  Greene',  (probably)  ;  m.  Mary  Darish,  1816. 

OIvIVE  GREENE-PIERCED      [Ebenezer,  Johir,  John'.]      She  was 
born  July  i,  1751.     IM.  Samuel  Pierce.     Line  traced  in  Chapter  XXIV. 
JOSEPH  GREENED      Born  April  29,  1755. 


Robert*  Greenel  [John-,  John'.]  He  was  married  Nov.  19,  1730,  at 
East  Greenwich,  to  ]Mary  Andrews.  He  lived  for  a  time  in  Coventry,  but  at 
the  time  of  his  second  marriage  was  living  in  Canterbury.  He  had  seven 
children  by  the  first  wife,  and  one  by  the  last,  who  was  Susannah  "\Miite  of 
Canterbury.  One  son  died  young.  Of  the  twins,  Robert  and  Andrew, 
born  1734,  and  PersoUoe  and  Mary,  born  in  1736  and  1739,  we  have  birth 
records  only.  Of  Benjamite,  born  Feb.  23,  1741,  we  have  only  the  further 
notice  that  his  wife's  name  was  Sarah.  The  two  remaining  daughters  both 
married  cousins,  as  below  : 

ANN  GREENE-GREENED  Born  Feb.  5,  1732,  m.  her  Uncle  James' 
son.  Ward  well  Greene.  Her  line  is  traced  in  Chapter  XH'.  Ann  was  a 
Quaker  in  faith. 

WELTHIAN  GREENE-GREENED  Daughter  of  Robert  Greene  by 
his  last  wife,  Susannah  White.  She  married  Robert,  the  son  of  her  Uncle 
Ebenezer.     See  Robert. 


i  frequently  entered  on  the  records  as  Eobarth 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

LINE   OF   LIEUT.    JOHN   GREENE   OF   COVENTRY 
Descendants  oj  Hannah   Greene-Andrews^ 

This  chapter  is  a  difficult  one.  In  the  main  I  follow  Miss  Hattie  James' 
work,  "The  Andrews  Genealogy."  This  lady  inherited  an  aptitude  for 
genealogical  work  from  both  her  father  and  grandmother.  She  was  born  in 
an  Andrews  community,  and  personally  knew  the  half  dozen  old  gentlemen 
of  85  and  90,  who  were  looked  up  to  as  authority  on  the  intricate  family 
relationship.  She  interviewed  all  of  these,  solicited  family  records  from 
branch  after  branch,  and  made  a  careful  study  of  the  old  books  and  records. 
After  years  of  labor  and  expense,  just  as  she  was  getting  it  into  shape  for 
publication,  grievous  bodily  affliction  befell  her.  She  finished  it  lying  upon 
her  back,  and  writing  with  benumbed,  half-paralyzed  hands.  The  Gleaner 
of  Phenix,  R.  I.,  ran  it  as  a  serial  for  something  over  a  year.  A  friend  tells 
us  that  this  in\'aluable  work  has  netted  its  author  not  a  penny.  When  her 
years  of  suflfering  are  over,  too  late  it  will  be  realized  by  this  family  that  a 
historian  was  in  their  midst,  and  they  ajipreciated  her  not. 

Hannah,  tenth  child  and  fourth  daughter  of  Lieut.  John"  and  Abigail 
Wardwell-Greene,  was  born  not  far  from  1706,  and  married  about  1727. 
Her  marriage  is  recorded  in  the  town  records,  but  is  so  illegibly  written  that 
the  last  name  can  hardly  be  deciphered.  Huling  and  Arnold  thought  the 
name  Arnold,  but  Miss  James  positi\'ely  identifies  her  as  the  wife  of  John 
Andrews. 

The  Andrews  are  an  important  R.  I.  family.  The  founder  was  John 
Andreus,  variously  called  in  his  day,  Andrace,  McAndrews,  McAndros,  An- 
drus  and  Andrew.  Originally  from .  Scotland,  or  of  Scottish  descent,  he 
came  to  the  New  World  for  religious  peace.  He  settled  first  at  the  Barba- 
does,  then  at  Boston,  and  next  at  Cape  Cod.  Because  of  the  Massachusetts 
authorities'  rigid  stand  against  heresy,  he  removed  to  Rhode  Island,  casting 
in  his  fortunes  with  old  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett  and  his  companions. 
He  it  was  who  testified  after  King  Philip's  war  of  seeing  Chief  Awashuwett 


I04  ^be   (Breene   jfamtl^ 

lay  hands  upon  John  Greene.  He  was  one  of  the  six  with  Greene,  Capt. 
Fones  and  four  others,  to  buy  Fones'  Purchase  from  the  chief  sachem  of  the 
Narragansetts  in  1672.  His  son,  John  Andrews,  Jun.,  was  one  of  those  con- 
cerned in  the  hay  dispute  with  a  band  of  Huguenot  refugees,  (spoken  of  in 
Chapter  XV,)  which  waxed  so  serious  that  Governor  Andros  had  to  decide  it. 

The  senior  John  x\ndrews  had  a  son  William^,  and  William^  had  this 
son  John^,  who  married  Hannah  Greenel  John  Andrews"  was  born  March 
23,  1702.  He  died  INIay  18,  1795,  in  his  94th  year.  He  came  from  French- 
town,  in  "Warwick,  and  settled  in  Conventry  at  Maple  Root  Plains.  When 
the  church  was  established  that  afterwards  became  known  far  and  near  as 
the  celebrated  Six  Principle  Baptist  Church  of  Maple  Root,  he  and  his  wife 
were  among  the  charter  members.  They  had  four  children.  Anne,  the 
oldest,  became  Mrs.  Weaver,  but  died  childless ;  Hannah,  the  next  child, 
never  married.  The  two  sons,  Elnathan  and  William,  married  sisters,  Jane 
and  Rebecca  Greene,  their  mother's  nieces  or  great-nieces.  W^e  know  no 
more  of  Hannah  Greene-Andrews'  life. 

There  is  a  sharp  dispute  in  the  family  as  to  whose  line  Jane  and  Re- 
becca Andrews  belong.  All  agree  that  they  were  descended  from  Lieut. 
John  Greene  and  his  wife  Abigail,  that  they  were  sisters,  and  that  Jane  was 
Elnathan's  wife,  and  Rebecca  was  William's  wife.  UsaP,  James'  and 
Ebenezer*,  three  sons  of  Lieut.  John,  are  each  claimed  as  their  father,  while 
yet  another  wing  of  the  family  holds  their  father  was  Squire  Nathaniel 
Greene,  the  oldest  son  of  James.  Every  one  of  these  positions  is  \-ouched  for 
by  certain  old  heads,  who  claim  to  know  the  family  from  A  to  Z. 

Usal's  claim  is  to  be  at  once  rejected.  Jane  was  married  in  1757,  and 
Rebecca,  by  the  latest,  was  married  by  the  }'ear  after.  Usal's  youngest  re- 
corded child  was  born  in  1740.  Allowing  two  years  between  births,  had 
these  two  children  followed  that  son,  they  could  have  been  but  15  and  14  at 
time  of  their  marriages.     Altogether  improbable. 

Ebenezer  and  James  each  recorded  their  children,  including  daughters. 
The  official  records  give  neither  a  Jane  nor  a  Rebecca  among  them.  James' 
yotingest  recorded  child  was  born  after  1729.  Ebenezer  has  a  list  of  eight 
children,  from  1732  to  1755.  Those  who  think  the  daughters  his,  point  to 
a  gap  of  five  years  in  one  place  between  children's  ages-  That  they  are 
left  out  of  the  records  is  the  hard  thing  to  get  over,  with  both  the  James 
and  Ebenezer  claim.  Nathaniel*,  son  of  James'',  was  married  early  in  1739. 
He  failed  to  record  any  of  his  children.  If  his  oldest  were  these  two  daugh- 
ters, they  could  easily  have  been  17  and  16  at  time  of  marriage.  Young  in- 
deed, but  not  unusual  in  those  days.  This  claim  has  the  least  difficulties, 
but  it  is  least  accepted  by  the  family  themselves.  They  were  certainly 
grand-daughters  or  great-grand-daughters  of  Lieut.  John,     IMiss  James  at 


^bc   (Brcene   jfamil^  105 

first  thought  the  sisters  were  of  the  line  of  James.  Afterwards,  she  placed 
them  as  of  the  line  of  Ebenezer. 

Elnathan  Andrews'*  was  born  on  the  same  day  as  General  Washington, 
Feb.  22,  1732.  He  was  married  at  25  to  his  cousin  Jane  Greene,  June  21, 
1757.  They  went  to  housekeeping  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  his  father's. 
They  were  parents  of  five  children,  Waity,  Bethana,  Timothy,  John  and 
Rebecca.  Elnathan  outlived  Jane,  and  married  a  second  wife,  Mrs.  Ezekiel 
Johnson.     Miss  James  says  Elnathan  died  June  20,  1824,  iii  his  93rd  year. 

William  and  Rebecca  Andrews  had  twice  as  many  children  as  the  other 
family.  They  had  James,  William,  Ellen,  Abigail,  Elnathan,  Elcy  (Alice), 
Hannah,  Timothy,  Rebecca  and  Isaac. 

These  Andrews  were  all  highly  respected  people.  They  were  clannish 
in  their  ways  and  their  marriages,  and  they  are  largely  so  to  this  day.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  last  five  generations  have  belonged  to  the  Six- 
Principle  Baptist  Church.  This  is  a  branch  of  the  Church  that  is  little 
known  outside  of  Rhode  Island.  It  takes  its  name  because  it  claims  to  be 
founded  on  the  first  and  second  verses  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  and 
holds  as  cardinal  doctrines  the  six  principles  there  enumerated,  viz. :  repent- 
ance, faith,  baptism,  laying  on  of  hands,  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  eternal 
judgment.* 

In  1762  this  Maple  Root  Church  was  organized  with  26  members.  A 
church  was  built  in  the  country,  in  the  middle  of  a  sandy  plain,  where  four 
highways  met.  It  was  about  one-and-a-third  miles  from  the  Old  Field  Cem- 
etery, where  slept  Hannah  Greene-Andrew^s'  father  and  mother  and  kindred, 
and,  as  many  think,  old  John  of  Ouidnessett  himself.  It  was  almost  a  fam- 
ily church,  and  as  such  remained,  the  Andrews  name  always  predominating 
above  all  others.  Its  first  pastor,  1 765-1 770,  was  Rev.  Timothy  Greene,  a 
nephew^  of  Hannah  Greene- Andrews. 

This  church  of  small  beginnings  grew  to  have  a  continent-wide  fame. 
It  had,  at  one  time,  the  largest  membership  of  any  country  church  in  the 
United  States,  and  at  stated  times  has  yet  a  congregation  that  any  city 
church  might  be  proud  of.  The  first  church  building  was  outgrown,  and 
sold  in  1797.  Elnathan  Andrews  gave  a  lot  across  the  road  from  the  old 
church,  and  donated  timber  for  a  new  building.  This  church  is  as  unlike 
an  ordinary  church  building  as  can  be  imagined.  There  is  no  ornamenta- 
tion about  it.     It  is  built  on  the  style  of  a  plain  two-story  dwelling  house. 

By  182 1  the  church  had  460  members!  Elnathan  Andrews,  one  of  its 
first  members  59  years  before,  and  the  donor  of  its  church  home,  was  yet 
living.       Those  were  its  palmy  days.     Afterwards  branch  churches  were  es- 

*  The  Six  Principle  Baptists  claim  to  particularly  represent  the  teachings  of  Roger  Williams. 


[o6 


^be   (Brccnc   family 


M-A.PLE    ROOT     CHURCH.    R.    I. 

THE    MOST    FAMOUS    COUNTRY    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA 

tablished  at  other  places  that  cut  its  membership  down  to  its  present  num- 
ber, about  140  persons.  But  on  the  first  Sunday  in  June  it  is  the  custom  for 
historic  old  Maple  Root  Church  to  open  wide  its  doors  to  its  children  far 
and  near.  On  that  day  the  crowd  is  so  great  that  only  the  early  comers  can 
get  within  its  walls.  The  pond  where  the  converts  are  baptized  is  a  half- 
mile  away.  There  is  alwaj's  one  special  tune  that  is  sung  on  the  long  march 
to  the  water,  and  there  is  one  room  on  the  Gorton  place  that  for  over  70 
years  was  used  as  a  dressing  room  for  those  who  were  immersed.  Incidents 
like  these  show  that  Rhode  Island,  as  well  as  Connecticut,  might  have  the 
name,  "  The  land  of  steady  habits." 

Before  giving  a  synopsis  of  the  branching  out  of  these  two  families,  a 
brief  reference  to  the  families  with  which  they  so  much  intermarried  may  be 
of  interest.  The  Briggses  were  descended  from  John  Briggs,  who  li-^-ed  three 
miles  from  old  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  and  was  one  of  old  John's  fol- 
lowers. Briggs  was  associated  with  Greene,  John  Andrews  and  three  others 
in  making  the  great  Fornes'  Purchase  of  land  from  the  Chief,  Awashuwett, 
in  1672,  the  year  after  the  great  land  dispute  was  settled.  Naturally,  the 
intimacv  of  the  fathers  continued  between  the  families. 


^be   6rccne   family 


107 


The  Sweets  were  descended  from  John  Sweet  of  Dedham,  Mass.,  who 
went  with  Roger  Williams  to  Providence  in  1636.  He  died  the  next  year, 
leaving  a  widow  and  two  little  sons,  John  and  James.  The  year  after  this 
his  widow  married  Ezekiel  Holyman,  who  has  gone  down  to  fame  as  the 
man  who  performed  the  irregular  baptism  of  Roger  Williams,  late  in  1638. 
Williams  came  to  believe  only  immersion  was  valid  baptism.  He  could  not 
get  a  clergyman  to  immerse  him,  so  Ezekiel  Holyman  baptized  him,  and 
then  Roger  Williams  turned  immediately  around  and  baptized  Holyman, 
and  after  that  the  others,  including  Holyman's  recent  bride.  The  young 
Sweets  were  old  enough  to  remember  this  scene,  and  doubtless  it  had  its  in- 
fluence in  making  the  first  generations  of  the  family  such  strong.  Baptists. 
Those  who  intermarried  with  the  Andrews  were  from  John  Sweet". 

As  for  the  Mattesons,  who  intermarried  with  the  Andrews,  as  they  did 
with  the  Greenes,  their  history  is  specially  given  in  the  Appendix   Chapter. 

Elnathan  Andrews'  descendants  are  outlined  as  follows.  For  a  fuller 
account  I  refer  those  interested  to  Miss  James'  "  Andrews  Genealogy." 

WAITY  ANDREWS-GREENE'.  M.  Charles  Greene,  and  died, 
leaving  a  son  Charles.  The  next  sister,  Bethana,  married  the  widower.  No 
record  of  any  children. 

TIMOTHY  ANDREWSl  B.  Nov.  22,  1762.  He  married  a  distant 
cousin,  Russelle  Matteson.  On  her  father's  side  .she  was  of  the  James  Greene 
line,  [Russelle'^,  William',  Martha  Greene-Matteson*,  John  Greene',  James', 
John\]  The  mother  was  Sarah,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Rachel  Greene. 
Miss  James  speaks  of  Rachel  as  of  the  "same  Greenes."  Thus  four  strains 
of  Quidnessett  Greene  blood  flowed  in  their  children's  veins.  Of  their  12 
children,  11  married,  and  5  of  these  married  Sweets  of  La  Valley-King 
descent. 

Bkthana  Andrews-Sweet*,  M.  Caleb  Sweet  of  Burton  and  Rachel  Sweet.  Line  traced 
in  Magdalen  King  Chapter. 

Freelove  Andrews-Vickery*.  M.  Benjamin  Vickery  of  Dighton.  Mass.  Those  who 
continued  tlie  line  were  George  Vickery,  who  m.  Priscilla,  dau.  of  Elijah  Greene  ;  Sally,  who 
m.  Ebenezer,  son  of  Ebenezer  Greene  ;  and  Miranda,  who  m.  Varnum  James  Tefft. 

Pei.eg  Andrews*.  M.  Mercy,  dau.  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Greene-James.  She  was 
descended  from  the  Warwick  Greenes.     4  children. 

J.4NE  A.NDREWS-J..VME3-\V.\iTE*.  Slie  first  married  her  sister-in-law  Mercy's  brotlier. 
Perry  Greene  James.  They  had  four  children.  She  afterwards  married  Sheffield  Waite, 
son  of  that  Revolutionary  patriot.  Major  Yelverton  Waite.  The  Waites  were  a  good  family. 
Miss  James  gives  a  telling  word  picture  of  the  old  colonial  home,  the  generous  manner  of 
living,  and  the  courtly  old  people.      Mrs.  Waite  was  an  expert  in  family  genealogy. 

Phebe  A.  James-Sweet^  m.  Abel  .M.  Sweet,  son  of  William.     She  died    in   Conn. 
Adeline  Frances  Sweet--Andrews',  m.    Thos.    Tillinghast  Andrews.      Four 
children. 
Joseph  James',  b.  1812  ;  d.    1872.     M.    Almira   Kimball.     Had  Caroline,   Sarah, 
Mary  Ann,  Henry  M.,  Almira  Iv.,  Anna  J.  and  Cora  P. 

Albert  Greene  James',  b.  July  21,  1819  ;  m.    Mary  Ann   Bowen,   of   Thomas   and 


io8  ^be   6recne   jfamil^ 


Phebe  Bowen.  Nine  children,  Ttiomas  Bowen,  Piiebe  B.,  Mary  Eliza,  Harriet 
Frances,  Charles  Henry,  Joseph,  Frederick  B.,  William  Greene  and  John  Walter 
James. 

Harriet  Frances  of  the  above  is  the  Miss  James  who  wrote  the  Andrews  gen- 
ealogy. She  was  left  a  motherless  girl  while  her  younger  brothers  were  small.  She 
was  ever  after  her  father's  housekeeper,  and  brought  the  younger  ones  up  with  faith- 
ful care.  Though  since  iSSS  an  invalid,  she  has  done  good  work  with  her  pen,  and 
her  patience  and  cheerfulness  have  been  the  admiration  of  all.  She  has  helped  me 
much  by  personal  notes. 

Maria  James—Matteson',  b.  Sept.  27,  1S22.   M.  Thomas  of  Rufus  and  Lucy  Spink 
Matteson.     Five  children. 
Sallie  Andrews-Sweet*,  b.  1794,  m.  William,  son  of  Burton  and  Rachel  Sweet.  Nine 
children.     See  Magdalen  King  Chapter, 

George  Andrews*,  b.  Aug.  7.  1797  ;  m.  Esther  Barnes.  D.  in  Noank,  Conn.,  April  7, 
1872.  Five  children,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Ezra  Barnes,  Sabrina  E.,  Charles  Beaumont  and 
an  unnamed  infant. 

Matteson  A.N'DREWS*,  b.  1799  ;  m.  Lucy  Sweet.  D.  in  Natick,  R.  L,  Jan.  27,  :S52. 
Nine  children, 

JON.\THAN  Andrews*,  b.  Oct.  5,  iSoi  ;  m.  in  1S25  to  Roby  Sweet  of  Burton  and  Rachel 
Sweet.      He  d.  in  Minnesota  in  1S6S.      These  children  : 

Burton  Sweet  Andrews',  b.  May  10,  1S27.  Living  in  Tennessee.  M.  Phebe 
Capwell.     Children. 

Bethana  Andrews-Pendleton',  b.  1S29;  m.  to  Joseph  Pendleton.     Five  children. 
Charles  Waldo  Andrews',  b.  May  31,  1837;  m.  Mary  Eliza  Halliday.      Two   sons, 
Walter  C.  and  Jonathan  J. 

Joanna  Andrews— Williams',  b.  1S04  ;  d.  1879.  M.  to  Senaca  Williams  of  Conn. 
Four  children. 
John  Andrews*,  b.  July  4.  1806  ;  m.  Antha  Sweet  of  William  and  Elcy  (Alice,)  Sweet. 
Antha  was  of  La  Valley-King  descent,  her  grandmother  being  Sarah  King.  This  has  been 
a  leading  family.  They  have  a  John  Andrews'  Branch  reunion  and  clam-bake,  each  sum- 
mer. John  and  Antha  had  eleven  children.  For  fuller  particulars,  see  Miss  James'  Genea- 
logy. 

Timothy  Andrews',  b.  Nov.  30,  1S2S  ;  m.  Eunice,  dau.  of  Asa  Matteson.  No 
children. 

William  Andrews',  b.  1S30  ;  m.  (i)  Abbie  Woodmansee,  and  (2)  Mystilla  Tarbo.t. 
Eight  children.  Millard  Fillmore,  Mary  Josephine  and  Abbie  Frances,  by  the  first 
wife  ;  and  Edwin,  Bernice,  Edward,  Mabel  Devona,  and  Annice  Maria,  by  the  last 
wife. 

Elsie  Andrews-Matteson',  b.  April  15,  1832  ;  m.  in  1S47  to  Deacon  John  Mat- 
teson of  Asa  and  Meribah  Potter— Matteson.  Like  his  wife,  John  Matteson  had  the 
blood  of  all  the  clan  families,  including  La  Valley  and  King  descent.  Of  their  nine 
children,  one  died  young.  Of  the  other  eight,  all  but  one  married  relatives,  making 
a  line  so  comple.K  this  chapter  has  not  space  to  unfold  it.  It  is  probably  the  most 
tangled  case  of  relationship  in  this  book.  The  children  who  married  are  Elihu  R., 
m.  to  Roby  E.  Andrews  ;  Phebe  Josephine,  wife  of  Oliver  H.  Greene  ;  Charles  James, 
m.  to  Mary  Amanda  Matteson  ;  Mary  Jane,  wife  of  Edward  C  Capwell  ;  Eunice 
Margaret,  m.  to  George  Warren  Andrews  ;  John  Titus,  m.  to  Amanda  M.  Greene  ; 
Cynthia  Lily,  wife  of  William  Briggs  ;  and  Clara  L.,  the  wife  of  John  P.  Per- 
kins. 

Mary  Ann  .Andrews-Barber',  m.  to  Samuel  Hoxsie  Barber.  Children,  Beethoven, 
Fernando  A.,  Harriet  T..  and  Mary  A. 

Hon.  J.  Titus  Andrews',  b.  July  31,  1836  ;  m.  in  1857  to  Mary  Ann  Sweet,  dau. 
of  Amos  and  Ruth  Sweet.  No  children.  He  was  state  senator  several  years,  and  is 
a  prominent    man, 


^be   (Breene   jfamil^  109 

Abbie  Francis  Andrews-Harrington',  m.  to  Job  Whitman  Harrington.  Her 
children  are  Orville  F  ,  Antha  Jane,  Bernard  Aliff,  Edward  B.,  and  William  Harris 
Harrington. 

John  Francis  Andrews',  b.  May  2i,  1S45  ;  m.  Dec.  25,  1866,  to  Mary  E.  How- 
ard, dau.  of  Ephraim.     Two  children.     Line  given  in  Howard  Chapter. 

Lois  A.   Andrews--Cahoon'.  m.  to  Edward  Cahoon.     No  children. 

Nelson  Andrews',  m.  Phebe  E.  Spencer.     His  son  is  Leon  D. 

Frederick  Tillinghast  Andrews',  m.  Clara  J.  Vaughn.     No  children. 

Jane  .\ndrews-Briggs',    m.    to    Halsey   James  Briggs.       Their  children  are  Fred 
Delos,  Frank  Gartield  and  Arthur  T. 
Nelson  Andrews",  b.  180S  ;  d.  1882.     M.  Meribah  W.  Harrington.     Both  were  leaders 
in  their  community.     Their  children  who  grew  up,  were  these  ; 

Thomas  T.  Andrews',  b.  1S36  ;  d.  1S70  ;  m.  Adeline  Francis  Sweet.  Their  children 
are  Taney  Grant,  Hortense  Virginia  and  Isabel  Francis. 

Ebenezer  Edwin  Andrews',  b.  1837  ;  d.    1S62  ;    m.    Maria   .\rnold.      Had    Henry 
Edgar  and  Elmer  Andrews. 
George  Jastrom  Andrews',  m    Lucy  Jane  Matteson.     No  children. 

JOHN  ANDREWS'  )  [Elnathan^  and  Jane^  John'  and  Hannah^ 

REBECCA  ANDREWS''  /  John  Greene",  John  Greene'.]      I   have  no 
records  of  either  of  these  lines. 


William  Andrews*  and  his  wife  Rebecca  Greene-Andrews  had  ten  chil- 
dren. Their  fourth  and  sixth  children,  Abigail  Andrews-Mott  and  Elcy 
Andrews-Matteson,  left  no  issue.  Two  of  their  sons,  Elnathan  and  Timothy, 
died  when  young  men.  James,  William,  Ellen,  Hannah,  Isaac  and  Rebecca, 
each  left  families. 

JAMES  ANDREWS''.  He  married  Elcy  (Alice)  Rice  of  Coventry. 
They  had  ten  children.     Their  five  younger  children  died  young. 

Stephen  .\ndrews",  m.  Anice  Spink,  g  children  ;  62  grand-children.  His  sons  were 
Perry,  Sheffield,  Benjamin,  Stephen,  James  and  Wheaton.  Daughters  were  Mrs.  Polly 
Greene,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Place. 

Timothy  .Andrews*,  m.  Freelove  Warner.  One  son,  James,  m.  Eliza  Clark,  His  dau. 
Cynthia  m.  Jeremiah  Matteson. 

ZiLPH.i  .-Vndrews-Sweet",  m.  James  W.  Sweet. 

Abigail  Sweet-Bentley',  m.  Benj.  Bentley.     Had  Allen,  Albert  and  Andrew. 
Rev.  Philip  Sweet',  b.  Sept.  2S,  iSii  ;  d.  June  13,  1897  ;  m.  Louise  M.  Colvin. 
He  was  considered  one  of  the  family  authorities  on  their  history, 
Philip  Allen  Sweet^,  m.  Julia  Colvin. 

Josephine  Sweet-Briggs",  wife  of  Charles  Briggs.      Died   at  birth  of 
her  first  child. 
Philip  Sylvester  Sweet»,  b.  1867. 
William  Henry  Sweet",  m.  Margaret  Kettelle. 

Henry  Almon  C.  Sweet',  b.  iS6g. 
Ellen  Sweet-Battey",  m.  to  George  W.  Battey. 
Ellen  Louise  Battey',  b.  1869. 
Henry  Battey',  b.  1S70. 
Mary  Ann  Sweet',  b.  in  1822. 

James  Wilber  Sweet',  m.  Mercy  Matteson.     No.  children. 
Eliz.\beth  Andrews-B.^rtlett",  m.  Seneca  Bartlett.     4  children. 


Zbc   6reene   Jfaniil^ 


HANNAH  ANDRE\VS-FISH\  B.  in  1763;  d.  1S53 ;  m.  Ichabod 
Fish.  This  was  a  large  family,  and  one  that  has  intermarried  with  all  the 
clan  families.  Ichabod  was  of  King-La  Valley  blood.  I  do  not  attempt  to 
give  them  in  full.  Their  sons  were  Joshua,  Ichabod,  George  W.  and  Wil- 
son Fish.  The  daughters  were  Rebecca,  who  was  (i)  Mrs.  Capwell,  and 
(2)  ]\Irs.  Abel  ]\Iatteson  ;  and  Sarah,  who  became  Mrs.  Ebenezer  jMatteson. 
ISAAC  ANDREWS'.  A  twin  of  Rebecca.  He  married  Remittie,  or 
Submittie  Matteson,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Annis  Blanchard-]Matteson. 
Three  of  their  children  died  young,  and  their  daughter,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Mat- 
teson, left  no  heirs. 

George  Washington  Andrews*,  ra.  (i)  Esther  Barber,  mother  of  his  two  older 
children  ;  (2)  Mary  Ann  Essex.  His  daughters,  Susan  and  Eliza,  married,  but  left  no 
children. 

Eurrill  Andrews',  m.  Hannah  Anstress  Clark.   Children  were  Esther,  Devillan  E., 
William  Clark.  John  Hoxie,  Amy,  Mary   Duritta,  Hannah  Almira,  George    Burrill, 
Oscar  Oatlev  and  Stephen  Bowen  .Andrews. 
Esther  Andrews-Fairman*,  wife  of  Erastus  D.  Fairman.     Five  children. 
Hon.  Is.aac  Clay  Andrews^,  b.  1S32  ;  d.  1897  ;   m.  Oiive  Miranda  Whitman.      He 
was   a   member    of   the   State    legislature,  and   a   leading  man  in  many  ways.     Had  these 
children  :     Byron  B.,  George,  Stephen  W.,  Mrs.  Lidia  Fish,  Isaac  Palmer  and   Eiiphalet. 
Asher  Robbins  Andrews,  m.  Susan  Ella  Barber.       Three    children,   Carlton,   Mary    and 
Susan. 

Richard  William  Andrews,  m.  Mary  A.  Burlingame.  Had  Elmer  M.,  the  present 
Superintendent  of  the  Arkwright  Mills. 

Hannah  Andrews-Sweet*,  b.  1804  ;  d.  1846.  She  m.  William  Chauncey  Sweet,  son 
of  Rev.  Pentacost  Sweet.     She  died  at  birth  of  her  second  child. 

William  Leon  Sw^eet',  b.  Jan.  16,  1844.  He  fitted  himself  for  a  physician.  b\it 
but  his  health  failing  he  became  a  druggist  in  Boston.  He  married  a  Miss  Ida 
Thaver.  No  children.  He  served  in  the  Civil  War,  and  was  injured  at  Belle 
Plains.  Va. 

Hannah  Sweet-Howard',  b.  Oct.  19,  1846.       Before   her   marriage,   she    was    for 
some  vears  a  graduate  trained  nurse.     She  married  John  W.  Howard.  July  12.  1S87, 
and   now  resides   near  Washington,  R.  I.     Mrs.  Howard  has  been  a  tireless  helper 
in  collecting  information  for  me,  and  also  assisted    Miss  James   in    her   genealogy. 
She  takes  a  keen  interest  in  matters  historical,  and  possesses  a  ready  pen,  correspond- 
ing for  the  best  papers  in  the  state.      See  Howard  Chapter. 
William  .Andrews*,  b.  1805  ;    d.  1882 ;  m.  Diana  Potter.      Three  children   died  un- 
married ;  William,  Jr. ,  and  Ella  Andrews-Carpenter  died  leaving  no   living   issue.       Mary 
Andrews  Capwell,  m.  Beverly  Capwell  of  Pa.      Has  William  E.,  Harmon  B.,  Phebe  (m.  to 
Wm.  Packard),  Ella  M.,  Clarence  J.,  Diana,  Blanche  and  Frank  Capwell. 
Henry  Potter  Andrews,  m.  Bertha  Weed.     No  children. 
Potter  Robert  Andrews*,    b.  in  1807  ;    d.  18S1  ;   m.  Ursula  James.      Si-\   children 
lived  to  marry.  Dyer  Edward.  Abbie  Francis,  Hannah  M.,  Sarah  .-K..  Diana,  and  James  A. 
Ann  Maria  Andrews-MattilSON*,  b.  iSio  ;  d.  1841  ;  m   to  Philip,  son  of  Peleg  and 
Mary  James-Matteson.     See  Appendi.x. 

David  Matteson'  is  her  only  living  son.  fie  m.  Maryett  Brown  and  now  lives  in 
Abilene,  Kansas,  where  he  and  his  sons  are  leading  citizens. 

Charles  David    .Matteson*,  m.   Frances    A.  Ethering.       They    have   Carrie 
Maude,  Alta  May,  Roy  H.,  Harry  Ray,  Ralph  A.  and  Faye  Bessie. 

Hattie  .Amelia  >ratteson-Laney*,  b.  1865,  m.  Joseph  Laney.       They  live  in 
Kansas.   Their  children  are  Myrtle  M.,  Leroy  D.,  Stuart  Everett,  and  lola  E. 


^be   <5reene   jrainii^ 


William  Avery  Matteson*,  b.  1871. 
Henry  E.  MattesonS,  b.  1S7S. 
Nellie  A.  Matteson\  b.  iSSo. 
Isaac  Weedon  Andrews*,  m.  Mary  A.  Hoxsie. 

Mary  Eiiza  Andrews-Greene-Chaffee.     She  m.    (i)  Charles  A.  Greene,   and   liad 
one  child  ;  m.  (2)   George  Chaffee,  and  had  five  children  by  him. 

REBECCA  ANDREWS- WAITED  Twin  to  Isaac.  B.  May  24,  1773; 
in.  to  Sheffield  Waite,  son  of  Major  Yelverton  Waite.  The  Waites  have  a 
family  tree  of  their  own,  of  which  they  are  justly  proud.  They  are  also  of 
Lascelle  descent.  [Sheffield",  Yelverton",  Joseph',  Joseph'',  SamueP,  Sam- 
uel", Thomas',  third  in  descent  from  Gershom  Lascelle.]  See  Appendix 
Chapter.  Of  this  particular  family  it  has  been  said,  "  No  praise  was  too 
high  for  them,  and  none  were  more  universally  respected."  After  Rebec- 
ca's death  her  husband  married  I\Irs.  Jane  Andrews-James,  the  first  wife's 
cousin. 

Rebecca  and  Sheffield's  children  were  Phebe,  wife  of  Rev.  Pardon  Til- 
linghast,  and  mother  of  1 3  children ;  Stephen,  with  2  children ;  Zipporah, 
wife  of  Daniel  Bowen,  and  mother  of  1 1  children  ;  Sheffield,  with  2  children; 
and  Martha,  wife  of  Resoh-ed  Harvey,  with  2  children. 

Phebe",  wife  of  Rev.  I'ardon  Tiilinghast,  had  a  daughter  Phebe',  who   married    Reynolds 
Waite.     They  had 

Reynolds  L.  Waite*.  He  m.  Eunice  Matteson,  [Eunice",  Benoni",  David*, 
David',  Josiah-,  Henry'.]  whose  grandmother,  Dorcas  Matteson,  was  herself 
a  Waite. 

Mabel  E.  A.  Waite-0'  Nie!'.  She  was  a  teacher  for  some  years  in 
the  Elmwood  Grammar  School  of  Providence,  She  was  married  Sept.  iS, 
ig02,  to  Mr.  O'Neil  of  Providence,  R.  I.  She  has  assisted  this  work 
by  furnishing  records  and  memoranda  collected  by  her  deceased  aunt. 
Miss  Dorcas  Matteson. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

DANIEL   GREEXE'S   LINE 

Daniel  Greene-  was  the  third  or  fourth  son  of  John  Greene  of  Qnidnes- 
sett  and  his  wife  Joan.  If  he  was  the  third  son,  he  was  born  about  1647  ') 
if  the  fourth,  about  two  years  later.  He  is  known  to  have  been  regarded  as 
a  substantial  citizen  ;  yet  the  records  of  him  are  meager  enough.  After  the 
older  brothers  had  gone  to  N.  Y.,  and  several  of  the  younger  sons  had  shown 
a  roving  disposition,  his  old  father  came  to  consider  him  as  his  own  right 
arm.  With  his  brother  Henry  he  became  a  freeman  of  R.  I.  Colony,  May 
20,  1671,  the  day  of  the  great  compromise  over  the  12-year  land  suit  of 
Ouidnessett.  As  soon  as  their  father  gave  his  allegiance,  they  followed  his 
example. 

March  24,  1682,  his  father  gave  several  of  his  children  a  deed  to  land. 
This  land  was  part  of  the  first  John's  Quidnessett  purchase,  and  to  Daniel 
was  given  the  home  place  of  120  acres.  There  was  a  clause  in  the  deed,  as 
there  was  in  those  of  the  others  also,  that  he  was  to  pay  30  shillings  a  year, 
as  long  as  either  of  his  parents  lived.  This  is  not  far  from  $7.50,  reckoned 
in  our  money.  Its  purchasing  power,  however,  was  several  times  greater 
then  than  now.  These  several  small  annuities,  in  that  day  of  simple  habits, 
and  with  their  quiet  tastes,  sufhced  doubtless  to  keep  the  old  couple  in 
spending  money. 

Unquestionably,  Daniel"  lived  on  at  the  old  home  with  his  father  and 
mother.  His  mother  may  have  died  about  the  time  he  married,  1689.  Old 
John  is  said  to  have  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  at  Coventry,  with  his  son 
Lieut.  John-,  and  to  have  died  there. 

Like  so  many  of  his  family,  Daniel  was  slow  to  marry,  being  40  or  42 
years  of  age  at  the  time.  He  was  married  July  16,  1689,  to  Rebecca  Barrow. 
She  is  believed  to  have  been  related  to  Henry  Barrow,  the  Martyr. 

The  Puritans  or  Congregationalists  were  called  at  first  Brownists  or 
Barrowists,  after  two  of  their  first  leaders.  Henry  Barrow,  Barrowes  or  Bar- 
rowe,  was  an  uncompromising  foe  to  formalitv  or  ceremony  in  religious  ser- 
vices.    He  published  in  London  two  books,  in  1 590  and  a  little  later.     One 


^be    (Brccnc   jfamil^  113 

■was  entitled  "A  Brief  Discoverie  of  the  False  Church;  as  is  the  Mother,  so 
is  the  Daughter."  The  other  was  "  Platform  which  may  serve  as  a  Prepar- 
ation to  drive  way  Prelatism."  It  served,  however,  to  enrage  the  church 
authorities.  He  was  arrested,  tried  for  "  writing  and  publishing  sundry 
seditious  books  and  pamphlets  tending  to  the  slander  of  the  Queen  and  gov- 
ernment," and  was  executed  at  Tyburn,  London,  April  6,  1592,  or  as  some 
say,  1593.  Many  of  his  congregation  fled  to  Amsterdam,  Holland,  for  safety. 
In  161 6  some  of  his  friends  reorganized  a  church  in  the  sirburbs  of  London. 
In  1632  the  government  imprisoned  42  of  this  church  for  heresy.  So  op- 
pressive were  the  authorities  that  in  1634  no  less  than  30  of  the  church,  in- 
cluding some  of  Barrow's  own  kindred,  came  to  America.  Rebecca  was  al- 
most certainly  descended  from  this  family. 

Daniel  and  Rebecca  had  7  children,  of  whom  two  died  while  young. 
Daniel's  will  was  proved  June  9,  1730,  so  that  he  was  81  or  83  years  of  age 
at  death.  His  wife  survived  him.  He  left  his  farm  of  120  acres  to  Daniel, 
Jr.  The  rough  and  discolored  headstones  of  this  couple  are  still  standing 
near  Allen's  Harbor,  togther  with  another  rude  stone,  marked  I.  G.,  which 
tradition  says  marks  the  grave  of  Joan  Greene,  capitals  I  and  J  being  used 
interchangeably  in  those  days. 

PELEG  GREENE'.     According  to  one   account,"  oldest  son,   born  in 
1690.     Married  I\Iary  Pierce,  Dec.  8,  171 5,  in  Kingstown.     The  records  have 
been  badly  damaged  by  fire.     As  near  as  can  be  made  out,  there  were  Elisha, 
Lidye,  Peleg,  Mary,  and  twins.  Phebe  and  Ann.     Dates  all  burned.      Mary, 
the  wife,  must  have  died,  also  one  of  the  twins,  as  a  little  after,  in  the  same 
book,  three  children  are  recorded  to  Peleg  and  Dinah  Greene,  viz. : 
Hope  Greene*,  b.  May  22,  1725. 
■     Rachel  Greene*,  b.  June  27,   1726. 
Ann  Greene*,  b   Sept.  30,  172S. 
Dx\NIEL  GREENE".     According  to  one  account  he  was  born  Aug.  9, 
1690,  and  Peleg  in  1692.     I  believe  the  true  date  is  Oct.  8,  1692.      He  mar- 
ried Dec.  23,  1 72 1,  when  already  something  of  a  bachelor,  his  uncle   Benja- 
min Greene's  daughter,  Catherine'.     The   wife  was   born   about    1700,  and 
died  about  1736.     She  was  the  mother  of  all  of  Daniel's  children,  Benjamin, 
Joshua,  John  (or  Jonathan.)     After  Catherine's  death  Daniel    married  Mary 
Ralph.     He  was  a  stirring  business  man,  and   much   esteemed,    and   added 
largely  to  his  estate.     His  will  was  proven  July  24,  1770.     In  it  he  gave  the 
home  farm  to  his  son  John,  and  commended  his  step-mother  to  his  care. 

Benjamin  Greene*,  born 12,  1722,  m.  Jan.  5.  1744,   to  Anne  Utter  of  Warwick. 

He  died  a  few  years  after,  leaving  a  daughter  Catherine,  whose  grandfatlier,  Daniel  Greene, 
acted  as  her  guardian. 

Joshua  Greene*,  m.  Dinah  Carpenter,  Feb.  12,  1746.  By  her  he  had  Mary.  Catherine, 
Abigail,  Daniel,  Elizabeth,  Fones,  and  Susannah.  He  married  (2)  Alice  Potter  of  Waite 
descent,  June  i,  1771,  and  by  her  he  had  a  son   Joshua. 


114  ^be    (Brecne   Jfamil^ 


John  Greene*.  Little  is  known  of  liim,  although  he  lived  on  the  home  farm.  It  is 
thought  by  some  that  he  made  an  early  marriage,  and  by  that  wife  had  Gideon,  who  mar- 
ried Mercy  Rowland.  1769,  and  had  Hannah,  llowiand,  Judith,  Lloyd,  Philadelphia, 
Luciana,  John,  Gideon  and  Daniel.  There  is  no  proof  one  way  or  the  other.  He  certainly 
married  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  and  Hannah  Carpenter  Spink,  Dec.  24.  175S.  and  by  her  had 
5  children.     In  advanced  life  he  moved  to  N.  Y.  and  died  there,  1S02. 

Ruth  Greene-Huling',  b.  July  1759,  "^-  Andrew  Huling  Her  great-grandson. 
Prof.  Ray  Greene  Huling,  is  a  noted  educator,  in  charge  of  the  Cambridge,  Mass., 
Schools.  He  takes  a  deep  interest  in  genealogy,  and  his  History  of  the  Greenes  of 
Quidnessett,  published  in  the  Narragansett  Historical  Register,  is  widely  known  and 
often  quoted  from.  He  placed  the  manuscript  copy  of  the  same  in  my  hand  together 
with  copious  notes. 

Hannah  Greene-Spencer^,  b.  Nov.  1760,   m.    Peleg  Spencer. 
Sarah  Greene-Huling",  m.  Augustus  Huling,  brother  of  Andrew. 
Patience  (Patty.)  Greene-Kenyon^,  said  to  have  m.  Judge  Kenyon  of  N.  Y. 
John  Greened  b.  1772,  m.  Waity  Kenyon.      Moved  to  N.  Y.      Died  at  Penn  Yan, 
N.  Y.,  Oct.  21,  1S57.     He  sold  the  old  Greene  farm,  so  long  in  the  family,  to   Silas 
Allen,  Oct.  7,  1797, signing  the  deed  as  John  Greene,  Jr.,  of  Penn  Yan,  N.  Y,    This 
was  the  last  foothold  of  the  Greenes  upon   their  original   Quidnessett   soil,   and   as 
there  has  been  controversy  as   to  the  date,   and  the  seller,    this  is  given   in  full   to 
settle  the  matter.     This  John  Greene  was  noted  for  his   fun  and  good   nature.      His 

children  were  Daniel,  Benjamin,  Richard.  John  R.,  of  Kansas,  Sarah,  who   m.  

Strowbridge  of  Pa.,  and  three  other  daughters. 

REBECCA  GREENE^  b.  April  12,  1696.  No  further  record. 
RACHEL  GREENE-AYLESWORTff,  b.  May  6,  1698  ;  m.  Philip 
Aylesworth,  the  son  of  Emigrant  Arthur  Aylesworth  and  Mary  Brown,  the 
granddaughter  of  Rev.  Chad  Brown  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  who  succeeded 
Roger  Williams  as  minister  at  Providence.  They  had  seven  children  who 
lived  to  marry,  Job,  Philip,  Sarah,  Phebe,  Martha  and  Elizabeth.     Also 

Capt.vin  Arthur  .-Vylesworth*,  1721-1801.  He  m.  Freelove,  daughter  of  Edward 
Dyer.  Edward  was  of  the  Dyer  line  that  according  to  The  New  England  Genealogical  and 
Historical  Register  was  descended  from  the  Quaker  Martyr,  Mary  Dyer,  who  was  hung  in 
Boston,  in  1660,  as  a  "  pestilent  heretic."  She  was  the  wife  of  William  Dyer,  for  many  years 
Secretary  of  Providence  Plantations.  Mary  Dyer  was  one  of  the  three  leaders  who  started 
the  Friend's  first  Society  in  R.  I.  Captain  Arthur's  and  Freelove's  descendants  therefore 
count  among  their  ancestors  two  who  suffered  martyrdom  for  Christ  within  70  years, — 
Henry  Barrow  and  Mary  Dyer. 

Captain  Arthur  had  nine  children,  of  whom  the  fourth  was  Arthur  Aylesworth, 
Ji*.  1763-1834.  He  m.  Abigail  Dyer.  dau.  of  Col.  Charles  Dyer.  They  had  si.K 
children,  of  whom  the  oldest  was. 

Mary  Aylesworth-Reynolds^.  17S0-1S32.     M.  to  John  B.  Reynolds.     They 
had  13  children,  of  whom  the  ninth  was. 

Ann  Greene  Reynolds-Hull",  m.   to  Edward   C.    Hull.     Had  these 
children.  -Sarah  E.,  Mary  who  m.  Charles  H.  Pierce,  and  Charlotte. 

.Sarah  E.  Hull",  of  above,  m.  in  1901  to  John  Flavel  Greene' 
of  Warwick  line.  [John  Flavel*.  James",  William^,  Abraham\ 
James*,  Jabez',  James",  Surgeon    John'.] 

John  Flavel  Greene*  is  a  church  officer  in  the  historic  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Providence,  founded  in  163S.  and  of  which  it 
is  thought  Surgeon  John  and  his  wife  Joan  were  constituent 
members.  Eight  generations,  and  yet  the  same  family  is  repre- 
sented in  the  same  church  ! 


RAY    GREENE   HULING,    SC.    D. 
Author  of  "  The   Greenes  of  Ouidnessett '' 


^bc   (5rccne   jfanm^  115 

Daniel  had  a  son  Jonathan^,  the  youngest  of  his  children.  He  married 
Susanna  Buers  in  March,  1733.  D.  6  years  after,  leaving  Ebenezer',  born 
Nov.  4,  1738.  Probably  he  who  moved  to  N.  Y.  and  had  Ebenezer  and 
Benjamin,  killed  by  Indians  and  tories  in  Revolutionary  War,  and  Joseph, 
born  in  1767,  volunteered  in  1779,  at  12  years  of  age,  the  youngest  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.     This  Joseph  had  Daniel,  Ebenezer  and  Benjamin. 


CHAPTER    XX 

LINE   OF   JAMES   GREENE" 

The  whole  of  Part  Third  of  this  book  is  given  to  the  descendants  of 
Deborah^,  great-granddaughter  of  Lieut.  James  Greene.  The  history  of  this 
line  up  to  her  day,  as  well  as  the  pedigree  of  the  rest  of  the  family,  is  gi\'en 
in  this  chapter. 

Lieut.  James  Greene-  is  believed  to  have  been  the  seventh  child  and 
sixth  son  of  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett  and  his  wife  Joan  Beggarly.  Huling 
gives  his  birth  as  in  1655.  In  the  North  Kingstown  records  of  I\Iarch,  1698, 
he  is  designated  as  Lieut.  James.  He  was  20  years  old  when  King  Philip's 
War  opened,  and  a  scion  of  the  most  prominent  famil}'  at  Quidnessett. 
He  ma\'  have  recei\'ed  his  militarj'  title  then,  or  have  later  been  an  officer  in 
the  colonial  militia,  which  in  those  days  of  frequent  Indian  disturbances 
had  their  regular  training  days,  and  their  regular  officers.  They  were  Min- 
ute Men,  i.  e.  soldiers  allowed  to  disperse  and  go  about  their  usual  avocations 
in  time  of  peace,  but  had  to  be  ready  at  the  bugle's  blast  to  fall  into  line 
and  fight  for  the  colony. 

His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth ,  and  he  married  early.     In  a  North  - 

Kingstown  record  of  March  7,  1698,  he  is  called  James  Greene,  Senior, 
showing  that  his  son  James  was  then  a  man  grown.  When  old  John  of 
Quidnessett  divided  up  land  among  certain  of  his  sons,  March  24,  1682, 
there  fell  to  James'  share  60  acres  bordering  on  Allen's  Harbor.  His  will 
was  probated  Sept.  10,  1728.  In  it  he  mentions  his  second  wife,  Ann,  and 
his  two  sons,  John  and  James. 

The  line  of  the  son  James  is  utterly  unknown.  The  records  have  been 
badly  burned,  and  there  is  now  no  trace  of  him. 

John,  the  other  son,  lived  at  both  Bristol  and  at  Ouidnessett.  His  wife 
was  Elizabeth.  It  is  handed  down  in  the  family,  and  names,  circumstances 
and  faniih-  anecdotes  entirely  confirm  it,  that  Elizabeth  was  the  grand- 
daughter on  the  one  side  of  Hugh  Parsons,  and  on  the  other  cf  Elder  Obe- 
diah  Holmes.* 

*  To  forestall  criticism  the  author  will  say  she  is  herself  a  Congregationalist.  and  not  a  Baptist.  It 
may  be  taken  tor  granted  that  she  has  made  the  ease  out  no  worse  than  it  was  on  her  Congregational 
brethren,  the  Mass.  authorities 


^be   (Brcene   fa(nil\» 


Parton  tells  us  something  of  Elder  Holmes.  At  Lynn,  IMass.,  was  an 
aged  man  who  was  secretly  a  Baptist.  He  sent  word  to  the  Newport 
Church,  70  miles  away,  asking  some  of  the  brethren  to  come  and  see  him 
before  he  died.  Rev.  John  Clarke,  the  minister,  and  two  elders  of  his 
church,  Obediah  Holmes  and  John  Crandall,  made  the  trip,  arriving  at  Lynn 
on  Saturday.  The  next  day  Rev.  Clarke  began  to  preach  to  the  family  of 
his  host.  Two  constables  arrested  him  and  his  two  companions  as  "errone- 
ous persons,"  and  carried  them  to  Boston.  Rev.  John  Cotton  severely  de- 
clared that  they  ought  to  be  hung  for  they  were  "soul-murderers."  Gover- 
nor Endicott  was  more  lenient. 

"  You  deserve  to  die,"  said  he,  "  but  this  we  have  agreed  upon.  Mr. 
Clarke  shall  pay  ^20  fine ;  Obediah  Holmes,  ^30;  and  John  Crandall,  ^5 
or  else  they  are  to  be  well  whipped." 

Holmes  refused  to  pay  his  fine,  as  did  they  all.  Friends  paid  the  others 
out  against  their  will.  Holmes  received  "  30  lashes  with  a  three-corded 
whip  from  the  public  executioner,  so  that  for  many  days  he  could  take  no 
rest  except  by  supporting  himself  on  his  elbows  and  knees."      [Arnold.] 

From  Seekonk,  50  miles  away,  an  old  man  by  the  name  of  Hazel  or 
Hazell — (a  member  of  the  Lascelle  family,  it  often  being  pronounced  and 
written  Hazell  and  Uzell,) — came  to  visit  his  friend  Holmes  and  sympathize 
with  him.  He  came  in  time  to  see  his  brutal  punishment.  When  the  bar- 
barous ordeal  was  over,  he  went  up  to  Holmes  and  shook  his  hand.  For 
this  he  was  arrested,  and  sentenced  to  be  fined  or  whipped.  He  was  so  af- 
fected that  he  died,  a  martyr  to  his  friendship. 

Obediah  Holmes  has  namesakes  for  six  generations  in  this  John  Greene 
family. 

Hugh  Parsons,  the  other  ancestor  of  Elizabeth,  was  born  in  1613,  in 
Great  Torrington,  England.  This  is  the  town  that  has  been  called  the 
"hot-bed  of  Puritanism,"  and  from  which  the  Hills,  the  Westcotts,  and  some 
of  the  Waites  also  came.  He  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1630  and  lived  there 
for  20  years.  His  first  wife  and  first  wife's  children  all  died.  He  married 
(2)  Elizabeth  England,  the  young  widow  of  William  England.  Their  old- 
est daughter  was  Hannah,  who  married  Henry  ;\Iatteson,  and  became  the 
foremother  of  all  the  ^Mattesons.  The  Westcotts  and  Parsons  were  already 
related  by  marriage  in  England.  Hannah's  marriage  to  Henry  ]\Iatteson 
brought  in  an  intimacy  with  that  family  also.  The  clan  feeling  is  plainly 
seen  in  the  several  Westcott  and  Matteson  marriages  entered  into  by  this 
John  Greene  of  Bristol  branch. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Greene  was  the  namesake  of  her  grandmother,  Elizabeth 
Parsons.  She  was  also  the  second  cousin  of  vStukeley  Westcott's  children, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  pillars  of  Roger  Williams'  church.      One  of  her  chil- 


iis  ?tbe   (Breene   jfamil^ 


dren  married  a  wife  of  Westcott  blood  ;  one  married  a  ^latteson ;  and  two 
of  her  grandchildren  married  Mattesons  also. 

We  do  not  know  all  of  John  Greene  of  Bristol's  children,  owing  to  the 
burning  of  the  North  Kingstown  records.  They  had  James,  Thomas, 
Martha,  Enfield,  Sarah,  and  perhaps  others.     Order  of  birth  unknown. 

THO:\I  AS  GREENE'.     He  married  Elizabeth and  had  Thomas, 

Hannah,  Nathaniel,  ]\Iar>-  and  Benjamin. 

ENFIELD  GREENE-PHILLIPS*. 

Martha  Phillips-.Matteson*.  Married  John  Matteson*,  [John',  Francis'',  Henry',] 
her  third  cousin.     They  had  Joshua,  Susanna,  Enfield,  Hannah,  John  and  Elizabeth. 

Freelove  Phillips-Matteson".  Married  Abraham  Matteson',  [Abraham',  Hezel^iah^, 
Henry'.]  He  was  related  to  her  twice  over,  as  his  mother  was  a  Westcott.  They  had 
Margaret,  Eliz.abeth,  Lydia,  John,  Abraham,  Daniel  and  Thomas. 

JAMES  GREENES  He  was  married  May  i8,  1727,  by  Thomas  Spen- 
cer, Justice  of  the  Peace,  to  Elizabeth,  oldest  daughter  of  John  and  Rosanna 
Westcott-Smith-Straight,  a  distant  relative.  Elizabeth's  father  had  this 
pedigree  :  Captain  Thomas  Straight,  who  probably  acquired  the  title  in  the 
Pequot  War  of  1637,  married  Mary  Long,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
Long.  By  this  wife  he  had  Henry  Straight,  born  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  in 
1 65 1.  Henry  came  to  R.  I.  and  married  Hannah  Torman.  They  had  two 
sons,  Henry  and  John,  and  John,  born  March  i,  1678,  married  the  young 
w'idow  of  Daniel  Smith,  who  had  been  Rose  or  Rosanna  Westcott. 

The  descent  of  Rose,  (Rosanna,)  wife  of  John  Straight,  was  this  :  *  About 
1565,  Meribe,  of  Gershom  and  Meribe  Lascelle,  early  French  Huguenots, 
was  married  in  England  to  William  Wardwell,  son  of  Richard  and  Mar}' 
Ithell-Wardwell.  A  daughter  of  this  couple,  Rosanna,  married  a  Waite,  and 
Mehitable  Waite  of  the  next  generation  married  Richard  Hill.  Among 
other  children  these  Hills  had  John,  the  head  of  the  line  of  Hills  from  which 
L^sal  and  "  Wealthy "  John  Greene  afterwards  took  wives,  and  Rose  or 
Rosanna,  born  in  1613.  All  of  the  last  mentioned  parties  came  to  America. 
Their  home  in  England  had  been  at  Great  Torrington,  in  Devonshire. 

The  Westcotts  were  of  Great  Torrington  also.  Richard  Westcott  had 
married  Mary  Parsons  in  161 1.  Their  son  Stukeley  Westcott,  came  to 
Ma.ss.  about  1635,  the  same  year  Rose  Hill  came  over.  They  were  nearly 
the  same  age,  and  old  friends,  and  it  is  all  but  certain  they  married.  All 
through  their  line  the  itnusual  name  of  Rosanna  has  gone  down.  L^p  to 
1750  the  name  never  occurred  in  R.  I.  records  but  what  a  relationship  could 
be  traced  straight  back  to  this  Stukeley  Westcott  and  wife. 

Their  oldest  son  was   Amos  Westcott.     He  married  two  sisters,  the 


records  that  apply  are  scant,  but  I  believe  this  to  be  substautiallr  correct.    It  is 


Cbc   Greene   jfamil\)  119 

youngest,  Deborah- Stafford,  marrying  him  June  9,  1670.  Rosanna  was  their 
daughter.  She  married  Daniel  Smith,  and  after  his  death,  John  Straight, 
by  whom  she  had  nine  children.  Elizabeth  was  the  oldest,  and  was  born 
Oct.  8,  1705. 

The  Westcotts  were  the  most  uncompromising  of  Baptist  families. 
They  were  exceedingly  proud  of  having,  through  Stukeley  Westcott  and  his 
wife,  a  hand  in  the  historic  first  Baptist  Church  in  America.  The  tradition 
of  this  has  come  straight  down  to  the  present  generation  of  Rose's  descend- 
ants, and  for  the  first  few  generations  one  of  them  who  dared  join  some  other 
church  was  held  to  have  almost  put  himself  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  famil)'. 
Elizabeth  impressed  her  Baptist  principles  as  strongly  on  her  family,  as  her 
mother,  Rose,  had  done  on  hers.  And  that  is  all  we  really  know  of  those 
two  generations,  except  the  names  of  their  children. 

James  Greene*  and  Elizabeth  had  Sarah,  born  in  172S,  Ann,  Benjamin, 
Jeremiah,  Dinah,  Abel  and  Deborah. 

Benjamin  Greene^,  [James*,  John^,  James-,  John',]  born  Aug.  28,  1734,  in  East  Green- 
wich. Married  May  25,  1760,  to  Comfort  Carr,  who  was  alsoof  Lascelle  descent.  His  home 
was  in  West  Greenwich.  Of  his  children,  James,  Anstress  and  Benjamin,  there  are  only 
birth  records. 

Caleb  Greene^,  1764 — 1S23.     Had  a  son  Samuel. 

Virtue   Greene-Matteson*',  b.   May  3,  1767  ;    m    Edmund   Matteson,    her  distant 

cousin.     Virtue  was  a  second  wife.     All  of  Edmund's  children  that  are  known  to  be 

hers,  were  Virtue,  who  married  her  mother's  cousin,  John   Greene.  (Abel^,  James*, 

etc.);  Lydia,  who  married   Stephen   King  ;  and  Stukeley,   who  had   Ira,  John   and 

Stukeley  of  his  own. 

Jeremiah  Gkeexe^,  b.  June  1,  1736  ;  ra.  Freelove  Hopkins,  1760.     They  had  Russell, 

Barbara,  Gardiner,  Waite,  Jeremiah,  Abial  .Tnd  .•\nn.  Jeremiah  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier. 

Dinah  Gkeene-Kittle=,  b.  Feb.  5,  1739;  m.  Edward  Kittle,  March  27,  1762.        The 

name  is  now  written  Kittelle  or  Kettelle. 

Asa  Kittelle'^.  1770 — 1849.      M.  in  his  50th  year  to  Eunice  Pendock,  whose  father 

came    fiom  France.      She  was  19.     She  died  at  38,  the  mother  of  14  or  15  children. 

Of  these,  Freelove  became  Mrs.  John   Sheldon  ;  Lydia   m.  Isaac    Peck  ;  Lois   m. 

Robert  Pierce  ;   Mary  m.  Benjamin  Arnold.      All  these  had  children.     Albert  F.  m.  Sara 

E.  Matteson,  his  cousin's  daughter.     No  children.     See  Kittelle  Chapter. 

Elizabeth  Kittelle-Brown",  m.  Nicholas  Brown. 

Amos  Kittelle",  d.  Oct.  10,  1849,  ™-  his  relative.  Thankful  Straight.  They  had  Lucy 
A.  who  m.  John  Waite  ;  Isaiah,  who  m.  Susan  Geer  ;  and  Caroline,  who  m.  Albert 
Baker.     All  these  had  children. 

Rufus  Kittelle",  m.  (l)  Susan  Greene.  (2)  Lydia  Rogers.  His  children  were 
Senaca,  James,  Thomas,  Rufus,  Noel,  Caleb  and  three  daughters. 

Samuel  Kittelle".  Children  were  Mrs.  Celinda  Spencer,  Mrs.  Ruth  Bates,  and 
Benjamin. 

Silas  Kittelle".      He  m.  a  Tarbox,  and  had  a  son  Samuel. 

Ephraim  Kittelle",  m.  July  21,  1799,  Newie  (Renewed)  Briggs  of  King  blood. 
[Renewed*,  Sarah  King',  Magdalen^,  John',]  One  of  their  daughters  married  her 
cousin,  Gideon  Hopkins.  Their  daughter  Dinah  m.  Joshua  Fish  of  Ichabod  and 
Hannah  Andrews-Fish,  and  had  Isaac,  Rebecca,  Joshua,  Ichabod,  Lydia,  Susan 
and  George  W.  Ephraim  and  Newie  had  also  sons,  George,  Othniel,  William  and 
Peleg  Kittelle,  and  a  dau.     Almira,  who  m.  Philip  Davis. 


^be   (Breene   Ifatnil^ 


James  Kitteile«.  Married  his  cousin,  Elizabeth  King.  See  Kittelie  Chapter. 
Abel  Greene",  b.  Oct.  14,  1741  ;  d.  1828  ;  m.  Ann  (Nancy)  King,  1764.  Abel  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier.  He  and  his  sons  had  a  grist-mill  and  a  saw-miil.  His  wife  was  of 
the  La  Valley-King  family.  They  had  nine  children,  seven  of  them  sons.  Obediah,  Abel 
Jr.,  and  John. Greene  all  moved  to  Susquehanna  Co.,  Pa.  Of  Samuel,  Mary,  Elizabeth, 
Obediah,  Paul  and  Jeremiah,  there  are  only  birth  records. 

Nathan  Greene*,  b.  Aug.  12,  1766,  m.  Abigail,  and  had  Welcome,  b.  1795. 
John  Greene*,  m.  in  1S03  to  his  cousin.  Virtue  Matteson,  dau.  of  Edmund.       [Ed- 
mund*, Eben.^  Men.^,  Hen.']     They  lived  in  Pa,. 

Nathan    Greene",  son    of   John,  etc. .  m.  Eovica  Haverly,  and    had   by    her 

Simon,    Ellen   and    Louise.   M.    (:)   Mary  A. and  had    Harrison,  Elmer 

andFinley.     One  of  the  daughters  became    .^Irs.   Cr.-.wford,  and    left    a  son, 
Nathan  Crawford'. 

William  Greene',  m.  Phebe  Haverly. 

Emily  Greene-Beninger*.     She  had  sons  Pundersou  and  George, 
E.  M.  Greene-Ford*. 
Mary  Greene-Bennett*. 
Mercy  Greene-Gregory',  wife  of  Taylor  Gregory.      One    dau.,  Mrs.  Lydia 
Place. 

Lydia  Green-Whitcome,"  wife  of  John  Whitcome.  Children,  .\manda. 
Virtue  and  Scott. 

Sarah    Greene-Matteson'.    m.    her   cousin,  Reuben    Matteson.     They    had 

Stillman,  Beninger,  Byron,  John,  Abbie,  Syce  and  Nicholas  Matteson. 

Job  Greene',  m.  Eunice  Doolittle.      Had  James,  John  and  Charles. 

James  Greene*.     [.\bel=,  James*,  John^,  James'-,  John^.]       He   married    (l)   M.ary 

Brown  in  1797,  the  mother  of  all  his  children  but  one.     James'  was  by  the  last  wife. 

Two  of  his  children,  Dinah  Greene-Johnson  and  Nathan  Greene,  left  no  children. 

Comfort  Greene-Davis-Harrington',  1799-1S72  ;  m.  (l)  George  Davis. 
Their  daughter  Mary  m.  George  Arnold  and  had  four  children,  and  their  son 
William  m.  his  second  cousin,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Gideon  Hopkins.  They 
have  four  children.     Comfort  m.  (2)  Daniel  Harrington. 

Nancy  Greene-Potter',  1801-1S72.  She  was  the  last  one  of  three  sisters  to 
die  within  a  month  and  12  days.  She  married  Benjamin  Potter.  Her  daughter 
Mahalam.  Thos.  Sprague,  and  Zilpah  m.  Frederick  Tibbetts.  Both  have 
children. 

Alice  Greene-Greene',  1S03-1S72  She  m.  Horace  Greene  of  Coventry. 
Two  children  died.  Of  Buriel  and  Nathan  there  is  no  record  ;  of  Edwin  and 
Oscar  nothing  beyond  that  they  are  married.  Louise  Greene-Greene  died 
without  issue  ;  Cynthia  m.  Joab  Whaley  and  Oliver  m.  Phebe,  daughter  of 
John   Matteson. 

AlDel  Greene',  m.  Saran  Clin.  Moved  to  Illinois,  and  left  unknown  de- 
scendants. 

James    Greene,'   1S12-1S77.       Half-brother  to  the  others.       IVL  Nathan's 
willow,  Lois  Pollock-Greene. 
Deborah  Greene".  Born  Sept.  23,  1744  ;  d.  in  1S12.   Married  her  brother  .\bers  brother- 
in-law,  Samuel  King,  .\pril  15,  1766.      Part  III  of  this  book  is  given  entirely  to  her  line. 


MARTHA  GREENE-]\IATTESON'.  She  was  married  10  days 
before  her  brother,  James  Greene,  being  married  to  Joseph  Matteson 
May  8,  1727.  He  was  her  mother's  first  cousin,  and  had  at  that  time  a 
grown  son  by  his  first  marriage.     Had  nine   children.     Of  Obediah,   Eliza- 


Zbc    (Breene    Jfamil^ 


beth,  Thomas  and  Eunice  I  have  no  records.     ]\Iartha's  line  is  a  most  ex- 
tensive one,  and  cannot  be  given  as  fully  as  I  would  wish,  from  lack  of  space. 

Alice  Matteson-Whitford^,  wife  of  Thomas  WhitforJ,  her  cousin.  Line  inter- 
married witli  the  Tarbox  branch  later. 

Jonathan  Matteson^,  ,n.  Elizabeth  Ilackstone.  Miss  James,  the  historian,  and  the 
line  of  Benjamin  Greene,  including  many  of  the  Howards,  are  from  Jonathan  through 
marriagesof  his  daughter  and   grand-children. 

EzEKlEL  MattesuN^.  [Martha  Greene*,  John'',  James',  JohnK]  This  is  a  most  im- 
lOrtant  branch.  He  married  Rosanna  Matteson,  daughter  of  Josiah  and  Mercy  Nichols- 
Matteson,  grand-daughter  of  Josiah  and  Rosanna  Westcott— Matteson,  and  great-grand-dau- 
ghter of  Henry  and  Hannah  Farson-Matteson.  Ezekiel  and  Rosanna  were  twice  over  fourth 
cousins,  and  once  third  cousins.  The  fourth  cousinship  came  in  through  the  English  Par- 
sons—Westcott  marriage,  first  on  Ezekiel's  mother's  side,  and  again  on  Rosanna's  grand- 
mother's side'.  [Rosanna',  wife  of  Josiah  Matteson,  Senior,  Zerubabel*,  Robert',  Stukeley^ 
son  of  Richard  and  Mary  Parsons-Westcott'.]  Ezekiel  was  born  in  1743  and  married, 
Feb.,  1774,  in  West  Greenwich.  Si.-c  children  lived  to  marry.  Of  Thomas  and  Josiah, 
I  have  no  lists. 

Martha  Matteson— Hopkins*,  m.  Daniel  Hopkins,  descended  from  Stephen  Hop- 
kins of  the  Mayflower,  and  Regicide  Judge  Theophilus  Whaler.  See  Chapter 
XXVni.  She  had  a  son  Greene  Hopkins.  A  daughter  Mercy  m.  George  Har- 
rington, and  their  dau.  Betsey  m.  Wm.  E.  Gilmore. 

Meribah  Matteson-King*   wife  c.f  George  King.     See  Chapter  XXVI. 
Esther  Matteson-KingS,  wife  of  Joel  King.     See  Chapter  XXX. 
Joseph  Madison'',  born   March  2,  1791,  m.  Celia  Fowler,  and  d.  Aug.  g,  1SS7,  in 
his  g7th  year.     His  branch   adopted    the  spelling  of   Madison,    about    the    time    of 
President  Madison  's  election.     Si.-c  children,  only  three  of  whom  left  heirs. 

Joseph  Warren  Madison",  [Matteson  line,  Joseph*,  Ezekiel', Joseph^,Henry*.] 

1820-1900.     He  married  Maria,  dau.  of    Alfred    U.   and  Ann  Allen-Smith. 

The  wife  was  descended  from  John  Greene's  firm    friend,    the   Indian    trader 

'      .   Richard   Smith.     [Alfred*,  Silas",   Christopher^,    Thomas^  John*,    William', 

James',  Richard  Smith'.]     They  had  these  children  who  married  : 

George  Warren  Madison*,  m.  Fannie  L.  Spink.  Their  children  are 
Warren,  Harold  L.,  Ralph,  Louise,  Francis  S.  and  George  M. 

Celia  Maria  Madison-Mathewson*,  b.  March  11.  1S57  ;  m.  Nov.  8, 
iSSi.to  her  second  cousin-german, Thomas  Mathewson.  [Thomas',  Syria 
Wilbur",  Wilbur^,  Russell*,  Josiah',  Josiah=,  Henry  Matteson'.]  The 
form  of  Mathewson  was  adopted  by  Wilbur,  aud  followed  by  his  descend- 
ants. Thomas  Mathewson's  line  is  well  worth  tracing.  He  is  the  old- 
est living  son  of  Syria  Wilbur  Mathewson,  the  well-known  proprietor 
of  that  beautiful  summer  resort  at  Narragansett  Pier,  the  Mathewson 
House.  He  has  Westcott  blood  through  the  wife  of  the  first  Josiah, 
[Rosanna^,  Zerubabel*,  Robert'.  Stukeley',  Richard'.]  Through  the 
mother,  who  was  a  Hill,  he  has  Lascelle-Wardwell  and  Westcott  blood, 
and  is  also  lineally  descended  from  Roger  Williams.  His  mother  was 
also  of  the  Warwick  Greenes,  and  of  the  Aliens  of  Prudence  Island. 
[Thomas*,  .Amma  Eliza  Hill-Mathewson',  Lucy  Ann  Allen-Hill",  Hon. 
John  .Allen^,  Patience  Greene-Allen*,  David  Greene',  James',  Surgeon 
John  Greene'.]  The  Hon.  John  Allen  of  this  line  was  the  brave  but 
rash  man  who  made  so  caustic  a  reply  to  the  British  officers  who  offer- 
ed him  gold  for  provender  for  the  British  Army,  that  Wallace,  in 
anger,  burned  every  house,  barn  and  haystack  on  the  island,  and  drove 
Allen's  family  out  in  their  night  clothes,  while  the  flames  licked  up  the 
home  that  had  been  the  pride  of  the  island.     See  Chapter  XXIV, 


^be   (Breenc   Jfamil^ 


'1  homas  and  Ceiia  Mathewson  have    two   children,   Anna    M.    and 
George  HiU. 
John    Harris    Madison",   brother  of   Joseph    Warren  ;     1S28-1887.      Son, 
Joseph  Slocum, 

Thomas   Edwin   Madison",  1830-1SS5  ;    m,  Emily   Havens.     Had  George 
Edwin  and  Thomas  Edward. 
John  Ma-iteson^     [Martha   Greene-Matteson',   John    Greene',   James',   John^]       He 
married  Elizabeth  King  of  the  La  Valley-King  family,  Oct.  i,  1761.     Deacon  John    Matte- 
son  of  Nooseneck,  R.  I.,  was  said  to  have  been  descended  from  him. 

Lois  Matteson-Tarbox^.  M.  Samuel  Tarbox,  Sep.  i,  1761.  The  Tarbox  family  is 
an  old  English  one.  The  curious  name,  once  written  Tarbocke  and  Torbock,  commemorates 
the  Danish  invasion  of  England,  more  than  twelve  centuries  ago.  It  was  originally  Thov's 
bock  or  beck,  i.  e.  the  god  Thot's  brook.  The  stream  still  runs  by  the  old  Tarbox  Hall, 
six  miles  from  Liverpool.  Some  of  Lois  Jlatteson's  descendants  have  the  coat-of-arms,  an 
elaborate  escutcheon  with  two  full  length  figures  as  supporters  at  the  sides.  The  motto's 
meaning  is,  "  Destiny  Separates,  but  Inclination  Unites." 

John  Tarbox  came  to  Lynn.  Mass.,  by  1630.  He  was  one  of  the  first  iron-workers,  and 
turned  out  the  first  kettles  ever  made  in  America.  After  John^,  came  John^,  who  came  to 
East  Greenwich  about  1695.  During  the  French  and  Indian  War  he  was  captured  at 
Oswego.  Again  at  the  Crown  Point  expedition,  he  was  made  a  prisoner,  and  remained  so 
a  year,  dying  on  the  coast  of  Africa  in  1759.  Samuel,  his  son,  was  then  a  grown  young 
man,  and  married  Lois  three  years  after  his  patriotic  father's  death. 

Of  their  large  family  of  children,  John,  Whipple,  Benjamin,  Margaret  and  Welthian  all 
married  and  moved  to  other  parts,  and  their  children  are  unknown.  David's  son  Anthony 
left  three  daughters.  S.->niuel  had  two  children,  John  and  Edith,-  'out  their  children  are 
unknown. 

Curnell  Carpenter  Tarbox*,  [Lois^,  Martha  Greene-Matteson*,  John',  James^, 
John',]  1776-1862.  M.  Sally  .-Vuams.  She  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  John  Adams 
who  came  to  Mass.  in  1630,  and  it  is  said  of  Richard  Warren  of  the  Mayflower,  also. 
She  was  related  to  the  two  Presidents  Adams.  Her  father,  Philemon  Adams,  was 
a  Revolutionary  soldier.  Curnell  and  Sally's  son.  Eliphalet,  left  an  unknown  heir. 
Their  dau.,  Sally  Maria,  m.  her  cousin  Daniel,  and  line  is  traced  with  his.  Wealthy 
ra.  Enos  L.  Preston,  her  children  all  died  but  three,  George  H.,  Augustus  and 
Frank  T. 

Hiram  Tarbo.t',  1819-1878;  M.  his  cousin  Eunice  ;  six  children  lived.  Of 
Alfred,  no  records  ,  Eunice  m.  Joseph  Trentice  ;  Ann  A.  m.  her  cousin,  An- 
thony Spencer  ;  and  Isabelle  m.  Stephen  Cleveland.     All  left  children. 

George  W.  Tarbox",  1827-1902.  He  lived  in  New  York  City.  He 
m.  Caroline  Lewis,  descended  from  the  Mayflower  families  of  Gov. 
Bradford,  Rogers,  Aldenand  Mullins,  as  well  as  Col.  Gallup.  Thos. 
Stanton,  the  first  Indian  interpreter,  Rev.  James  Noyes,  the  founder  of 
Yale  College,  and  half  a  dozen  other  old  colonial  families.  Mrs.  Tar- 
box is  also  descended  from  John  Greene  of  Qnidnessett  through  Eleanor 
Greene-Lewis'.  See  line  of  Benjamin',  Chapter  XXI.  The  children 
of  Geo.  \V.  Tarbox  are  Ida,  Kate  and  George. 

William  B.  Tarbox^,  1835-1897.      M.  .Sarah  Bingham. 
Carrie  E.  Tarbox-Smith^  wife  of  Russell  Smith. 
Joseph   Tarbox*.    m.    Esther  Whitford.     Eight   children  lived  to  marry. 
Eunice  m.  her  cousin  Hiram,  and  line  is  traced  with   his. 

Matteson  Tarbox'.  1791-1859.  M.  Phebe  Bailey.  They  had  William 
H.,  unmarried  ;  Daniel,  who  m.  Mary  Clark  and  has  Jesse  and  Clar- 
ence ;  Ann,  wife  of  William  Andrews,  and  mother  of  Edwin,  Bernice, 
Edward.  Mabel  and  .^nnie  ;  Charles  A.,  whom.  Mary  Shippee.  and 
has  a  son  Fred  ;  Joseph,  who  left  no  issue?  and  Phebe   Maria,   wife   of 


Zbc   (Breene   JTamii^  123 


George  C.  Goodwin,  and  mother  of  Florence  Good « in 
Fones  \V.    Tarbox',   [Joseph*',    Lois   Matteson-Tarbo.\=,    Martha   Greene- 
Matteson*,  John^  James^  John".]  1794-1867.      M.  Sarah  Spencer.     14  child- 
ren, of  whom  10  married.     No  record  of  Franklin's  family. 

Hiram  Tarbox^,  b.  June  15  1817.  Living  in  1904  in  full  mental 
vigor.  He  is  called  the  "  Patriarch  of  Tremont,"  a  part  of  Greater  New 
York,  where  he  has  lived  since  1851.  He  was  postmaster  there  for  20 
years.  Like  most  of  the  Tarboxes,  he  is  a  man  of  substantial  quali- 
ties and  high  standing  in  the  commucity.  He  furnished  the  Tarbox 
names  and  dates  for  this  chapter.  His  wife  was  Mary  Clark.  She 
died  in  1879.  Their  children  are  Mary  C.  born  1S4O  ;  Hiram  T.  born 
1842  ;  Sarah  E.,  widow  of  Joseph  H.  Lee  ;  and  Charles  W.,  m.irried 
to  Margaret  Behrens.      They  have  one  daughter,    Elsa. 

David  Tarbo.\«,  1819-1892.  M.  (i)  Amanda  King,  and  (2)  xMrs. 
Sally  Jackson.  His  dau.  Abbie  is  the  wife  of  Hiram  Peck,  and  Sarah 
is  wife  of  Robert  Jackson.  By  the  last  wife  he  had  Oscar,  Orville,  Otho, 
Osman,  Fones,  John  and  Ella,  the  wife  of  Clinton  Hopkins.  Most  of 
these  children  have  families. 

Caleb  Tarbo.\8,  m.  Maria  Clark,  and  had  Egbert,  Agnes  and  Edgar, 
all  of  whom  married. 

Robert  Tarbo.K^,  ra.  Harriet  Wells.  Their  son  Abijah  J.  d.  un- 
married. John,  Fones,  Laura,  Charles.  Ralph,  Isabel,  Bvron  and 
Hattie  are  all  married. 

William  Tarbo.\^  1S26-1S98.  M.  Mary  E.  Bennett.  Of  their 
children,  Wm.  Spencer  and  Ulysses  are  unmarried.  Mary  Ellen, 
Gerome,  Lydia,  Napoleon,  Wealthy  and  Ida  are  all  married. 

Horace  Tarbo.'i'*,  by  first  wife,  Adeline  Mitchell,  had  these  children 
who  lived  to  marry:  Adeline,  Benjamin,  Hnldah  and  Ella.  By  his 
second  wife,  Catherine  Cavanagh,  he  had  Horace  and  William. 

Orrin  Tarbox^,  m.  Sarah  Bennett.  They  have  Eunice,  Edward,  Her- 
bert, Hattie,  Sarah,  and  Mary.  Their  son  Edward  has  7  children,  and 
their  dau.  Mary  has  one  child. 

Sarah  Tarbox-Hali«,  m.  Emery  H.  Hall.  They  have  Benj.  E., 
Charles  .■\.,  Remus,  Hannah  and  Mary.  All  but  Charles  and  Remus 
are  married. 

Edward  Tarbox',  m.  Susan  Cleveland.  They  have  one  living 
daughter,  Mrs.  Bertha  M.  Wilcox.  She  h,as  also  one  daughter. 
Roby  Tarbox-Spencer'.  [Joseph^,  Lois  Matteson-Tarbo.x*,  Marth.i  Greene- 
Matteson*,  John  Greene^  James'.  John'.]  M.  Richard  Spencer.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  Randall  Holden,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Warwick,  and  one 
who  sulTered  imprisonment  at  the  hands  of  the  Mass.  authorities  for 
his  heresies.  Richard  was  also  descended  from  the  Warwick  Greenes,  thus  : 
[Richard',  John«,  Wm.*,  Wm.*,  Audrey  Greene-Spencer',  John  Greene=, 
Surgeon  John'.]  Roby  and  Richard  had  six  children  marry,  Anthony,  who 
m.  Ann  Tarbox,  and  had  one  child  ;  Audrey,  who  m.  her  cousin,  Benjamin 
Spencer,  and  had  10  children  ;  Joseph,  who  m.  Celinda  Kettelle,  and  had  10 
children  ;  .\ugustus.  who  m.  Mary  E.  Harrington  ;  Huldah,  who  m.  Daniel 
C.  Bailey,  and  had  three  children  ;  and  E.  Amanda,  who  m.  JobBriggs.  Mrs. 
Briggs  is  an  expert  on  family  genealogy,  and  has  supplied  many  difficult  links 
for  these  pages. 

Hannah  Tarbox-Carpenter',  1800-1866.  She  m.  Curnell  Carpenter.  They 
had  Curnell  John, whom.  Huldah  Blanchard  ;  Sarah  J.,  whom.  Sylvester  Stone; 
Esther  M.,  who  m.  Charles  Shippee  ;  Lydia,  who  m.  Stephen  Brown  ;  Hannah, 
who  m.  George  W.  Braymon  ;  and  Mary  G.,  whom.  Horace  E.  Chadwick. 


24  ^be   (Breene   jfamili? 


Jane  Tarbox-Shippee'.  :S03-iS6S.     One  son,  Chas.  R.     He  has  3  children. 

Daniel  Tarbox',  [Joseph*,  Lois  Matteson-Tarbox^,  Martha  Greene-Matte- 
son*,  John  Greene',  Jas.'',  John'.]  1805- 1896.  Like  the  other  brothers  in 
this  family,  he  stood  very  high  in  public  estimation.  He  spent  several  years 
in  business  in  Europe.  By  first  wife,  his  cousin  Sally  Maria  Tarbox,  he  had 
Curnell,  who  m.  Harriet  Ransford  ;  Louis  Ferret,  who  m.  Ann  Eliza  Grant  ; 
and  Wealthy  Maria,  who  m.  George  T.  Brown. 

By  his  last  wife,  Lucelia  Verrington,  he  had  Daniel,  killed  in  the  Civil  War; 
Lucelia  ;    Anna  :  and  Effie  L.,  who  m.  David  O.  Cargill. 

David  Tarbo.x',  [Joseph^,  Lois=,  Martha*.  John^  Jas.^  John\]  1808-1892. 
M.  Mary  Spencer,  a  niece  of  Richard  Spencer,  his  sister  Roby's  husband. 
She  was  of  the  line  of  Randall  Holden  and  the  Warwick  Greenes  They  had 
14  children,  only  two  of  whom  married.  Wealthian  is  single  ;  Oliver  Crom- 
well m.  Ann  Maria  Watson  ;  and  Annie  E.  m.  Alvin  A.  Briggs. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE    TRIBE    OF    BENJAMIN 

I  head  this  chapter,  The  Tribe  of  Benjamin,  for  tribe  it  is.  It  is  the 
most  prolific  house  of  the  many  prolific  ones  we  are  studying.  12,  14  and 
15  were  a  common  number  of  children  in  a  family.  Captain  Amos  of  this 
line  was  the  father  of  19  children.  Amy  Knowles-Greene,  wife  of  Amos,  a 
son  of  "  White  Hat  "  John  Greene,  was  able  to  boast  that  at  the  age  of  89 
she  had  four  generations  of  posterity,  and  364  descendants  !  So  impressed 
witli  the  importance  of  having  many  olive  branches  was  one  of  this  tribe, 
Charles  Greene,  a  great-grandson  of  "  White  Hat"  John  Greene,  that  not 
content  with  his  own  modest  supply  of  13  children,  he  raised  22  more,  mak- 
ing a  lively  brood  of  35  youngsters  brought  up  under  one  roof-tree ! 

Frank  L.  Greene,  A.  AL,  B.  A.,  has  written  a  careful  history  of  the  fam- 
ily of  Benjamin  Greene.*  It  is  a  large  volume,  and  even  then  he  failed  to 
get  all  of  them.  I  shall  refer  those  interested  to  his  work.  In  this  chapter 
only  the  first  generations  will  be  traced,  as  a  rule,  although  in  certain  cases 
the  genealogy  is  brought  down  to  the  present  time,  as  where  Mr.  Greene  has 
failed  to  list  them,  or  where  new  evidence  clears  up  a  former  tangle  or 
dispute. 

Benjamin  Greene^  was  the  youngest  son  of  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett 
and  his  wife  Joan.  He  married  Humility  Coggeshall.  Her  grandfather 
was  John  Coggeshall,  the  first  President  of  Providence  Plantations,  who  died 
in  office,  Nov.  27,  1648.  Her  parents  were  Joshua  and  Joan  West-Coggeshall.t 
Her  father,  Joshua  Coggeshall,  together  with  Mary  Dyer,  the  INIartyr,  and 
Daniel  Gould,  founded  the  first  Friends'  Society  in  R.  I.  Private  records 
give  her  birth  in  1671,  but  the  official  record  places  it  in  Jan.,  1670. 

Benjamin  Greene's  name  is  frequent  in  the  records.  His  land  joined 
that  of  his  brother,  James  Greene,  at  Quidnessett.  He  also  bought  part  of 
his  brother  Edward's  estate,  and  seems  to  have  owned  considerable  real  es- 

*  The  Greene  Family,  by  Frank  L.  Greene.  A.  M.    Price.  S8.00.    Mr.  Greene  at  present  is  Principal  of 
Grammar  School.  No.  9  Stirling  Place,  Brooklyn.  N.  Y. 

t  Joan  West  was  probably  the  daughter  of  Francis  West,  who  was  in  Duxbury,  Mass.,  by  16iO 


126  ^be   6rccnc   family 


tate  beside.  In  1704-5  he  was  involved  in  lawsuits  over  this  land.  The 
next  year  he  sold  out  and  mov^ed  to  East  Greenwich,  where  he  died  early  in 
1 7 19 — not  in  1 7 16,  as  some  have  it.  He  helped  to  lay  out  the  Path  Road, 
that  followed  the  old  Pequot  Indian  trail  from  the  Bay. 

Benjamin  and  Humility  had  12  children,  having  five  sons  in  succession, 
and  then  seven  daughters.  Caleb  died  in  1727,  and  there  are  only  birth  re- 
cords of  Sarah  and  Dinah  ;  Mary  married  Thomas  Spencer  ;  Catherine  mar- 
ried her  cousin,  Daniel  Greene^  of  North  Kingstown  ;  Ann  married  Daniel 
T'ennant ;  Phebe  married  Thomas  Wells  of  Westerley ;  and  Deborah  mar- 
ried William  Reynolds  of  East  Greenwich.  This  leaves  the  lines  of  four 
sons,  John,  Benjamin,  Henry  and  Joshua.  Four  things  are  noticeable  of 
this  confederation  of  families  :  (i)  Their  numbers.  (2)  The  many  soldiers 
sent  to  the  French-and-Indian  and  Revolutionary  Wars.  (3)  Their,  relig- 
ious bias,  by  which  a  great  majority  became  Seventh-Day  Baptists.  (4)  The 
overflow  of  the  middle  generation  to  New  York  State,  and  of  the  later  gen- 
erations to  Minnesota  and  other  western  states. 

"  WHITE  HAT  "  JOHN  GREENEl  Frank  L.  Greene  thinks  -he 
was  born  about  1688 ;  I  should  put  it  two  years  earlier,  reckoning  from  the 
other  children's  ages.  He  was  Lieut.  John,  an  officer  of  the  home  militia 
or  Minute  Men ;  but  as  his  uncle.  Lieutenant  John,  is  always  spoken  of  by 
that  title,  I  shall  not  use  it.  There  were,  beside  the  uncle,  two  cousins  of 
his,  all  named  John  Greene,  and  a  half  dozen  Warwick  John  Greenes  in  the 
next  township.  Two  nicknames  served  to  distinguish  this  John  of  Benja- 
min from  the  others.  One  was  "  Lord  John,"  perhaps  from  a  haughty  or 
consequential  air.  The  other  was  "  White  Hat  John,"  which  shows  he  had 
a  few  eccentricities,  and  is  the  more  human  to  us  because  of  it.  He  bought 
land  in  West  Greenwich  in  1733,  eight  years  before  it  was  set  off  into  a 
town  (township)  by  itself,  so  he  was  something  of  a  pioneer. 

About  1709  he  married.  Some  histories  say  Oct  13,  1726,  but  that  was 
the  date  he  receipted  for  his  wife's  portion  of  her  father's  estate.  His  wife 
was  Mar>',  daughter  of  Arthur  and  Marj'  (Brown)  Aylesworth.  She  was  a 
sister  to  Arthur  Aylesworth,  who  married  Rachel  Greene,  daughter  of 
Daniel,  and  a  cousin  to  Elizabeth,  John  Greene  of  Bristol's  wife.  She  was 
a  granddaughter  of  Rev.  Chad  Brown,  the  first  regular  minister  at  Provi- 
dence, (if  Roger  Williams  is  not  counted),  and  also  a  granddaughter  of  Elder 
Obediah  Holmes,  of  whom  more  is  told  in  Chapter  XX.  She  was  the 
mother  of  15  children,  three  of  whom  died  young.  After  she  died  "White 
Hat  "  John  married  Mrs.  Priscilla  Bowen,  Aug.  7,  1741.  He  died  in  1756, 
leaving  a  good  estate.  12  children,  2  daughters  and  10  sons,  lived  to  marry: 
Thomas,  Philip,  Benjamin,  Elizabeth,  Ruth,  William,  Josiah.  Amos,  Jona- 
than, Caleb,  Joseph  and  Joshua. 


il\K    (Brecnc   jfamil^  127 


Thomas  Greene*.     Born   about  1710.     Married   Sai-ah ,    1730.     Six   cliildren, 

John,  Stephen,  Mary,  Sylvester,  Elizabeth  and  Lowest  or  Lois.     Allen'',  son  of  John',  was 
a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  head  of  a  considerable  line. 

Philip  Greene*.  Born  about  1712.  JIarried  (i)  to  Theodosia  Spencer,  daughter  of 
Capt.  Robert  Spencer  ;  and  (2)  to  Mrs.  Mary  Reynolds-Sweet.  He  lived  in  West  Green- 
wich, R.  L  His  children  were  by  the  first  wife.  There  were  11,  of  whom  seven  were 
sons.     Two  died  young.     Of  George  (1738)  and  Sarah  (1745)  there  are  only  birth  records. 

Zilpha  married Noxon,  and  Rhoda  m.  Nathaniel  Brown. 

Eleazer  Greene^,  b.  July  22,  1735.  M.  at  19  to  .Sarah  Carpenter.  Lived  in  W. 
Greenwich.     Two  sons,  Philip,  b.  March  10,  1755,  and  Oliver,  b.  Feb.  8,  1757. 

Job  Greene',  b.  March  10,  1737.  Married  March  6,  1760,  to  Christian  Greene, 
his  great-uncle  Henry's  daughter.  [Christian*,  Henry^,  Benjamin-,  John^]  They 
had  a  son  Solomon. 

Elder  Elisha  Greene^,  [Philip*,  "  White  Hat  "  John^  etc.],  b.  July  14,  1740.  At 
18  he  married  Edith  Stafford  of  Warwick.  She  was  probably  of  Westcott  blood,  and 
certainly  was  rel.ited  to  Rosanna  Straight,  whose  daughter  married  James  Greene  of 
John  of  Bristol.  They  lived  at  West  Greenw  ich,  and  had  but  three  children.  Lucy 
m.  Solomon  Lewis  of  Conn.  Lodowick  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  the  head 
of  almost  an  army  of  descendants,  mostly  in  N.  Y.     I  give  Stafford's  line  alone. 

Elder  Stafford  Greene^  [Elisha^,  Phil,*,  John^  Benj.^,  John^,]  b.  Jan.   ig, 
1726.     M.  Lydia  Brown. 

Amos  Greene",  m.   Hannah  Nichols.       Had    si.K   children,    Stafford, 
Almon,  Edith.     Also 

Mervyl  Greene-Hisco.x^,  wife  of  Otis    Hiscox.      Has  Lydia, 
Edna  and  Irving.      " 

Eunice  Greene-Morehouse^ 
Lydia  Greene-Brown',  wife  of  .Ambrose  Brown. 
Horatio  Brown',  of  Pawtucket,  R.  L 
Seth    Greene',  m.    Welthean  Greene,    his   second    cousin.     [She  of 
Gideon",  Caleb^,  Benj.*,  etc] 

George  Greene*,  m.  Maria  Lewis. 

Ann  Greene-.Allen',  m.  John  Allen.  She  has  Lula 
(Mrs.  Chas.  S.  Greene),  Grace  (.Mrs.  Waiter  Rilej). 
Miiton  and  John. 

Elisha  Greene",  m.  Louise  Congdon. 
Elisha  Greene^,  m.  Susan  Tillinghast.  One  son,  John  B, 
Allen  Greene*,  m.  Celia  M.  Carpenter.  They  had  Chas.  A.,  and 
Roxana  (Mrs.  John  B.  Sheldon).  This  Chas.  A.  Greene^  born 
Sept  6,  1849,  m.  Mary  E.  Andrews,  and  has  a  son  Walter",  and 
and  a  grandson,  Walter".  Chas.  A.  Greene'  has  the  historical 
turn  of  so  many  of  this  family.  He  prepared  an  abridgement  of 
Ray  Greene  Huling's  "Greenes  of  Quidnessett,"  which  ran  as 
a  series  in  the  Gleamr  oi  Phenix,  R.  L,  and  had  a  wide  cir- 
culation. 

Mary  Greene-LillibridgeS,  m.  Jesse  R.  Lillibridge.   They  had 
Herbert.  Seth,  Mary  (Mrs.  Elmer  Cole),  and  Byron. 

Eunice  Greene-Carpenter*,  m.  Christopher  Carpenter,     They 
have  Mrs.  Nettie  Haven,  Mrs.   Annie   Higgins,   and   xMrs,   Eva 
McCabe. 
Josiah  Greene',  [Stafford",  Elisha^,  Phil*.  John',  Benj^.,  John^,]  born 
April  22,   17S9  ;  m.    Elizabeth  Lewis,    Feb.   4.    1810.     Had  6  child- 
ren.    Varnura  and  Lydia  married,  but  left  no  living  heirs, 

Stafford  Greene",  b.  .Aug.  11,  1813  ;    m.  .■\my  Hazard  Lewis, 
Harriet    J.    Greene-Witter',    wife    of   Jonah     Witter. 


128  ^be    (Brecnc    jrainU\> 


Has  Eva  L.,  Henry  J.  and  Chas.  A. 

Alice  A.  Greene-Matteson',  b.  July  3,  1S4;  ;  m.  to 
David  Edwin  Matteson.  [Matteson  line,  David  Edwin', 
Peleg«,  PelegS,  David^  David^  Josiall^  Henry'.]  He 
is  also  of  Westcott,  and  Lascelle-Waite  descent.  They 
have  two  children  living,  Edwin  Stanley  and  Walter 
Marshall. 

Josiah    Greene^,  m.    Mary   Alice   Walker.     One   son, 

Chas.  H.     They  live  in  Alameda,  California. 

Alma  Greene-Gorton^,  wife  of  Benj.     Tillinghast    Gorton.  He 

is  a  descendant  of   Samuel   Gorton,  imprisoned    by   the    Mass. 

authorities  for  heresy.     They  have  Abbie.  Jason  and  Henry,  all 

married. 

Sabra  Greene-Hazard*,  m.  James  Hazard.  One  son,  Chas.  L. 

Betsey  Greene-Nichols*,  m.  Giles  M.  Nichols.      They  have  a 

daughter.  Angle  E. 

Lucv  Greene-Lewis',  (of  Stafford*.  Eiisha^  etc.),  m.  Thomas  Lewis. 

Had    Stafford.    Wellington,  Seth,  Palmer,  Lydia,  Lucy,  Amy,  Deniii- 

son  and  Stephen. 

Caleb  Greene^,  [of  Phil.\  •■  White  Hat"  John',  etc.]    b.  Dec.  i,  1748.      Married 

Mary .    Lived  in  W.  Greenwich,     They  had  David   (1771),  Job  (1776),   Sarah, 

Spencer  (17S1),  and  Russell  (17S6). 
John  Greene'.  Died  before  1785.  Said  to  have  left  a  son  Solomon. 
Captain  WiLLl.wi  Greene*.  [•' White  Hat"  John',  Benjamin^  John'.]  JI.  Judith 
Rathbone.  Lived  at  Westerly.  Many  of  his  descendants  moved  to  N.  Y.  It  would  take 
two  chapters  the  size  of  this  to  enumerate  his  posterity.  This  is  an  honorable  and  leading 
branch.  Frank  L.  Greene's  book  gives  the  full  line.  Wm.  Rathbone,  Benjamin  and 
Pardon  were  the  leading  ones  of  his  family. 

Josiah  Greene*,  b.  about  1715  ;  m.  to  Hannah  Mowry.  Lived  in  Charleston,  R.  L 
Had  10  children,  and  descendants  innumerable.  Two  of  his  sons,  Benjamin  and  John, 
served  in  both  the  French-and-Indian  and  Revolutionary  Wars.  For  gallantr)'  at  Mon- 
mouth, John  was  made  a  Captain. 

Amos  Greene*,  b.  April  17,  1717.  Lived  at  Charleston.  M.  Amy  Knowles,  who 
counted  364  descendants  when  she  was  Sg  years  old.  She  lived  to  be  over  100.  One  son, 
Capt.  Amos,  had  19  children.  The  chiefs  of  this  house  were  Amos,  William,  Thomas, 
Jaflrey  and  Henry.     Frank  L.  Greene's  book  gives  them  in  full. 

Benjamin  Greene',  [John^  Benj.^  John',]  born  1719.  M.  (i)  Mercy  Rogers,  Feb.  7, 
1741  ;  and  (2)  Mrs.  Anna  Greene-Sweet,  his  cousin.  Jlercy  Rogers  was  the  daughter  of 
Samuel  Rogers,  and  was,  it  is  claimed,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Thomas  Rogers  of  the  Mav- 
fiower.  The  Rogers  family  is  an  ancient  one.  The  original  name  was  Hruod  or  Hrother 
in  the  Frankish  tongue,  and  meant  fame  or  glory,  or  according  to  another  rendering,  "one 
whose  word  is  reliable."  The  first  Rogers  was  Norman-French.  The  earliest  ancestor  of 
the  American  branch,  that  can  be  substantiated,  was  Aaron  Rogers,  a  native  of  Rome, 
Italy,  who  came  to  London  in  the  year  1300.  lie  was  a  merchant,  and  became  enormously 
wealthy.  His  great-grandson  was  John  Rogers,  who  was  prebendary  (member  of  the 
Cathedral  Chapter,  a  sort  of  secular  clergyman,)  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  For  his  stanch 
adherence  to  the  Protestant  faith.  Queen  Mary  had  him  burned  at  the  stake  at  Smithfieid, 
London,  Feb.  4,  1555.  He  was  the  first  martyr  of  her  reign.  There  is  an  old,  old  Bible, 
burned,  and  a  few  pages  missing,  that  is  preserved  in  Alfred  University,  Alfred.  N.  V., 
where  so  many  of  Mercy  Rogers-Greene's  descendants  live.  It  is  claimed  that  this  Bible 
went  to  the  stake  with  its  owner,  but  was  only  partially  destroyed.  James  Rogers,  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  in  America,  brought  this  Bible  w^th  him.  He  had  such  a  superstitious 
faith  in  it  that  when  in  peril  in  the  wilderness  he  slept  with  it  under  his  head  to  protect  him 
from  the  Indians. 


^be   Greene   Jfamil^  129 


The  Rogerses  in  some  way  are  connected  with  the  Lascelles.  They  probably  married 
into  the  family,  the  generation  following  the  martyr.  John  Rogers.  They  are  remarkably 
long-lived,  eight  at  least  of  the  American-born  Rogerses  reaching  the  century  mark  before 
1800.  They  have  a  beautiful  coat-of-arms.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  shield  is  a  conven- 
tionalized fleur-de-lis,  "  the  lilies  of  France,"  and  in  the  lower  part  is  a  five-pointed  star. 
The  crest  is  sometimes  a  helmet,  and  sometimes  a  fleur-de-lis.  The  motto  is,  "  Nos  Nos- 
traque  Deo," — "  Ourselves  and  our  possessions  to  God."  Surely  an  appropriate  motto  for 
a  family,  one  of  whom  went  to  the  stake  for  his  religion,  and  others  crossed  the  ocean  to 
find  a  home  in  the  wilderness  where  they  might  worship  God  in  freedom. 

Mercy  Rogers  bequeathed  this  goodly  inheritance  of  blood  to  all  but  the  youngest  of 
Benjamin  Greene's  children,  Mary  being  by  the  last  wife.  As  Frank  L.  Greene  gives  a 
score  or  so  of  pages  to  this  branch,  I  shall  only  carry  out  the  pedigree  of  those  imperfectly 
traced  by  him,  and  of  the  youngest  daughter,  a  tangle  in  whose  ancestry  the  family  desire 
straightened. 

Simeon  Greene'^,  b.  Dec.  13,  1742. 

Caleb  Greene^,  b.  Aug.  2,  1744  ;  m.  (i)  to  Sarah  Brown,  and  (2)  to  Welthan 
Ellis,  the  mother  of  his  children.  They  had  Sarah,  Thomas,  Gideon,  Lydia,  Mercy, 
Eunice,  Lois  and  Simeon.      I  give  the  line  of  the  third  of  these,  Gideon. 

Gideon  Greene",  [Caleb\  lienj.*,  John^.  Benj.^,  John',]  b.  March  7,  1777  ; 
m.  Mary  Tillinghast  on  Christmas.  1795.  14  children;  2  died  young;  3 
never  married  ;  and  2  left  no  heirs. 

Phebe  Greene-Andrews',  m.  Geo.  Andrews.  Had  Gideon,  Robert, 
James,  Hannah,  Elizabeth  and  Thebe. 

John  T.  Greene',  m.  Fanny  Sheldon.  His  dau.  Lydia'  m.  BurriU 
^^'aite  ;  Caroline'  m.  Jonathan  Word,  and  had  Mrs.  Jane  Word-Capwell, 
John  Word,  and  Mrs.  Caroline  Word-Parker.  The  son,  John  A.  Greene' 
m.  Mary  Holland. 

Welthean  Greene-Greene',  m.  Seth  Greene.  See  under  th.at  heading, 
this  chapter. 

Benjamin  Greene',  ra.  Mary  Bennett.  They  had  Ma.ximilian, 
Lucretia  and  Caleb  ;  Alpheus',  who  m.  Sarah  Scott  and  had  Byron, 
Ella,  Emma,  Angle,  Edwin  and  Mary;  Amos',  who  m.  Angeline  Scott 
and  has  two  children  ;  Melissa',  wife  of  James  Dennison  ;  who  has 
one  child  ;  and  Caroline',  wife  of  Chas.  Tyler,  who  has  three  children. 
Gideon  Greene',  [Gideon*,  Caleb",  Benj*.,  John^,  Benj-.,  John,'] 
1814-1876-      M-  Sally  Fry,  dau.  of  Samuel  and  Phebe  Bailey-Fry. 

Phebe  Greene-Henry-Payson',  b.   July  2,    1837  ;    m.    (i)  to 
Harris  E.  Henry,  and  (2)  to  Willis  H.  Payson. 

Ida  E.  Henry-Page',  m.  Dr.  Warren  Ellis  Page,  1885. 
No  children. 

Anna  B.  Henry-Page',  m.  in  1SS6  to  Elmer  Ellsworth 
Page,  brother  of  her  sister's  husband.  Their  children 
are  Edith  E.,  Lester  C,  Raymond  IL,  Dorothy  G.  and 
Frank   \V, 

Mary  G.  Henry-Howard',  m.  in  1884  to  Cliarles  T. 
Howard,  son  of  Henry  and  Catherine  Greene-Harris- 
Howard.  She  died  Oct.  26,  1893,  leaving  one  living 
child,  Frederick  N. 

Frank  G.  Payson'',  m.  Lavinia  May  Drake  in  1S90 
One  child,  Lillian   H. 

Gertrude  H.  Payson-Howard',  m.  in    1897   to  Charles 
T.    Howard.     They  have  a  son  Henry  by  this  marriage. 
Their  home  is  in  Providence,  R.  I. 
Of  most  of  the  other  children  of  Benjamin,  Frank  L.  Greene's  book  gives  full  in- 


^be   6reene   ifanul^ 


formation.  Jonathan^  married  Margaret  Budloiig,  and  three  of  his  sons  married 
Budlongs  also.  He  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  left  numerous  posterity.  Clark' 
m.  Mehitable,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mehitable  Waite-Reynolds.  They  lived  in 
West  Greenwich  and  had  II  children.  Clark  was  born  Aug.  2,  1751,  and  was 
married  at  33.  Elizabeth^  m.  Joseph  James,  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  in  Col.  Lippitt's  Reg't.  Their  son.  Rev.  Henry  James,  was  a  well-known 
writer  and  Swedenborgian  minister,  and /«>  son,  Henry  James,  Jr.,  is  the  popular 
novelist.  Lois^,  born  1755,  m.  her  cousin,  Sergeant  Luke  Greene^,  [Joseph*,  John^, 
Benj^. ,  John'.]  They  had  10  children.  This  was  one  of  the  important  N.  Y.  lines. 
These,  with  the  children  already  enumerated,  complete  the  list  of  Mercy  Rogers,  the 
first  wife's  children. 

There  yet  remains  a  daughter  Mary  by  Benjamin's  last  wife.  Her  posterity  have 
been  much  bothered  as  to  where  she  belongs.  D.  Byron  Waite,  the  Waite  family 
historian,  thought  her  a  second  cousin  of  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  and  the  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Greene  of  Warwick.  But  the  Benjamin  of  W' arwick  he  gives  ha<l  no  Mary 
among  his  children.*  His  wife,  Mary  Fry-Gould,  was  a  rich  young  widow  with 
two  children  when  he  married  her.  One  of  these  was  indeed  a  Mary — Mary  Gould — 
but  she  married  the  very  John  Allen  spoken  of  in  Chapter  XX,  the  man  who  angered 
the  British  so  that  they  burned  the  whole  of  Prudence  Island  in  retaliation. 

The  official  records  give  Benjamin  Greene's  second  marriage  to  Mrs.  Anna  Sweet. 
And  to  them  was  born  Mary,  March  24,  1766.  Cross  records  of  the  Henry  Greene 
family  show  that  a  daughter,  Anna  Greene,  was  the  wife  of  a  Greene.  The  de- 
scendants of  this  Mary,  born  March  24,  1766,  are  positive  that  her  mother  was  the 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Margaret  Rathbun  Greene.  They  are  also  positive  as  to  this 
Mary  having  a  brother  Clark,  and  a  sister,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  James.  Besides  this  she 
named  a  daughter  Mercy,  after  her  father's  first  wife,  and  another  daughter  Lois,  after 
her  half-sister.  This  identifies  this  Mary  beyond  question  as  the  daughter  of  Benjamin, 
son  of  "  White  Hat '  John,  and  his  last  wife,  Mrs.  Anna  Greene-Sweet-Greene.  By 
her  first  husband  Mrs.  Sweet  had  a  son.  She  had  also  a  daughter  Alice,  whom  the 
Waites  think  to  have  been  a  full  sister  to  Mary  Greene-Waite.  I  feel  positive 
that  she  was  a  Sweet,  and  therefore  a  half-sister.  Alice  became  Mrs.  Budlong.  Her 
son.  Dr.  Caleb  Budiong,  was  a  celebrated  physician  in  his  day. 

Mary  Greene  married  Peleg  Waite, Christmas, 17S3.  As  pointed  out  in  the  Appendi.x, 
Thomas  Waite  was  a  great-grandson  of  the  old  Huguenot,  Gershom  Lascelle.  Peleg 
was  descended  from  Thomas  thus  :  Thomas',  Reuben^  Thomas',  Thomas',  and 
Peleg=.  The  Waite  ancestry  itself  was  honorable  and  ancient.  It  will  be  found  in 
the  Appendi.x.  Mary  Waite  out-lived  her  husband,  almost  completing  her  96th  year, 
and  was  a  remarkably  bright,  alert  old  lady.  She  and  her  husband  moved  to  Peters- 
burgh,  N.  Y.,  when  their  oldest  child  was  a  baby,  and  lived  and  died  there.  They 
had  10  children.  Greene,  Clarke  G.,  Mercy,  Thomas,  Benjamin  G.,  Alice,  Tabitha, 
Mary,  Lois  and  Laura.  D.  Byron  Waite's  book  is  almost  entirely  given  to  this 
family.  I  shall  therefore  only  attempt  to  give  the  line  of  three  descendants  in  whom 
I  am  particularly  interested. 

Elvaton  Waite',  was  the  second  child  of  Clark  G /',  the  son  of  Ma- 
ry Greene- Waited  He  was  m.  (i)  to  Abigail  Roble  and  (2)  to  E\ha- 
beth  Benway.  He  is  yet  living  in  1904,  over  90  years  of  age.  His 
children  are  Elvaton  E.,  Mansir  K.,  Maiden  C,  Josephine,  Emma. 
Sarah  E.,  Merton  B.  and  Martha. 

Josephine  Waite-Barker*  of  above  m.  Frank  Barker  of  Roeh- 
elle,  III.,  and  has  three  sons,  Frank,  Perry  and  Maiden.  She 
is  a  student  of  history,  and  particularly  interested  in  genealogy. 
The  author  acknowledges  her  indebtedness  to  her  on  several  points. 

*See  Allen's  History  of  Quidnessett,  which  is  exceedingly  full  as  to  this  Benjamin  and  family. 


^be   ©reene   jfamil^ 


131 


Mrs.  McCrossen''s  lineage  is  this  :  Mary  Greene-Waite  was  her 
grandmother.  Her  father  was  Thomas  Waite^,  born  May  i.  1791, 
and  her  mother  was  Chloe  Roblee.  They  had  six  children,  of  whom 
only  one  left  any  issue.  That  one  was  Mary  G.  Waite,  who  married 
Dr.  David  McCrossen  of  Michigan.  She  is  a  widow.  Heronly  daugh- 
ter is  Medora,  wife  of  William  N.  Perkins  of  grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
They  have  one  son,  Benjamin  McCrossen  Perkins'. 

D.  Byron  Waite',  the  ^^^-^^^ 

historian  of  this  Waite  /f^R''^^^ 

family,  is  also  a  grand- 
son of  Mary  Greene 
Waited  His  father 
Benjamin  G.  Waite'  of 
N.  Y.,  who  married 
Mary  Odell,  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Lydia  Ba.\ter,  the 
poet.  Benjamin  had  six 
children.  The  daughters 
were  Mrs.  Mary 
and  Mrs.  .\ugusta  Bur- 
ton ;  2  sons  died  unmar- 
ried; Edwin  was  Sec- 
retary of  State  for  Cali- 
fornia, when  he  died  in 
1894.  He  left  daughters 
only.  D.  Byron  Waite, 
therefore,  alone  perpet- 
uates the  name  of  all  this 
family.  He  was  a  leap- 
year  son,  born  Feb.  29,  1828.  By  his  first  wife,  Harriet  >rerinda 
Brown,  he  has  B.  Audubon,  of  British  Columbia  ;  Buretta,  who  was 
Mrs.  Drayton  Muchler,  and  died  at  21,  leaving  a  son  Percival  ;  and 
Percival  Waite,  of  Kettle  Falls,  Washington.  Byron  Waite's  present 
wife  was  Amanda  Colvin. 

Mr.  Waite  had  his  history  in  mind  about  forty  years,  and  spent 
two  years  of  labor  upon  it,  getting  Old  World  records  and  early  New 
England  entries,  etc.  He  found,  according  to  his  friends,  that  after  all 
his  pains,  a  few  grumblers  were  ready  to  raise  a  hornet's  nest  about 
his  ears — the  usual  reward  of  a  genealogy  hunter.  He  lives  at  Spring- 
water,  N.  Y. 
Jonathan*  and  Caleb  Greene*.  Little  is  known  of  them.  Their  descendants  are 
supposed  to  be  mostly  in  N.  Y. 

Joseph  Greene*,  of  "  W'hite  Hat"  John',  Benj'.,  John'.  M.  Margaret  Greenman.  He 
was  head  of  another  tremendous  line,  most  of  which  reside  in  N.  Y.  Five  of  his  sons  were 
in  tlie  Revolution.iry  War,  John,  Edward,  Perry,  Serg't.  Luke,  and  Lieut.  Charles,  and 
all  were  in  Lieut.-Col.  Van  Rensselaer's  Regiment  of  N.  Y.  Three  of  Joseph  Greene's 
sons.  Perry,  John  and  Joseph,  married  three  sisters,  Sarah,  Catherine  and  Hannah,  daughters 
of  Jonathan  and  Hannah  Godfrey-Nichols,  and  lineally  descended  from  Deputy  Governor 
Benjamin  Nichols  of  early  days.  Judge  Edward  Greene,  one  of  Joseph's  sons,  was  the 
great-grandfather  of  Frank  L.  Greene,  A.  M.,  author  of  the  valuable  family  history  already 
mentioned. 

Joshua  Greene*,  ["White  Hat"  John',  Benjamin^  John'.]  He  was  the  youngest  of 
this  large  family.  His  line  has  been  hard  to  trace  because  the  whole  family  have  been  care- 
less about  recording  themselves.  Joshua  lived  in  Charleston,  R.  I.  His  wife  was  Mary  Max- 


>^?Ta.J2Z: 


author  of 


waite  genealogy." 


13- 


Zbc   (Breenc   jfamil^ 


son, whom  he  married  about  1755.  There  were  at  least  8  children,  and  perhaps  more.  Frank 
L.  Greene  gives  the  lines  of  Samuel,  Edward,  Maxson  and  Mary.  I  give  the  families  of 
John  and  Caleb,  sons  whose  lines  have  hitherto  not  been  recorded  in  family  histories.  All 
of  Joshua  s  descendants,  so  far  as  known,  went  to  N.  Y. 

John  Greene^.  Born  not  far  from  1761,  and  died  in  1843.  His  family  records 
were  burned,  but  family  names,  inter-marriages,  and  corroborative  circumstances 
show  conclusively  that  he  was  Joshua's  son.  He  went  to  New  York  City,  but  left 
before  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  as  unwilling  to  stay  where  the  British 
were  in  possession.  In  1789,  he  located  at  Waterloo,  N.  Y.  His  wife  was  Mrs. 
Sally  (Beadle)  Taylor.  Of  their  children,  Hannah  m.  William  Norris  ;  Helania  m. 
Albert  Vredenburg,  and  Sally  ni.  (i)  a  Wells,  (2)  Samuel  Crandall. 

John  Green'',  m.  Caroline  Hutchinson  or  Jefferson  ;   2  children. 
William  Greene",  m.  his  cousin,  Elizabeth  Beadle. 

David  Green*,  m.  Mosher. 

Samuel  Greene*,  the  fifth  child,  was  b.  June  23,  iSll.       His  wife  was  Me- 
linda  Haskins.     Their  son,  Lorenzo',  lives  at    Spencer.    N.    Y.     Himself  of 
the  good  old  Greene  stock,  and  his  wife.  Mrs.  M.  A.  Greene,  descended  from 
the  Hunts  and  Cooks  of  early  Plymouth, the  Bowensof  Rehoboth,  the  Hugue- 
not family  of  Luce  and  the  Quaker  family  of  Fish,  they  naturally  take  a  deep 
interest  in  genealogy  and  colonial  history. 
Caleb  Greene^.      M.  Martha  Spicer,   Aug.  17,  1799.     She  was  born  in    1778,  and 
he  is  thought  to  have  been  at  ieast  5  years  her  senior.       They  lived  in  N.  Y.     Their 
children  were  these  : 

William  Greene",  1800-1855.      L)au.  is  Mrs.  C.  A.  Wells. 
Richard  Greene*,  1802-18 — .     Married  Lora  Church,  and  in  1844  moved  to 
La  Grange  Co.,  Indiana.     A  noted  abolitionist,  a  noble,  generous   soul  that 
did  honor  to  his  ancient  name.      No  children.       The  author  is  a  namesake  of 
his  wife. 

Thompson  Greene*,  b.   1804.     D.  in  Alleghany,  N.  Y. 
Levi  Greene*,  b.  1807.     D.  iu  Ottawa  Co.,   111. 
Eldridge  Greene*.      Died  in  Oceana  Co.,  Mich. 

George  A.  Greene*,  1S09-18S9.  M.  in  1832  to  Julia  Daboll.  Had  Mary, 
Richard  and  Martha.  Mary  is  Mrs.  Woods  of  N.  Y.  Richard  is  living  on 
his  est.ate  of  Greenhurst,  Nampa,  Idaho. 


To  return  to  the  other  sons  of  Benjamin  : 

BENJAMIN  GREENE',  [Benjamin-,  John'.]  He  married  Eleanor, 
daughter  of  Matthew  and  Eleanor  Randall,  March  19,  1714.  They  lived  at 
Westerly,  R.  I.,  and  nearly  all  the  line  have  been  Seventh  Day  Baptists. 
They  have  been  people  most  highly  respected. 

Sarah  Greene-Hiscox*,  171 5-1 753.     M.  Josiah  Hisco.x. 

Humility  Greene-Greeni;',  b.  Feb.  6,  1717.  Frank  L.  Greene  says  she  married  Icha- 
bod  Randall.  If  so,  she  was  left  a  widow  so  soon  th.at  she  was  spoken  of  by  her  maiden 
name,  for  she  is  certainly  the  Humility  Greene  that  the  official  records  say  was  married  in 
1743  to  Silas  Greene,  [John',  John^,  John'.]  Her  line  is  given  with  her  husband's  in  Chap- 
ter XV.     See  remarks  in  this  chapter  on  Humility,  dau.  of  Henry  Greene'. 

Eleanor  Greene-Lewis*.  [Benjamiu',  Benjamiir,  John'.]  B.  March  2-  1718  ;  m. 
Amos  Lewis,  who  was  thus  descended  from  the  first  R.  I.  Lewis  of  Westerly  :  Amos*.  Jo- 
seph', John^  John'.  It  is  supposed  that  either  they  or  Amy  Greene-Lewis  and  husband 
were  the  grandparents  of  the  Lewises  who  so  freely  intermarried  with  the  line  of  Philip 
Greene,  Eleanor  and  Amy's  own  cousin.  The  probabilities  are  all  in  favor  of  their  descent 
from  Eleanor. 


^be   6recne   fainii\> 


'33 


Matthew  Lewis*,  m.  Sept.  iS,  1760,  to  Susannah  Philips. 
EHzabeth  Lewis-Paddock'^,  111.  to  Thomas  Paddock. 

Rev,  Benjamin  Greene  Paddock',      His  dau.,  Delia  A.,  became  the 

wife  of  Dr.  Horace  Lathrop. 

William  Lewis'.     Almost  beyond  question  Eleanor's    son.*      The   only    doubt   is 

whether  he  was  her  son,  or  her  sister  Amy  Greene- Lewis's.        He  was  named  for  her 

cousin.  Captain  William  Greene,  of  Westerly  also.     This    William    Lewis    m.    .'\bi- 

gail  Middleton  in  1760. 

William  Lewis"  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  when  very  young.  Also  was 
in  the  War  of  1812.  He  m.  Elizabeth  Noyes.  Her  descent  was  this  :  Eliz.'*, 
Wm.^,  Deacon  John*,  Rev.  James'  (one  of  the  founders  of  Yale  College), 
Rev.  Janies^,  Rev.  Wm.  Noyes',  Rector  at  Salisbury,  England,  in  1602.  Eliz- 
abeth  did  not  lack  for  pedigree.  She  was  a  great -great-great-grand-daughter 
of  the  Washington  family  itself,  and  was  also  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  JMay- 
fiower  families  of  Alden,  Mullins,  Rogers  and  Governor  Bradford. 

William  Lewis',  m.  t^sther  Sisson,  descended  from  Richard  Sisson, 
an  early  R.  L  pioneer,  thus  ;  Esther',  Gilbert'',  Wm.*,  Wm.*,  Thos.^' 
Geo.-,  Rich'.  His  daughter  Caroline  m.  G.  W.  Tarbox,  and  has  her 
record  with  his,  in  Chapter  XX.  .\nother  daughter  m.  A.  H.  Watkins 
of  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.     Their  daughter  is  Carrie  L.  Watkins. 

Elizabeth  Lewis-Grant',  mariied  into  the  famous  Emigrant  Matthew 

Grant  family,  from  which  General  U.  S.  Grant  also  sprang.     Her  only 

child  is  Mrs.  R.  H.  White  of  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  a  leading  D.  A.  R. 

Henry  Lewis'',  Veteran  of  War  of   1S12.     Married   Mollie   Cheeseborough. 

Nathaniel  Lewis",  Veteran  of  Warof  1S12.      M.  Hannah  Cheeseborough. 

Phineas  Lewis'',  m.   Margaret  McKenney. 

Priscilla  Lewis-Lewis^     ,She  m.    Charles    Lewis.     Her   great-grandson    is 

Carl  A.  Lewis',    the   genealogist   and   publisher   of   Lewisiana,    of   Guilford, 

Conn. 

Benjamin  Greene*,  (Benj^.,  Benj-.,  John',  ]  b.  March  2,  1720.     It  is  supposed  that  he 

married  Niobe  Paul,  1742-3,  at  Newport.      If   so,    he    had    Thomas,    Penelope,    Deborah, 

Anne,  Nathaniel,  John,  Mary  and  Elizabeth.     I  believe  these  to  have  been  his,  although  if 

it  be  true,  as  one  reports  it,  that  he  died  at  33,  this  could  not  be,  as  last  four  children    were 

born  after  that  date. 

Thomas  Greene',  b.  1743;  m.  Sarah  ^L^tteson   about    1763.       They    had   Phebe, 
Ruth,  Joseph,  b.  1768;   Matteson,  b.  1772,  and  Mercy. 
Matthew  Greene*,  is  the  way  the  official  records  give  it  ;  John   Matthew,    the  private 
records  have  it ;   1722-1757  ;  m.  Judith  Maxson  in  1749.     Three  daughters  and  one  son. 

Benjamin  Greene',  m.  Grace  Rogers,    1781.      Had    Matthew,    Benjamin,    David, 
Amos,  Esther,  Lucy,  Henry  Paris,  Thos.  Rogers,  and  Paul.     This  is  a  large  family 
and  one  that  deserves  more  space  given  to  it. 
Mary  Greene-Briggs*,  b.  May  iS.  1726.     By  a  peculiar  error  the  town   clerk   of  East 
Greenwich  recorded  both  Mary  and  her  next  younger  sister.  Amy,  as  children  of  Henry  and 
Margaret  Rathbun  Greene.     Cross  records  and  private  lists    which    have   fortunately   been 
preserved,  agree  in  calling  them  Benjamin''s  children.       Amy,   indeed,  is  actually  recorded 
in  the  official  records  as  belonging  to  both  brothers.       I  have  proof  that  both  daughters  be- 
longed where   I  now  place  them,  as  the  sixth  and  seventh  children  of  Benjamin  and  Eleanor 
Randall-Greene. 

Mary  became  the  head  of  an  important  line.       She  was  married  at  22  to  Captain  Thomas 
Briggs.     Pioneer  John  Briggs  was  his  great-grandfather.     Richard  Briggs,  his  grandfather. 


*Carl  Lewis,  the  Geiipalogist,  differs  from  the  author.     He  says  there  is  as  yet  no  real  proof  as 
who  was  the  mother  of  William.s 


134  ^l^e   (3reene   Jfamili? 


married  Susannah  Spencer,  daughter  of  John  and  Susannah  Griffin-Spencer.  See  Appendix 
for  particulars  as  to  the  Briggs  and  Spencer  forefathers.  One  of  the  sons  of  Richard  and 
Susannah  was  Francis,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Thomas^  and  Martha  Shippee-Matte- 
son.  Capt.  Thomas,  a  son  of  Francis  and  Mercy  Briggs,  was  therefore  a  lineal  descendant 
of  five  of  the  oldest  R.  I.  families. 

The  Captain  was  a  sea-faring  man  of  venturesome  disposition.  His  shipwrecks,  escapes 
and  trying  e.xperiences  are  still  a  matter  of  tradition  in  the  family.  Capt.  Thomas  and  Mary  had 
eight  children.  Their  descendants  have  been  almost  a  family  of  teachers.  Many  of  the 
sons  have  followed  the  sea,  or  their  country's  flag,  or  explored  strange  lands.  Several  of 
the  daughters  have  been  poets. 

Their  immediate  family  embraced  Caleb,  b.  1749,  Cary,  b.  1751,  Rachel,  b.  1753,  Francis, 
b.  1755,  Martha,  b.  1757,  Christopher,  b.  1760,  Humility,  b.  1763,  and  Mercy,  b.  1765. 
Of  Humility  and  Christopher  I  have  no  record.  Francis,  called  "  Laut"  or  "Kip,"  mar- 
ried Marberry  Jones  at  20.     He  died,  probably  but  a  young  man,  in  England. 

Caleb  Briggs',  b.  June  19,  1749,  d.  Nov.  14,  1S2S.  When  a  young  man  he  went 
to  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  where  were  many  families  of  R.  I.  extraction. 
Here  he  married  Abigail  Ryder,  daughter  of  John  and  Freelove  Hill-Ryder.  Abigail's 
mother,  Freelove  Hill,  was  the  daughter  of  Joshua  and  Judith  Tucker-Hill.  This 
Hill  family  were  certainly  of  Lascelle-Wardwell  descent.  See  Appendix.  Joshua 
Hill  was  probably  the  grandson  of  Jonathan  Hill,  who  went  to  R.  I.  in  an  early 
day.  As  to  Abigail's  Ryder  biood.  see  under  foot  notes  relating  to  Jacob  Baldwin. 
Caleb  Briggs  could  not  depart  enough  from  his  Quaker  blood  to  bear  arms  during 
the  Revolutionary  War.  However,  his  conscience  allowed  him  to  hire  a  substitute, 
and  to  make  himself  so  active  in  various  ways  that  the  British  made  several  attempts 
to  capture  him.  Once  his  wife  seized  a  gun  and  held  a  party  of  red-coats  at  bay 
until  her  husband  escaped.  They  had  six  sons,  Jonathan,  Robert,  Ellas,  Cary, 
Caleb  and  Solomon. 

Jonathan*,  the  oldest  son,  m.  a  Knapp.  His  daughters  were  Mrs.  Abigail 
Mosher,  Mrs.  Polly  Buckram,  and  Sally,  who  married  a  relative,  Enoch,  son 
of  John  Briggs.  This  last  daughter  had  John,  Pheba  A.  (.Mrs.  Stacey), 
Sarah  A.,  Enoch,  Eliza  (Mrs.  Barton),  Mary  (Mrs.  Snyder).  Frank  and 
Virgil.  Jonathan's  only  son  is  Caleb  Thomas  Briggs,  b.  March  17,  1820, 
still  living  in  1904,  and  an  entertaining  correspondent.  He  has  two  living 
children,  Mrs.  Harriet  Willis,  and  Alfred  Martin  Briggs,  who  has  a  family  of 
7  children.  His  dau.  Elnora  left  a  daughter,  Inez  Randall',  and  another 
daughter,  Josephine,  left  a  son.  Amos  Seymour*. 

Robert',  the  second  son,  moved  to  Canada.  He  had  Caleb  and  Jonathan. 
Cary^.  m.  a  Knapp.  He  had  two  daughters,  one  of  whom  was  Mrs.  Adsit. 
Caleb',  ra.  Matilda  Parks.  They  had  several  daughters  and  a  son  George. 
Solomon',  m.  Betsey  Buckbee.  Eight  children  lived  to  marry.  I  have 
records  of  these. 

Jane  Ann  Briggs-Cook',  1827-1876  ;  m,  Theodore  A.  Cook.  He  was 
of  Quaker  stock,  and  German  descent,  the  name  originally  being  Cook- 
ingham.  A  son  of  Jane  A.  is  A.  T.  Cook  (.Augustus  Theodore),  the 
well  known  seedsman  and  flower-grower  of  Hyde  Park,  N.  Y. 

Catherine  Briggs-Eckert',  m.  Nelson  Eckert  of  Greene  descent. 
Their  married  children  are  William  H.  Eckert,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  E. 
Smith  of  Brooklyn.     Both  have  children. 

Henry  Jonathan  Briggs'.  m.  Mariette  Underhiil.  One  son,  Henry  S. 
Abigail  Briggs-Cookingham',  m.  George  W.  Cookingham. 
Elias  N.  Briggs'.     Had  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Imogene  Butts. 
Isaac  Briggs'.     Children,  Thomas,  Elizabeth  and  Sarah. 
Elias  Briggs'.  third  and  remaining  son  of  Caleb  and   Abigail,  was  b.  Aug. 
10.  1775  ;  d.  March  3,  1837.     His  wife  was  Catherine  Campbell    Livingston 


^be   (Sreene   Jfamil^  135 

of  Scotch  descent  on  her  mother's  side.  Her  father  was  lineally  descended 
from  the  fifth  Lord  Livingston,  a  guardian  over  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  This 
Lord's  grandson,  Rev.  John,  was  a  Cromwell  sympathizer.  Charles  II  ac- 
cordingly banished  him  in  1663.  His  son  Robert,  b.  1654,  while  yet  a  Ud 
came  with  Holland  neighbors  to  N.  Y.  He  bougiit  of  the  Indians  160,000 
acres  of  land  on  the  Hudson  River,  which  George  I  confirmed  in  a  grant. 
The  American  members  of  the  family  have  ever  been  noted  for  their  brain 
power.  Elias  Briggs  was  an  extensive  land  owner.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
some  of  this  land  came  by  his  wife,  as  the  Livingstons  had  lands  and  to  spare. 
She  is  said  to  have  exhibited  the  family  talent  and  sterling  worth. 

Elias  and  Catherine  had  II  children.  William  and  Robert  never  married. 
Walter  settled  in  Ohio.  Nancy  became  (i)  Mrs.  Jonathan  Evans,  and  (2) 
Mrs.  Daniel  L.  Halsey.  She  had  7  children.  Athaline  m.  John  Collins, 
and  w^as  the  mother  of  5  children.  Amy  m.  Orville  Sackett,  and  had  13 
children,  two  of  whom  died  in  the  Civil  War.  Sarah  m.  David  Crego,  and  had 
two  sons.  Catherine  m.  David  Duncan,  and  had  3  children.  Melissa  m. 
Hiram  Shaw.  Dr.  Caleb  C.  Briggs,  b.  1827,  was  the  youngest  of  all.  He 
■was  a  surgeon  in  the  Union  army,  and  at  one  time  on  duty  on  S.  S.  "  North- 
em  Light." 

Abigail  Briggs'  was  the  fourth  child  of  this  large  family.  She  was 
a  woman  of  Strong  personality,  public  spirited  and  high-minded.  The 
Baldwin  sons  took  much  of  their  ambition  from  her.  She  married  in 
i3o6,  Jacob  Baldwin,  son  of  Eiisha  Baldwin,  Jr.  and  Jemina  Ryder.* 
Abigail  was  the  mother  of  15  children  2  of  whom  died  young.  Philetus, 
Charles  and  Sarah  M.  never  married.  Her  son  Daniel  P.,  was  color- 
bearer  in  Co.  C,  36th  111.  Infantry.  He  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Resaca,  Ga.,  May  14,  1864. 

The  second  son  of  this  family,  Eiisha  Jacob  Baldwin,  m. 
Rhoda  Kix.  They  had  Frank  H.  and  Eugene  W.  Charlotte  J. 
Baldwin  m.  Eldad  Hall,  and  has  many  descendants,  mostly  in 
Illinois.  Frances  J.  became  Mrs.  Z.  Bruyn,  and  the  mother 
of  Melissa  A.  and  Hattie  B.      Miletus  O.  Baldwin  has  a  family 

*The  Baldwin  descent  is  supposed  to  be  from  George  Baldwiu.  in  K.  I.  heiore  1653.  and  later  living  in 
Yorkshire,  (now  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hempstead.)  L.  I.  From  George,  through  Thomas,  the  line  runs 
through  James  to  Eiisha,  Senior,  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  This  Elisha's  sou,  Eiisha.  Jr.,  m.  Jemima 
Eyder.    Their  son  was  Jacob  who  married  Abigail  Briggs. 

It  is  remarkable  in  how  many  respects  the  early  history  or  the  KyUers  parallels  the  early  history  of  the 
de  Greenes.  Osmond,  companion  of  RoUo  the  Norseman,  who  gained  Normandy.  A.  D.  912,  was  the  head 
ota'noble  house.  Several  of  this  line  were  with  William  the  Conqueror  in  the  conquest  of  England.  1066. 
They  bore  the  surname  of  Foliot.  Before  lies,  Jordan  Foliot,  a  second  son,  had  the  good  fortune  to  gain 
title  and  an  estate.  He  at  once  assumed  the  name  of  de  Bythre.  which  probably  denotes  that  he  held  the 
office  of  King's  Rither.  of  Chief  Forester,  and  through  the  King's  personal  favor  enjoyed  his  sudden  rise 
in  the  world.    The  name  became  corrupted  into  Eyder. 

Sir  William  de  Bythre  was  a  Crusader  under  the  same  Prince.  Edward  '"  Longshanks,"  1271,  as  the  rm- 
fortunate  third  Lord  de  Greene,  who  died  in  Palestine  that  same  year.  Sir  William's  emblem  was  a  blue 
banner  bearing  a  device  of  three  golden  crescents.  It  has  ever  since  been  borne  on  the  coat-of-arms  of 
the  family.  Sir  William,  like  the  fourth  Lord  de  Greene,  accompanied  Edward  I  in  his  wir  against  Soot- 
land.  Sir  William,  through  his  mother,  was  of  close  blood  kin  to  Lady  Lucia  de  la  Zouche,  ancestress  of 
all  the  Warwick  and  Quidnessett  Greenes,  as  both  were  descended  from  Eudo  and  Ala  n.  Earl  of  Little 
Britain. 

A  dozen  generations  after  this  crusader  Sir  William  came  Thomas  Ryder,  who  came  to  Mass.  in  1635. 
His  son— or  grandson— John^  lived  at  L.  I.  and  New  York.  A  neighbor  of  his  at  Newtown.  L.  I.,  was  a 
former  Dutch  ship-carnenter,  Hereks  Siboutszen  Krankheyt,  who  had  received  a  large  grant  of  land. 
To  him  and  his  wife,  Wyntie  Theunis  de  Kay,  were  born  14  children.  John  Ryder'  married  one  of  the 
daughters.  Adriantie  Hereks.  in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  New  York.  June  27.  1690.  Several  Hol- 
land keepsakes  are  now  in  possession  of  the  Briggs  family,  and  are  much  prized. 

Then  came  Hercules',  Jaoob^,  Rev.  Joshua",  and  then  Jemima',  mother  of  Jacob'  Baldwin,  who 
married  Abigail  Briggs. 


36  ^be   6reene   familv? 


of  12.  Noah  A.  married  Nancy  Buchanan,  a  relative  of  President  Buchanan,  and  has 
a  family  of  5.  George  W.  m.  Albina  Regan.  They  have  3  danghters.  Hattie  M.  be- 
came Mrs  George  Durand,  and  has  one  son,  William  Aithur.  Arthur  E.  Baldwin 
is  an  attorney  at  Omaha.     lie   married   Edith   Langdon,  and  has  two  daughters. 

Theremainingcneof  the  15  children  is  the  eldest  of  them  all.  Lieut. -Col. EliasBriggs 
Baldwin^,  was  b.  June  17,  1S34.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  Civil  War,  being 
first.  Captain  of  Co.  C,  36th  111.  Inf.,  then  Quartermaster,  and  lastly  Lieut. -Col.  in 
the  8th  Mo.  Cavalry.  His  first  wife  was  Julia  Cornelia  Crampton,  dau.  of  Nathaniel 
and  Lucy  Hart  (Dudley)  Crampton.  of  Conn.  His  present  wife  was  LydiaA.  Gibbs, 
of  Bridgton.  Me. 

Lieut. -Col.  Baldwin's  first  wife  was  a  distant  relative  of  his,  she  being  twice  de- 
scended from  William  Spencer,  the  early  emigrant  who  was  their  common  ancestor. 
Miss  Crampton  traced  her  descent  from  a  dozen  leading  Colonial  families  of  Conn., 
including  a  lineage  from  Stephen  Hopkins  of  the  Mayflower.  Her  sons  were  Evelyn 
B.,  .Milton  Nathenial,  and  Burton  Lincoln,  The  last  wife's  children  were  Edwin 
Miles  and  Mrs.  Julia  Anna  Ball,  of  Oswego,  Kansas. 

Milton  Nathaniel  Baldwin',  b.  Dec,  24,  1863;  m.  Lucy,  dau.  of  Arthur  and 
Libby  (Hughes)  Bryant,  a  grand-niece  of  the  poet  William  Cullen  Bryant. 
Children:  Edith  Cornelia,  and  Lydia  Briggs,  descended  from  Stephen  Hopkins, 
paternally,  and  from  Wm.  Mullins,  John  and  Priscilla  Alden,  and  Francis 
Cooke,  maternally,  of  the  Mayflower. 

Burton  Lincoln  Baldwin',  b.  Sept.  23,  1865;  m.  ISIinnie  May,  dau.  of  John 
Rhodes.     Children:   Walter  Burton,  Julia  May,  and  Genevieve  Cowles. 

Edwin  Miles  Baldwin',  1S6S-1890.  Died  in  his  22d  year.  Deputy  Clerk 
of  the  District  Court,  Labette  Co.,  Kansas. 

Julia  Anna  Baldwin-Ball',  b.  Aug.  15,  1S70.  M.  to  Ollie  W.,  son  of  Aaroa 
Ball.     Children:  Charles  Edwin  and  Geraldine. 

Evelyn  Briggs  Baldwin',  the  eldest  of  Lieut.-Col.  Baldwin's  family,  was 
born  at  Springfield,  Mo.,  July  22,  1862.  He  is  sixth  in  line  from  Capt. 
Briggs,  still  remembered  for  his  hazardous  voyages.  No  doubt  in  his  case, 
from  his  Hill-Ryder  blood,  there  has  been  an  out-cropping  also  of  the  old 
adventuresome  Hugenot  blood,  once  so  plainly  shown  in  the  Pierce  and 
King  mariners  and  Buccaneers.  Mr.  Baldwin  is  a  member  of  the  National 
Geographical  Society  and  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club. 

In  1893-4  he  was  with  Pear\^'s  North  Greenland  Exposition  as  ist 
Meteorologist.  In  1897  he  visited  Spitzbergen,  as  a  volunteer  to  accompany 
Andree  in  his  voyage  toward  the  North  Pole,  but  the  unfortunate  Andree 
and  his  two  comrades  taking  advantage  of  a  favorable  wind,  got  away  short- 
ly before  Mr.  Baldwin's  arrival  at  the  balloon  station.  In  1898-9  he  was 
second  in  command  of  Wellman  Expedition,  Franz-Josef  Land,  and  in  1901 
he  organized  and  commanded  the  Baldwin-Ziegler  Expedition.  l\Ir.  Bald- 
win has  written  a  book  of  his  experience,  "  Life  in  the  Great  White  World," 
and  has  lectured  extensively  on  Arctic  life  and  Polar  problems.  He  has  a 
fine  collection  of  mounted  Arctic  animals,  Eskimo  furs  and  implements, 
models  of  sledges,  canoes,  etc. 

Evelyn  B.  Baldwin  is  unmarried,  and  therefore  free  to  give  his  life  to 


EVELYN    BRIGGS    BALDWIN,    (ARCTIC    EXPLORER) 


Zbc   (Breene   jramii^ 


his  chosen  work,  the  search  for  the  North  Pole.  With  the  ambition  and 
energy  of  youth  still  his  ;  with  the  possession  of  a  scientific  training  and 
years  of  real  experience  to  aid  him,  and  an  enduring  physique  behind  all, 
the  world  may  expect  to  hear  more  of  him  in  the  years  to  come. 

Captain  Gary  Briggs*,  [Mary  Greene-Briggs*,  Benj.  Greene-',  Benj.'-',  John\]  b 
Aug.  19,  1751.  He  was  m.  in  1771  to  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Josiah  Jones.  He  served 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  after  followed  the  sea  for  several  years.  He  died  in 
1S39.  Of  his  children,  Sarah  never  married  ;  Gideon  m.  Nancy  Morey,  and  settled 
in  Canada  ;  Lucy  and  Polly  married  two  brothers,  Holden  and  John  Moon,  and  left 
descendants. 

Benoni  Briggs",  [Cary=,  Mary*,  etc.]     His  first  wife    was   Mercy,    dau.   of 
Judge  Rowland  Hall  of  N.  Stephentown,  N.  Y.     By  her  he  had  these  :  Alma, 
who  m.  Josiah  Whittemore  of  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.    She   has  descendants.     Alvin 
,  Briggs'  had  no  children.     Rowland  H.  Briggs'  m.  Mercy  Maria  Bull,  and  had 

three  daughters.  Alma  O.,  the  poetess  ;  Electra  M.,  who  m.    her  father's  sec 
ond  cousin,  Gideon  S.  Hall  ;  and  Caroline,  who  died  unmarried. 

By  his  last  wife,  Mrs.  Lydia  (Morey)  Hall,   Benoni'^  had  Benoni  Jay,   who 

m.    (i)    his   third    cousin,   Alice    M.    Arnold,  by   whom  he  had  Clarence  and 

George  D.  Briggs,  and  (2)  Lizzie  McMahon,  by  whom  he  had  Beatrice. 

Rachel  Briggs-Hall,'^  f. if  Mary   Greene-Briggs*,   etc.,]  b.   March  21,  1753.     M 

George  Hall,  a  Revrilutiuiiai  v  sMldicr,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  Edward  Hall,    who 

came  to  Mass.  in  1630.     Sume  m1  mcir    sons  moved    to   Canada.     Their   daughters 

were  .\lice  and  Betsey.      I  have  records  of  these  sons  : 

Reuben  T.  Hall^  m.  Lydia  Whitman.  Hi^,  son,  Rhodes  Whitman  Hall, 
has  a  daughter,  Mrs.  D.  L.  Ashdown,  and  perhaps  other  children.  Reuben^ 
was  the  father  also  of  Sally  (Mrs.  Tatrick  Collins),  Rachel,  Phebe  (Mrs. 
George  Hackett,  of  111.),  Polly  Ann  (Mrs.  N-.thaniel  Haskins,  of  Mass.), 
and  Reuben  T.  Hall,  Jr.  of  Pa.  The  latter  had  S  children,  one  of  whom  is 
Mrs.  Edith  Butts  of  Farmington  Hill,  Pa. 

Caleb  Hall",  m.  Lydia  Morey.      He  had  two  sons.  Caleb,    Jr.,    and   Gideon 
S.      The  latter  m.  the  daughter  of  Rowland  Hall  Briggs. 
Gideon  Hall'.     Had  a  large  family.      Moved  "West." 
Martha  Briggs-Babcock^  [of    Mary   Greene- -Briggs*.    etc.],    b.    May    11,    1757. 
Married  a  Babcock. .    Her  descendants  are  mostly   in   N.    Y.     Her   son  Silas'    dau. 
Malina  m.  Elijah  .Arnold,  and  their  dau.  .\lice  m.  Benoni  Jay  Briggs^ 

Mercy  Briggs- Horton^,  [of  Mary  Greene-Briggs*.  etc.,]  b.  Aug.  3,  I76i;.     She  m. 
John  Horton  and  lived  on  Black  River,  near  Stephentown,  N.  Y.     A  dau.    married 
Josiah  Roberts. 
Amy  Greene-Lewis*,  [Benjamin-^,   Benj.-',  John',]   b.    Sept.  10,1727,     Married  Elisha 
Lewis,  probably  a  brother  to  Amos. 
Caleb  Greene*,  b.  March  21,  1729. 

Matthew  Greene^,  had  son  Squire"  with  numerous  offspring. 

Benjamin  Greene',  1769-1S34  ;  m.  Bridget  Wheeler  in  1796.     He  had  Benjamin, 

George,  and  daughters. 

Rev.  Joseph  Greene*,  [Benj.',  Benj.\  John",]  1731-1796  :  m.  Hannah  Thurston.     He 

was  so  faithful  a  minister  that  his  church   at   Leyden,    Mass.,  erected    a   monument    to  his 

memory.     His  children  were  Paul,  m.  to  Deborah  Cl.arke,  and  line  living  mostly  in   N.   Y.; 

Keziah,  wife  of  Dennis  Taylor,  12  children  ;   Mary  ;  Benjamin,  who  m.  Chapin  in 

1797,  and  from  whom  an  influential  line  has  sprung.     Many  of  these  are  in  Pa. 

HENRY  GREENE',  [Benjamin-,  John'.]  He  was  of  North  Kings- 
town (Quidnessett),  R.  I.  May  15,  1724,  he  married  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  Mosher-Rathbone.     She  was  fifth  in  descent  from  Richard 


138  Zl)e   (Breene   family? 

Rathbun  or  Rathbone,  [Margaret"',  Joseph^  Johir,  John",  Richard'.]  He 
lived  mostly  in  E.  Greenwich,  but  died  in  W.  Greenwich.  Beside  his  land, 
he  left  a  thrifty  fortune  of  ^2,667,  over  $13,000,  or  according  to  present 
values,  about  $40,000. 

It  is  generally  held  that  the  official  records  of  this  family  are  not  trust- 
worthy. I  have  several  authentic  private  and  cross  records,  and  can  say 
with  positiveness  that  the  supposed  errors  arise  from  two  things  :  (i)  Con- 
fused record  lines  which  make  it  hard  to  tell  which  birth  date  fits  which 
child  or  who  married  who.  (2)  An  error  by  which  3  children  belonging  to 
a  brother  and  a  cousin  were  recorded  as  Henry's.  Cross  records  of  related 
lines,  and  private  records  have  corrected  all  this,  sa\-e  that  there  is  room  for 
doubt  as  to  the  exact  birth  dates  of  some  of  the  daughters.  Henry  and  his 
wife  had  eight  children.  The  3  children  recorded,  that  were  not  his,  were 
Mary,  born  1726,  and  Am}',  born  1727,  his  brother  Benjamin's  children  ;  and 
Nathan,  boin  1731,  his  cousin.  Wealthy  John's  son. 

Humility  Greene-Greeke*.  [Heary^  Benj.^  John\]  married  her  second  cousin,  James 
Greene,  son  of  Maroon  Swamp  James.  Austin,  Huling  and  Frank  L.  Greene  all  three  say 
she  married  Silas  Greene,  the  son  of  Wealthy  John.  But  Silas  married  her  cousin  Humility. 
The  two  brothers,  Henry  and  Benjamin  Greene,  each  liad  a  daughter  Humility.  Benjamin 
lived  in  Westerly,  and  Henry  in  the  territory  set  off  in  1741  as  West  Greenwich.  Benjamin's 
Humility,  had  she  married  James  Greene,  would  have  been  more  than  four  years  older  than 
he — an  improbable  difference  in  that  day.  When  James  Greene*,  [James',  John',  John^,] 
married  his  second  wite,  she  is  e.tpressly  mentioned  as  Humility  Greene  of  IFest  Green-mich, 
i.  e.  the  daughter  of  Henry,  who  lived  in  that  township.  She  was  born  Feb.  12,  1725.  Her 
line  is  traced  with  her  husband's,  in  Chapter  XIV. 

Benjamin  Greexe',  [Henry',  Benj.-,  Jolm^,  ]  b.  July  17,  1729.  He  married  Mehitable, 
dau.  of  Job  I'ripp,  lineally  descended  from  John  Tripp  of  Portsmouth,  of  the  early  colony. 
He  died  at  Exeter,  R.  I.,  after  1S04.  They  had  10  children  who  lived  beyond  infancy  : 
Eunice,  Waite  (Mrs.  George  Moore),  Henry,  Margaret,  Joseph,  who  m-  Mary  Lewis, 
Sarah,  Benjamin  Jr.,  Mary,  Duty  and  William. 

Benjamin  Greene^,  of  above,  was  the  eight  child  of  Benjamin  and  Mehitable. 
He  was  b.  Aug.  13,  1764,  and  d.  April  22,  1855,  at  Benton,  Pa.,  in  his  gist  year.  He 
was  m.  at  23  to  Joanna,  dau.  of  Captain  Robert  and  Eunice  Waite-Reynolds.  Joanna 
was  si.xth  fromThi)mas  Waite  of  Portsmouth.  [Eunice',  John*.  Sam.^,  Sam. 2,  Thos'.] 
See  Appendi.x.  They  had  12  children  ;  3  died  young  or  never  married.  The  others 
were  Henry;  Sarah  (.Mrs.  Hallstead);  Mary  (Mrs.  Raymond):  Robert,  m.  to  Melissa 
Rice  ;  William,  m.  to  Celinda  Capwell  ;  Hiram,  m.  to  Eliza  Dean  ;  Lyman,  m.  (l) 
to  Almira  Capwell,  and  (2)  to  Mary  Chase  ;  Nancy  (Mrs.  Dean);  and  Alanson  B.. 
m.  to  Sybyl  Dean. 

Dr.  Henry  Greene*,  of  above,  was  the  oldest  son.   He  was  b.  Jan.  S,  17SS, 
at  Exeter,  R.  L,and  d.  Nov.  28,  1S25,    at   Factoryville,    Pa.      He    was  mar- 
ried in  his  19th  year  to  a  young  widow.  Mrs.  Almira   Gardner,   dau,    of  Sam- 
uel and  Content  (  Calkin  )  Rice.     Dr.  Henry  was  esteemed  a   superior   physi- 
cian and  surgeon.     He  served  in  the  latter  capacity  during  the  War  of   1S12. 
Norval  Douglas  Greene',  [  Dr.  Henry^  Benj'.,  Benj*.,  Henry^,  etc.,] 
b.  .Sept.,    1S08,  d.  Jan.  17,  1901,  in  his gsd year.   He  ra.  (i)  Ann  Eliza, 
dau.  of  Isaac  and  Nancy  Tripp--Vaughn.  M.  (2)  Chariotte,  dau.  of  Albert 
and  Mindwell    ( Schultz )    Felts.     He    was  a    merchant,    starting  into 
business   for   himself    before    he    was    21.     He   was     widely    known 


DOUGLAS   X.    GREENE 

SrRACUSE,   N.   Y. 


^e   (Srecne   Jfamilp 


139 


throughout  northeastern  Pennsylvania,  and  bore  a  high  reputation  for 
ability  and  unswerving  integrity.  By  his  first  wife  he  was  the  father  of 
six  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  By  his  last  wife  he  had 
three  children,  only  one  of  whom  is  alive. 

Ellen  Greene*,  1831-1846.     Died  at  15. 
Caroline  Greene^  1S33-1S51.     D.  at  18. 
Emily   Greene-Warner*.    1835-1877.     M.  Lewis  B.  Warner. 
She  had  one  son,  Nerval  Douglas,  b.   1B59. 

Henry  Greene*,  1S37-1864.  M.  Sarah  Knapp,  and  was  the 
father  of  Alma  I.  (deceased),  Henry  L.,  and  Clarence  O.  He 
was  a  member  of  a  Pennsylvania  Regiment,  and  died  during  the 
Civil  War. 

Louise  Greene--Van  Buskirk*.   1839-1884.     She  m.   Clarence 
Van  Buskirk,  and  had  Stella  and  Maud  Louise. 
Ann  Eliza  Greene*,  1841-1SS4. 

Douglas  N.  Greene*,  only  surviving  son  of  Nerval  Douglas 
and  Charlotte  Greene,  was  born  Oct.  8.  1S44,  at  Scranton,  Pa. 
He  served  in  a  volunteer  Penn.  Reg't  during  the  Gettysburg 
campaign.  He  has  his  father's  keen  business  acumen.  Before 
he  was  20  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Delaware.  Lackawanna 
and  Western  R.  R.  Co.,  in  Coal  Department,  at  Scranton,  Pa. 
In  less  than  si.x  years  he  was  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  as  well 
as  director,  of  the  Northern  Coal  and  Iron  Co.  He  has  stuck  to 
the  coal  business  and  is  now  one  of  a  firm  that  has  offices  in 
several  large  cities  for  the  sale  of  coal  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  in  Canada.  Beside  this  he  is  identified  with  many 
other  business  interests.  He  is  a  bank  director,  Vice-President 
of  McMillan  Book  Co.,  and  is  an  officer  and  stockholder  in 
various  large  business  concerns  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  his  present 
home.  He  is  Vice-President  of  the  Syracuse  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  a  member  of  various  clubs  and  patriotic  organiza- 
tions, an  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  director  and 
treasurer  of  various  charitable  institutions.  Evidently  there  is 
small  chance  for  time  to  hang  heavy  upon  his  hands  !  Mr. 
Greene  was  married  Oct.  21,  1869.  at  Scranton,  Pa.,  to  Emma 
Christie,  dau.  of  Joseph  J.  and  Susan  H.  ( Barton)  Posten. 

Annie  Posten  Greene*,  b.  Feb.  3,  1872  ;  d.  at  I  month. 
Joseph  Douglas  Greene',  b.  Feb.  3,  1874. 
Albert    Henry   Greene',    b.    Nov.    13,    l875;d.  atll 
months. 
William  CuUen  Greene',  [  of   Dr.    Henry^,   Benj*.,   Benj*.,    Henry', 
etc.],  1810-1847.     M.  (i)  Aurelia  Stone,  and  (2)  Sabra  Stone,  sister  of 
the  first  wife.     By  his  first  wife  he  had  Maria  L.   (Mrs.    Dean),    Benj- 
amin Marshall,  and  Josephine  A.  (  Mrs.  Smith).     By  the  second   wife 
he  had  Hortense  B.  (Mrs.  Kennely)  and  Rhoda  A.  (Mrs.  Bailey). 

Emily  Greene-Miller',  1813-1835.  M.  Joseph  B.  Miller.  Leftone 
son,  Jerome  G.,  a  successful  lawyer.  Hem.  Emily  Hollenback,  and 
has  3  children,  George  H.,  Walter  G.  and  John  B. 

Marie  Louise  Greene-Stone',  1815-1842.  M.  Jeremiah  Stone.  She 
left  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Almira  Northup  and  Mrs.  Emily  Perry. 

Leonidas  Rice  Greene'.  1818-1881.  M.  Emily  D.  Leighton.  They 
had  2  children,  both  of  whom  died  before  their  father. 


I40  ^be  (Bveenc  jfainil^ 


Maky  Greene-Pierce*,  [Henry^,  Benj.-,  John'.]  Most  probable  date  of  birth,  Jan.  6, 
1733-  Given  also  a'.  1731.  She  was  married  in  1753  to  George  Pierce,  son  of  Giles  and 
Comfort  Nichols-Pierce,  and  had  quite  a  family. 

Anna  Greene-Sweet-Greene*,  [Henry',  Benj.^,  John'.]  Two  dates  of  birth  given, 
but  supposed  to  be  Nov.  4,  1736.  She  married  (l)  Peleg  (?)  Sweet,  and  had  a  son  Peleg, 
and  it  is  thought  a  daughter  Alice,  who  married  a  Budlong.  When  a  widow,  she  married 
her  cousin  Benjamin,  ["White  Hat"  John',  Benjamin",  John'.]  This  marriage  is  given  both  in 
official  and  private  records,  the  discovery  of  which  clears  up  a  one-time  tangle.  Benjamin 
and  Anna's  one  daughter  was  Mary  Greene -Waite°,  whose  line  is  given  elsewhere  in  this 
same  chapter. 

Job  Greene*,  [Henry',  Benj.",  John',]b.  March  2,  1735.  M.  Meribah  Carr  of  remote 
Lascelle-Wardwell  blood.  They  had  Eunice,  Sarah,  Henry,  Margaret,  Job,  Nathan, 
Susannah,  Meriba,  Humility,  Gardner,  Polly  and  Amey  or  Amos.  A  large  line.  See  Frank 
L.  Greene's  History. 

Catherine  Greene-Pierce*,  b.  May  15,  173S.  M.  in  1760  to  her  sister  Mary's  brother- 
in-law,  William  Pierce,  son  of  Giles  and  Comfort  Pierce. 

Christian  Greene-Greene*,  b.  1740.  This  is  one  of  the  confused  records.  Cross  re- 
cords prove  her  to  have  married  Job  Greene^,  [Philip*,  "  White  Hat"  John',  Benj.'',  John'.] 
her  cousin's  son.     They  had  a  son  Solomon. 

Jeremiah  Greene*,  b.  April  11,  1743.  Probably  married  Deborah  Campbell,  July 
20,  1765. 

JOSHUA  GREENE^  [Benj. =,  John'.]  He  d.  1795.  His  wife  was 
Mahitable .  I  have  noofficial  records  of  his  descendants,  bnt  it  is  prob- 
able that  these  are  of  his  line. 

Hope  Greene-Thornton,  m.  Borden  Thornton,  1797. 

Samuel  Greene,  b.  1758  ;  m.  Mehitable  Thornton,  1783.     M.  twice  after  that. 

William  Greene,   m.   Phebe  Brown,  iSoS.     Had  Samuel,  Ruth,  Duty,  Benjamin, 
James,  and  Allen.      By  second  wife  had  Mehitable,  Mary  and  Sarah. 
By  Abigail,  the  second  wife,  Samuel   Greene  had  these  :      Joshua    Hospard,  Jarass  A., 
Frederick   Smith,  and  Peter   Castoff.      By  third   wife,  Sarah,  he   had  Samuel   Towle   and 
Randall  Eldred.     Of  his  sons,  James  A.,  b.  1796,  had  John  Herman,  b.    1S23,   and   Wil- 
liam Omen,  b.  1832. 


PART    THREE 

RELATING  TO  DESCENDANTS  OF 
DEBORAH  GREENE-KING  AND  SAMUEL  KING 


Some  may  think  an  undne  amonnt  of  space  has  been  given  to  this 
honse.  I  wonld  say  that  my  first  intention  was  to  confine  myself  exchisive- 
ly  to  Samuel  and  Deborah  Greene-King's  posterity.  In  presenting  this  I  am 
giving  what  I  first  planned,  but  setting  it  off  by  itself  so  that  those  who  take 
no  interest  in  it  can  see  at  a  glance  what  field  it  covers,  and  pass  it  by. 

Part  Three  has  been  laboriously  searched  out.  Knowing  that  this  sec- 
tion would  meet  the  severest  criticism,  whether  deserved  or  not,  I  have  sub- 
mitted the  full  text  of  the  Joel,  Stephen,  George,  David  and  Cynthia  King 
chapters,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Barnes,  Bradley,  Lamson  and  Pierce,  and 
the  Henry,  Richmond,  George  and  Nelson  Nichols'  chapters  to  the  heads  of 
their  lines,  and  have  their  full  approval.  From  lack  of  time,  it  has  not  been 
done  with  the  others,  but  the  data  has  been  furnished  by  those  supposed  to 
be  most  expert  in  their  particular  family  history. 


CHAPTER    XXn 

THE    UNION    OF    THE    GREENE    AND     LA    VALLEY-KING    LINES,    THROVGH 
DEBORAH   GREENE'S   MARRIAGE   TO   SAMUEL   KING 

Deborah  Greene"'  was  the  daughter  of  James  Greene,  grand-daughter  of 
John  Greene  of  Bristol,  great-grand-daughter  of  Lieut.  James,  and  great-great- 
grand-daughter  of  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  the  emigrant.  Old  John  of 
Ouidnessett  had  800  years  of  certified  pedigree  behind  him.  It  is  given 
in  chapter  XI.  This  descendant,  Deborah,  born  49  years  after  his  death, 
was  the  fore-mother  of  a  great  host.  She  took  a  new  departure, — married 
outside  of  her  family,  and  outside  of  the  coterie  of  old  Rhode  Island  families 
into  which  alone  the  Quidnessett  Greenes  seemed  to  feel  a  right  to  marry. 
Before  we  take  up  the  personal  history  of  her  family,  let  us  study  the  history 
of  the  two  houses  from  which  Samuel  King  sprang, — the  Kings*  and  La 
Valleys. 


The  Kings.  There  are  in  R.  I.  the  Coventry'  Kings  and  the  West 
Greenwich  Kings.  This  is  an  English  name,  yet  the  West  Greenwich  Kings 
have  always  been  credited  with  having  come  from  France,  not  England. 
Traditions  spring  up  in  long  settled  communities  like  toadstools  in  dank 
ground.  One  story  is  that  two  brothers  came  from  France,  and  settled ;  the 
one  in  Coventry,  the  other  in  West  Greenwich.  Another  is  that  at  the 
time  so  many  Frenchmen  fled  to  R.  I.  for  religious  refuge,  1685-1700,  that  a 
Huguenot  ancestor,  Jean  (John)  La  Baighn  or  La  Quien  came  to  Quidnessett, 
and  that  his  name  became  corrupted  into  Kant,  Kane  and  King.  In  ad- 
dition, the  West  Greenwich  family  have  a  half  dozen  versions  of  a  half-Cid, 
half-Robinson  Crusoe  sort  of  an  ancestor,  who  bore  a  charmed  existence, 
and  had  as  many  lives  as  a  cat. 

The  true  story  is  this  :     King  is  an  old  English  name.     There  were  no 

*  At  Uie  beginniug  of  my  researches.  I  absolutely  rejected  all  I  liaJ  ever  heard  ot  John  King,  though 
it  rested  on  the  excellent  authority  ot  Mrs.  Nancy  Nichols,  the  first  family  historian.  She  heard  it  from 
the  lips  of  her  grandfather,  own  son  of  King,  the  Buccaneer.  Nevertheless,  it  was  so  highly  spiced  a 
romance  as  to  seem  entirely  improbable.  I  faithfully  ran  all  evidence  down,  and  have  to  admit  the 
truth  of  the  story,  almost  word  for  word  as  I  heard  it  at  first.  This  is  an  instance  where  truth  is  strang- 
er than  fiction. 

113 


144  ^be   (Breene   jfaniil^ 

lords,  or  dukes,  or  marqiuses  in  their  ranks.  They  were  of  the  middle  class, 
husbandmen  and  tradesmen.  The  first  ones  were  lucky  enough  to  be  pat- 
ronized by  some  king.  Just  as  at  the  present  day,  English  shop-keepers  put 
on  their  signs,  "Hatter  to  his  Majesty,"  or  "Tailor  to  the  King,"  so  these 
ancestors  paraded  their  royal  patronage  until  their  neighbors  called  them 
King's  men  (Kingmen).     In  time  the  name  was  shortened  into  King. 

Not  far  from  London  there  lived  a  family  of  Kings.  They  became 
connected  by  marriage  about  1600  or  a  little  earlier  with  the  semi-Hugue- 
not family  of  Lascelle-Wardwells.  (See  Appendix.)  Records  are  scant  and 
obscure.  But  apparently  after  1565  a  Lascelle  girl  married  a  Pierce,  and 
their  daughter  married  a  King.  The  main  point  is  that  this  infusion  of 
Huguenot  blood  gave  an  adventursome,  roaming  disposition,  and  a  spirit  of 
resistance  to  religious  coercion.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  in  the  great 
anti-Laud  emigration  in  1635,  that  several  of  this  family  came  to  the  New 
World.  These  were  Michael,  Thomas,  William  and  John.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  to  trace  the  dispersion  of  these  men.  The  Massachusetts  Kings 
seem  mostly  from  John,  who  with  his  wife  Mary  settled  at  Weymouth  in 
1639.  His  descendants  for  a  long  time  were  nearly  all  seamen.  It  is  prob- 
able that  he  was  the  uncle  to  whom  his  namesake  was  consigned  26  years 
later.  Emigrant  William's  son  William  is  believed  to  be  the  one  of  that 
name  that  in  165 —  received  15  lashes  on  the  bare  back  from  a  cat-o-nine- 
tails,  because  he  had  accepted  Quaker  doctrines. 

Thomas  King  of  those  mentioned,  was  21  when  he  crossed  the  ocean 
in  1635.  To  him  and  his  wife  Ann  was  probably  born  Clement,*  Clement 
who  married  and  came  to  R.  I.,  where  we  get  the  first  notice  of  him  at  the 
birth  of  one  of  his  children  in  16S2.  He  was  the  head  of  the  Coventry 
Kings,  with  whom  we  have  nothing  more  to  do. 

A  King  brother  remained  in  England.  He  lived  in  London  and  was 
a  man  of  means.  One  of  his  younger  children  was  born  in  1654,  and 
named  John.  He  was  a  puny  mite  of  a  child,  that  gave  small  promise  of 
growing  up.  When  he  was  eleven  years  old,  the  plague  stnick  the  city  of 
London.  This  was  the  Black  Death  that  made  the  year  of  1665  memorable. 
The  disease  began  with  a  chill  and  giddiness  ;  great  boil-like  swellings  and 
livid  spots  like  bruises  appeared  upon  the  body,  followed  by  violent  vomit- 
ing, convulsions  and  death. 

The  country  was  wild  with  terror.  Cordons  of  troops  were  thrown  a- 
round  the  city,  and  not  a  soul  permitted  to  leave  it.  The  ships  were  not 
allowed  to  leave  the  quay.  London  became  a  charnel  house.  Though  lime 
was  sprinkled  in  every  house,  and  great  fires  keep  burning  at  the  crossings  of 
the  streets,  the  v^ry  air  was  putrid.     70,000  people  died.     Men  were  crazed 

♦Circumstantial  evidence— not  official  records. 


Cbe   (Breene   family  145 

through  fear.  Others  committed  suicide  to  escape  the  loathsome  death  of 
the  plague.  Each  day  the  dread  cry  resounded  along  the  streets, — "  Bring 
out  your  dead  !  "  Sometimes  there  were  none  to  answer,  for  only  festering 
corjises  remained  within. 

Whole  families  died,  and  their  bodies  were  flung  without  ceremony  into  the 
horrid  plague  trenches  of  Bone  Hill.  The  Black  Death  reached  the  home 
of  this  King.  It  took  the  father,  the  mother,  the  sons  and  daughters,  all 
save  one,  and  he  the  poor  weakling.  When  the  plague  ceased,  a  friend  of 
the  child's  father  hunted  up  a  sea  captain  about  to  sail  for  Massachusetts. 
Little  John  stood  by  and  saw  this  good  friend  j)ay  the  captain  the  passage 
money  for  the  child,  and  heard  him  charge  him  to  deliver  the  boy  to  his 
uncle  in  the  colony. 

On  the  voyage  the  captain  changed  his  plans  and  sailed  to  Providence, 
R.  I.,  instead.  Arriving  there,  he  claimed  the  lad  was  a  waif  and  owed  him 
for  his  fare.  To  recompense  (?)  himself  he  bound  the  boy  out  until  he 
should  be  21,  and  pocketed  the  money  for  his  indenture.  The  boy  was  so 
small  that  the  captain  passed  him  off  for  seven,  so  that  he  had  14  years  to 
serve  as  a  bound  boy.  However,  he  was  kindly  treated,  and  fortunately 
grew  strong  and  robust.  He  became  a  seaman,  and  an  expert  one.  He  was 
a  bachelor,  with  no  ties  to  bind  him  to  the  shore.*  His  excitement-loving 
Huguenot  blood  was  strong  within  him.  It  was  the  palmy  days  of  the 
Buccaneers,  and  John  King  became  one  of  them.  The  Buccaneer  of  that 
day  stood  in  relation  to  the  common  sailor  as  Roosevelt's  Rough  Riders 
stood  with  the  common  soldiers  of  the  Spanish- American  AVar.  His  calling 
was  legitimate  enough,  but  there  was  dare-deviltry  enough  mixed  up  with 
it  to  attract  alike  romantic  men  of  morals,  dashing  adventurers  and  cool- 
headed  criminals. 

If  there  were  incarnate  fiends  among  them,  like  Captains  Teach  and 
Blackbeard,  there  were  other  captains  who  regularly  held  morning  devo- 
tions with  their  crew.  There  were  Buccaneers  who  used  to  read  their  Greek 
Testaments  for  pastime,  and  not  a  few  who  rose  high  in  honor  in  the  king's 
service.  The  only  requirement  was  that  every  man  should  live  up  to  Sir 
John  Hawkins'  motto,  "  Hate  the  Donf  like  the  Devil's  limb,"  and  be  ready 
to  take  his  life  in  his  hand  to  revenge  himself  on  them. 

Spain's  treachery  and  cruelty  began  the  trouble,  which  lasted  over  100 
years.  She  had  rich  possessions  then  in  the  West  Indies  and  South  Ameri- 
ca. Her  enemies  fitted  out  privateers  against  her.  Whenever  they  could 
capture  a  Spanish  ship  they  took  her  and  her  cargo  for  their  own.     When- 

*  In  after  rears  he  said  that  never  but  once  in  his  life  did  he  meet  a  Iciiismaii  after  he  left  England  at 
11  years  of  age.    That  one  was  one  of  his  Massachusetts  sailor  cousins, 
t  Don.  a  eant  term  for  the  Spaniard. 


146  Zbc   (Breene   Jfainil^ 

ever  they  could  capture  a  Spanish  town  they  did  so,  and  burned  and  looted 
the  place.  There  was  bloodshed  and  cruelty  on  both  sides.  Admiral  Blake, 
Sir  John  Hawkins,  Prince  Rupert,  Prince  Maurice,  and  other  titled  men 
were  in  this  desultory  warfare.  Buccaneers,  filibusters  and  freebooters  were 
some  of  the  names  they  were  called.  The  Spanish  called  them  Sea  Devils, 
Wankers  and  Cobras  of  the  Sea.  Their  names  for  themselves  were  Sea 
Rovers  and  Brethren  of  the  Coast,  and  they  called  their  bloody  work  "  Singe- 
ing the  Spaniard's  beard." 

In  John  King's  day  Holland,  France  and  England  were  all  united 
against  Spain.  There  was  great  rivalry  among  them  for  adventure.  Some 
of  their  ships  sailed  around  the  world.  They  doubled  Cape  Horn,  they  ex- 
plored the  Pacific,  they  touched  China,  they  cruised  around  Africa.  Adven- 
tures, shipwrecks,  fighting,  looting  and  hardships  fell  to  the  lot  of  all.  Now 
they  were  half  starved,  and  now  again  rolling  in  riches.  Damphier,  a  Buc- 
caneer, one  of  the  first  to  sail  around  the  world,  had  at  one  time  1,000  cap- 
tured slaves  on  his  ships.  Cavendish,  after  a  rich  haul,  sailed  into  London, 
his  sails  damask,  his  top  sail  cloth  of  gold,  and  all  his  sailors  clothed  in  silk. 
John  King  himself  used  to  say  in  after  years  that  it  was  "  a  hard  life  and 
wic'Ked  life,  but  a  merry  one." 

Tradition  says  John  King  commanded  a  Buccaneer  ship.  There  is  no 
proof  of  this.  What  we  do  know  is  that  for  some  years  he  was  one  of  the 
crew,  probably  an  under  officer  of  the  ship  commanded  by  Captain  Robert 
Kidd.*  Kidd  was  a  celebrated  Buccaneer,  noted  for  his  cool,  nervy  daring, 
and  for  his  many  hard  tussels  with  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies. 

A  few  years  before  the  close  of  the  century  treaties  were  made,  and 
England  withdrew  her  privateers.  Henceforth,  to  rob  Spanish  ships  would 
be  piracy  and  not  reprisal.  Not  a  few  who  had  followed  that  calling  for 
years  failed  to  make  the  fine  distinction,  and  kept  on  in  the  old  way.  Spain 
complained.  The  English  government  then  commissioned  Capt.  Kidd,  in 
1695,  to  clear  the  West  Indies  of  all  piratical  craft.  For  a  time  he  did  this. 
But  the  life  was  too  tame  for  him.  Leaving  New  York  in  1697  with  a  crew 
of  155  men,  he  coolly  turned  pirate  himself,  and  was  not  particular  as  to  the 
nationality  of  the  ships  he  robbed,  at  that. 

One  of  the  first  ships  that  surrendered  to  his  guns  had  John   King  on 

'  L'^gallj-.  lie  was  William  Kidd.  and  commissioned  as  such.    However,  he  was  always  called  Robert. 
There  is  an  old.  old  song  extant,  beginning. 

"  M7  name  was  Robert  Kidd. 
As  I  sailed,  as  I  sailed. 
My  name  was  Robert  Kidd. 
As  I  sailed," 
Kidd  was  superstitious.    Believing  he  could  succeed  as  a  pirate  only  by  the  favor  of  the  Evil  One,  it 
is  said  that  Ijefore  he  unfurled  his  black  flag  he  buried  his  Bible  in  the  sand,  in  the  presence  of  his  crew. 
It  is  also  said  that  each  chest  of  his  treasure  was  buried  with  blasphemous  incantations  to  the  Devi]  to 
protect  his  own. 


Zbc   (Breene   jfainil^  147 

board  as  a  seaman.  Kidd  promptly  invited  (?)  his  old  crony  to  join  the 
crew.  The  penalty  of  refusal  wotild  have  been  to  have  walked  the  plank 
into  the  ocean,  or  to  have  been  marooned  on  some  uninhabited  island.* 
King  had  no  relish  for  either.  He  joined  the  crew.  Kidd  mistru.sted  his 
sincerity,  however,  and  watched  him  so  closely  that  it  was  months  before  an 
opportunity  to  escape  came  to  him. 

The  Adventure^  the  pirates'  craft,  crossed  the  ocean.  Kidd  went  first 
to  Madeira,  then  down  the  African  coast,  and  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  to  Malabar  and  into  the  Red  Sea.  He  captured  several  Moorish  ves- 
sels, and  had  a  hot  fight  with  a  Portuguese  ship,  in  which  he  was  worsted 
and  glad  enough  to  get  away.  Afterwards  he  captured  two  rich  ships.  He 
took  his  crew  into  one  of  these,  the  Qiiedagh  Merchant^  and  at  Madagascar, 
on  his  way  back,  burned  the  badly  riddled  Adventure.  He  came  back  along 
the  African  coast. 

Here  the  ofificial  records  for  a  time  cease.  From  King's  own  narrative, 
Kidd  ventured  through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  then  not  owned  by  the 
English,  and  less  closely  guarded  than  now.  The  Algerines  were  notorious 
and  savage  pirates.  Doubtless  he  wished  to  recruit  his  numbers  there,  for 
the  records  show  that  he  at  once  crossed  the  ocean  afterwards  to  the  Xew 
World.  It  was  at  the  close  of  this  return  trip  that  Kidd  is  said  to  have 
buried  the  immense  treasures  that  have  been  searched  for  so  unavailingly. 
He  was  captured  in  1699,  tried  and  executed  in  1700. 

It  was  in  Algiers  that  King's  opportunity  came  to  escape.  The  French 
were  on  particularly  friendly  footing  in  Algeria,  and  ships  plied  constantly 
between  Algeris  in  Northern  Africa  and  the  city  of  Marseilles  on  the  Med- 
iterranean coast  in  Southern  France.  King  had  learned  to  speak  French 
from  the  French  Buccaneers.  He  passed  himself  off  for  a  Frenchman,  man- 
aged to  get  on  board  a  French  ship,  and  crossed  over  to  Marseilles. 

Where  he  went  from  Marseilles  is  conjecture.  We  only  know  that  he 
lived  and  died  in  South  France.  He  escaped  in  1698.  He  was  then  an  old 
bachelor  of  44.  He  became  smitten  with  the  charms  of  a  French  woman, 
and  in  1699  married  her.  There  are  reasons  to  believe  that  but  one 
child  was  born  of  this  marriage.  This  was  a  son,  ]\Iagdalen,  born  Aug.  23, 
1702. 

IMagdalen's  feminine  name  has  puzzled  many.  It  is  a  French  fashion, 
if  the  god-mother  of  a  child  is  of  a  superior  rank,  to  compliment  her  by 
christening  the  child  after  her.  Thus  one  of  the  Due  de  Montmorencies  was 
Anne,    because  his  god-mother  was  the  French  queen,  Anne  of  Austria. 

*  Alexander  Selkirk  'cas  a  marooned  Buccaneer.  In  1710  he  was  rescued  from  the  island  of  Juan  Fer- 
nandez, wheie  he  lived  for  years  in  solitude.  De  Foe  took  Alexander  Selkirk's  experience  as  the  foun- 
dation of  his  famous  Robinson  Crusoe. 


]4S  Zbe   (5recne   familv 

JMany  other  instances  could  be  given.  IVIagdalene  was  a  favorite  name  in 
Southern  France,  because  it  was  believed  that  the  Mar}-  Magdalene  of  the 
gospels,  fleeing  from  religious  persecution,  came  to  Southern  France  and  died 
there.  Mediterranean  France  was  honeycombed  with  Protestantism,  par- 
ticularly the  nobility.  Some  high-born  Magdalene,  that  John  King  and  his 
wife  were  particularly  proud  of  being  favored  by,  became  their  only  son's 
sponsor.  In  her  honor  they  named  him  Magdalene.  He  always  wrote  it, 
however,  without  the  final  e. 

It  is  supposed  that  John  King  lived  until  about  1740,  being  not  far 
from  86  at  his  death.  Escaping  as  he  did,  he  saved  but  one  memento  of  his 
many  years  upon  the  deep.  This  was  an  object  neither  valuable  nor  rare. 
It  was  a  large  conch  shell,  with  the  apex  bored  out  so  that  it  could  be 
blown  as  a  horn.  It  was  a  particularly  good  one,  with  a  peculiar  deep  boom 
that  could  be  heard  a  long  distance.  Whether  as  a  trusty  he  carried  it  with 
him  as  he  left  the  shi  p  at  Algiers,  to  call  the  boats  to  him  if  he  found  re- 
cruits, or  food  supplies,  or  whatever  he  was  sent  on  shore  to  obtain,  or  whether, 
sailor-like,  he  regarded  it  as  a  mascot,  from  some  incident  connected  with 
it,  and  carried  it  with  him  for  good  luck,  will  never  now  be  known.  His 
son  IMagdalen  brought  it  with  him  to  America,  and  gave  it  to  his  middle 
son,  Samuel.  Samuel  King,  in  1814,  on  a  visit  to  his  daughter  in  N.  Y., 
gave  it  to  her  youngest  child,  Nelson  Nichols,  then  a  child  but  2  years  old. 
It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  V.  D.  Nichols,  of  San  Jose,  California. 

The  only  other  thing  known  of  John  King  is  that  he  suffered  from 
gout,  brought  on  by  the  wine-drinking  carousals  of  his  Buccaneer  days. 
Some  of  his  descendants  are  the  most  rigid  of  abstainers,  but  when  the  rheu- 
matism or  the  gout  gets  hold  of  them  they  have  a  practical  reminder  that 
the  sins  of  the  fathers  are  yet  visited  upon  the  children. 

As  his  son  married  a  La  \'alley,  the  history  of  that  house  will  next 
be  given. 


The  La  Valleys.  After  the  Roman  Empire  fell,  more  than  a  dozen 
centuries  ago,  Gaul  (France)  was  then  conquered  by  the  Franks.  Their 
chiefs  were  counts,  petty  kings  in  all  but  name,  making  their  own  laws, 
waging  private  wars,  and  coining  their  own  money.  Very  proud,  haughty, 
and  over-bearing  were  these  heads  of  Frankish  houses.  One  of  the  proudest 
was  the  house  of  de  la  Valle,  once  the  second  most  powerful  family  in  all 
France. 

They  were  the  autocrats  of  the  valley  of  the  Loire,  the  chief  river  of 
France.  Not  at  all  modestly  they  chose  their  surname,  de  la  Valle,  as 
though  they  alone  were  f/is  family  of  that  great  water-way  from  the  inland 
mountains  of  France  to  her  ocean  line,  600  miles  away.     A  thousand  years 


Zbc   Greene   Jfamil^  149 


has  brought  many  changes  to  the  name.  It  is  variously  Valle,  Vallee,  de 
la  Val,  de  la  \'alan,  La  Valliere,  Le  Valley  and  La  Valley.  The  name  be- 
came della  Valle  in  Italian,  De  Laveleye  in  Belgian,  and  De  Ovalle  and  de 
Ovaglie  in  Spanish.  But  always,  from  the  great  dukes  to  the  poorest  un- 
titled one  of  the  name,  they  were  proud  of  their  old  blood,  and  of  the  special 
privileges  that  France  granted  them  up  to  1792,  when  in  the  Reign  or  Ter- 
ror all  these  were  abolished  and  their  records  burned. 

The  present  Queen  of  Holland  and  Emperor  William  of  Germany  are 
both  proud,  it  is  said,  of  having  the  blood  of  this  house  in  their  veins.  It 
came  to  them  through  their  famous  ancestor,  William  of  Orange,  who  mar- 
ried Louise,  daughter  of  Admiral  de  Coligny  and  his  wife,  Charlotte  de  la 
Val.  No  brighter  name  is  on  the  page  of  France's  heroes.  He  owed  his 
fame  as  the  dauntless  leader  of  the  oppressed  Huguenots  solely  to  his  wife's 
influence.  In  the  presence  of  the  whole  village  she  arose  and,  with  deep 
emotion,  declared  her  belief  in  the  reformed  faith  ;  and  that  though  it  might 
cost  her  wealth,  position  and  life  itself,  she  would  cast  in  her  lot  with  the 
people  of  God.  He  was  so  moved  he  followed  her  example.  At  once  he 
became  a  leader.  For  12  terrible  years  he  fought  at  the  cannon's  mouth  to 
win  a  right  for  the  people  to  worship  God  after  their  own  conscience. 
Tricked  by  a  false  truce  into  Paris,  he  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  30,000  vic- 
tims slain  in  the  massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew's  Day,  Aug.  24,  1572. 

The  spirit  that  animated  this  old  family  is  seen  in  the  motto  of  Admiral 
Andre  de  Lavel.  His  coat-of-arnis  represented  a  burning,  flaming  oar, 
with  this  motto  underneath  :  "  Pour  un  Aultre  Non  !  "  A  poet  thus  in- 
terprets its  meaning  : 

"...  .When  I  give,  I  give  my  all. 

For  her  my  love,  for  him  my  friend, 

My  steel,  my  .gold,  my  life  I  spend  ; 

My  sword  shall  flash,  my  blood  shall  flow 

For  these.      But  for  another.  No  ! 

"  Show  me  but  cause  for  quarrel  strong. 


Then  through  the  wave  I  winged  will  fly, 
Will  cleave -with  oars  the  yielding  sky, 
Will  flame  through  ocean,  float  through  air, 
Will  all  things  suffer,  do,  and  dare. 
For  friend  I  love,  for  cause  I  know, 
I  fight  !      But  for  aught  other.  Xo  !  " 

— Dora  Greenwell. 

Aost  of  us  have  thought  Bluebeard  a  nursery  myth,  but  the  tale  is  only 
an  exaggerated  libel  of  one  of  this  family.     Giles  de  Laval,   Lord  of   Raiz, 


ISO  Zbc   6recne   J'ainil^ 

and  ^larshal  of  France  in  1429,  was  nicknamed  Bluebeard  by  his  soldiers, 
because  of  his  thick  beard,  so  inky  black  as  to  be  really  blue-black.  He 
Avas  brave  but  cruel,  and  his  men  hated  him.  The  Duke  of  Brittany,  his 
rival,  wanted  him  out  of  his  way.  Getting  him  in  his  power,  the  Duke  lent 
a  willing  ear  to  the  most  absurd  charges.  Testimony  was  given  that  La\-al 
practiced  sorcery,  and  that  he  killed  children  to  use  their  blood  in  his  incan- 
tations. He  was  therefore  burned  at  Nantes,  in  1440,  in  punishment  for 
these  murders  it  was  pretended  he  had  committed,  and  for  crimes  against 
the  state. 

Only  two  years  after  brave  Coligny  was  assassinated,  Geoffroi  \"allee 
wrote  a  sarcastic  infidel  work,  ''La  Bfatit2id€s  dcs  Crcstiensy  He  was  tried 
for  the  offense,  condemned,  and  hung  in  Paris,  Feb.  9,  1574.  Afterwards 
his  dead  body  was  burned. 

So  if  any  one  is  unduly  elated  over  his  12-centuries  transmitted  La 
\'alley  blood,  let  him  think  of  Geoffroi  \'allee  and  Bluebeard,  and  restrain 
his  ardor. 

The  greatest  of  houses  cannot  have  all  its  members  wealthy  or  titled. 
Some  of  them  must  gravitate  toward  the  middle  classes.  Thus  it  happened 
that  IMagdaleu  King,  without  a  title,  and  without  a  fortune,  yet  married  a 
wife  of  the  proud  La  Valley  stock. 


Magdalen  King  was  born  Aug.  23,  1702,  in  Southern  France.  He  had 
a  slight  infusion  of  Huguen  ot  blood  on  his  father's  side,  while  his  mother 
was  wholly  French.  He  was  tall,  fair,  and  blue-eyed.  Magdalen  was  a 
most  devoted  son,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  never  tired  of  rehearsing 
John  King's  many  adventures.  At  about  25  he  married  Marie  La  Valley, 
of  a  protestant  family  of  that  name. 

Her  father,  Peter  La  \'alley  or  La  Vallais,  had  several  grown  children 
by  1725,  so  that  his  own  birth  must  have  been  not  far  from  1675.  His 
wife's  name  was  Suzanne.  This  was  a  favorite  name  with  the  French  of 
that  day.  From  the  story  in  the  Apocrypha  of  Susannah  and  the  Elders, 
they  took  Suzanne  to  represent  the  persecuted  church.  Nearl}-  every  French 
religious  family  had  a  Suzanne  in  it.  Mrs.  La  Valley  appears  to  have  died 
in  France  many  years  before  her  husband.  Peter's  family  consisted  of  at 
least  three  sons  and  his  daughter  Marie. 

Marie  La  Valley  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  individuality.  Across  the 
gulf  of  nearly  two  hundred  years  she  stands  out  before  us,  a  sharply  distinct 
personality.  We  know  how  she  looked.  We  know  her  disposition.  We 
even  know  of  her  headaches,  and  of  the  puddings  she  used  to  make. 

She  had  plenty  of  the  family  pride,  though  she  had  too  much  sense  to 
parade  it.     Her  conversation  was  witty,  brilliant  and  sparkling,  yet  beneath 


<tbe   6reene   yaiiiilv> 


it  ran  the  family  reserve.  She  locked  her  private  affairs  and  her  heart's 
secrets  from  outsiders,  and  kept  her  plans  to  herself. 

Marie  L,a  Valley  was  energy  personified.  She  was  steam  and  electricity 
in  human  form.  She  never  knew  she  was  tired  until  she  was  rested  again  ; 
never  knew  she  was  sick  until  she  got  well ;  and  never  knew  she  had  a  hard 
or  discouraging  thing  to  do  until  it  was  over  with.  What  she  undertook 
she  carried  through,  and  no  opposition  or  obstacles  ever  stopped  her.  She 
kept  more  irons  in  the  fire  than  half  a  dozen  ordinary  women,  but  none  of 
tliem  ever  burned.  She  bore  lo  children  and  raised  them.  She  kept  her 
house  in  apple-pie  order,  and  another  such  a  famous  cook  the  annals  of  the 
family  do  not  record.  To  this  day  her  cream  biscuits,  her  roly-poly  pud- 
dings, her  dried  beef,  shaved  into  wafer  thinness,  cooked  in  cream,  and 
served  with  split  biscuits,  are  handed  down  in  memory. 

Very  proud  of  his  stirring,  bustling,  quick-stepping  wife  was  Magdalen. 
\'ery  proud  her  descendants  have  been  of  her.  But  this  woman  of  intense, 
high-strung  organization,  though  she  lived  to  extreme  old  age,  salted  her 
whole  line  with  weak  hearts,  headaches  and  nervous  disorders.  A  little  less 
steam  pressure  would  have  been  better  for  them. 

Marie  La  Valley  was  of  medium  height.  She  was  dark,  and  had  ex- 
pressive black  eyes.  She  had  the  mobile  countenance  of  a  true  French 
woman,  her  face  lighting  up  and  reflecting  every  emotion  or  animation  as 
she  talked.  She  had  several  descendants  that  resembled  her,  and  two  that 
in  looks  were  herself  over  again.  Those  who  have  a  curiosity  to  see  how  she 
looked  will  please  turn  to  the  frontispiece,^  for  the  author  is  one  of  the  two.* 

Six  of  Magdalen  and  Marie's  large  family  were  born  in  France.  These 
were  Grace,  Suzanne,  Elizabeth,  John,  Mar^-  and  Sarah.  The  La  Valleys 
were  strong  in  their  religious  convictions.  There  had  been  a  few  years'  lull 
in  Huguenot  persecutions,  but  now  trouble  began  again.  In  1724  Louis  XV 
issued  a  severe  edict  against  all  protestants.  They  were  not  allowed  to  as- 
semble for  worship,  to  have  their  marriages  celebrated,  children  baptized,  or 
dead  put  away  by  the  rites  of  their  church.  This  edict  was  a  little  slow  in 
making  itself  felt  where  the  protestants  were  strong.  Gradually  it  was  en- 
forced more  and  more,  and  caused  much  distress  to  all  godly  minded 
Huguenots. 

Many  of  them  took  refuge  in  other  lands.  Two  of  Peter's  sons,  Peter 
Jr.  and  David,  went  to  the  American  colonies.  We  find  them  both  at  Mar- 
blehead,  Mass.,  by  1727.  Both  were  ship-masters.  Peter  Vallais, — for  so  he 
wrote  his  name, — became  an  intimate  friend  of  Peter  Faneuil,   who  built 

*  Nothing  ever  caused  me  more  annoyance  in  my  childhood  than  the  frequent  exclamation  of  old 
people— "She  is  the  image  over  o£  Aunt  C,  and  everyone  said  iihe  was  the  dead  picture  of  the  French- 
woman." 


<rbc  ^Brcenc  ifamil\> 


famous  Faiieuil  Hall  and  presented  it  to  Boston.  He  was  not  only  Fan- 
euil's  ship-master,  but  was  considerably  trusted  by  him  in  important  com- 
mercial transactions. 

The  other  La  Valleys  remained  in  France.  John  King  was  old,  and 
wanted  to  end  his  days  there.  His  son  would  not  leave  him.  Peter  would 
not  leave  his  daughter.  But  the  heathenish  way  in  which  they  had  to  bring 
up  their  children  was  a  sore  trial  to  them.  Grace,  the  oldest  child,  was  bap- 
tized. None  of  the  rest  of  them  had  been  churched.  When  once  Magda- 
len's father  had  paid  the  debt  of  nature, — which  is  supposed  to  have  been  in 
1740, — La  Valley,  now  getting  to  be  an  old  man,  his  son-in-law's  family, 
and  a  son  or  two  of  his  own,  set  sail  for  America,  probably  in  one  of  the 
ships  that  were  in  charge  of  his  ship-master  sons.  The  family  came  straight 
to  INIarblehead.  Neither  Peter  La  Valley  nor  Magdalen  King  liked  it  there. 
There  was  a  new  exodus. 

One  of  La  Valley's  sons,  possibly  that  Peter  or  David  that  had  been  so 
long  in  IMassachusetts,  but  more  probably  a  younger  one  newly  from  France, 
went  to  what  was  known  as  the  Royal  Grant.  This  was  in  Vern:ont,  and 
was  a  new  region  just  being  opened  up.  He  remained  there,  and  the  Ver- 
mont line  of  Le  Valleys  still  continues.  Peter,  together  with  Magdalen's 
family,  and  a  younger  son,  went  south  to  Warwick,  R.  I.,  where  at  French- 
town  there  was  a  good-sized  Huguenot  settlement.  They  arrived  there  in 
1 741.     Here  Magdalen  stayed  for  12  years,  and  here  Peter  La  Valley   died. 

At  a  part  of  Warwick  called  Cowesit,  Rev.  Dr.  James  ]McSparran,  a 
noted  Episcopal  minister,  had  established  a  mission  church.  Nearly  all 
Huguenots  afhliated  with  either  the  Episcopalians  or  the  Presbyterians. 
Dr.  McSparran  thought  it  a  promising  opening.  The  wealthy  church  at 
Newport  gave  him  their  first  church  building,  a  substantial  and  sightly  edi- 
fice. It  was  taken  to  pieces,  loaded  on  sloops,  and  carried  to  Cowesit,  then 
rebuilt.  It  proved  a  great  disappointment  to  the  good  doctor,  who  could 
never  build  up  much  of  a  following.  He  saw  more  results  with  the  new- 
comers than  with  any  of  the  other  French  settlers.  These  last  gladly  availed 
themselves  of  church  privileges. 

July  16,  1 741,  Dr.  McSparran  baptized  all  the  children  but  Grace.  She 
had  been  baptized  in  France.  Four  times  more  in  the  next  ten  years,  he 
records  another  child  baptized,  as  Ann,  Samuel,  Margaret,  and  Paul  were 
added  to  Magdalen's  familv.* 


*From  records  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Narragansett.  E.  I..  Dr.  McSparraii's  own  writing. 
"Baptisms  by  Dr.  James  McSparran.  Episcopal  Missionary  of  the  Venerable  Society  of  England,  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  parts. 
King. 
Susannah  of  Magdalane  at  Coesit.  July  12. 1741 
Eliza,  of  Magdalane  at  Coesit,  Julyl2, 1741 


^be    (Srccnc    jfamil^  153 

The  genial  doctor,  a  cultured  and  brainy  man,  became  a  warm  friend 
of  Peter  L,a  Valley,  and  remained  so  until  the  latter's  death  in  1756.  The 
old  Frenchman  was  buried  in  the  mission  graveyard  at  Warwick.  The  next 
year  Dr.  McSparran  died,  and  the  mission  was  given  up.  The  church  was 
once  more  torn  down  and  carried  on  sloops  to  the  shore  of  another  town, 
preparatory  to  being  again  built  up.  A  terrible  storm  arose,  and  when  it 
had  spent  its  fury,  it  was  fouud  that  every  stick  of  timber  had  been  swept 
into  the  ocean.  Such  was  the  end  of  the  old  church  in  which  all  but  one 
of  Magdalen  King's  children  were  baptized.  The  Kings  grew  up  and  found 
other  church  homes.  None  of  them  were  ever  connected  again  with  this 
church  in  whose  faith  their  grandfather  died. 

The  name  of  the  son  of  Peter  La  Valley  that  remained  at  Warwick,  I 
do  not  know.  This  son  was  married  in  France,  and  had  Peter,  Michael, 
and  John,  borti  in  France.  His  other  children,  Stephen,  Marietta,  Susan 
and  Christopher,  were  probably  all  born  in  R.  I.  No  attempt  is  made  to 
trace  this  line  beyond  the  first  generation.  His  line  all  write  their  name 
Le  Valley. 

Three  years  before  Peter  La  Valley  died,  his  daughter's  family  moved 
a  few  miles  away  from  Warwick;  Magdalen  purchased  a  200-acre  tract 
of  land  in  West  Greenwich  Township,  about  a  mile  from  the  East  Green- 
wich line.  It  was  on  what  was  called  the  Division  Road,  or  the  Providence 
and  New  London  Turnpike,  near  what  was  known  as  Webster's  Gate. 
Magdalen  built  what  was  considered  a  large  and  good  house  in  those  days. 
He  cleared  the  farm  up  in  good  shape,  excepting  a  few  rough,  rocky  points. 
One  of  these  was  Rocky  Hill  woods.  In  one  place  there  was  a  flat  ledge  known 
as  the  Threshing  Ro^ks,  because  for  years  the  farmers  in  the  vicinity 
brought  their  grain  here  and  threshed  it  out  with  flails  upon  the  rocks. 

At  another  point  in  the  same  woods  were  the'  Indian  Rocks.  Before 
the  white  man's  day,  the  Indians  used  to  come  here  and  hold  their  feasts. 
The  rocks  rise  abruptly  30  or  40  feet  high.  A  shelving  rock  overhangs 
the  base  in  one  place,  making  a  fine  shelter  from  storms.  It  is  a  shady  nook, 
and  the  ground  is  carpeted  with  pine  needles.  Here  the  last  Thursday  in 
August,  the  Magdalen  King  clan  annually  meet,  and  hold  a  clam-bake. 

Magdalen  King  died  in  1775,  the  year  that  the  Revolutionary  War 
began.     He  was  buried  on  a  slight  rise  of  ground  on  his  farm.     In  time  two 

ed  in  ehureh  at  Coesit.  July  12. 17il. 


John  of  Magd 

alane  received  in 

Mars-  •• 

" 

Sarah  " 

Ann     •• 

" 

Samuel  of     ' 

Margaret  of  ' 

Paul    •• 

Grai 

dehildreu  of  Mr. 

Aug 

2-2.  1742. 

Apri 

21.  1745. 

Oct. 

16,  1748. 

May  19. 1751 

154  ^be   (Brecne   famili^ 

or  three  generations  were  buried  there.  About  1S50  the  cemetery  was  en- 
closed by  a  faced  and  capped  wall,  and  an  iron  gate  placed  at  the  entrance. 
It  is  kept  in  presentable  shape  by  the  kindred.  The  farm  passed  out  of  the 
family's  possession  in  1839.  The  house  was  burned  soon  after.  The  prem- 
ises are  now  one  of  the  typical  deserted  New  England  farms,  grown  up  to 
scrub  oak  and  pitch  pine.  The  old  Threshing  Rocks  are  used  as  a  quarry, 
and  many  factories  have  been  built  from  them. 

Magdalen's  son  Samuel  always  lived  on  the  home  place.  His  mother 
outlived  her  husband  17  years,  dying  between  85  and  90  years  of  age,  in  the 
year  1792.  The  order  of  births  of  Magdalen's  older  children  is  mostly 
unknown. 

GRACE  KING^  oldest  child  of  Magdalen  and  Marie,  married  an 
Englishman  and  moved  to  Canada.  The  last  ever  heard  from  her  she  wrote 
to  her  sister  and  brother-in-law,  Susan  and  Job  Nichols,  lamenting  that  her 
sons  were  all  in  the  British  army,  fighting  against  her  brother  and  nephews 
in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

SUSAN  KING-NICHOLSl  Born  in  France.  Named  Suzanne  for 
her  grandmother  L,a  Valley.  The  name  was  later  anglicized  into  Susan. 
She  married  Job  Nichols.  See  Chapter  XV.  On  his  father's  side  he  had 
this  descent :  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols',  John"  (b.  1666),  John^  (b.  1689), 
John*,  father  to  Job.  On  his  mother's  side  he  had  Wardwell,  Hill  and  Greene 
blood,  the  last  line  running  thus :  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett',  Lieut.  John", 
Wealthy  John'',  and  Ann  Greene-Nichols*,  who  was  his  mother. 

We  know  little  of  this  couple.  They  lived  in  Providence.  Susan  was 
said  to  have  had  the  French  talent  for  fine  cooking.  Her  family  inherited 
this  gift,  even  her  sons  excelling  in  that  art.  Job  and  Susan  had  more  than 
one  son  in  the  Revolutionar}'  War.  Their  son  David  married  Nancy,  his 
uncle  Samuel's  daughter.  His  line  is  traced  with  hers,  among  her  mother, 
Deborah  Greene-King's  descendants.     See  Chapter  XXXHI. 

JOHN  KINGl  Born  in  France.  Married  March  30,  1758,  to  Deliv- 
erance Spink.  Deliverance  was  born  April  9,  1735.  She  was  descended 
from  Robert  Spink,  one  of  the  early  Quidnessett  settlers.  Robert  and  Alice 
had  Capt.  Ishmael,  who  was  born  in  1680,  and  was  exceedingly  well  known 
in  his  day.  His  wife  was  Deliverance.  They  had  Benjamin,  who  was  the 
father  of  Deliverance  who  married  John  King.  x\ll  of  John  King's  line 
have  been  money-makers. 

William  King"*,  b.  March  22,   1759. 

Rachel  King*,  March  16,  1761. 

Paul  King*,  m.  Dinah .     They  had  Mary,  b.  1790,  and  Philip,  b.  1792.     I   think 

it  very  probable  that  this  record  belongs  to  his  uncle  Paul.     See  last  page  of  this  chapter. 

Wanton  King*,  m.  Sarah  Matteson.  a  most  saintly  woman.  They  are  believed  to  have 
moved  to  Pompey,  N.  Y.  They  had  Ward,  b.  iSoo  ;  Phebe,  1802  ;  Thomas  M.,  b.  1803 ; 
Susannah,  b.  1S05  ;  and  a  Winton  or  Wanton,  a  few  years  later. 


.>»■?*!—    ■-^;^i^sr 


Z^^ 


^ 


•^.  ^^ 


Zbc   6rcene   family 


Job  King*.  He  moveJ  to  N.  Y.  Married  Eunice  Albro.  They  liad  Job.  Paul  and 
Henry.  For  her  descent  from  "  Quaiier  John"  Albro,  see  Chapter  XXXV.  Their  son 
Paul  moved  to  Ohio.  Paul's  son  John  lives  in  Chicago  and  is  woi-th  $2,000,000.  Paul 
probably  had  sons  Volney  and  Lorraine  also.  Job,  Jr. ,  also  moved  to  Ohio.  Henry  mar- 
ried Cvntliia  Nichols,  his  second  cousin.      His  line  is  traced  with  hers,  in  Chapter  XXXV. 

ELIZABETH  KING-MATTESONl  Born  in  France.  Married 
Oct.  I,  1761,  b}'  Rev.  Preserved  Hall  to  John  Matteson,  son  of  Martha 
Greene-Matteson,  and  grandson  of  John  Greene  of  Bristol.  They  had  a  son 
Philip:  His  son  was  Asa,  who  ni.  Aleribe  Potter,  and  had  Clark,  James  and 
John  Matteson. 

John  Matteson  was  a  prominent  man.  He  was  deacon  for  many  years  in  Maple  Root 
Church.  He  died  about  1902.  In  1S47  he  m.  Elsie  .\ndrevvs,  [Elsie',  John^,  who  m.  An- 
tha  Sweet  of  King-La  Valley  descent,  Timothy^.  Elnathan*.  who  m.  Jane  Greene,  Han- 
nah Greene-Andrews',  Lieut.  John  Greene",  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett^]  She  was 
related  to  him  five  times  over.     They  had  g  children,  one  of  whom  died  at  14. 

Elihu  Matteson,  b.  1849  ;  m.  a  cousin,  Roby  Ellen  Andrews.  They  have  Annie, 
Gertrude.  Byron  L.  and  George  A. 

Phebe  Josephine  Matteson-Greene,  b.  1S61.  Wife  of  Oliver,  of  Horace  and 
Alice  Greene-Greene.  [.Alice',  Jas*.,  Abei».  Jas*..  John  of  BristoP,  Lieut.  James-. 
John  of  Quidnessett'.]  Their  dau..  Mariette  is  IMrs.  Rhodes  Allen,  and  has  a  child, 
Maud  Hazel.  Their  son  is  Lowell  James,  and  their  younger  daughter,  Elsie,  is  Mrs. 
Charles  .-Vndrews,  and  has  one  son,  Charles,  Jr. 

Charles  James  Matteson,  b.  1853  ;  m.  Mary  Amanda  of  Eben,  and  Susan  Fish- 
Matteson.  thrice  related  to  him,  and  herself  of  King- La  Valley  descent.  Their  oldest 
son,  Frederick,  m.  Bertha  Jane  Harrington,  and  has  Mary,  Charles,  John  Lee  and 
an  infant.  The  ne.xt  child,  Susan,  m.  William  Harrington,  and  has  a  daughter, 
Cora  May.  The  next  children.  Everett  Earl  and  Erving  Dell,  are  twins,  born  in 
1881. 

Mary   Jane    Matteson-Capwell,    b.    1S35  :    m.    Edwin  C.   Capwell.     They  have 
Frank  Herbert,  who  m.  Ella  Capwell,  and  had  I  child,  Merte  Belle  ;— and  Luther  Lee. 
Eunice  >L  Matteson-Andrews,  b.  1S5S  ;  m.  Geo.    Warren   Andrews.     They   have 
Lula  Belle,  Gertrude  ^L,  Eva  L.,  George  Lester  and  Grace  M. 

John  Titus  Matteson,  b.  i860  ;  m.  Amanda  Melvina  Greene  of  Wm.  and  Sarah. 
Their  oldest  daughter,  Nettie  E.,  is  wife  of  Walter  Andrews.  The  other  children 
are  Arthur  C,  Charles  James,  Frances  W.,  Henry  and  Willard. 

Cynthia  Lily  Matteson-Briggs,  b.  1867  ;  m.  Wm.  Briggs.  She  d.  Sept.  I,  1895, 
leaving  a  son,  Frederick  D. 

Clara  L.  Matteson-Perkins,  b.  1869  ;  ra.  John  P.  Perkins.  She  d  1S92,  leaving 
two  sons,  Frank  and  Walter. 

SARAH  KING-BRIGGS-SWEETl  Born  in  France.  She  married 
Burton  Briggs,  Sept.  26,  1754.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Robert  and 
Renewed  Briggs,  and  grandson  or  great-grandson  of  Job  Briggs,  an  early 
pioneer,  one  of  the  purchasers,  with  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett,  of  the 
Fones  Purchase,  in  1672.  Burton  and  Sarah  had  two  children.  He  died, 
and  his  widow  married,  May  3,  1761,  William  Sweet.  He  was  descended 
from  John  Sweet,  who  followed  Roger  Williams  to  R.  I.,  in  June,  1636,  and 
died  the  same  year.  [John',  John",  William',  William  Sweet*-]  He  was 
called  by  the  nickname  of  William  Wickeboxet,  to  distinguish  him  from 
other  William  Sweets.     They  had  two  children. 


156  ^be   6reene   family 

J'JHN  Briggs*,  b.  March  28,  1755.  He  m.  Eunice  Stone-  He  was  called  Hanaker- 
chief  John,  from  always  wearing  a  handkerchief  about  his  head. 

Sarah  Briggs-Briggs^,  m.  her  second  cousin  John  Briggs,  Jr.,  and  had  Nathan, 
Hannah,  Tanner,  Deborah,  John  Stone,  Maglin  King,  (intended  for  Magdalen,) 
and  Sarah. 

Burton  Criggs^.  m.  Waity  Arnold,  1S12. 
Renewed  Briggs-Kittelle*,  b.  Dec.  26,  1756.     She  was  always  known  as  Newie.  She 
m.  Ephraim  Kittelle,  and  her  line  is  given  with  his  in  Chapter  XX. 

Burton  Sweet',  oldest  child  of  second  marriage.  He  m.  Rachel  Matteson.  They  had  9 
children,  and  their  children's  children  have  increased  until  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  at- 
tempt to  list  them  in  this  chapter.  The  whole  line  has  married  and  intermarried  with  the 
Andrews  line.  I  give  but  the  heads  of  Burton  and  Rachel's  descendants,  and  refer  those 
interested  to  Miss  James'  "Andrews  Genealogy."  Caleb,  William  and  Roby  Sweet  married 
three  Andrews,  Sally,  Bethana,  and  Jonathan,  their  brother. 

William  Sweet',  m.  (i)  Elcy  Weaver.      Had  by  her  Antha   and  Abel.     Antha   m. 
John  Andrews,  and  became  the  fore-mother  of  a  particularly    great   tribe.     William 
Sweet  m.  (2)  SaUie  Andrews  and  had  Francis,    Enos,   Stukeley,    William   Rhodes,   Amos 
(called  California  Amos  ),  Caleb,  Charles,  Amy  and  .Mice. 

Caleb  Sweet^,  m.  Bethana  Andrews.     Had  Phebe,  Burton,  Amos.. 
Francis  Sweet",  m.  Betsey  Tarbo.x. 

Sally  Sweet-Matteson^,  m.  Philip,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  King— Matteson. 
See  elsewhere  in  this  Chapter. 

MoUie    Sweet-Vaughan^,   m.    James  Vaughan,   who  was  descended    from    John 
Vaughan  born  before  1630.     They  had  John,  Clark  and  George. 
Jlercy  Sweet-Greene^,     Had  a  son  Ray  Greene. 
Thankful  Sweet=.     Had  son  David. 

Roby  Sweet-Andrews^,  m.  Jonathan  Andrews.     They  went  to  Tenn.,  and    had   a 
large  family.     See  Miss  James'  work. 
Thankful  Sweet-Matteson*,  (of  Sarah  King-Sweet),  m.   Thos.   Matteson,  and  went 
to  Vermont. 

MARY  KING^.     Born  in  France.     ]\Iarried,  but  name  not  known. 

NANCY  (ANNA)  KING-GREENEl  Born  in  R.  I.,  1742.  She  was 
the  first  of  her  family  to  be  born  in  America.  ]\I.  in  1764  to  Abel  Greene, 
son  of  James,  and  grandson  of  John  Greene  of  Bristol.  See  Chapter  XX. 
Her  brother  Samuel  married  Abel's  sister  Deborah.  The  families  were  al- 
ways intimate  with  each  other.  Abel  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  de- 
lighted in  story  telling  and  reminiscences.  He  died  in  1829.  He  ran  a  saw- 
mill and  gristmill  for  many  years.  They  had  a  large  family,  some  of  whom 
moved  to  Pa.      For  list  of  Nancy  and  Abel's  children,  see  Chapter  XX. 

SAMUEL  KING\  b.  in  Feb.,  1745.  Died  in  1829.  He  was  married 
April  15,  1766,  to  Deborah  Greene,  his  sister  Nancy's  sister-in-law.  Debo- 
rah's lineage  is  fully  given  in  Chapter  XX.  She  was  great-great-grand-daugh- 
ter of  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett.  She  was  her  husband's  senior  by  five 
months,  having  been  born  Sept.  23,  1744.  She  died  in  1812.  Deborah 
King  was  one  of  the  "good-natured  Greenes,"  as  that  placid,  never-get- 
angry  type  used  to  be  called  by  the  family.  She  was  a  woman  of  fine  men- 
tal powers.  Samuel  brought  her  as  a  bride  to  the  old  home,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  affection  between  :\Iarie  La  Valley  and  Deborah  was  like  that  be- 


^be   (5recne   farnil^^  157 

tween  Naomi  and  Ruth  in  Bible  daj-s.  A  large  family  were  born  to  Samuel 
and  Deborah.  They  were  Nancy,  Sarah,  ]Mary,  Elizabeth,  George,  Hannah, 
Dinah,  David,  Paul,  Joel  and  Stephen.  Paul  died  a  bachelor.  All  the 
others  are  traced  in  separate  chapters. 

Samuel  King  was  an  expert  mill-wright.  He  built  mills  all  over  R.  I., 
cider  mills,  woolen  mills,  cloth  mills,  fulling  mills,  saw  mills  and  grist  mills. 
He  was  a  man  who  thoroughly  understood  the  business  and  put  up  good, 
honest  constructions.  Three  great-grandsons,  S.  K.  IMatteson,  Riley  Barnes 
and  George  Nichols,  were  all  noted  mill-wrights,  and  all  inherited  this  special 
aptitude  from  Samuel  King. 

He  served  in  the  R.  I.  Militia  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  Several 
have  asked  for  a  record  of  this  fact.  Rhode  Island's  Revolutionary'  records 
are  not  complete.  Only  a  fragment  of  a  payroll,  made  at  the  close  of  a  little 
"  brush  "  with  the  enemy,  contains  his  name.  It  proves  his  regular  connec- 
tion with  the  Militia,  however,  and  entitles  his  descendants  to  join  the  Sons 
or  Daughters  of  the  Revolution.     The  following  explains  itself : 

"Record  &  Pension  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 
"July  I,    1901. 
"  Record  No.  658329. 

"It  is  shown  by  the  records  that  Samuel  King  rank  not  stated,  served  in  Capt. 
Samuel  Wilber's  Company  of  Rhode  Island  Militia,  Revolutionary  War.  His  name 
appears  on  a  pay  abstract  of  that  organization,  dated  April  6,  1777.  with  remarks. — 
"■Marched  Mch.  13-1777-  Discharged 
Mch.  30th.  Days  in  service,  17.  No  further  information  relative  to  his  service  has 
been  found  on  record. 

"  By  authority  of  Secretary  of  War." 

MARGARET  KING-ED\VARDS^  baptized  Oct.  16,  1748.  She  was 
married  Aug.  15,  1770,  to  Peleg  Edwards,  son  of  Christopher.  She  was  his 
second  wife.  They  had  Christopher,  b.  1771  ;  Jacob,  b.  1774;  Perry,  b. 
1776  ;  Sarah,  b.   1778  ;  and  Mercy,  who  married  Chas.  Andrews  in  1816. 

There  is  a  large  line  of  Edwardses  in  R.  I.  who  have  more  or  less  con- 
sidered themselves  as  descended  from  Margaret.  Possibly  they  are  from  a 
son  of  Peleg  Edwards  by  his  first  wife,  but  they  are  not  Margaret's  line. 
These  Edwardses  trace  back  to  Richard  Edwards  who  married  Mary  How- 
ard, (sister  of  Capt.  Howard  who  married  Hannah  King,  Margaret's  niece). 
But  Maiy  Howard  was  bom  in  1770.  Margaret's  children  are  accoimted  f or 
nearly  ten  years  beyond  that  date.  Mary  Howard  would  not  have  married 
a  man  that  much  her  junior. 

PAUL  KING',  baptized  May  19,  1751.  He  married  Dinah  IMatteson 
Dec.  22,  1789.  See  note  in  list  of  John  King's  children.  The  children 
there  credited  to  his  nephew  Paul  are  much  more  likely  to  have  been  his. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

DESCENDANTS   OF   SARAH    KING-HATHAWAY^ 

Family  Trees.  For  the  pedigree  of  the  English  Greenes,  and  their 
relationship  to  the  Capet  Kings  of  France,  see  Chapter  XL  For  the 
Greene  descent  from  John  of  Ouidnessett,  together  with  the  allied  lines  of 
Straight,  Holmes,  Westcott  and  Parsons,  see  Chapter  XX.  For  King  and 
La  Valley  lineage  see  Chapter  XXII. 


Sarah  King-Hathaway'''  was  the  second  child  and  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Deborah  Greene-King.  She  was  born  about  1769,  and  married  Nathan 
Hathaway,  whose  first  wife  was  her  cousin  Mercy  L,e  Valley.  To  Mrs. 
Sara  E.  Kittelle  I  am  indebted  for  all  the  data  as  to  her  children.  She  had 
but  three  children,  all  daughters,  Nancy,  Susan  and  Betsey.  All  her  de- 
scendants are  from  Nancy,  as  the  other  daughters  never  married. 

NANCY  HATHAWAY-SUNDERLAND",  b.  May  17,  1807.     She  be- 
came the  wife  of  John  Sunderland,  son  of  George,  and  grandson  of  William 
Sunderland.     Her  family  was  the  reverse  of  her  mother's,  all  seven  being  sons. 
Nathan  Sundf.ri.and'.     He   m.  Adeline   Johnson,  in    1S35.     8   cliildren.     Emily,  b. 
1836,  d.  at  35  ;  William  N.,  d.  at  38  ;  Henry  at_23,  and  Adelaide   at    i.       The  records  o 
the  others  are  as  follows  : 

Francis  Luther  Sunderland^      Had  two  children,  Willett  and  Charles. 
Herbert  C.  Sunderland",  b.  Sept.  15,  1S47  ;  m.  Harriet  Mitchell.     They   had   an 
infant  that  died,  and  a  son,  Fred  C,  b.  Jan.  i,  1879. 

Ch.irles  E.  Sunderland',  b.  July,  1S49  ;    m.  Harriet  Brown  in  iS6g.       They  have 
William,  b.  in  1S70,  and  Lily. 
Stephen-  SuNDERiANn*,  b.  Nov.  4,  iSio,  d.  1S33.     His  wife  was  Eliza  G.  Sherman.   8 
children,  of  whom  3  died  in  infancy.     There  is  only  birth  date  for  Amy  A.         Dorcas  died 
at  17,  and  William  at  26,  unmarried.     This  leaves  only  these: 

Stephen  W.  Sunderland^,  b.  March  3,  1847  ;  m.  Mary  Meilhenry  in  1S75. 
Eliza  A.  Sunderland-Cook»,  b.  May  16,  1S52  ;  m.  George  W.   Cook  of  Warwick, 
R.  L     They  had  -Arthur,  who  died  at   21,  Georgiana    M.,  wife  of  Fred    Place,  and 
Howard  L. 
JoH.N  Sunderland*. 

William  Sunderland*.     He  married  Anna  Kenyon  of  Coventry,  R.  L     They  had  one 
daughter.  Bertha,  m.  to  Robert  Everett. 

Henry  Sunderland*.  [Nancy',  Sarah  Hathaway'^,   Deborah   Greene-King*,   etc.,]  b. 
158 


W^e   Greene   jfainil^ 


^59 


March  iS.  iSl6,  d.  Feb.  ii,  iSS;  ;  m.  in  1S42  to  Marcelia,  dau.  of  Rufus  King.  She  was 
of  the  Coventry  Kings,  not  of  the  Huguenot  Kings,  from  which  her  husband  came.  6 
children. 

Ann  Maria  Sunderland- Field',  b.  Jan.  18,  1S44.      Wife  of  Harrison  Field.     They 
have  Leonard,  b.  1S71  ;   Maud,  1S73  ;   .Mabel,  1876  ;  and  Lyman,  1SS2, 
John  H.  Sunderland^     D.  m  1875,  aged  29. 

Nancy  Emma  Sunderland-Le  Valley',  b.  Aug.  26,  1850,  d.  March  14,  iSgo  ;  m. 
\Vm.  F.  Le  Valley,  son  of  Robert,  in  1873.  He  wasof  the  same  La  Valley  stock  as 
herself,  through  one  of  the  sons  of  Peter  La  Valley  who  died  in  1756. 

Mary  E.  Le  Valley-Northup'",  wife  of  Alonzo  Xorthup.     They  have  Gladys 
I   and  Harriet  F. 

William  F.  Le  Valley'",  b.  May  24,  iSSl. 
George  Sunderland',  b.  Dec.  i,  1852;   m.  Mary  Hopliins  in    1SS3.       They    have 
Lena,  b.  1SS4  ;  Wallace,  1888  ;  and  George,  b.  1891. 

Augustus  H.  Sunderland',  b.  May  11.  1S56  ;  m.  Carrie  B.  Johnson  in  iSSl. 
They  have  Alice,  b.  1SS3  ;  Ethel,  1SS4  ;  Herbert,  (dead);  Norma,  b.  1S90  ;  and 
Maud,  b.  1S93. 

Idella  F.  Sunderland-Burnham',  twin  to  Augustus  H.    JL   in    1874   to   Alfred  D. 
Buniham.      They  had  Edith,  who  died  at  10.  and  Alfred  T.  b.  lSS3. 
Alfred  Sunderland-,  (of  Nancy',  of  Sarah  H.^,  etc.) 

Thom.\s  SuNDERL-iND*.  [Nancv^  .Sarah  Hathaway^,  Deborah  Greene-King^,  etc]  He 
m.  Betsey  Spencer  about  1842.  They  had  William,  Lucretia  and  George,  all  of  whom  died 
without  issue. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

THE   PIERCE   FAMILY 
LINE   OF   SANFORD    AND    MARY    KING-PIERCE 

Mary,  the  third  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Deborah  Greene-King,  [Mary  , 
Deborah^,  James*,  John^,  James",  John',]  married  Sanford  Pierce",  the  son 
of  Olive  Greene-Pierce',  [Samuel",  01ive\  Ebenezer*,  Ebenezer*,  John-,John\] 
The  Greene  descent  of  both  has  been  traced,  and  also  the  La  Valley- 
King  descent  of  Mary.  The  Pierce  family  also  has  its  history,  inter- 
woven in  part  with  others,  and  will  be  given  here,  before  the  personal  story 
of  Mary  and  Sanford  is  begun.  I  have  confidence  in  the  pedigree  as  here 
given.  It  is  the  result  of  c/osc  comparison  and  study  of  ver}'  old  records, 
which  are,  however,  as  I  am  free  to  admit,  brief  and  sometimes  confused. 

The  name  was  originally  Norman  French,  and  was  then  St.  Pierre — 
(Saint  Peter.)  The  first  name-bearer  was  a  devotee  of  Saint  Peter,  who  hr.d 
taken,  it  is  supposed,  some  special  vow  or  obligation  before  the  shrine  of 
the  saint.  The  family  were  of  noble  blood.  Their  coat-of-arms  showed  two 
bend  sable.  It  is  an  old  escutcheon,  showing  some  variation  in  different 
lines.  They  came  to  England  at  the  Conquest,  or  soon  after,  and  there  the 
name  quickly  corrupted  itself  into  Pierce  or  Pirce,  written  at  first  Piers  or 
Perres.  The  descendants  of  the  younger  sons  of  the  family  became  reduced 
to  the  common  rank.  It  is  perhaps  but  a  coincidence,  yet  it  is  worth  noting, 
that  William  Langland  who  wrote  the  famous  poem  of  "  Piers  the  Plow- 
man," about  1362,  locates  his  Piers  of  the  remarkable  visions  in  the  Malvern 
Hills,  on  the  Welsh  border.  The  first  glimpse  we  get  of  the  line  of  Pierces 
we  are  trying  to  trace,  is  in  North  Wales,  about  one  hundred  years  after  the 
date  of  the  poem.* 

*  There  is  a  tradition,  as  Mrs.  Belle  Pierce-Estabrook  tells  us,  that  this  family  have  royal  Stuart 
blood.  If  so.  it  was  in  tlie  same  way  and  iu  the  ?ame  sense  in  which  Cromwell  had  royal  Stuart  blood  : 
i.  e..  there  is  a  strain  in  the  blood  of  descent  from  the  Norman  Baron  Alan,  whose  son  was  made  Lord 
Steward  to  the  Scotch  Kins  David.  From  the  Lord  Steward's  family  the  royal  Stuarts  sprang  in  meteoric 
career,  only  to  sink  into  ruin  so  pathetic  that  it  has  made  their  memory  immortal.  Many  old  Welsh 
families  had  a  cross  of  this  Baron  Alan  blood. 

It  is  only  justice  to  Mrs.  Estabrook  to  state  she  does  not  accept  the  old  records  that  I  quote.     She 
believes  that  the  Pierces  "are  of  Koyal  Stuart  blood,  and  went  to  France  after  the  overthrow  of  the 
royal  house,  taking  the  name  meaning  a  .stone  or  rock." 
160 


XLbe   6rcene   jfamil^  i6i 

In  the  Appendix  it  is  told  that  a  young  woman  of  this  Welsh  Pierce 
family,  prior  to  1500,  married  an  Ithell.  Their  son,  Pierce  Ithell,  had  a 
daughter  Mary  who  married  an  Englishman,  Richard  Wardwell.  One  of 
the  Wardwells'  sons  married  a  Huguenot  refugee's  daughter,  Meribe 
Lascelle. 

The  heads  of  this  Huguenot  family,  Gershom  and  Meribe  Lascelle,  had 
another  daughter  whose  name,  as  near  as  we  can  get  at  the  original  form, 
was  Anteres,  which  would  be  pronounced  An-te-rees,  or  An-te-race,  with  the 
accent  on  the  last  syllable.  The  name  was  handed  down  in  the  Pierce  fam- 
ily for  several  generations,  under  the  forms  of  Antrace,  Antires,  Anterace, 
or  Ansutrass,  and  particularly  as  Antress  and  Anstress.  This  daughter  with 
the  odd  name  married  a  Pierce,  whose  baptismal  name  is  unknown  to  us. 
We  do  know  that  he  belonged  to  the  same  branch  whose  blood  was  in  the 
Wardwell  line  into  which  Meribe  (Maribah,)  the  sister  of  Anteres,  married. 

The  French  blood  thus  brought  into  the  Pierce  family  has  markedly 
shown  itself.  The  romantic  and  spectacular  side  of  the  Gallic  character  has 
tinged  the  whole  blood  of  this  line.  x\n  instance  is  the  act  of  old  Robert 
the  Emigrant,  who  brought  bread  with  him  from  England,  bread  that  is  yet 
preserved  in  his  family,  a  memento  as  sacred  as  the  Jewish  shew  bread  of 
the  altar  itself.  The  Pierce  of  to-day  has  a  Frenchy,  imaginative,  sentimen- 
tal and  reminiscent  side  to  his  character,  however  practical  he  may  be  in 
other  ways.  Every  pathetic  or  romantic  episode  in  their  history  has  been 
preserved,  until  their  chronicler  sufifers  from  embarrassment  of  riches,  so 
many  and  so  varied  are  these  anecdotes.  The  Lascelles,  like  so  many 
French  families,  delighted  in  mellifluous  and  high-sounding  names.  More 
than  any  other  branch  of  the  family,  the  Pierces  have  preserved  this  pecu- 
liarity. In  studying  200  years  of  early  New  England  records,  the  Pierces 
led  any  other  family  whatever  in  original,  peculiar  and  poetical  names. 
Pardon,  Preserved,  Myell,  Suthcote,  Val,  Backus  and  Clothier,  Bashabee, 
Barsha,  Squier,  and  Lewis-Desabaye-Besayade  are  a  few  of  these  names  that 
now  occur  to  me.  To  this  day  the  Pierces  largely  choose  sentimental  names 
for  their  offspring. 

Anteres  Pierce  had  quite  a  family.  Almost  certainly  she  had  an  Eb- 
enezer,  Thomas,   Michael  and  Azrikam,   and  probably  an  Edward    and  a 

Stephen.     One  of  her  younger  children  was  a  daughter  who  married 

King.  This  daughter's  descendants  continued  the  names  of  Thomas,  Mich- 
ael, Ebenezer  and  Edward  for  several  generations.  Her  sons  Thomas,  Wil- 
liam, John  and  Michael  King  came  to  America  in  1635,  and  a  great-grand- 
son, John  King  the  Buccaneer,  came  to  R.  I.  in  1665,  a  child  of  11  years. 
Buccaneer  John  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Mary  King-Pierce  herself.  So 
that  by  her  and  Sanford  Pierce's  marriage  were  united  her  remote  Pierce- 


i62  Xlbc   (Breene   ]famil^ 

Ithell  and  Lascelle-Wardwell  blood,  and  his  Pierce  and  equally  remote  in- 
fusion of  Lascelle  blood.  Each  was  of  course  of  Greene  blood  also.  So 
these  several  small  trickles  from  the  parent  streams,  re-united,  became 
something  of  a  current  itself. 

In  the  next  generation  a  large  number  of  allied  families,  Waites,  Hills, 
Wardwells,  Lazells  (Lascelles),  Slocums,  Brownells,  Kings  and  Pierces  came 
to  the  Colonies,  seeking  religious  freedom.  From  the  early  records,  General 
Ebenezer  Pierce's  careful  Pierce  genealogy,  and  from  the  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  it  appears  that  the  Pierces  among 
these  may  be  subdivided  into  several  groups  of  presumable  brothers,  the 
first  descendants  in  each  group  cousins  to  those  of  the  others,  and  all  of 
course  grandchildren  to  Anteres  Pierce  and  her  husband.  Only  one  group 
concerns  this  history,  save  that  Thomas  Pierce  of  Woburn  deserves  mention 
as  being  the  ancestor  of  President  Pierce. 

The  group  in  which  we  are  interested  consists  of  four  brothers — so 
the  best  authorities  consider  them — John  the  Patentee,  Robert,  Capt.  Wil- 
liam and  Capt.  ]\Iichael.  Three  of  these  were  men  of  distinction  in  their 
day.  They  were  grandsons  of  Anteres  Pierce,  and  sons  of  Azrikam  Pierce 
and  his  wife  Martha.*  Besides  these  are  three,  evidently  closely  related  to 
them,  and  believed  to  be  a  brother's  children.  These  are  John  the  Emi- 
grant, of  Watertown,  Daniel  of  Watertown  and  Newbury,  and  Richard  of 
Rhode  Island.  It  is  thought  these  three  were  the  sons  of  a  Jeremiah,  but 
of  his  name  there  is  no  absolute  certainty. 

Before  passing  on  to  Richard  of  Rhode  Island's  line,  let  us  glance  at 
the  history  of  his  three  then-famous  uncles.  John  the  Patentee,  (who  may 
have  been  an  uncle  instead  of  a  brother  to  the  others,)  was  a  merchant  of 
London.  He  was  the  owner  of  the  historic  Mayflower.  An  association  of 
merchants,  with  John  Pierce  at  their  head,  secured  a  patent  in  1620  from 
the  Virginia  Company  for  the  use  of  the  Mayflower  colonists,  who  then  ex- 
pected to  settle  in  Virginia.  When  the  Mayflower  returned  in  the  spring  of 
1 62 1,  with  the  news  of  the  change  of  base,  John  Pierce  obtained  a  new 
grant  or  patent  to  Plymouth  Colony,  dated  June  i,  1621.  He  himself  start- 
ed for  the  new  world  in  the  ship  Paragon,  but  it  proved  unseaworthy  and 
put  back.  He  then  sent  the  patent  on  in  the  ship  Good  Fortune,  which 
reached  Plymouth  Nov.  11,  162 1.  He  remained  in  London,!  but  used  his 
means  and  ships  in  building  up  the  colony. 


*  Those  two  names.  Azrikam.  (frequently  Ezrilcam.  Eliakim,  Azrakin  and  Azra  in  the  records.)  and 
Martha,  are  repeated  over  and  over  in  their  descendants  names,  as  only  an  ancestor's  name  would  be. 
Azrikam  is  never  met  with  outside  of  this  branch. 

t  ,So  say  al!  authorities  bat  one.    I  find  no  trace  of  him  in  America. 


^be   <5rccne   family  163 

He  put  his  brother — so  Gen.  Ebenezer  Pierce  styles  him — Captain  Wil- 
liam Pierce  as  master  of  first  one  and  another  of  his  ships.  A  year  from  the 
time  he  first  visited  Plymouth  Colony,  Captain  William  owned  13  slaves. 
Doubtless  he  owned  many  more  as  his  fortunes  increased.  In  a  letter  of 
1638,  which  has  been  preserved,  is  this  language:  "The  ship  Desire,  Capt. 
William  Pierce,  returned  from  the  West  Indies  after  a  7-month's  voyage. 
He  brought  cotton,  tobacco  and  negroes  from  Providence,  [one  of  the  West 
Indies'  islands,]  and  salt  from  Tortugas."  And  yet  a  historian  of  those  days 
speaks  of  him  as  "A  godly  man,  and  a  most  expert  mariner!"  Doubt- 
less he  was  a  good  man,  for  these  things  did  not  trouble  men's  consciences 
then. 

Pope  in  his  history  says  that  up  to  1640  Capt.  William  crossed  the  ocean 
oftener  than  any  other  man  then  living.  He  made  many  voyages  between 
England  and  Virginia  or  to  the  West  Indies.  Twice  he  essayed  to  go  to 
Plymouth,  but  each  time  had  to  put  back  because  of  a  leaky  vessel.  This 
was  in  1621  and  1622.  In  1623  ^^^  came  in  the  Ann,  in  the  Charity  in  1624, 
in  an  unregistered  ship  in  1625,  i"  the  Mayflower  in  1629,  ^^^  i^  the  Lyon 
or  Lyon's  Whelp  in  1630,  1631  and  1632,  making  seven  voyages  to  Ply- 
mouth within  ten  3'ears.  He  brought  a  great  many  of  his  kindred  over  in 
his  ships,  also  Rev.  Cotton,  Roger  Williams  and  other  eminent  men. 

At  first  he  lived  in  Virginia,  where  he  had  a  plantation  of  200  acres  at 
James  City.  Here  his  first  wife,  Mrs.  Jone  (Jane)  Pierce',  died.  She  left  a 
daughter  Jane,  who  married  John  Rolfe,  the  widower  of  Pocahontas,  the 
Indian  princess  who  saved  Capt.  John  Smith's  life.  In  1632  he  removed  to 
Boston.  Here  he  was  of  great  influence,  and  made  for  them  their  first 
Almanac  in  1639.  In  1641  he  attempted  to  land  a  ship-load  of  colonists  on 
the  Island  of  Providence,  one  of  the  Bahamas.  The  inhabitants  resisted  the 
intrusion,  and  in  the  battle  that  followed  he  was  shot,  the  13th  of  May, 
1641. 

Captain  Michael  Pierce,  the  third  prominent  one  of  the  brothers,  was  an 
Ensign  under  Captain  Miles  Standish.  In  1669  he  was  made  Captain.  He 
was  easily  the  greatest  Indian  fighter  of  the  King  Philip  War.  But  close  to 
Rehoboth,  Mass.,  near  the  Pawtucket  River,  he  was  hemmed  in  by  a  host  of 
red  men,  on  March  26,  1676.  He  had  only  52  white  men  with  him  and  11 
friendly  Indians.  In  the  fearful  massacre  that  followed  only  three  of  the 
sixty-three  escaped.  Thus  dearly  he  sold  his  life  on  that  Sabbath  day's 
fight,  so  long  ago.  The  family  of  Richard  (his  nephew)  have  this  battle 
handed  down  in  their  memories,  and  tradition  could  be  no  more  positi\'e 
than  theirs  that  they  are  nearly  related  to  him.  Richard  Pierce's  line  was 
exceedingly  proud  of  their  near  relationship  to  Captain  Michael,  and  named 
after  him  for  five  generations. 


i64  ^be   (Brccne   jfamil^ 

Richard^  the  Emigrant*,  [Jeremiah*,  Azrikam^,  Anteres  Lascelle-Pierce^, 
Gershom  Lascelle',]   came  to  Massachusetts,  probably  about  1635.    His  wife 

was  Elizabeth .     Richard  was  one  of  those  who  thought  the  Mass- 

a(;husetts  authorities  exercised  tyranny  in  religious  matters.  He  according- 
ly went  to  Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  and  became  a  Friend  or  Quaker.  His  descend- 
ants of  the  particular  line  we  are  tracing,  went  to  Prudence  Island,  or  Chip- 
pacursett,  as  the  Indians  called  it.  Together  with  the  Hills,  who  were 
relatives,  the  Aliens  and  Sanfords,  they  were  the  leading  families  of  that 
island,  until  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  British  in  vain  tried  to  buy  hay 
or  provision  from  the  Prudence  Island  farmers.  They  were  so  stanch  a  band 
of  patriots  that  not  one  would  part  with  provender  for  the  British  army, 
even  at  double  price. 

An  English  officer  attempted  to  overcome  the  scruples  of  Hon.  John 
Allen,  of  this  island.  The  Hon.  John,  who  was  hot-headed,  exploded  with 
wrath,  and  refused  in  a  taunting  way  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  red- 
coats. Wallace,  the  British  officer  in  command,  in  reprisal  for  the  insult, 
sent  troops  with  orders  to  burn  every  house,  barn  and  haystack  on  the  island, 
from  end  to  end.  The  order  was  carried  out  to  the  letter.  Allen's  family 
were  thrust  out  in  their  night  clothes,  and  of  their  household  possessions  saved 
only  some  silver  teaspoons  that  Mrs.  Allen  snatched  up  as  the  soldiers  drove 
her  out.  and  thrust  into  her  bosom.  Samuel  Pierce,  Senior,  great-grandson  of 
Richard  the  Emigrant,  and  grandfather  of  the  Sanford  we  are  tracing,  was 
turned  out  of  doors  also,  his  house,  barn  and  hay  burned,  and  his  cattle 
taken.  He  left  the  island  at  once,  and  none  of  the  family  ever  returned.  He 
saved  a  few  small  articles  in  his  flight,  and  they  are  yet  kept  as  heirlooms, 
including  some  of  the  garments,  and  a  teapot  with  the  date  of  its  making, 
1746,  stamped  upon  it. 

Richard  the  Emigrant's  line  were  mostly  seamen.  In  a  hundred  years' 
time  no  less  than  six  were  sea  captains,  and  as  many  were  drowned  at  sea. 
They  were  all  slave-holders.  The  records  would  indicate  that,  next  to  the 
Tripps,  they  were  collectively  the  largest  slave-holders  in  the  colony.  One 
reason  was  that  many  sailors  habitually  made  trips  to  Africa,  trading  New 
England  products  for  slaves  and  gold  dust.  These  slaves  cost  them  but  a 
trifle,  and  they  could  afford  to  own  plenty  of  them.  Some  of  the  family 
died  on  the  African  coast,  on  slaving  expeditions.  The  brother  of  Captain 
Daniel  in  our  tracing  line  being  one  of  them. 

The  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  the  palmy  days  of  the  Buc- 


♦SomeofthefamilyhoIdthatthisEieliard  was  Capt.  William's  son.  He  indeed  had  a  son  Richard 
by  Bridget,  his  second  wife.  The  Milton.  Mass.,  church  records  show  that  Kichard  of  Capt.  William  was 
baptized  Jan.  23.  163G.  then  a  small  child.  Richard  of  Portsmouth  had  children  born  before  1650.  so 
Bould  not  have  been  the  same. 


^be   (5reehe   iramii^  165 

cancers,  those  sea  rovers  who  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  despoil 
Spanish  possessions,  and  take  the  booty  captured  for  their  own.  Spain  was 
a  hated  nation.  So  far  from  considering  themselves  pirates,  those  free-boot- 
ing ancestors  thought  it  a  feather  in  their  cap  to  board  Spanish  vessels,  and 
to  take  Spanish  towns  in  the  West  Indies.  The  Prudence  Island  Pierces 
had  their  full  share  in  all  this. 

The  family  soon  lost  their  Quakerism.  During  the  Revolutionary  War 
48  Pierces  of  R.  I.,  nearly  all  lineal  descendants  of  Richard,  Senior,  enlisted 
in  the  anny.     Not  a  few  of  them  were  officers. 

Richard's  son,  Richard  Jr.",  had  by  his  first  wife,  Joyce,  a  son  Daniell* 
This  Daniel  was  married  in  1708  to  Patience  (Patty)  Hill,  a  distant  cousin. 
Patience  was  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  Hill,  the  uncle  of  Ann  and  Susanna 
Hill  who  married  "  Wealthy  "  John  Greene  and  Usal  Greene.  One  of  the 
oldest  sons  of  Daniel  and  Patience  Pierce  was  Samuel,  Senior,  whose  house 
was  burned  by  the  British.  In  1744  this  Samuel  married  Hester  or  Esther 
Wiley.  (The  name  is  written  both  ways.)  Their  third  son,  Samuel,  Jr., 
was  born  April  13,  1752.  He  married  Olive  Greene',  [Ebenezer*,  Ebenezer^, 
John^,  John'.]  As  her  grandmother  was  probably  a  Pierce,  she  was  a  cousin 
on  the  Pierce  side,  and  a  very  distant  one  on  the  Lascelle-Wardwell  side. 

Samuel  and  Olive  lived  mostly  at  Bristol,  R.  I.  Here  she  died,  July 
14,  1786,  in  child-bed,  at  35  years  of  age.  The  solid  silver  "  name  "  spoon, 
an  heirloom  in  the  family,  was  doubtless  presented  to  an  Ebenezer  Caleb  of 
this  family,  who  died  young.  It  was  presented  by  Ebenezer  Greene  and 
Caleb  Hill,  the  one  the  brother  of  Olive,  the  other  Samuel's  great-uncle.  It 
must  always  descend  to  an  E.  C.  Pierce.  The  only  sons  that  survived  were 
Daniel,  Caleb  and  Sanford.  The  last  was  evidently  named  for  their  fast 
friends,  the  Sanfords  of  Prudence  Island.  Sanford  married  his  distant 
cousin,  Molly  King-.  [Deborah  Greene-King^  James  Greene^  John',  James-, 
John'.] 

Sanford*  was  the  oldest  child  of  Samuel  Jr.  and  Olive  Pierce.  He  was 
born  May  10,  1773.  His  wife,  Molly  King-Pierce,  was  two  years  his  senior, 
having  been  born  June  29,  1771.  They  were  married  in  West  Greenwich, 
R.  I.,  which  was  her  home,  probably  about  1797.  What  was  known  as  the 
Military  Tracts  of  Northern  New  York  had  been  thrown  open  to  settlement 
on  advantageous  terms.  After  living  in  Mass.  for  aboiit  a  year  they  went  to 
this  region  and  settled  in  Onondaga  County,  in  that  part  of  Pompey  after- 
wards called  Fabius.     It  had  only  been  sur\'eyed  in  1794,  and  bears,  panthers 


*  lu  some  Indian  uprising  Daniel  did  service.  He  hold  the  rank  of  Captain,  and  was  noted  for  his 
valor  and  successful  stratagems  against  his  wily  foe.  He  was  usually  called  Captain  Daniel  or  Fighting 
Captain  Daniel.  It  is  known  that  he  followed  the  sea  a  part  of  his  life,  aod  the  sobriquet  of  "  Bo'sen 
Dan'el"  (Boatswain  Daniel)  was  also  much  used  of  him. 


J  66  ^be   (Breenc   Ifamil^ 

and  wolves  abounded.  Deer  were  so  plentiful  that  the  settlers  had  venison 
as  commonly  as  we  now  have  beef.  Here  they  remained  for  24  years,  then 
removed  to  a  new  settlement  just  being  made  at  Palermo,  in  Otsego  County. 
Ebenezer,  their  "  home  son,"  having  moved  to  Northern  Indiana  in  1837, 
Sanford  and  his  wife  went  to  him,  and  died  at  his  home, — Mary  (Molly) 
Sept.  9,  1838,  and  Sanford  June  29,  1849. 

Mary,  the  wife,  was  a  slender,  petite  woman,  with  a  fair,  expressive  face 
and  beautiful  eyes.  She  had  the  quick  wit  and  bright  way  of  her  French 
grandmother,  Marie  La  Valley-King.  She  had  her  supersensitive,  ner\-ous 
organization  as  well.  A  shock  left  a  mental  cloud  for  some  years  upon  her 
in  the  latter  part  of  her  life. 

Sanford  and  ]\Iary  had  five  children,  all  of  whom  lived  to  marry.  Cath- 
erine remained  in  N.  Y.  The  others  all  moved  to  La  Grange  Co.,  Indiana, 
and  died  there. 

MARGARET  PIERCE-MUNGER'.  She  was  born  in  1798,  and  mar- 
ried when  but  16.  Her  husband  was  hunting,  and  while  chasing  a  deer 
over  Oneida  Lake  broke  through  the  ice  and  was  drowned,  leaving  Margaret 
a  widow  at  17.  She  was  later  married  to  Allen  Munger.  She  died  at  Wol- 
cottville,  Indiana,  in  the  "  sickly  year,"  Oct.  4, 1838,  aged  40  years.  Beside 
her  own  children  she  brought  up  Nancy  Matteson,  who  married  Ira  Nichols.^ 

Betsey  Mu^•GER^  m.  Hiram  Roberts. 

Melissa  Roberts-Smith',  wife  of  Jolin  Smith.     Oae  daughter. 

Alfred  Munger'. 

Catherine  Munger*,  m.  Sanderson  Eastlake. 
SAMUEL  PIERCE'.  There  is  not  a  sadder  page  in  this  book,  than  of 
this  man's  history.  He  was  a  young  man  of  promise,  good-looking,  upright,  and 
exceedingly  ambitious  and  proud.  He  married  a  young  and  pretty  girl,  Mary 
Andrews.  Before  her  oldest  son  was  born,  she  sank  into  a  mental  im- 
becility that  lasted  her  life.  People  did  not  understand  the  laws  of  heredity 
in  those  days,  or  realize  the  curse  in  her  blood  to  the  offspring  of  an  unfit 
mother.  The  children  kept  coming  until  there  were  six,  every  one  of  whom 
was  a  degenerate.  Samuel  Pierce  never  held  up  his  head  again.  He  lost 
all  ambition  or  care  to  live.     He  died  in  1857,  aged  57. 

EBENEZER  PIERCE'.  He  was  born  Oct.  19,  1801.  He  taught  school 
at  Pompey  Hill,  the  winter  he  was  19.  The  next  spring  the  family  moved 
to  what  is  now  Palermo,  then  an  unbroken  forest.*  Dec.  29,  1821,  he  was 
one  of  the  principals  to  a  double  wedding,  when  Rachel  McQueen  became 
his  wife,  and  his  sister  Catherine  became  the  wife  of  Ephraim  McQueen.  Four 
children  were  born  to  them  in  their  little  cabin  in  the  clearing,  Polly  (Mary), 

*  His  mother.  Mrs.  Pierce,  rode  on  horsebaclc.  with  a  feather  bed  tied  on  behind  her  and  carrying  a 
baby  in  her  arras.  It  was  hardly  as  stylish  a  mode  o£  traveling  as  a  modern  automobile  jaunt,  but  it 
answered  all  purposes  then. 


^be   6reene   family  167 

Seymour,  Atelia  and  Clark.  Mrs.  Rachel  Pierce  died  Sept.  15,  1832,  in  her 
31st  year. 

His  second  wife  was  Julia  Arabella  Collins,  who  was  born  May  26,  1816, 
in  Windham  Co.,  Vermont.  She  outlived  her  husband  nearly  thirty-eight 
years,  dying  in  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  26,  1902,  in  her  87th  year. 
She  was  more  than  an  ordinarily  capable  woman,  level-headed  and  energetic 
always.  She  was  a  capital  hand  at  rehearsing  stories  of  pioneer  life.  It  was 
as  good  as  a  novel  to  hear  her  relate,  when  the  western  fever  attacked  her 
husband,  how  in  1837  they  made  the  overland  trip  from  N.  Y.  to  Northern 
Indiana,  with  some  other  families.  They  were  seven  weeks  on  the  road. 
There  were  twenty-six  in  the  company,  three  of  them  babes  under  three 
months  old.  On  the  way,  sixteen  of  the  twenty-six  came  down  with  the 
measles,  to  say  nothing  of  a  score  of  other  haps  and  ills. 

A  log  house  was  hastily  built  in  the  deep  woods.  Here  this  girlish 
wife  watched  over  the  brood  of  six  little  ones,  and  quaked  in  her  shoes  each 
time  an  Indian  showed  his  dusky  face.  One  time  Schomack,  the  old  Potto- 
watamie  Chief,  grunted  and  patted  Mrs.  Julia  on  the  shoulder,  patronizingly 
complimenting  her  to  her  husband  by  repeating,  ''  Nice  squaw  !  nice  squaw  !  " 

Once  when  Eben — the  name  her  husband  usually  was  called — was  away 
from  home,  six  Indians  stalked  into  the  house.  They  helped  themselves  to 
the  bread  in  the  bake-oven,  and  as  they  were  not  given  anything  else  one 
of  them  shook  his  fist  in  the  young  wife's  face.  She  expected  to  be  killed, 
but  he  made  signs  they  would  leave  if  she  would  give  them  what  they  took 
to  be  a  piece  of  dried  venison.  She  gave  it  ♦'o  them.  The  first  to  taste  it 
made  a  horrible  face,  while  the  others  burst  forth  into  derisive  hoots.  The 
supposed  venison  was  dried  beef's  gall,  about  the  bitterest  thing  on  the  face 
of  the  earth. 

Eben  Pierce  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  irreproachable  life.  He 
died  of  small-pox  Jan.  20,  1865,  at  his  home  near  Wolcottville,  Indiana. 
His  descendants  by  his  first  wife  are  these : 

Polly  Pierce-Jennings'.     Born  Feb.  16,  1824.  in  N.  V.     Died  in  Indiana,    March  4, 
1853.     She  was  married  to  Orville  Jennings,  Oct.  8,  1S48. 
H.  Seymour  Jennings". 

H.  Seymour  Pierce'.     Born  Sept.  19,  i92S,  and  died  Aug.  15,  1838. 

Ateli.-\  Pierce-W.\tson>'.  Born  July  26,  1830  ;  m.  March,  1852,  to  Anthony  Watson. 
She  died  in  Indiana,  Dec.  17,  1854,  aged  24. 

Ebenezer  Clark  Pierce'  He  is  always  called  Clark.  No  one  stands  higher  in  the  com- 
munity than  he.  Like  all  of  his  family,  he  is  a  Baptist.  He  is  a  successful  man,  has  been 
a  farmer,  but  now  lives  in  Wolcottville,  Indiana.  He  was  born  Nov.  15,  1831,  at  Palermo, 
N.  Y.  He  was  married  March  2,  1856,  to  Christine  Raber,  who  was  born  in  Summit  Co., 
Ohio.  By  her  he  had  five  children.  She  died  May  13,  1870.  His  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Lukins.  who  lived  but  a  few  months  after  their  marriage.  Aug.  4,  1S74,  he  married 
Sarah  Jane  Snyder,  who  was  born  in  Wayne  Co.,  Ohio,  in  1845.  They  have  had  seven 
children  : 


i68  ^be  (5recne  Jfanul^ 


Frank  H.  Pierce',  b.  Dec.  22,  1S56  ;  m.  in  1SS6  to  Florence  Selby.     They  live   in 
N.  D.  and  have  one  daughter,  Ara belle. 

Ida  O.  Pierce',  b.  July  31,  1859  ;  d.  Feb.  17,  1864. 

Atelia  M.  Pierce-Diggins',  (called  Tillie),  b.  Feb.  10,  1862  ;  m.   to  William   Dig- 
gins,  Oct.,  18S6. 

Frank  Diggins'". 
Harold  Digginsi". 
Owen  E.  C.  Pierce',  b.  June  15,  1865  ;  m.  Maria  Weatherwax,  Dec,   1887. 

Claud  Pierce'". 
Elsie  A.  Pierce',  b.  July  20.  1867  ;  d.  Sept.  19,   1870. 
By  his  last  wife  Clark  has  these  ciii  dren  : 

Merritt  Pierce',  b.  May  21,  1875.       He   m.  his  third  cousin,  Emma  E.  Nichols 
July  29,  1896.     He  is  a  teacher,  as  was  .also  his  wife. 

Marjorie  Elide  Pierce'",  b.  1897. 

Jay  Pierce',  b.  Jan.  3.  1877  ;  m.  Ella  Lamp,  Nov.,  igoo. 
Harold  Pierce'". 
Winnatred  Pierce'". 
Flora  Belle  Pierce-Diggins',  b.  March  9,  1S70  ;  m.  to  Geo.  F.  Diggins,  Dec.  18, 
1901. 
Lora  Dell  Pierce',  twin  of  Flora.     M.  to   Chas.   Myers,  March  18,  1903. 
Charles  Pierce',  b.  Feb.  24,  1881  ;  d.  March  23,  1SS3. 
Frederick  Pierce',  b.  March  17,  1885  ;  d.  Sept.,  1887. 
Pansy  Pierce',  b.  April  6,  1887. 

By  his  second  wife,  Julia  A.  Collins,  Eben  Pierce  had  these  children  : 

Joseph  Ansel  Pierce*,  usually  called  by  his  second  name,  was  born  Nov.  24,  1833.   He 
was  married  (l)  in  1856  to  Eliza  J.  Hoard,  who  died  in  1870.     M.  (2)  to   Lucy   Shafner,   in 
1878,  and  (3)  to  Lucinda  Stockwell,  in  1893.      He  is  now  living  at  Fowler.   111. 
Emily  L.  Pierce',  b.  Nov.  25,  1857.     D.  at  7. 

Charlotte  E.  Pierce-Dossa',  b.  Nov.  23,  1859.     Married  Frank  O.  Dossa  in  Dec. 
1875.     They  have  Florence,  Lafayette,  Ansel  and  Dota. 

William  Wallace  Pierce',  b.  June  5,  1862.     Married  Rose  Ette  Fleharty,  May  12, 
1883.      He  is  in  the  real  estate  and  insurance  business  at  Wetumka,  Ind.   Territory. 
Myrtle  Belle  Pierce'",  b.  Oct.  13,  1884  ;  d.  at  5  years. 
Flossie  Dell  Pierce'",  b.  Aug.  26,  1886  ;  d.  in  her  fourth  year. 
Bertha  Floyce  Pierce'",  b.  Aug.  30,  1895. 
Wallace  Ross  Pierce'",  b.  Aug.  10,  1900. 
George  L.  Pierce',  b.  Aug.  9,  1865.     Married  April,  1887,  to  Belle  Squires.  Their 
son,  Vernon  L.,  was  born  in  Jan.  1S89.     George  L..  the  father,   d.   Nov.    30,    1900, 
and  his  wife  died  the  next  month. 

Belle  M.  Pierce-Aron",  b.  Oct.  1867  ;  m.  to  Chas.  Aron,  July,    1888,     They  have 
4  children. 

Florence  O.   Pierce-Morrell',   b.  Oct.,   1869.     She  m.  Frank   Morrell  in  Sept., 
1901.     She  died  in  .-Vpril,  1903.     No  children. 
By  the  second  wife  were  these  children  : 

Oliver  W.  Pierce',  b,  Feb.  24,  1S79. 

Loretta  U.  Pierce-Harget^,  b.  March  i,  1882,  and  m.  in  Feb.,  igoi,  to  Howard 
Harger.     She  has  2  daughters. 

Daisy  O.  Pierce-Sawyer',  b.  Aug.   II,   1883,  and  ra.  to  Noah  Sawyer  in  June, 
1900.     She  has  2  sons. 

By  the  third  wife  there  was  another  son      Loron  L.  Pierce',  born  Aug.   30,   1S95, 
The  wife  died  5  months  after,  Jan.  17,  1S96. 
Rev.  Francis  Edwin  Pierce*'.     He  was  born  March  3,  1837,  in  N.  Y.     He  was  mar- 
ried to  Eliza  Maria  Nash,  Jan.  5,  i860,  at  Kendallville,  Ind.     Miss  Nash  was  the  daughter 


^be   (Brcene   family  169 


of  Col.  John  and  Catherine  Wolcott--Nash,  and  was  born  in  Middleburg,  Ohio,  Aug,  5, 
1840.  She  was  lineally  descended  from  the  two  famous  Connecticut  governors,  Roger  and 
Oliver  Wolcott,  and  from  Oliver  Wolcott,  Senior,  a  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. To  Frank  and  Eliza  were  born  eight  children.  Mrs.  Eliza  Pierce  died  in  Benton 
County,  Indiana,  Nov.  3,  18S4. 

Rev.  Frank  Pierce  was  married  secondly  to  Eliza  Lardner,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza 
Ralph-Lardner.  She  was  born  in  London,  England,  Feb.  16,  1S49,  '^^^  came  with  her 
parents  to  the  United  States  in  1850. 

Rev.  Frank  was  ordained  a  Baptist  minister  in  1869,  and  preached  for  some  years  in 
Indiana  and  Vermont.  Is  not  now  in  charge  of  any  w-ork,  although  he  occasionally 
preaches.  His  home  is  at  Ellendale,  North  Dakota.  None  of  his  children  live  there.  "  It 
almost  takes  a  state  for  a  child,"  as  their  father  says,  as  they  are  scattered  in  Indiana,  Ohio, 
Iowa,  Minn.,  and  S.  Dakota.      His  children  are  . 

Infant  son',  b.  Nov.  22,  i860,  and  died  Dec.  11,  1S60. 

Lida  .\dell  Pierce-Rank',  b.  .Sept.  22,  1S64.     She   was  married   to   H.  C.    Rank, 
Aug.  27,  1885.      lie  is  the  County  Auditor  of  Benton  Co.,  Indiana. 
Edith  Lucile  Rank'",  b.  June  24,  i88g  ;  d.  1894 
Helen  Mignon  Rank'",  b.  June  24,  1894. 
Harold  Leo  Rank'",  b.  Sept.   17,  1898. 
Flora  Emma  Pierce-Graves",  b.  Jan.  22,  1S67  ;  m.  to  Rev.  James  Wesley  Graves, 
July  25,  1892.     He  is  the  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Waverly,  Iowa. 
Ruth  Vivian  Graves,'",   b.  Nov.  27,  1893. 
Esther  Bernice  Graves'",  b.  Sept.  16,  1896. 
Thelma  Blanche  Graves'",  b.  Sept.  14,  1897. 
Clark  Edwin  Pierce",  b.  June  24,  1869  ;  and  m.  to  Etta  M.  Young,  Feb.  19,  1891. 
He  is  a  farmer,  and  lives  near  Wentworth,  S.  Dakota. 
Rexford  Vernon  Pierce'",  b.  Oct.  8,  1892. 
Raymond  Ralph  Pierce'",  b.  March  I,  1896. 
Ethel  Muriel  Pierce'",  b.  Sept.  2,  1897 
Melvin  Leo  Pierce'",  b.  April  19.  1899  ;  d.  April  II,  1900. 
Francis  Milton  Pierce'",  b.  Sept.  5,  1901. 
Ruth  Mildred  Pierce'",  b    Dec.  17,  1902. 
Fannie  Ina  Pierce-Hard",  b.  May  24,  1871  :  m.  to  A.  C.  Hard  M.   D.,   Feb.   25, 
1893.      They  reside  at  Worthington,  Minn. 

Walter  Hard'",  b.  Jan.,  1S96.  d.  at  two  months. 
Arthur  Hard'",  b.  July,  1902. 
Ruth  Eveline  Pierce-Crigler",  b.  May  10,  1873  ;  m.  to  Le  Roy  Crigler.   April   27, 
1896.      He  is  an  artist  and  printer  at  Columbus.  O. 

Francis  Elbert  Pierce",  b.  Dec.  5,  1S77  ;  m.  Edith  May  Constable.,  Nov.  29,  1892. 
He  is  a  graduate  pharmacist,  located  at  Goodland,  Indiana. 

Bernice  Ethel  Pierce-Wedgewood',  b.  April  24,  1881  ;  m.  to  Eugene  Howard 
Wedgewood,  Feb.  14.  igoi.  He  is  a  farmer,  living  near  Trent,  South  Dakota, 
Flora  A.  Fidelia  Pierce-Leonard-Harris^.  She  was  born  near  Wolcottville,  In- 
diana, Sept.  30,  1841.  At  20  she  was  married  to  David  Pitt  Leonard.  Nov,  9,  1861,  and 
immediately  went  to  West  Dover,  Vermont,  where  they  lived  for  24  years.  Pitt  Leonard  was 
the  son  of  Rev.  Daniel  and  Sally  Maria  Leonard.  He  was  universally  well  spoken  of,  and 
was  a  leader  in  his  community.  He  died  in  1S8-.  Two  children  were  born  to  this  union. 
Flora  married  for  her  second  husband.  Elder  Clark  Harris,  an  elderly  gentleman  of  the 
highest  standing.  He  had  been  an  acceptable  officer  of  the  M.  E.  Church  for  over  40 years. 
After  this  marriage  they  resided  in  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had  capital  in- 
vested in  city  real  estate.  He  died  April  10.  1S98.  aged  84  years.  The  widow  yet  lives  in 
Saratoga,  a  quiet  unassuming  woman  of  real  worth  and  kindliness  of  heart. 

Francis  Pierce  Leonard",  b.  Nov.  3,  1862.     At  16  he  entered  the  Wilmington  (Vt.) 
Savings  Bank.     He  was  for  three  years  Manager  of  the  State  Life  Insurance  Co.  o£ 


170  ^be   (Breene   family 

Chicago.      He  also  graduated  from  tlie  Law  School  of  the   State  University  of   Min- 
nesota.    With  the  exception  of  those  years,  he  has  spent  all   his  life  in  the  banking 
business.      He  has  been  for   many  years  the   Receiving  Teller  of  the  Farmers  and 
Mechanics  Savings  Bank  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  said  to  have  the   largest  capital  of 
any  bank  west  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.        He  resides  at  3300  Tenth  Avenue.   S.    Minne- 
apolis.    He  married  Emogene  Perry  of  West  Wardsboro,  Vt. ,  Nov.  16,  1886. 
F.  Perry  Leonard"',  b.  Sept.  18,  1887. 
Gladys  Leonard'",  b.  Nov.  it,  iSSS. 
Faith  Leonard'",  b.  March  11,  1S90. 
Harry  Wentworth  Leonard',  b.  Aug.   2,    1S67,   in    West   Dover,  Vt.     March  16, 
1893.  he  married  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Mae  Agnez  Lantz,  the  daughter  of   Levi  S.   and 
Sarah  J.  Leinbach-Lantz,   who  was  born   in   Burlington,    Michigan.     They  live  in 
Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  but  his  place  of  business  is  in   Schenectady,    N.   Y.     He 
is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Van  Voast  &  Leonard.  General  Insurance  Agents,  and  is 
a  successful  business  man. 
Fayetie  Judson  Pierce^      B.  Dec.  22,  1845,  and  d.  Jan.  1.  1S46. 
Makia  E.  Pierce'*.     Born  Feb.  6,  1850  ;  d.  Aug.  8,  1S51.     She  was  accidentally  killed 
by  being  dropped  from  the  arms  of  a  playmate  who  was  visiting  the  older  children. 

Sophia  .\rabei,la  Pierce-Est.\brook*.  She  is  known  in  the  family  as  Belle.  She 
was  born  Nov.  g,  1853,  near  Wolcottville,  Indiana.  The  Pierce  daughters  were  usually 
belles.  None  more  so  than  this  youngest  child  of  Ebenezer's,  vivacious,  witty,  and  gifted 
in  music  and  song.  She  married  Taylor  S.  Eslabrook,  Aug.  22.  1S71,  at  Wilmington,  Vt. 
Taylor  Snead  Estabrook  w.is  born  May  31.  1S47,  in  West  Dover,  Vermont.  His  family 
is  an  old  New  England  one,  and  he  himself  was  a  lineal  descendant  from  one  of  the  minute 
men  killed  at  Lexington,  April  19,  1775.  Few  n.en  made  as  many  friends  and  as  few 
enemies.  All  his  life  he  was  a  man  who  dared  to  reach  out.  At  nineteen,  he  learned  the 
baker's  trade  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  in  a  year's  time  was  conducting  for  hmiself  the 
largest  wholesale  bakery  in  the  city.  After  various  experiences  in  188 1.  he  came  to  Saratoga 
Springs.  At  this  fashionable  summer  resort  he  kept  a  summer  hotel.  During  the  winter 
season  he  conducted  college  h.alls  where  hundreds  of  students  were  cared  for,  first  at  Trinity 
College,  Hartford,  Conn.,  anQ  then  at  Cornell  University,  Ithica,  N.  Y.  Mr.  Estabrook 
always  had  crowded  houses,  although  he  never  sacrificed  for  one  moment  his  Christian 
principles.  He  never  attended  the  races,  never  allowed  a  bar  in  one  of  his  houses,  and 
never  suffered  wine  or  brandy  to  be  used  in  his  kitchens  in  sauces  or  other  cooking.  He 
died  Oct.  4,  1903,  and  is  buried  in  Greenridge  Cemetery,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  Estabrook  takes  a  deep  interest  in  historical  and  genealogical  matters,  and  helped  to 
prepare  the  Estabrook  Genealogy.  She  has  supplied  much  data  for  this  chapter,  and 
I  regret  that  her  well-written  "  Sketches  of  Pioneer  Life  and  Pioneer  Experiences,"  de- 
scribing the  early  days  of  the  family,  could  not  appear  because  of  lack  of  room. 

Lula  Belle  Estabrook,-  b.  in  Wolcottville  Indiana,  Aug.  31,  1S73.  She  is  an 
artist  in  oils,  pastel  and  water  colors,  and  also  teaches  in  the  city  schools. 

Harold  Pitt  Estabrook',  b.  in  West  Dover,  Vt.,  June  29,  1876.  He  is  an  electrical 
draughtsman,  and  also  an  artist  in  crayon.  Lives  with  his  mother  at  Saratoga 
Spring,  N.  Y. 

Leo  Taylor  Estabrook'.  b.  at  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  13,  1884.  Is  now  in  the 
Baltimore  Medical  College,  preparing  himself  for  his  specialty  of  surgery. 

CATHERINE  PIERCE-McQUEEN^.  She  was  born  at  Fabius,  N. 
Y.,  March  24,  1805.  She  was  married  to  Ephraim  McQueen,  Dec.  29,  1821, 
at  Palermo,  N.  Y.,  at  the  same  time  that  her  brother  Eben  married  Rachel 
McQueen,  sister  of  Ephraim.  This  was  a  most  happy  marriage.  Her  hus- 
band never  tired  of  telling  of  his  courtship.  Ephraim,  son  of  James  Mc- 
Queen, came  among  the  very  first  to  the  new  lands  thrown  open  to  settle- 


^be   (Breene   Jfamil^  171 

nient.  There  was  clearing  and  everything  to  do  at  once,  and  no  time  to 
build  even  a  log  cabin.  He  built  a  shack  of  boughs,  or  a  brush  wigwam. 
There  was  no  door  nor  window,  and  to  keep  the  wolves  from  coming  in  at 
the  opening  a  fire  of  logs  was  kept  burning  all  night.  He  was  standing  at 
the  front  of  this  shack,  almost  unmanned  by  homesickness,  when  a  party  of 
movers  passed  by.  There  was  a  trim-built,  comely  girl  among  them,  this 
very  Catherine,  so  petite  that  she  weighed  but  90  pounds.  As  she  passed 
the  forlorn  figure  by  the  shack  she  gave  him  an  arch  smile,  and  he  fell  in 
love  with  her  on  the  spot.  No  more  homesickness  then.  The  Pierces  lo- 
cated two  miles  away,  and  he  made  his  way  often  through  the  gloomy  woods 
to  her  father's  door.  One  night  he  was  followed  by  a  wild  beast,  a  bear  or 
panther,  nearly  the  whole  distance. 

Eight  children  were  born  to  this  pioneer  couple.  The  household  in- 
creased, in  fact,  faster  than  their  taljle  lengthened,  and  there  came  a  time 
when  they  all  had  to  stand  up  to  their  meals  to  get  around  the  table,  and 
their  elbows  touched.  The  farm,  opened  up  under  such  difficulties,  became 
a  good  possession  eventually.  Catherine  was  all  energy.  She  was  an  ex- 
pert weaver,  and  sold  much  cloth,  sometimes  200  yards  at  a  time  of  her  own 
weaving.  She  delighted  in  old  keepsakes,  and  to  her  was  given  the  china 
of  her  grandmother,  01i\-e  Pierce,  and  the  teapot  that  was  purchased  for  her 
great-grandmother,  Hester  Pierce,  in  1746.  Doubtless  Hester  was  proud  of 
it.  When  the  British  burned  their  homes  over  their  heads  she  saved  this 
teapot.  The  dress  and  bonnet  she  wore  were  also  preserved,  and  fell  to 
Catherine's  share  of  keepsakes.  They  are  treasured  highly  by  her  descend- 
ants. Catherine  died  April  30,  1870.  Her  husband  held  the  rank  of  Cap- 
tain in  the  State  militia.     He  died  Aug.  22,  1883. 

Stephen  Pierce  McQueen^     Born  April  2g.  1825  ;  tl.  Jan.  8.  1826. 
Margarei-  McQueen^     Born  August  5,  1827;  d.  Sept.  11,  1829. 

Sanford  McQueen*.  Born  Oct.  5,  1830.  The  loth  of  May,  1863,  he  married  Mrs. 
Lucy  Jennings.  His  wife  died  July  7,  1873.  Sanford  is  a  farmer,  and  lives  on  the  old  home- 
Stead. 

Emery  Wilson  McQueen'.  Born  Aug.  16,  1833.  He  married  Emma  J.  Thomas,  Feb. 
19,  1873.     He  is  living  at  Obi,  N.  Y, 

Lida  May  McQueen-Lewis',  b.  July  4.  1874,  and  m.  to  Linn  A.  Lewis,   Nov.   11, 
1891.     They  live  at  Obi,  N.  Y. 

Burdette  Wilson  Lewis'",  b.  June  3,  1894  ;  d.  at  g  months. 
Leo  Lyle  Lewis'",  b.  Aug.  16,  1897. 
Clifford  Leroy  Lewis'",  b.  Nov.  16,  1S99. 
Orla  Seymour  McQueen',  b.  Jan.  11,   1886. 
Leon  Ephraim  McQueen',  b.  Nov.  28,  1891. 
James  McQueen'.     Born  Nov.  5,  1836,     Married  Mary  E.   Preston,   March  23,   1872. 
Enlisted  in  the  136th  N.  Y,  Volunteers  in  the  Civil  War,  but  was  rejected  because  of  lung 
trouble. 

Howard  Preston  McQueen',  b.  Nov.  3,  1S77  ;  d.  1901. 

Jennie  Lilian  McQueen-Burdick',  b.  June  17,  1884  ;  m.  to  Horace  Burdick,   Sept. 
25,  1901,  at  Palermo,  N.  Y. 


172  ^be   Greene   jfamilp 

Ella  Marion  Burdick'",  b.  Jan.  18,  1903 
Catherine  McQuei;n-Scudder-Wei.l\vood8.     She  was  born  July  30,  1838.     Married 
Orrillus  Scudder.  June  9,  1861.     He  served  three  years  in  Co.  E.,  Iioth  Regiment,   N.   Y. 
Volunteers,  in  the  Civil  War.     He  died  May  16,  1881.    She  married  (2)  Dr.  James  J.  Well- 
wood,  and  lives  at  Wellwood,  N.  Y.     She  is  again  a  widow. 

Osc.\R  McQueen*,  Born  June  14,  1S41  He  married  Mrs.  Harriet  Storer-Jennings, 
the  window  of  Mashall  Jennings,  Nov.  28.  1871.  He  is  now  living  on  the  old  homestead. 
Oscar  enlisted  in  Co.  F.,  147th  Reg't,  N.  Y.  Volunteers,  Aug.  23,  1862.  He  was  taken 
ill  while  helping  to  defend  Washington,  and  after  being  in  the  hospital  for  months,  was 
discharged  Feb.  6,  1863,  for  physical  disability. 

Frederick  Ephraim  McQueen',  b.  Feb.  27,1873.  He  was  married  to  Luna  A .  Whit- 
ney, Oct.  16,  1895.  He  lives  at  Syracuse,  N.  V.,andis  a  R.  R.  Postal  Clerk  on 
the  N.  Y.  Central. 

George  Oscar  McQueen'",  b.  Oct.  30,  1S97. 
Lida  Ellen  McQueen'",  b.  Feb.  12,  1901. 
Clara  Jane  McQueen-Sheldon',  b.  Sept.  28,  1876.     She  was  married  to  Burke  J. 
Sheldon,  March  17,  1897.     Livmg  at  Schroepple,  N.  Y.,  on  a  farm. 
Harold  Sheldon'",  b.  May  30,  1899. 
Fred  Josiah  Sheldon'",  b.  July  9,  1901. 
Frank  Pierce  Sheldon'",  b.  Aug.  3,  1903. 
Henry  Seymour  McQueen*.     Born  April  21,  1844.     He  married  Almira  Hoyt,  Apr:! 
2,  1873.     He  is  a  farmer  and  lives  in  Palermo,  N.  Y. 

CAPTAIN  STEPHEN  KING  PIERCE".  He  was  born  July  21,  1807, 
near  old  Pompey,  N.  Y.  He  was  of  a  peculiar  temperament,  dreamy  and 
retrospective.  Yet  as  a  young  man  he  showed  the  full  fire  and  vivacity 
of  his  race.  He  was  a  dashing  young  Lieutenant  in  one  of  the  Indian  wars. 
"While  doing  garrison  duty,  in  an  emergency  he  performed  a  high  officer's 
part,  and  for  this  act  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy.  His  sword  that  he  car- 
ried at  that  time  is  now  in  possession  of  his  son  Amasa. 

Stephen's  first  wife  was  Mehitable  Bellows.  She  was  of  a  delicate, 
blonde  type,  sweet  and  gentle  in  all  her  ways.  Stephen  .simply  worshiped 
his  fragile  little  wife.  When  the  doctor  told  him  that  the  only  chance  for 
her  life  was  a  change  of  climate,  he  started  with  her  to  Northern  Indiana, 
that  had  then  just  been  thrown  open  for  settlement.  A  log  cabin  was  hast- 
ily built.  It  was  forty  miles  to  the  nearest  pane  of  glass,  or  even  a  nail. 
The  cabin  had  neither  window  or  door  that  winter.  An  aperture  in  the 
the  logs  admitted  light,  and  a  heavy  blanket  was  hung  over  the  opening  left 
for  a  door. 

Late  in  the  winter  the  wife  took  to  her  bed.  The  author's  own  father, 
Nelson  Nichols,  sat  up  with  her  one  night  until  late.  He  started  homeward, 
carr>'ing  his  gun  with  him  on  account  of  the  danger  of  panthers  or  wild-cats. 
A  pack  of  wolves  took  after  him,  and  though  he  made  all  possible  speed, 
were  soon  snarling  at  his  heels.  He  used  up  all  his  shots,  and  brained  the 
next  wolf  to  reach  him  with  the  butt  of  his  gun.  He  had  given  himself  up  for 
lost,  when  a  light  blazed  out,  and  the  wolves  sulked  away.  His  young  wife, 
hearing  the  shots,  threw  aside  the  blanket  that  darkened   the  door,  and  the 


REV.    DE   WITT    M.    PIERCE    AND    WIFE 

OP  NESBIT,  OKLAHOMA 


Zlic   (Breene   family 


173 


sudden  blaze  of  light  was  all  that  saved  him.  Such  were  the  perils  of  those 
early  days. 

Mehitable  died  May  20,  1837,  aged  25  years.  All  the  neighborhood 
for  miles  around  attended  the  funeral,  and  they  numbered  just — se\en — 
adults !  Hers  was  the  first  white  person's  death  in  what  is  now  LaGrange 
County,  Indiana.  She  was  buried  on  her  husband's  farm,  in  what  was  after- 
wards the  Pierce  Cemetery.  Her  death  was  a  blow  from  which  Stephen 
never  rallied.  He  was  a  changed  man  ever  after.  On  his  wedding  day  he 
had  worn  a  fine  broadcloth  suit,  and  a  tall,  bell-crowned  beaver  hat,  then 
considered  the  height  of  elegance.  He  declared  that  this  suit  and  hat,  that 
he  had  first  worn  on  the  happiest  day  of  his  life,  he  would  always  wear  as  his 
Sunday's  best,  in  honor  of  his  wife's  memory.  Forty-two  years  he  kept  that 
vow.  I  can  remember  seeing  him,  with  his  patriarchal  white  locks  covered 
by  the  quaint  high  hat,  and  his  spare  form  clothed  by  the  carefully  pre- 
served suit  of  antiquated  cut.  He  asked  to  be  buried  in  those  clothes, 
and  his  wish  was  granted.  He  died  Aptil  2,,  18S0,  in  his  seventy- 
third   year. 

Stephen's  second  wife  was  Pamelia  Burr  Olds.  They  were  married  in 
1838.  She  was  the  type  of  a  strong,  courageous  New  England  woman, 
conscientious  and  hardworking.  She  could  never,  however,  overcome  his 
melancholy.     She  died  in  1890,  aged  76. 

Stephen  had  one  son  by  his  first  wife,  Fernando  C.  He  was  romantic 
and  headstrong,  and  ran  away  in  boyhood  to  see  more  of  the  world.  In 
1865  he  suddenly  appeared,  quite  as  the  hero  of  the  old  novel  used  to  do, 
with  gold  in  his  purse,  and  a  belt  of  gold  around  his  waist,  and  a  story  of 
years  spent  in  Central  America  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  He  had  Just  sold 
a  mine  in  Idaho  for  the  gold  he  brought  with  him.  He  spent  his  money 
generously,  enjoyed  a  visit  with  the  home  friends,  then  passed  on  to  Mis- 
souri. He  made  bad  investments,  and  in  seven  years  time  was  working  as 
a  day  laborer.  His  wife,  Emma  Johnson  of  Missouri,  died  leaving  him  two 
children,  Viola  Maud  and  Julian  Stephen.  Fernando  then  went  to  Califor- 
nia, and  from  that  time  to  this  has  never  been  heard  from. 

Tiie  children  and  grandchildren  of  Stephen  and  Pamelia  Pierce  are  as 

follows : 

Rev.  DeWitt  M.  Pierce'.  He  was  born  Nov.  27,  1843,  and  married  Christina 
Bassler  in  November,  1S67.  Mrs.  Pierce  was  born  in  Germany  in  1S50,  and  came  to 
America  when  tliree  years  old.  The  father  and  mother  always  lived  with  DeWitt.  Some- 
time after  his  father's  death  he  went  west,  and  entered  the  ministry.  He  is  now  located 
near  Kingfisher,  Oklahoma,  where  he  owns  a  quarter  section  of  land.  He  takes  a  great  in- 
terest in  genealogV;  and  has  helped  much  in  data  for  this  chapter. 

Gertrude  Evalinda  Pierce-Hays",  b.  Oct.  4,  1868.     Her  husband  is  William  Hays. 
They  live  in  Kingman,  Kansas. 

Walter  Scott  Pierce',  b.  Aug.  20,  1870.     M.  Maud  Collins.      They  live  in  Kansas 
City,  Mo. 


174  ^be   6reene   Jfamil^ 


Wellington  Gladstone  rierce'",  b.   Oct.  4,  l8g8. 
Hortense  Imogen  Pierce-Cochrane",  b.  July  18,  1S72.     She  is  the  wife  of  William 
Cochrane,  and  their  home  is  at  Kingfisher,  Oklahoma. 
Dvvight  Upton  Cochrane"',  b.  April  26,  1900. 
Carl  Jay  Pierce",  b.  in  July,  1S74.     Married  Minnie  E.  Snodgrass.  Sept.   3,    1902. 
Lura Viola  Pierce-Hollai«,  b.  Jan.  9,  1877.     M.  to  Charles  B,   Hollar,  of  Claude, 
Oklahoma. 

Hays  HoUari",  b.  Dec.  6,  i8gS. 
Christine  Hollar'",  b.  Aug.  9,  1900. 
Marian  Jane  Pierce-Dahe»,  b.  March  8,  1879.     M.  to  Henry  H.  Dahe,  of  Okeene, 
Oklahoma.      Mr.  Dahe  is  a  native  of  Germany. 

Paul  Arthur  Dahe",  b.  Aug.  i,  1899  ;  d.  young. 
Clarence  Russell  Dahe'",  b.  Feb.  g,  igoi. 
Earl  Adelia  Pierce',  b.  Feb.  27,  18S1. 
John  Stephen  Pierce',  b.  March  3,  1S84. 
Ralph  Clay  Pieice",  b.  Sept.  11,   1887. 
Olive  Elsie  Pierce^  b.  Dec   11,  1S89  ;  d.  young. 
Elmer  Le  Roy  Pierce',  b.  May  7,  i8<)i. 
Orril  P1ERCE--SCHOKIELD*.     She  was  born  near  Wolcottville,  Indiana,  in    1S45,   and 
married  to  Joseph  Scholield.  May  12,  1870.     Her  home  is  in  Hammond,  Indiana.      She  has 
had  8  children,  all  of  whom  are  living. 

Minnie  May  Schofield-Ray',  b.  Feb.  18,  1871  ;  m.  to  Thomas  Ray,  July  3,  1S91. 
Alvin  Ray",  b.  July  26,  1894. 
Walter  Kay'",  b.  March  20,  lSg7. 
Leon  Ray",  Oct.  17,  1900 ;  d.  Feb.  3,  1902. 
John  Pierce  Schofield',  b.  May  16.  1873. 

Charles  Henry  Schotield',  b.  March  20,  1875  ;  m.  Annie  Custy,  Jan.  11,  1902. 
Clara  Jane  ScliofieId--Rhodes",  b.  Apiil27,  1877;  m.  to  Peter  Rhodes,  Dec.  31.  1899 
Ralph  Emerson  Rhodes",  b.  Sept.  16.  1900. 
Roy  Cecil  Rhodes",  b.  June  11,  1902. 
Bertha  Victoria  Scholield-Veach',  b.  Aug.  3    1879  ;  m.  to  Henry  Veach,  Jan.   22, 
1903. 
Grace  Myrtle  Schofield',  b.  Aug.  7,  1881. 
George  Washington  Schofield',  b.  Dec.  20,  1883. 
Elmer  Ellsworth  Schofield',  b.  April  i,  1887. 
Amos  Pierce*,  a  twin.     Born  July  3,  1848.     He  served  in  the  Civil  War.       Is    married 
and  living  somewhere  in  Missouri.      He  is  said  to  be  doing  well. 

Amasa  Pierce^  a  twin  brother  to  Amos.  He  went  to  Minnesota  about  1876.  Julys, 
1S77,  he  married  Martha,  the  daughter  of  Henry  and  Lucinda  Stanley-McKibben.  Two 
of  her  double  cousins  married  relatives  of  Amasa's.  Martha  is  of  the  Jennings-Stanley 
family  of  Illinois,  from  which  William  Jennings  Bryan  also  sprang.  They  live  at  Butler, 
Minnesota. 

Evangeline  J.  Pierce-Thompson',  b.  Junes,  1878.  ra.    to    Persia    B.  Thompson, 
Oct.  13,  1898. 

Jefferson  Thompson",  b.  Sept.  10,  1901. 
Leona  M.  Pierce',  b.  1SS6  ;  d.  1888. 

EIna  M.  Pierce-Reeser',  b.  Oct.  11,  iS8l  ;  m.  to  William  Reeser. 
Pamelia  Lucinda  Pierce',  b.  Nov.  29,  1883.     Is  a  teacher. 
Archibald  J.  Pierce',  b.  Oct.  11,  1885. 
Elsie  M.  Pierce',  b.  Oct.  20,  1887. 
Minnie  V.  Pierce',  b.  Sept.  18,  1889. 
Infant  son,  still-born,  July  29.  iSgi. 
Stella  L.  Pierce',  b.  Nov.  5,  1892. 
Frank  S.  Pierce',  b.  Dec.  18,  1896. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

DESCENDANTS   OF    ELIZABETH    KING-KITTELLE'^ 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  the  first  Lord  de  Greene  de  Boke- 
ton,  A.  D.  I202,  and  from  the  Capet  royal  line,  A.  D.  86i,  see  Chapter  XI. 

For  their  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  together  with  that 
from  Capt.  Straight,  Elder  Obediah  Holmes,  Stukeley  Westcott  and  Hugh 
Parsons,  see  Chapter  XX. 

For  their  descent  from  John  King  and  Peter  L,a  Valley,  see  Chapter 
XXII. 


Elizabeth  King-Kittelle"  was  the  fourth  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Deborah 
Greene-King^  She  was  born  about  the  close  of  the  year  1771  and  married 
about  1800  to  her  cousin,  her  aunt  Dinah  Greene-Kittle's  son,  James  Kittle. 
The  family  now  write  it  Kittelle  or  Kettelle.  The  name  is  an  old  British 
one.  It  is  a  place  name,  denoting  that  the  first  name-bearer  lived  by  a  river 
kittle,  i.  e.,  a  wier  or  fish-trap.  The  family  tradition  is  that  the  family  came 
from  England  after  1700.  But  I  find  this  peculiar  name  before  i65oan:ong 
the  ^lassachusetts  colonists.  It  is  probably  the  same  family.  It  is  usual 
for  a  few  generations  to  be  dropped  in  traditions. 

We  know  little  of  these  cousins.  James  was  a  farmer.  His  wife  Eliza- 
beth is  yet  remembered  for  her  serenity  and  goodness.  They  had  five  child- 
ren. Their  daughter  Roby  never  married,  nor  did  their  only  son,  Anthony. 
Their  descendants  are  all  from  Hannah,  Olive,  or  Deborah.  Elizabeth  died 
Dec.  10,  1838,  and  her  husband  some  13  years  later. 

HANNAH  KITTELLE-HARRIXGTON',  b.  Oct.  11,  1801 ;  d.  Dec. 
27,  1843.  S^^^  '"•  Daniel  Harrington,  who  outlived  her  29  years.  He  was 
born  Dec.  28,  1801,  and  was  the  son  of  Job  and  Mereba  Harrington,  and 
grandson  of  Job  Harrington,  Senior,  an  old  friend  and  next  neighbor  of 
Magdalen  King's  in  West  Greenwich.  Job  Harrington,  Senior,  was  himself 
the  son  of  a  still  older  Job.  The  Harringtons  are  from  a  centuries-old 
English  family,  the  heads  of  which  bore  high  titles.  Hannah  and  Daniel 
lost  two  small  children  who  are  not  enumerated. 


176  ^be   6reene   Ifamili? 

Carmi  Harrington*,  b.  Nov.  23,  1822  ;  d.  June  17,  18S7.  He  m.  Lydia  Coggeshall 
of  Middleton.  The  Coggeshalls  came  for  religious  liberty  to  R.  I.  at  the  time  Mrs.  Anne 
Hutchinson  was  e.\pelled  from  Mass.  for  heresy.  They  helped  to  found  Portsmouth  in  163S. 
One  of  this  family.  John  Coggeshall,  the  first  President  of  the  Colony,  died  in  office  in 
1648  ;  and  Joshua,  his  son,  was  one  of  the  three  founders  of  the  Friends  in  R.  I. 

John  L.  C.  Harrington',  b.  July  22,  1S58  ;  m.  in  1880  to  Ella  Borden  of   Middle- 
town.     The  Bordens  were  cotemporaries   of  the    Coggeshalls,  and    very    prominent 
people  indeed  in  the  pioneer  days  of  R.  I.      John   and    Ella    have    Erma   Rebecca, 
born  June  12,  l38i,  and  lost  a  son,  John  William,  who  was  younger. 
Nancy  Harrington-Albro'.  b.  Aug.  22,  1824  ;  d.  March  8,  1866.     She  m.  H.  Green 
Albro.      He  was  descended  from  "  Quaker"  John  Alborough  or  Albro,  one  of  the    earliest 
R.  I.  refugees  tor  religious  faith, 

Alanson  Albro',*  m.  his  fourth    cousin,  Eva    Capwell,  daughter   of   Searles  and 
Susan  Capwell.       [Eva',  Susan',  of   James  Greene',  James'",  .Abel=,  James*.  John  of 
Bristol^,  Lieut.  James^,  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett'.]     They  have  6  children. 
Stephen  Albro'. 
Daniel  Harrington',  b.  Sept.  27,  1834  ;  d.  Oct.  14.  1895.     He  m.    Sarah   A.    Spink, 
Oct.  10,  1852.   She  was  descended  from  Robert  Spink,  first  of  Allerton  and  later  of    Quid- 
nessett,  more  than  200  years  ago.     Daniel  and  Sarah  had  a  large  family,  four  of  whom   were 
born  dead,  and  two  others  of  whom  died  before  they  were  grown.     I  give  the  adult  children 
only.     This  family  lived  for  some  years  in  Pa.,  then  removed  to  Kansas. 

Ida  Harrington-Stauffer',  b.    Nov.   7,    1855  ;   m.    Robert  Stauffer  in    1880.     No 
children. 

Hannah  Harrington-Sharits',  b.  June  13,  185S  :  m.  William  Sharits  in  18S6.   They 
have  Rika,  Oakley  Brown,  and  Bonnie, 

Nellie  E.  Harrington-Smith',  b.  June  13,  1863  ;  m.  James  Smith  in  18S6.      They 
have  a  son,  Roscoe  Lectis. 

Lucia  Harrington-Mercer',  b.  Aug.  2.   i856  ;  m.  Joseph  Mercer   in   1885.      They 
have  Robert  Earl,  William  Dwight,  Gladys.  Burnett,  Margaret  and  Joseph  Daniel. 

Addie  A.  Harrington-Grubb',  b.  Jan.  24,  1S68  ;  m,  Charles  Grubb  in  1S87.    Their 
son  is  Albert  Roy, 

William  D.  Harrington',  b.  Jan.  2.  1873  ;  m,  Emily  H.  Lee  in  1896.     They  have 
Raymond,  Rosa  Pearl  and  Lawrence  Edwin, 

ANTHONY  KITTELLE^  the  only  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth,  died 
unmarried. 

ROBY  KITTELLE',  b.  April  11,  1807;  died  at  72,  unmarried. 
OLIVE  KITTELEE-MATTESON",  b.  Aug.   16,  1810;  d.  Feb.  20, 
1857.     She  married  her  cousin's  son,  John  Weaver  Mattesonl     His  mother 
was  Ruth  Howard-Mattesonl     Her  line  merges  with  his,  and  will  be  found 
in  Chapter  XXVII. 

DEBORAH  KITTELLE-FIEIvD^  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Kittelle,  b. 
July  27,  1812  ;  d.  in  1878.  She  was  the  wife  of  Albert  S.  Field,  of  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 

Sarah  W.  Field'.  1841-1855,     Died  at  14. 

Alfred  F.  Field',  b.  Aug.  11,  1S42  ;  m.  Mary  E.  Kenyon.  They  had  Sara,  who  d.  at 
25  ;  Minnie  G.,  who  d.  at  23  ;  and  Albert  K..  who  d.  at  2  ;  besides  these  : 

Marion  Deborah  Field-Hobart',  b.  April  21,   1871,  wife   of   William   H.  Hobart, 
Their  child  is  Helen  Marion. 

Albert  Searles  Field',  b.  June  25.  1S75. 

This  is  given  also  as  Alphonse. 


^be   Greene   jfamil^ 


Jenxie  E.  Fielu-Jounson''.  of  Deborah'.  Wife  of  Thomas  J.  Johnson  of  Dwight, 
111.  She  is  now  a  widow.  Mr.  anj  Mrs.  Johnson  lost  their  first  child,  Byron  Love, 
at  four.  Other  children  came  to  them  until  there  were  live,  tilling  the  house  with  their 
happy  play  and  laughter.  Dec,  1S82,  scarlet  fever — that  dread  disease,  of  which  the  bare 
mention  of  the  namemak-es  a  parent  shudder — entered  that  home.  Eight  year  old  Herbert  died 
on  Dec.  I2  ;  7-yeai  old  Byron  on  Dec.  20;  little  4-years  old  Roscoe  on  Dec.  24;  and 
lo-year  old  Irving,  rhe  oldest  child,  on  Dec.  26.  Every  boy  they  had  perished  in  two 
weeks,  leavingonly  their  little  sister,  Viola,  born  July  31,  18S0. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


DESCENDANTS    OF    GEORGE    KING" 


Family  Trees.  For  the  descent  from  Sir  Alexander,  first  Lord  de 
Greene  de  Boketon,  A.  D.  1202,  and  the  descent  from  Robert  the  vStrono-, 
Dnke  de  France,  A.  D.  861,  see  Chapter  XL 

For  their  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  through  James 
Greene\  by  their  father,  and  through  Martlia  Greene*,  by  their  mother  ;  also 
their  lineage  from  Capt.  Thomas  Straight,  Stukeley  Westcott,  Elder  Obediah 
Holmes  and  Hugh  Parsons,  see  Chapter  XX. 

For  their  descent  from  John  King  and  Peter  La  Valley,  see  Chapter 
XXII.     For  the  mediaeval  history  of  the  Mattesons,  see  Appendix. 


George  King"  was  the  fifth  child  and  first  son  of  Samuel  and  Deborah 
Greene-King'.  He  was  born  May  21,  1774.  and  died  in  1833.  He  married 
his  second  cousin,  Meriba  IVIatteson,  who  was  born  April  25,  1779,  and  died 
in  1847.  ^leriba  was  of  Greene  descent,  and  also  doubly  descended  from 
Henry  ]\Iatteson,  the  Emigrant.  Her  Greene  blood  was  of  the  same  line  as 
her  husband's.  His  grandfather,  James  Greene*,  and  her  grandmother, 
Martha  Greene^  were  brother  and  sister,  children  of  John  of  Bristol,  grand- 
children of  Lieut.  James,  and  great-grandchildren  of  John  Greene  of 
Quidnessett. 

Meriba's  grandmother,  Martha  Greene',  married  Joseph  Matteson,  (see 
Chapter  XX,)  the  son  of  Emigrant  James  ]\Iatteson.  Their  son  was  Ezekiel', 
and  two  of  his  daughters,  this  Meriba  and  her  sister  Esther,  married  sons  of 
Samuel  King.  Their  father,  Ezekiel,  married  a  wife  of  his  own  name, 
Rosanna  Matteson,  and  her  line  was  this:  James,  the  father  of  the  JMatte- 
sons,  married  Hannah,  daughter  of  Hugh  Parsons.  Their  next  to  the  young- 
est son  was  Josiah,  who  married  Rosanna,  daughter  of  Zerubabel,  grand- 
daughter of  Robert  and  great-grand-daughter  of  Stukeley  Westcott,  of  whom 
Chapter  VII  tells.  Their  son,  Josiah  Jr.,  married  Mercy  Nichols,  of  Stephen 
Nichols.  Their  daughter  Rosanna,  named  for  her  Westcott  grandmother, 
married  Ezekiel  Matteson^,  and  was  the  mother  of  Meriba. 


^be   (Brcejte   jfaniili?  179 


Now  as  it  happened,  the  Kings'  grandfather,  James  Greene',  married 
Elizabeth  Straight,  whose  mother  had  been  a  Rosanna  Westcott  also,  a 
daughter  of  Amos,  and  grand-daughter  of  Stukeley  Westcott.  So  on  that 
side  George  and  Meribah  were  again  related,  being  about  fourth  cousins  to 
each  other.  They  were  again  twice-over  fourth  cousins  through  their  de- 
scent from  Hugh  Parsons.  John  Greene  of  Bristol's  wife  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  his,  and  Joseph  and  Josiali  Matteson,  sons  of  the  Emigrant, 
were  grandsons  also.  Nothing  pleases  a  Rhode  Islander  like  being  mixed 
up  ina  tangled  relationship.  These  four-different-ways-related  young  people 
were  considered  as  having  done  quite  the  proper  thing  to  have  made  another 
cross  in  the  relationship,  to  hand  down  to  their  children. 

The  peculiar  name  of  Meribah  was  for  a  long  time  confined  strictly  to 
families  descended  from  the  Huguenot  family  of  Lascelle,  (see  Appendix) 
whose  foremother  was  Meribe.  It  was  a  favorite  name  with  the  Waites, 
Garrs,  etc.,  of  that  blood.  Meribah  Matteson-King  was  a  namesake  of  some  of 
these,  and  so  the  quaint,  centuries-old  name  became  grafted  into  this  family 
tree,  to  reappear  in  her  namesakes. 

George  King  lived  and  died  at  West  Greenwich,  on  a  farm  adjoining 
that  of  the  old  family  homestead,  the  Magdalen  King  farm  where  his  father, 
Samuel  King  lived.  They  had  seven  children,  4  sons  and  3  daughters. 
Celia's  line  went  west ;  Caleb's  went  to  N.  Y.     The  others  remained  in  R.  I. 

DAVID  KING',  born  July  23,  1802.  He  married  his  first  cousin, 
Thankful  Hopkins,  the  third  child  of  Christopher  and  Dinah  King-Hopkins". 
She  was  born  April  17,  1802.  They  were  each  about  20  when  married. 
Tliey  had  nine  children,  4  sons  and  5  daughters.  They  had  few  grand- 
children or  great-grand-children.  The  name  of  King  entirely  lapsed  in 
their  successors. 

Sally  A.  King-Sweet^,  b.  April  2g,  1S23.  M.  Wm.  Rhodes  Sweet.  Had  3  ilaughteis 
and  2  sons.  Mary  became  Mrs.  George  Brown.  .She  is  dead.  John  Sweet  was  twice 
married,  and  has  two  cliildren,  Mamie  and  Emma  ;  Eliza  m.  Lewis  M.  Hawkins.  Both  are 
dead,  leaving  no  children. 

Debor.\h  King'.     Died  young. 

John  King*,  b.  Feb.  24,  1S26.     Died  at  24. 

Am.\ni).\  King-Tarhux',  b.  Marcli  29,  1S2S  ,  m.  David  Tarbox,  a  distant  relative. 
[David*,  Fones',  Joseph^,  Lois  Matteson-Tarbo.x^,  Martha Greene-Matteson*,  John  Greene' 
of  Bristol,  Lient.  James=,  John  Greene'  of  Qnidnessett.]  She  died  July  5,  1853,  leaving 
.■\bbie  A.,  who  m.  Hir.^m  Peck,  and  had  Sarah  and  Dora;  and  Sarah  J.,  who  m.  Robert 
Jackson,  and  had  Grace,  Thomas  and  Almyra,  that  lived. 

Abbie  a.  King*,  b.  July  3,  1829  ;  d.  single. 

George  King".     Die^l  voung. 

Ann  Eliza   King-KkanklI^n«,   b.   April  21,    1S34.     M.   Clark  Franklin.     Their   son, 
Jolm  C.  Franklin',  m.  his  third  cousin,  .•Vnnie  E,  Howard.     [Annie^.  John  \V'.,  Ephraim', 
Hannah  King— Howard',  Deborah  Greene-King^   etc.]     Mr.  Franklin  is  a  teacher. 
Sarah  Franklin'",  b.  .\pril  27,  iSSS. 
Charles  Sheldon  Franklin'",  b.  July  29,  i88g. 


^bc  (Breenc  jfamil^ 


Charles  C.  King^,  born  July,  1836.     Died  single. 
Rhodes  A.  King',  1839-1892.     M.  Mary  A.  Hughes.     No  chiKlren. 
JOHN  KING".     Died  young. 

MARCY  (]\IERCY)  KING-BROI\ILEY' of  George"  of  Deborah  Greene- 
Kiiig^  She  was  born  April  10,  1807;  d.  June  17,  1846.  Married  Roger 
Bromley  in  1825.  A  few  years  after  they  were  married,  they  lived  for  a 
time  in  N.  Y.  Bromley  P.  O.  in  that  state  is  named  after  Mercy's  husband. 
The  first  child  died  in  infanc}-.  The  records  of  the  others  are  as  follows : 
WiLLi.vM  Bromley',  b.  1831.  lie  lives  in  Micliigan.  Nov.  25.  1S55,  lie  m.  Carolii;e 
Latham,  and  has  Lillian,  b.  in  1856,  and  Frank  b.   1866. 

Mary  A.  Bromi.ev-TToward*.  b  1835,  and  m.  in  1855  to  Charles  D.  llow.nrd.  of 
Mass.  descent.  His  first  .American  ancestor.  John  Howard,  or  Hanard,  or  Hayward.  as 
they  spelled  the  name  then,  was  a  protege  of  Captain  Miles  Standish.  The  Howard  family 
is  a  very  old  one.  and  was  honorably  dislinguishej  more  than  1,000  years  ago.  This  branch 
of  the  family  have  a  beautilul  coat-of-arnis.  Mrs.  Howard  is  a  wide-awake  woman,  that 
takes  an  interest  in  the  questions  and  reforms  of  the  day.  She  is  the  mother  of  S  children. 
Her  home  is  in  Pawtucket,  R.   1. 

George  B.  Howard',  b.  1856.     Died   young. 

Charles  W.  Howard',  b.  July  24,  185S.  Hem.  Hannah  Greenhalgh.  i  daughter 
Nellie  E.    b.  July  31.  :SS4, 

Julia  Ida  Howard-Redford',  b.  Oct.  26,  1S64  :  married  John  Redford,  Oct.  iS, 
1892.  They  have  Grace  H..  b.  1S94  ;  Alice  E.,  1896  ;  Ethel  M..  1899  ;  and  twins- 
Bertha  and  Lucy,  born  Dec.  31,  1902. 

Clara  A.  Howard-Marcroft',  b.  Oct.  12,  186S.  She  married  Samuel  Marcroft 
Nov.  1S94  They  have  Howard  K.,  b.  tSgd  ;  the  twins  Samuel  D.,  and  Charles 
D..  iSgS  ;  Hazel,  1900  ;  and  Roy,  1901. 

Mary  Emma  Howard',  born  March  10,  1S60  ;   Jennie   F.,  born   March  29,   1S70, 
William  Henry,  b.  .March  12,  1872  ;  and  Franklin  B.  Howard,  b.  May  21.  iSyd,  are 
none  of  them  married  in  1904. 
James  Bromley*,  of  Marcy  King--Bromley',  of  George  King',   was   born  in  1837.     He 
lives  in  Minnesota 

Sarah  Bromley -Esterbrooks*,  (  Marcy',  George'.).  Wife  of  Edward  Esterbrooks. 
2  children,  Nancy,  born  1S60,  and  Mary,  born  in  1S64. 

Charles  Bkgmley'',  b.  1S41.     Married,  but  no  children.     Lives  in  Wisconsin. 
Alonzo  Bro.mlev',  b.  1843.  He  lives  in  Michigan.   He  has  one  son  , Leslie,  born  in  1876. 
Ji'LiA  Bromley-Whittemore',   1845-1875.    Wife  of  Gilbert  Whittemore.    No  children. 

SARAH  KING-WINSOR',  of  George''  of  Deborah  Greene-King\  B. 
May  9,  181 1 ;  d.  in  May,  1897.  She  m.  Joseph  Winsor  in  May,  1830.  She 
was  the  mother  of  7  children,  5  of  whom  died  in  infanc}-. 

George  E.  Winsor',  b.  May  2,  1831  ;  m.  Emeline  A.  Eddy  in  1S50.  Their  son  Charles 
E.,  born  1851,  and  their  daughter.  Minnie  .\.,  born  in  1864,  never  married.  Their  dau., 
Anna  Cora,  was  born  in  1S62.  She  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Gee,  and  has  two  children,  Ethel 
and  Helen. 

Sarah  Winsor-Esten',  b.  Aug.  25,  1834  ;  m.  Leprelett  Esten  in  1855.  2  children. 
Charles  and  Florence  died  in  childhood.  Leprelett  W. ,  b.  in  1856  ;  m.  Alice  D.  Bradford. 
No  children.  Walter  K.  Esten,  b.  1868  •  m.  Alice  L.  Whitehead.  One  child,  Florence 
Gertrude,  born  1903-  Bertha  F.  Esten,  born  in  1S71  :  m.  William  F.  Marshall.  They 
have  Clinton  E.,  born  in  1892.  and  Helen  E..  in   1S95. 

WHIPPLE  KING",  of  George",  of  Deborah  Greene-King'.  He  was  born 
June  9,  18 13,  and  died  Aug  29,   1903,  in  his  91st  year.     3600  years  ago, 


OF    THE    TENTH    GEN 


DAUGHTER  OF  WALTER  K.  AND  ALICE  ESTEX 
B.  SEP.   12,   1903 


THE  SITE  UF    I  HE  01  1       IV  II  X-KIXG   HOME,  WHERE 

GEOROE  KIX(t  W  -VS  BORN 


FOUR  GENERATIONS  OF  ONE  FAMILY 


Whipple  King,  b.  June  9,  181 3  ;  J.  W.  P.  King,  his  son,  b. 

Feb.  24,  1847  ;  George  W.  King,  grandson,  b.  May  19,  1867, 

and  George  W.  King,  Jr.,  great-grandson,  b.  Feb.  25, 1899. 


tTbe   6reene   JTamii^^ 


Joseph  brought  his  father  Jacob  before  Pharaoh.  As  that  liauglity  king  looked 
upon  that  head,  blossomed  white  with  time,  and  beheld  his  venerable  count- 
enance, he  was  moved,  and  said,  "  How  old  art  thou?"  There  is  indeed  a 
gracious  old  age  that  singles  out  its  possessor  from  other  men. 

No  higher  compliment  can  be  paid  to  Whipple  King  than  to  say  that 
he  so  shaped  his  life  that  90  slow-rolling  years  but  brought  serenity  to  his 
countenance  and  fortitude  to  his  soul.  He  was  the  patriarch  of  his  clan, 
and  the  revered  father-deacon  of  his  church.  His  son's  children's  children 
looked  up  to  "  Big  Grandpa"  as  their  grown-up  playmate.  His  sou  and  bis 
grandson  looked  to  him  for  counsel.  To  the  last  he  retained  his  interest  in 
the  world  about  him.  He  took  much  interest  in  The  Greene  Tree  and  its 
Branches,  that  he  was  destined  never  to  see  in  print.  Several  times  he 
dictated  letters  embodying  his  almost  century-long  recollections,  and  sent  it 
to  me  to  help  over  difficult  portions  of  the  book.  He  passed  peacefully 
away  after  a  short  illness,  on  Aug  29th,  1903. 

Whipple  King  was  a  farmer.  He  for  a  time  lived  in  Onondaga  Co., 
N.  Y.,  and  in  Griswold,  Conn.  Afterwards  he  lived  on  what  is  known  as 
the  Passaquisett  Brook  Farm,  not  far  from  Kenyon,  R.  I.  It  was  here  that 
he  died.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Luke  Clark,  of  Richmond,  R.  I. 
She  was  17  months  younger  than  himself,  but  died  some  years  first.  They 
had  but  one  son. 

T'lUN  W.  r.  KlN3«  was  born  Feb.  24.  1S47.  Ilis  wife  was  Harriet  E.  Tefft,  daughter  of 
Sprague  and  Eliza  M.  Tefft, wiiom  he  married  in  Griswold.  Conn.,  Dec,  7,  1S65.  She  was 
born  Jan.  31.  1845.  They  have  three  children.  J.  W.  P.  King  taught  school  for  20  vears. 
He  is  a  director  in  two  banks,  but  resides  on  his  Passaquissett  Brook  farm,  and  considers 
himself  first  of  all  a  farmer.  Both  he  and  his  wife  take  a  great  irterest  in  temperance  work. 
He  has  been  for  years  one  of  the  State  Prohibition  Committeemen,  and  was  their  last  candi- 
date for  State  Treasurer.  There  was  not  the  shadow  of  a  chance  of  this  party  being  elected, 
but  he  received  a  highly  complimentary  vote  of  over  1,600. 

George  Whipple  King'',  of  J.  W.  P.  King*,  of  Whipple',  of  George'',  b.  May  ig, 
1867.  He  married  .Martha  E.,  daughter  of  Capt.  Thomas  Saunders,  Aug.  13,  1891. 
After  his  graduation,  George  King  was  for  some  vears  in  the  government  service 
among  the  Indians.  He  is  now  an  officer  at  the  R.  I.  Reform  School,  at  Howard, 
R.  I.  He  is  an  expert  amateur  photographer.  He  photographed  for  this  work  the 
Huguenot  graves  in  the  old  Magdalen  King  Cemetery.  The  little  girl  sitting  between 
her  great-great-great-gi eat-grandparents'  graves  is  Sarah,  his  second  daughter. 

Frances  Elizabeth  King'",  b.   Aug.   9,    1892,   at  Klamath   Indian  Agency, 
Oregon. 
Sarah  Saunders  King",  b.  June  g,  1803. 
George  W.  King.  Jr.'",  b.  Feb.  25,  iSgg. 
Ruth  Elizabeth  King-Earnsliaw».      B.    Feb.    Ig.  1872;   dau.  of  J.   W.   P.  King. 
She  was  married  Aug.  i.  1S96,  to  Oscar  E.  Earnshaw. 
Eldred  King  Earnshaw'",  b.  Oct.  i,  i8g8. 
Joanna  Reynolds  King-Clark".     B.  Sept.  28,    1873.     She   m.   Thomas   G.   Clark, 
April  25.  1895. 

Leon  Whipple  Clark'",  b.  March  19,  i8g8. 
Edith  May  Clark'",  b.  March  16,  i8g9. 


182  ^be   6reene   family 

CELIA  KING-KING',  of  George".  vShe  married  her  double  cousin, 
Thomas  Matteson  King',  son  of  Joel  and  Esther  Matteson-King.  Her  line 
is  therefore  merged  into  his.     See  Chapter  XXX. 

CALEB  KING\  of  George",  of  Deborah  Greene-King".  He  was  born 
Feb.  21,  1820.  D.  Feb.  22,  1863,  aged  43.  His  son  gives  this  biography  : 
"  In  the  month  of  Feb.,  1838,  Caleb  King  left  his  birthplace  in  West  Green- 
wich, R.  I.,  traveling  300  miles  in  mid-winter,  with  a  horse  drawing  a  sled 
nuide  from  green  sapling  poles.  On  his  eighteenth  birthday  he  arrived  at 
his  Uncle  Joel  King's  in  Pompey,  N.  Y."  He  married  Elizabeth  Bonat,  or 
Bennett,  as  it  is  more  commonly  called.  Her  grandfather  was  John  Bonat, 
who  came  from  Germany.  Her  father,  Peter  Bonat,  was  a  pioneer  at  Tully, 
N.  Y.  Peter's  wife  and  Elizabeth's  mother  was  a  Van  Patten  of  Holland 
extractior.  They  were  long-lived,  Elizabeth's  grandmother  Van  Patten  liv- 
ing to  be  99.  Caleb  died  on  his  farm  near  Tully.  His  wife  outlived  him 
ten  years.  They  were  Baptists,  and  ga\-e  liberally  toward  the  erection  of 
the  Church  at  Vesper,  N.  Y.     Five  children  lived  to  be  grown. 

George  King*,  of  Caleb'  of  George*,  etc.  I!.  April  27,  1846.  He  is  a  mercli;mt  at 
Borodino,  N.  Y..  and  al  one  time  was  roslnin-iter.  Nov.  13,  1S73,  he  married  Dor.-i  S. 
Wright  of  Manlius,  N.  Y.  They  have  one  son,  Wi  i-ht  K.  King,  who  was  born  Sept.  24 
1874.  Wright  was  married  in  i8g6  to  Gertrude  r.i\  l.ir  of  Sp.ilYoid,  N.  Y.  They  have  no 
children.  He  is  now  engaged  with  his  father  in  the  nierc.intile  business. 
PiLTER  B.  King'*,  b.  May  11,  1S4S  ;  d.  Dec.  6,  1S70.  aged  22  years, 
Joel  Kinx,',  b.  Jan.  31,  1S50.  Dec.  6,  1871.  he  m.  Diana  Evans  of  Cicero.  N.  V 
They  had  Albert,  Henr)' and  Bertha  E.  This  wife  died  in  1880.  Joel  m.  (2)  Mary  E 
Northway,  Dec.  3.  1S81.  They  have  William  R..  born  March  2g,  1SS3,  and  Grace  E..  b. 
Sept.  25,  1888. 

Bertha  E.  King-Tahnadge'.  b.  Dec.  26,  1S74  .  m.  to  Clarence  I'almadge,  June  24 

i8g6.     They  live  at  Davenport  Center,    N.    V.,  and  have  Emiie   K.,   Clarence   1, 

Mary  Bernice,  Clara  Grace  and  Diana  L. 

Sar.\h   M.   Kixg-P.\rkerson'**,  of  Caleb'  of  George'.     She  was  born   March  6.  iS;2. 

married  Oct.  29.  1S68,  to  Francis  Marion    Paikerson,   and  has  been  a  widow  since    iSgi. 

7  children,  all  of  whom  live  in  X.  Y. 

Henry  Marion  Parkerson".  b.  July  30.  1S70. 

Emma  Louise  P.-jrkerson-Holmes',  b.  Nov,  16,  1872.      Is  the   widow  of  Leon   \". 
Holmes.     No  children. 

George  Bennett  Parkerson',  b.  Jan.  10,  1S75  ;  m.  Edith  E.  Clark.     Their  children 
are  Bernie  Rosette  and  Marion  Orson. 

Maud   Elizabeth   Parkerson-IIughes',   b.    Dec.    28.    1S77.     Wife  of  Wm.    James 
Hughes.     They  have  one  child    Harold  K. 
Anna  May  Parkerson',  b.  May  15.  1879. 
Ariie  Starr  Parkerson',  b.  Aug.  11,   18S7. 

Elsie  Marion  Parkerson',  b.  April  21,  1B91,  just  one  week  before  her  father's  death. 
Caleb  E.  King',  of  Caleb',  of  George«,  etc'  He  was  b.  Feb.  23,  1863.  On  his  24th 
birthday  he  married  Mary  E.  Landphier  of  Scott,  N.  Y.  She  is  descended  from  the  Hug. 
nenot  family  of  Lanphears  of  R.  I.,  who  came  to  the  colony  a  few  years  prior  to  1700.  to 
escape  religious  persecution.  He  was  a  man  much  esteemed.  He  was  a  merchant  at  Bor- 
odino, N.  Y.,  and  served  several  years  on  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Onondaga  Co.  He 
died  suddenly  while  sitting  in  his  office,  April  2,  1901.  Their  son  Clarence  died  in  1S8S,  a 
small  babe.      Their  other  child,  Ruth  Elizabeth,  was  b.  May  ii.  1893. 


CALEB    E.    KING.       1863-I902 

Sepivduccd  by  permission  from  Supervisors'  Journal  for  1900,     He 
member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  at  hU  death 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

DESCENDANTS   OF    HANNAH    KING-HOWARD' 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  the  first  Lord  de  Greene  de  Boketon, 
A.  D.  1 202,  and  descent  from  the  royal  Capet  line  of  France,  A.  D.  861,  see 
Chapter  XI. 

For  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  and  from  Capt.  Straight, 
Stnkeley  Westcott,  Elder  Obediah  Holmes  and  Hugh  Parsons,  see 
Chapter  XX. 

For  descent  from  John  King  and  Peter  La  Valley,  see  Chapter  XXIL 


Hannah  King-Howard"  was  the  sixth  child  and  fifth  daughter  of  Sam- 
uel and  Deborah  Greene-King''.  She  was  born  June  25,  1777,  and  d.  April 
6,1831.  Her  husband,  Capt.  John  Howard,  was  born  July  27,  1773,  and 
outlived  her  14  years,  dying  May  28,  1845.  In  1794,  when  he  was  21  and 
she  17,  they  were  married.  In  August  of  that  year  he  bought  a  farm  of  his 
mother,  and  on  this  farm,  a  few  miles  out  from  Washington,  R.  I.,  they 
lived  and  died. 

The  Howards  are  a  ver\-  old  family.  The  family  themselves  are  fond 
of  claiming  Hereward,  the  brave  Saxon  who  took  his  stand  on  the  Island  of 
Ely,  and  was  the  last  to  surrender  to  William  the  Conqrieror  (1073),  holding 
out  seven  years  against  him,  as  their  ancestor.  But  he  was  only  one  of  this 
tribe,  not  the  founder.  The  Howards  held  the  hereditary  office  of  Hog 
Warden  under  the  Saxon  kings,  who  took  pride  and  found  profit  in  immense 
herds  of  swine  that  fattened  on  the  acorn  mast  of  the  king's  forest.  These 
swine  had  to  be  herded,  marked  and  ringed,  killed  and  cured,  and  the  meats 
disposed  of.  The  officer  who  had  the  oversight  of  all  this  ranked  high  at 
the  King's  Court,  the  office  itself  corresponding  somewhat  to  our  President's 
Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

The  English  tongue  of  a  thousand  years  ago  made  short  work  of  Hog 
Warden.  It  became  Ho-warden,  then  Hayward,  and  last  of  all,  Howard. 
Historians  write  it  Howard,  as  pronounced,  but  common  usage  in  England, 
that  even  yet  lingers  in  the  "  tight  little  isle,"  is  to  spell  it  Hereward,  Hay- 


i84  iTbe   (Sreene   jfamil^ 

ward  and  Haward,  but  to  speak  of  it  as  Howard.  It  is  the  survival  of  the 
spelling  of  the  name  when  is  was  yet  called  Haward  and  Hayward.  Some 
families  used  all  three  spellings,  at  the  fancy  of  the  individual  members. 
During  the  Conquest  all  titles  were  taken  from  the  Saxons.  The  Howards 
were  almost  the  first  family  to  whom  title  was  restored.  The  blood  of  the 
Howards  flows  in  half  a  dozen  ducal  families  in  England.  Almost  alone,  of 
English  families  of  noble  or  gentle  blood,  they  are  of  Saxon,  and  not  of 
Norman  descent. 

The  first  Howards  that  came  to  the  colonies  were  Lieut.  Thomas  Hay- 
ward  and  Ensign  John  Haward,  who  came  about  1638.  They  settled  first 
at  Duxbury,  and  later  at  Bridgewater,  Mass.  Nahum  Mitchell,  the  cele- 
brated antiquarian,  was  himself  born  at  Bridgewater.  He  says  these  two 
men  were  related,  and  both  called  themselves  Howard,  being  distinguished 
as  Hayward  of  the  Plain,  and  Haward  of  the  Hill.  The  coat-of-arms  of  the 
American  branch  of  the  family  has  been  authenticated. 

Its  shield  is  divided  by  a  bend^  a  broad  band  passing  diagonally  across 
it.  The  upper  and  lower  fields  thus  separated,  each  bear  as  charges  three 
cross-crosslets fitchce,  i.  e.,  crosses,  with  the  lower  part  pointed,  as  though 
sharpened  to  drive  in  the  ground,  while  the  top  and  side  arms,  that  make 
the  familiar  "  cross,"  are  themselves  each  crossed  by  a  bar,  making  a  cross 
or  crosslet  of  each  point.  The  crest  above  the  shield  is  a  crowned  lion,  de- 
noting that  some  of  the  family  have  intermarried  with  royalty.  The  motto 
is  Jlrtiis  Sola  Invicta — Virtue  alone  is  invincible. 

Capt.  Howard  descended  from  Lieut.  Thomas  Hayward  the  Emigrant. 
He  himself  adopted  Howard  as  the  spelling  of  his  name,  but  his  mother  in 
her  deed  to  him  in  1794  is  called  Elizabeth  Hayward.  Emigrant  Thomas 
was  a  Deputy,  or  as  we  now  say.  Representative  to  the  Old  Plymouth  As- 
sembly. Two  of  his  sons  fought  in  King  Philip's  War.  A  daughter, 
Dorothy,  was  captured  with  others,  by  the  Indians  in  1675.  She  had  once 
shown  a  special  kindness  to  an  Indian  boy.  Her  captors  put  her  compan- 
ions to  death,  but  treated  her  kindly  because  of  the  past,  and  finally  sent  her 
back  to  her  family. 

This  incident  illustrates  a  family  trait.  Great  kindliness  of  heart  be- 
longed to  them.  They  were  a  quiet  family,  talking  but  little,  and  never 
pushing  themselves  forward.  Nevertheless,  their  substantial  qualities  always 
brought  them  to  the  fore.  The  prevailing  disposition  of  the  family  is  yet 
of  this  type. 

Lieut.  Thomas  had  a  son  Deacon  Josiah.  One  of  the  Deacon's  sons  was 
Joseph,  born  1673.  ^^  moved  to  Wraynham,  Mass.,  and  his  sons  again 
scattered,  so  as  to  be  difficult  to  trace. 

It  is  thought  that  one  of  his  sons  was  Ephraim,  born  1716,  who  lived 


^be   6reene   jfamil^  1S5 

for  a  time  at  Braintree,  ^ilass.,  and  from  there,  still  a  young  man,   came  to 
R.  I. 

Ephraira  married  Tabitha  Hill,*  thus  bringing  in  a  strain  of  Lascelle- 
Wardwell,  Waite  and  Hill  blood,  for  which  see  Appendix.  Ephraim's  wife 
died  when  he  was  ^;i.  He  died  lo  years  later,  Ang.  9,  1759,  lea\ing  Ephraim, 
Jr.,  and  two  other  sons. 

Ephraim,  Junior,  m.  Elizabeth  Myers,  April  12,  1764.  They  had  5 
children,  of  whom  the  youngest  was  our  Capt.  John  who  married  Elizabeth 
King.  His  family  have  always  been  very  proud  of  him.  He  was  a  man 
of  rectitude  and  influence,  and  was  honored  in  many  ways.  He  was 
commissioned  a  Captain  in  the  State  JMilitia  in  1806,  and  was  ever  afterwards 
called  by  that  title.  To  him  and  his  wife  were  born  nine  children,  one  of 
whom  died  at  birth,  and  is  not  named  in  nn-  list.  Three  adults  of  this  family 
never  married. 

OLIVER  HOWARD^  [Elizabeth",  Deborah  Greene-King',  James 
Greene^  John  of  Bristol,  Lieut.  James",  John  of  Ouidnessett'.]  He  was  b. 
April  5,  1795,  and  was  a  twin.  He  died  in  Sept.,  1868.  Oliver's  wife  was 
Sarah  Tefft.  They  had  a  family  of  10  children,  not  one  of  whom  died  in 
infancy.  By  a  strange  fatality  his  line,  nevertheless,  almost  died  out,  being 
continued  in  a  small  way  by  but  one  son. 

George  W.,  the  oldest  son,  d.  in  1844,  at  22  ;  Palmer  G.,  the   next  .son, 
died  the  next  year,  aged  21  ;  Alfreda,  Hannah  and  Sarah  died  in  '52,  '53  and 
'56,  aged  respectively  18,  21  and  17  years.     Amy  died   in  1897,    unmarried, 
at  the  age  of  67  ;  Abbie  F.,  born  in  1837,  never  married ;  Elizabeth  became 
Mrs.  Oliver  R.  Matteson,  and  Tryphena  became  ]\Irs.   Henry  A.   Harkness. 
No  record  given  of  any  issue  to  either  of  them.     This  leaves  one  son  alone  : 
Oliver  C.  Howard*,  b.  Oct.  6,  1S44.     Married  at  33  to  Maria  L.   Burton. 
Charles  Howard',  b.  July  S,  1878  ;  died  when  3  years  old. 
Henry  Howard',  b.  Sept.  24,  1880. 
Mary  M.  Howard',  b.  July  23.  1887. 

RUTH  HOWARD-MATTESON^  [Hannah''  Deborah  Green-King*, 
etc.,]  b.  Feb.  22,  1796.  She  married  Levi  Matteson.  His  Matte.son  line- 
age was  this :  Henry  the  Emigrant  m.  Hannah  Parsons.  Their  oldest  son, 
Capt.  Henry,  m.  Judith  Weaver.  Their  son,  Jonathan,  Senior,  married  for 
his  second  wife  Meriba  Waite.  Jonathan,  Junior,  of  the  next  generation, 
married  his  cousin,  Dinah  ]\Iatteson  of  Henry",  Henry-,  Henry'.  And  their 
son  Aaron,  who  married  Dorcas  Weaver,  was  the  father  of  Levi  who  married 
Ruth  Howard.  Levi  gave  to  his  children,  therefore,  two  strains  of  Matteson, 
and   a   strain  of   Parsons  and   Lascelle-Wardwell-Waite  blood.     Levi   and 


*  Snmo  of  the  family  have  it  that  his  wife  was  Tabitha  Niohnls.    His  grand-daughter.  Tabitha  How- 
ard marrieii  Christopher  Niehoh 


^be   (Brcene   Jfamil^ 


Ruth's  line  have  married  back  into  the  relationship  on   every   side,  making 
a  tangle  hard  to  unravel. 

John  Weaver  ^IATTESO.^•^  b.  Feb.  17,  1S20.  At  22  he  married  his  mother's  cousin,  Olive 
Kittle,  who  was  some  9  years  hh  senior.  He  was  drowned  in  Narragansett  Bay,  by  tlie 
capsizing  of  his  boat  in  squall,  leaving  her  with  four  small  children.  She  died  when  the 
youngest  was  10  years  old,  having  literally  worn  herself  out  to  provide  for  them  and  keep 
them  together. 

Infant  son  b.  and  d.  in  1S43. 

Henry  C,  Matteson',  b.  Jan.    3,    1544.     He  was  a   natural  mathematical  genius, 
giving  the  answers  to  abstruse  problems,  like  a  flash, — one  of  those  cases  that   defy 
ordinary  mental  laws.      He  entered  the  Civil  War,  and  died  soon  after. 
Charles  E.  Matteson',  b.  July  5,  1845  ;  d.  Jan.  13,  1849. 

Sara  E.  Matteson-Kittelle',  b.  Dec.  14,  1846.  She  was  married  in  1S72  to  Albert 
Kittelle,  her  mother's  cousin.  Dinah  Greene,  sister  of  Deborah  Greene-King, — see 
Chapter  XX, — married  Edward  Kittelle.  Albert  Kittelle  was  one  of  the  youngest 
sons  of  Asa,  Dinah  and  Edward's  son.  There  were  no  ciiildren  born  to  Albert  and 
Sara,  to  puzzle  over  their  relationship. 

Mrs.  Sara  Kittelle  has  furnished  me  with  hundreds- of  names  for  this  work.  She 
has  started  right  out,  visited  graveyards  and  copied  inscriptions,  and  taken  her  kind- 
red in  rotation,  visiting  their  homes,  hunted  up  their  records  and  family  Bibles,  and 
interviewed  old  people  who  knew  of  many  unrecorded  facts  from  their  own  recollec- 
tion. She  has  literary  ability  herself,  and  writes  verses  that  have  something  beside  a 
jingle  at  the  end  to  make  them  poetry.  A  booklet  of  her  poems  was  brought  out  by 
the  OU;iiu-r  press,  (Phenix,  R.  I.,)  in  1903.  Lack  of  space  alone  prevents  me  from 
giving  some  of  her  poems.  The  tribute  to  Mary  A.  Andrews,  in  this  chapter,  is 
from  her  pen. 

Left  a  double  orphan,  she  had  her  own  way  to  make.  She  has  done  it,  and  help- 
ed others  beside.  Early  in  life  she  made  up  her  .mind  that  she  would  not  be  crush- 
ed ;  she  determined  to  be  educated  and  awake  to  the  happenings  of  the  world  about 
her :  to  use  her  brains  ;  to  do  her  own  thinking  ;  to  act  for  herself  ;  and  she  has  done 
it.     She  is  the  type  of  a  woman  who  may  wear  out,  but  will  never  rust  out. 

Aaron  Weaver  Matteson',  [of  John  W.*,  Kuth',  Hannah«,  etc.],  b.  Jan.  29, 
1S49.  His  first  wife  and  mother  of  his  children,  was  Anna  Josephine  Mitchell. 
His  second  wife  was  Matilda  Uathbun,  who  died  in  1903. 

Eva  Isabel  Matteson-Woodmansee'",  b.  Aug.  iS,  1S74.  She  m.  Walter 
Woodmansee,  and  had  Walter  and  Howard. 

Rena  Mabel  Matteson-Johnson'",  b.  Feb.  25.  1876.  She  is  the  wife  of 
William  H.  Johnson.  Their  children  are  Jesse  Francis,  Frederick  Eldred, 
Minnie  Alice,  and  an  infant. 

Alma  Matteson-Sweet,!"   b.   Jan.   31,    1S80.     Wife  of    Marinus    I'.   Sweet. 
They  have  Herbert  Leroy  and  Hattie  Josephine. 
Lenora  .Matteson^",  d.  in  1S82,  aged  six  weeks. 

Leola  Maud  Matteson-.-Vndrews"',  b.  .May  5,  1SS3  ,  m.  Lucius  E.  Andrews 
in  1902. 

Walter  Howard  Matteson"*.  d.  in  1S85.  aged  si.\  weeks. 
Annie  Laurie  Matteson'",  b.  Aug.  4,  18S8. 
Ruth  Alma  Matteson-Card',  (of  John   W^,    Ruth',    Hannah",   etc.),   b,   July   17, 
1850  ;  m.  A.  B.  Card  in  1891.     He  died  early  in  1904.     They  had  no  children. 
Calei!  Howard  M.^tteson*,  [Ruth  Hovvard-Matteson',  Hannah  King-Howard*,  etc.], 
b.  July  22,  1827,  and  d.  Oct.  17,  1SS4.      He  married  Dinah   Hopkins,    his  second  cousin. 
Dinah  was  the  daughter  of  Gideon,  son  of  Dinah  King-Hopkins,  a  sister  of  Caleb's  grand- 
mother, Hannah  King-Howard. 

Susan  Matteson-Johnson'.  They  have  a  son.  Howard  King,  b.  Feb.  17,  1903. 
There  is  perhaps  a  son  older.      Imperfectly  reported. 


<tbe   (Sreene   jfamil^  187 

iJaviJ  Matteson'.  Married  his  second  cousin,  Hortilla  Belle  Howard,  daughter  of 
Geo.  P..  and  grand-dau.  of  Ephraim,  andgreat-grand-dau.  of  Hannah  King-Howard. 
They  have  no  children.  Mrs.  Matteson  has  a  turn  for  genealogy,  as  have  many  of 
her  family. 

Pliebe  Alatteson '.     Married.     Xo  children. 

John  Charles  Matteson',  m.  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Congdon's.     They  have 
Walter  l^.ui,  b.  1897;  Frederick  Lee,  b.  1S99;  I.eon  Francis,  b.  1900  ;and  Ida,  b.  lgo2. 
Rev.  Samlel  Ki.ng  M.^tteson*,  (of  Ruth\  of  Hannahs,  etc.),  b.  May  4,  1S25.     M.  (i) 
to  .\lmira  Spencer,  in  1S46.     His  children  are  by  her.      M.  (2)  to  his  second  cousin,  Julia 
Hopkins,  a  sister  to  his  brother  Caleb's  wife,      Mrs.  Matteson  has  been  an  invalid  for  many 
years.      Elder  Sammy,  as  he  is  familiarly  called,  is  well  known.     Although  he  preaches,   he 
was  for  many  years  a  millwright,  one  of  the  three  great  grandsons  of  Samuel  King  who  in- 
herited his  peculiar  talent  in  tli.it  direction.     He  has  put  up  all  manner  and  all  kinds  of  mills. 
He  is  said  to  be  the  best  posted  individual  now  living  on  the  intricate  Matteson  genealogy. 
Calvni  Matteson',  b.  June  28,  1847,  m.  Laura  Briggs  in  1892.     They  lost  two  sons, 
Frank  and  Chester,  13  and  12  years  old. 

.\da  Matteson  .-Tarboxi»,  b.  June  6,  1870  ;  m.  Fones  W.  Tarbo.>c  in  1893. 
•Hiey  have  Edith  May,  b.  Feb.  g.  1895  ;  Harold  Boyd,  b.  June  23,  1896  ;  and 
Earl  Elmer,  b.  June  8,  1901.     They  lost  an  infant  in  1898. 

Iva  Matteson— Huling'",  b.  Aug.  5.  1871  ;  m.  to  Ray  Huling  in  1892. 
Maria  Matteson-Vaughan',  [Elder  S.    K'.,  Ruth'.    Hannah«,   etc.].  b.    March   3, 
1849      She  m.  Lorenzo  Vaughan.     The  Vaughans  were  originally  Welsh,   the   name 
meaning  little,  or  of  small  statue.     In  the  old  records  it  is  spelled  Vahan. 

Lillian  A.  Vaughan-Bailey",  b.  Sept.  4,  1S69.  Wife  of  John  Bailey. 
This  is  a  common  R.  I.  name.  I  met  it  first  in  Mass.  records,  where  Gudo 
Bayley  was  living  in  1657.  These  old  New  England  families  have  a  way  of 
drifting  together  that  is  astonishing  to  the  occidental  mind.  Mrs.  Bailey  be- 
came a  widow  in  Feb.  1903. 

Edward  L.  Vaughan"",  b.  Dec.  6.  1874  ;  m.  Rosa  Bates  in  1894.  They 
have  Wesley  Lorenzo,  b.  July  i8.  1897  ;  Ernest  Arthur,  b.  Dec.  14,  1S99; 
and  Carl  Edward,  b.  Dec.  7,  1901. 

Frank  E.  Vaughan'",  b.  Dec.  3,  1871  ;  m.  in  1891  to  Zizalla  Northup.  They 
have  Cora  A.,  Harry  C.  and  Ralph  E. 

Arthur  Garfield  Vaughan'",  b.  Dec.  27,  iSSl. 
Grace  L.  Vaughan'",  b.  Dec.  20,   1SS4. 

JOEL  HOWARD",  [of  Hannah",  etc.]  He  was  born  about  1801. 
Married,  when  something  of  a  bachelor,  Calista  Wheeler.  In  1842  he  pur- 
chased the  Roger  Bromle}-  farm  of  his  cousin,  Mercy  King-Bromley's  hus- 
band. He  built  up  a  comfortable  fortune  on  this  place,  where  his  grand- 
children yet  live.  In  after  years  a  post-office  was  established  here,  and  was 
called  Bromley  after  the  former  owner.  The  post-mastership  has  always 
been  held  in  the  Howard  familv. 

There  may  be  other  men  as  good  as  Joel  Howard,  but  there  were  ne\-er 
any  better  ones,  nor  au}-  more  respected,  than  he  was  in  his  community. 
They  had  but  one  son. 

John  Wheri.ek  Howard".     He  married  Emma  \V.     He  died  in  1899. 
Warren  Joel  Howard'.      Present  P.  M.  at  Bromley. 
.Aulie  Harel  Howard'. 

S.\MUEL  HOWARD^  [of  Hannah",  etc.]  Born  Aug.  2,  1802,  or 
according  to  another  account,  in  June,  1804,  which  is  obviously  wrong.    He 


Sbe    (Breene   jfamili? 


d.  in  West  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  Jan.  13,  18S0.  He  was  married  in  1825  to  Sus- 
annah Harrington,  dau.  of  Aaron  and  x\iny  Brown-Harrington.  Susannah 
lived  until  May  8,  1903,  reaching  the  great  age  of  96  years  and  9  days.  She 
was  a  fine  looking  woman  even  then. 

Albert  Giu-ene  Howard",  b.  Aug.  14,  iS26;d.  .May25,  1S83.  His  first  wife  was  Juan 
Fernandez  Smith,  descended  from  the  old  Quidncssett  Smith  and  Spinl;  families.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Judge  Harris  and  Hannah  Spink— Smitli,  and  grand-daughter  of  Judge  Ben- 
jamin and  Mary  Austin-Smith,  all  of  North  Kingstown,  formerly  Quidnessett,  R.  I.  Tliis 
oddly  named  Mrs.  Howard  had  raarl^ed  artistic  ability.  She  died  in  iS6o,  at  31.  leaving 
three  children.  One  month  after  her  death,  the  babe  for  whom  she  gave  her  life,  died  also. 
Little  .\deline  died  3  years  later,  aged  7. 

Mary  C.  Hosvard- Washington-Smith',  the  only  surviving  child  of  the  first   wife's 

was  b.  April  20,  1858  :  m.  (i)  to  Pardon  .\rnold.     They  had   no  children.     She  was 

m.  (2),  in  18S7,  to  Henry  Washington— Smith,  who  was  of  Griffin,   Georgia.     They 

live  in   Mass.     No  children.      Mrs.    M.   C.   Washington— Smith  is  a    well    known 

artist. 

Albert  G.  Howard'  married  for  his  second  wife,    Fannie   I!.    Lamphear,  of   Daniel  and 

Emeline  Lamphear—Lamphear,  of  the  old  Huguenot  family  of  that  name  who   came    to   R. 

I.  about  1687. 

John  J.  Howard",  b.  Aug.  g,  1S65  ;  m.  Fannie  Young,    who    died   in  igoi.      No 
children.     Addie  V.  Howard-Berry",  1868-1893.     She   was   the   wife  of   Clark    T. 
Berry,  Jr.,  of  New  Hampshire.     She  died  at  25,  leaving  no  children. 
LuCETTA    Ho\vard--Tucker'',    [of  Samuel',   Hannah^  etc.],   b.  Aug.  28,    :S2S  ;  m. 
Alvin  P.  'I'ucker.     She  d.  March  12.  1850,  in  her  22d  year.     No  children. 

Aaron  Harringto.\  Howard',  [of  Samuel',  Hannaii",  etc.],  b.  Dec.  i,  1S30  ;  d  Nov. 
17.1894.      He  m.  Almira  Northup.     No  children. 

DAVID  HOWARD^  (of  Hannah",  etc.),  b.  Aug.  12,  1804;  d.  Dec.  18, 
1893,  in  his  90th  year.  He  was  a  kindly  and  affectionate  old  gentleman. 
Because  of  an  early  love  affair,  he  remained  single  all  his  days.  He  was  so 
deeply  attached  to  the  old  home  that,  after  his  mother's  death,  he  kept 
house  himself  for  over  40  years. 

EPHRAIM  HOWARD",  [of  Hannah  King-Howard^  Deborah  Green- 
King",  James  Greene*,  John  of  BristoP,  Lieut.  James',  John  of  Quidnessett'.] 
He  was  born  Sept.  21,  1807.  He  married  Hannah  Wicks  Greene.  This 
marriage  brought  a  very  mixed  element  indeed  into  the  family  blood. 

Hannah  was  the  daughter  of  Paris  Greene  and  his  wife,  Hannah  Wicks, 
and  the  grand-daughter  of  Nathaniel  Greene,  Jr.,  who  was  descended  from 
John  Greene  of  Quidnessett.  [Nathaniel,  Jr."',  Squire  NathanieP,  Maroon 
Swamp  James\  Lieut.  John^,  John  of  Quidnessett'.]  Now  Hannah's  grand- 
mother, Nathaniel's  wife,  was  also  of  Greene  descent.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Jonathan  Matteson,  and  grand-daughter  of  Martha  Greene-Matteson, 
own  sister  to  James  Greene,  one  of  the  ancestors  of  Ephraim  Howard's 
mother.  So  that  that  line  of  Greene  blood  was  nearly  the  same  with  both 
husband  and  wife.  Hannah  inherited  Lascelle-Wardwell  blood  through  her 
grandmother  Patience,  and  an  equal  strain  with  her  husband  of  Westcott, 
Straight,  Holmes  and  Parsons  blood. 


^De   Greene   Jfamili?  1S9 

Epliraini  and  Hannah  W.  Howard  had  three  children  that   lived,  two 
sons  and  a  daughter. 

John  Wicks  Howard',  b.  Ang.  S,  1S36.  This  son  owns  tlie  old  home.  He  is  a 
typical  Howard,  quietly  going  his  way  through  life.  Rain,  heat,  or  cold,  52  Sundays  a 
year  find  him  at  Maple  Root  Church.  3  miles  away,  attending  upon  its  services  and  superin- 
tending its  Sabbath  School.  In  everything  else  he  is  as  punctual,  as  faithful,  and  as  con- 
scientious. 

His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth  M.  Wood,  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Sylvia  Sweet- W'ood- 
She  was  the  mother  of  his  children.  She  died  June  24,  1S84,  aged  40.  He  was  marrid  (2), 
July  12,  1S87,  to  Hannah  Eliza  Sweet,  by  Bishop  Hamilton  of  the  M.  E,  Church.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  William  C.  amd  Hannah  Andre\vs--Sweet.  See  her  pedigree  in  Chapter 
XIX.  At  the  time  of  her  marriage.  Mrs.  Howard  was  a  graduate  medical  and  surgical 
nurse  in  Boston,  Mass. 

A  friend  says  of  her,  "Whatever  Hannah  Howard  undertakes,  slie  does  well."  Some 
years  ago  she  became  interested  in  Rhode  Island  Genealogies.  She  has  collected  a  large 
amount  of  data.  She  helped  Miss  James  to  prepare  her  "Andrews  Genealogy,"  and  has 
unstintedly  drawn  on  her  memoranda  to  iielp  me  out  in  writing  this  book  Mrs.  Howard  is 
a  correspondent  for  the  leading  newspapers  of  her  state. 
John  W.  and  Elizabeth  Wood— Howard's  descendants  are  these  ; 

Annie  Elizabeth  Howard-Franklin',  b.  Dec.  2.,  iSOo.  In  1S7S  she  married  her 
twice-over  third  cousin,  John  Clark  Franklin  the  grandson  of  David  and  Thankful 
Hopkins-King,  both  cousins  to  Ephraim  Howard,  Annie  E.'s  grandfather.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howard  are  teachers  They  have  two  children,  Charles  Sheldon  and 
Sarah,  who  are  enrolled  in  Chapter  XXVI,  among  George  King's  descendants. 

Frank  Wheeler  Howard',  b.  Dec.  3,  1862.  In  1S84,  he  went  west.  He  settled  at 
Reynolds,  Idaho,  and  owns  a  large  stock  ranch.  He  was  married  in  Boise  City.  Idaho, 
Oct.  12,  1897,  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gardiner— Adams.     They  have  no  children. 

Walter  Eugene  Howard',  b.  April  13,  1S69.  He  is  a  telegrapher  at  Taunton, 
Mass.  He  was  married  Sept.  3,  1898,  in  Taunton,  to  Harriet  Evelyn  Read.  They 
have  one  daughter,  Ola  Elizabeth,  born  Sept.  29,  1899. 

Clarinda   Howard- Bates',  b.  April  17,  1872.     She  was  only  12   wlien   her  mother 

died,  and  she  became  her  father's  housekeeper.     She  married  William  H.    Bates,  a 

wheelwright  of  Phoeni-x,  R.  I.  Mr.  Bates,  though  never  ordained,  frequently  preaches 

in  Baptist  churches.      Her  children  are  Leon  Howard,  b.  Feb.  22,  18S7,  and  Howard 

Frank,  b.  Nov.  17,  1900. 

Mary  E.   Howard-Andrews*,  [Eph.',  Hannah^,  etc.],  b.  Oct.  6,  1844.     She  married 

John  Francis  Andrews,  distantly  related  to  her  three  times  over,  twice  on    the  Greene  side. 

and  once  on  the  La  Valley-King  side.     (See  Chapter  XVIII.  descendants  of  John  and  Antha 

Sweet.)     Mary's  husband  died  when  their  children  were  small.     She  was  a  not  e  woman. 

Her  death,  April  10,  1900,  called  forth  this  tribute  : 

•'  We  fond'y  hoped  that  many  years 
W^ould  yet  be  given  thee  below  ; 
We  needed  thy  dear  presence  here, — 
How  can  we  bear  to  let  thee  go  ? 


No  tears,  no  disappointments  there,  • 

Where  we  united  soon  shall  dwell. 
No  more  sad  p.-irtings  over  there, 

O  I  well  beloved  one,  farewell  !" 

—S.  E.  A', 

John  Francis  and  Mary  E.  Andrews  have  these  descendants  : 

Mina  Gertrude  Andrews-Bailey',  b.  Sept.  15,  rS68  :  m.   William,   son   of  Daniel 


I90  ^be   ©reene   jfainil^ 


Bailey.  She  died  March  22,  1901,  partly,  it  is  tlioiig'nt,  from  the  effects  of  her  long 
continued  grief  over  her  mother's  death.  She  left  Francis,  born  June,  1SS9,  Hort- 
ense  Isabel,  b.  Jan.  5,  1S94. 

Edward  Blake  Andrews',  m.  Nettie  Shippee,  They  have  Harold,  b.  April  2,  1S92, 
and  Eunice  M.,  b.  Sept.  2S,  1S97. 
Geoi^ge  Paris  Howard*,  [Eph.',  Hannah  King-Howard',  Deborah  Greene--Kiny^, 
James  Greene*,  John  of  BristoP.  Lieut.  James^,  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett',]  b.  Nov.  21. 
1849.  He  lives  near  Hope,  R.  I.  He  was  married  on  his  20th  birthday.  Like  the  rest  of 
the  family,  he  married  a  cousin,  Tryphena  Hoxie  Johnson,  dau.  of  Philip  and  Tryphena 
Greene—Johnson.  Tryphena  was  thrice  descended  from  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett.  A 
more  complex-pedigree  than  hers  would  be  hard  to  find.  Those  fond  of  Chinese-puzzle  re- 
lationship are  referred  to  her  father  Philip  Johnson's  line  in  Ch.ipter  XVI U  ;  her  grandfather 
Hiram  Greene's  in  Chapter  XIV  ;  and  her  grandmother  Abigail  Johnson— Greene's  in  Chap- 
ter XVII.  One  can  but  pity  the  children  of  George  P.  and  Trj'phena  Howard,  as  they  try 
to  make  out  their  relationship  to  the  rest  of  the  tribe  of  Greene  ! 

Mrs.  Tryphena  Howard  died  Aug.  21,  1S99.     She  had  been  the  mother  of  five  chi'dren. 

Melinda  died  in  infancy,  and  Edith  at  18,  in  1893.      Those  ivho  lived  to  marry  were   these 

Hertilla  Belle  Howard— Matteson',  b.  July  7,  1S70.     Married  her  twice-over  cousin^ 

David  Howard  Matteson.   son  of  Caleb  and    Dinah   Hopkins— Matteson,   this  same 

chapter.      They  have  no  cliildren. 

George  H.  Howard',  b.  Dec.  3,  1873,  ni.  .Mary  Grace,  dau.  of  Alfred  and  Sylvania 
Colvin- Whitman.      They  live  at  Hope,  R.  L     No  children. 

Vivena  W.  Howard-Walker",  b.  Feb.  I,  1S72  ;  m.  to  Emery  Walker  of  Robert 
and  Susan  Durfee- Walker.  They  live  at  Kent.  R.  I.  They  have  Edith  Belle,  b. 
Sepi.  5,  1S04,  and  Charles  Howard,  b.  Nov.  4.  iSq6. 

BETSEY  HOWARD",  (of  Hannah",  etc.),  b.  in  iSii  ;  d.  nnmarried, 
Feb.  7,  1 888. 

MELINDA  HOWARD',  b.  May  19,  1817  ;  died  unmarried,  Oct.  30,  1S50, 
in  her  34th  year. 


CHAPTER  XXVm 

DESCENDANTS    OF    DINAH    KING-HOPKINS° 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  Alexander,  Lord  de  Greene  ae 
Boketon,  A.  D.  1202,  and  Robert  the  Strong,  Dnke  de  France,  A.  D.  861, 
see  Chapter  XI. 

For  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  also  from  Captain 
Thomas  Straight,  Stnkeley  Westcott,  Elder  Obediah  Holmes  and  Hngh  Par- 
sons, see  Chapter  XX. 

For  descent  from  John  King,  and  Peter  L,a  Valley,  see  Chapter  XXII. 


Dinah  King-Hopkins''  was  the  seventh  child  and  sixth  danghter  of 
Samuel  King  and  Deborah  Greene-King''.  [Deborah'',  Janies\  John  of  Bris- 
tol', Lieut.  James^  John  of  Ouidnessett'.]  She  was  born  about  1778.  Her 
husband  was  Christopher  Hopkins,  of  the  old  R.  I.  families  of  Hopkins  and 
Wlialey.  He  was  the  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Abigail  Hopkins,  and  was  born 
Dec.  6,  1776. 

Hopkins  is  a  very  old  name.  It  means  literally  Eoppa's  kin  or  des- 
cendants. There  were  several  Saxon  Eoppas,  princes  and  militaiy  leaders 
in  England  twelve  and  thirteen  centuries  ago.  Their  descendants  centered 
in  Wales,  and  the  name  became  and  is  a  Welsh  name  to  this  day.  The  R.  I. 
Hopkins  believe  themselves  descended  from  Stephen  Hopkins,  a  Londoner 
of  Welsh  lineage,  who  sailed  in  the  Mayflower  in  that  memorial  voyage  of 
1620.  U^nfortnnately,  the  Hopkins  famih-  rarely  recorded  their  dates  with 
the  town  clerk,  as  the  law  required.  This  lea\-es  a  single  link — or  possibly, 
two — between  Stephen  Hopkins  of  the  Mayflower  and  the  first  Joseph  Hop- 
kins of  Rhode  Island,  where  the  name  is  presumptive  only. 

Stephen  Hopkins'  oldest  son  was  Giles  born  about  1614.  If  he  had  any 
other  sons  who  lived,  they  were  born  after  1622.  Joseph  Hopkins  was  born 
in  the  neighborhood  of  1660.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  Giles'  son  or 
grandson,  (Giles  being  45  or  so  at  that  time)  or  else  a  son  of  an  unrecorded 
younger  brother  of  Giles.*  The  R.  I.  Hopkinses  have  always  stood  well.  Hon. 

'Sterlien  Hopkins.  Signer  of  tlie  Doelaration,  was  the  great-si'andson  of  Thomas  Hopliins.  who 
came  to  Providence,  Pi.  I.,  in  lew.  it  is  said.  Thouah  tradition  nialces  .J.iseph  to  have  been  tlie  grand- 
son of  the  Mayflower  Stephen  Hopkins,  he  may  liave  Ijeen  a  son  of  Tlioraas  oi  Providence  instead. 


192  ^be   (Brcene   jfatnil^ 

Stephen  Hopkins,  born  1707,  was  Chief  Justice,  (juvernor  and  Signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Esek  Hopkins,  born  1 1  years  later,  was  the 
first  Conimod  ore  of  the  American  navy.  He  was  put  in  charge  of  our  puny 
fleet  of  17  vessels  in  the  fall  of  1775.  We  had  no  national  flag  then.  Hop- 
kins flung  to  the  breeze  a  banner  bearing  13  stripes  ;  a  rattlesnake  stretched 
its  length  across  them,  and  beneath  it  were  these  words, — "  Don't  tread  on 
me  ! "     He  made  that  rattlesnake  flag  famous  in  its  day. 

To  return  to  Joseph  Ho^skins,  grandson,  as  supposed,  of  Stephen  Hop- 
kins of  the  Mayflower.  Not  far  from  1695  he  married  Martha  Whale\', 
daughter  of  Regicide  Judge  Whaley.  Of  this  strain  of  Whaley  blood  thus 
brought  into  the  family,  Joseph's  descendants  are  justly  proud.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  Judge  was  descended  on  the  maternal  side  from  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  that  he  was  also  a  first  cousin  of  Oliver  Cromwell's. 

Miss  L,ois  Hopkins  says  that  Judge  Whaley  died  in  171 7,  aged  106. 
According  to  this  he  was  born  in  161 1.  He  was  one  of  the  Regicide  Judges 
who  condemned  Charles  I  to  death  in  Jan.,  1649.  ^^^  May,  1660,  when 
Charles  II  was  restored  to  the  thi'one,  these  Judges  were  all  in  danger  of  their 
lives.  Nine  weie  hung,  above  twice  that  ntimber  imprisoned  for  life,  and 
the  others  escaped.  Four  crossed  the  seas  to  America,  Digsbee,  Goff  and 
Edward  Whaley,  who  went  to  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  were  hidden  in  the 
Regicides'  Cave  by  sympathizers  ;  and  this  Whaley  who  went  to  R.  I.  His 
christian  name  is  variously  given  as  Thomas,  Theodore  and  Theophilus,  the 
abbreviations  for  which  are  almost  similar.  Miss  Hopkins  says  positively 
that  his  name  was  Theophilus. 

With  a  price  upon  his  head  he  lived  as  secluded  as  possible.  There 
was  a  cave  into  which  he  retired,  it  is  said,  in  times  of  danger.  Long  after- 
wards, it  used  to  be  told  how  he  had  mysterious  visitors,  and  how  at  one  time 
a  ship  from  Boston  sailed  into  the  cove  near  him,  and  strange  men  disem- 
barked and  talked  with  him,  sailing  away  again  when  he  conference  was 
o\'er.  The  Colonists  did  not  betray  him,  and  he  finally  dared  to  openly  oc- 
cupy the  home  in  which  he  died.  One  of  the  traditions  handed  down  of 
him  is  that  he  used  to  say  he  never  knew  what  it  was  until  he  was  eighteen 
years  of  age  not  to  have  a  servant  bring  him  a  silver  ewer  and  a  napkin 
whenever  he  wished  to  wash  his  hands.  He  was  buried  on  his  farm  near 
Washington,  R.  I.  This  farm  is  yet  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants. 
He  was  49  when  he  came  to  America.  He  married  a  Virginia  lady  and  had 
children,  one  of  whom  was  Martha,  who  married  Joseph  Hopkins. 

Joseph  and  Martha  Hopkins  had  one  son  Judge  Samuel  Hopkins.  He 
had  a  son  Samuel,  whose  son  Daniel  married  Martha  Matteson ',  daughter  of 
she  who  had  been  Martha  Greene^  own  aunt  to  Deborah  Greene-King.  An- 
other son  of  the  Judge  was  Ebenezer  Hopkins,  and  his  son   Christopher  is 


^be    (Brccnc   family 


193 


the  one  who  married  the  Dinah  King  of  this  chapter.  So  the  cousins, 
Daniel  and  Christopher  Hopkins,  married  two  cousins.  Christopher  and 
Dinah  were  married  about  1797,  and  had  these  descendants:  * 

HONOR  HOPKINS-CARR",  b.  Oct.  i,  179S.  She  ni.  Rev.  Robert 
Carr.     They  moved  to  111.     They  left  several  children. 

GIDEON  HOPKINS",  b.  May  25,  1800;  d.  May  24,  1877.  He  married 
Susan",  dau.  of  Ephraim'^,  and  Newie  Briggs-Kittelle'".  Ephraim's  mother 
was  a  Greene,  sister  to  Deborah,  Gideon's  grandmother,  and  Newie's  mother 
was  a  King,  sister  to  Samuel,  Gideon's  grandfather.  vSo  Susan  was  twice 
over  his  second  cousin,  and  all  of  his  line  have  a  double  strain  of  Greene, 
La  \'alley,  and  King  blood.  They  had  12  children  ;  3  died  in  infancy  and  2 
iu  early  manhood,  and  are  not  enumerated. 

Perry    A.    IIoi'KINs'.   b.   Aug.   24.   1S24.     He  m.   Mrs.   C.-iroline  Greene,   widow  of 
James  Greene,  and  daughter  of  BurriU  Hopkins.     .She  died  Dec.  27,  1S90. 
Susan  A.  Hopkins',  b.  July  10.  1877. 
I.oisC.  Hopkins',  b.  Dec.  3,  1879. 
Jolin  W.  Hopkins',  b.  Jan.  6,  iS32. 
DiN.'VH  Hoi>kins-M.attf.so.n'',  b.  Feb.  15,  1827  ;  Caleb  H.    Matteson,  and  line  merged 
with  his.     See  Chapter  XXVn. 

Sarah  A.  Hopkins- Davis*,  b.  June  4.  1S2S  ;  m.  Wni.  Davis,  son  of  Comfort  Greene- 
Davis.  6  children.   See  Chapter  W,  descendants  of  James',  of  James'',  of  Abel=,  of  James'. 
Julia  Hopkins-Mattlso.n',  b.  June  27,  1830  ;  in.  Rev,  S,  K.  .Matteson,  in  1859,     No 
children. 
Charles  Hupki-N's*. 

Phlbe  HoPKl.NS-liRlGGs',  b.  Dec.  22.  1S42  ;  m.  George  Briggs.     They  have    one   son, 
Charles,  born  in  1871. 

Henry  C.  Hopkins',  b.  March  27.  1S45.     Unmarried. 

THANKFUL  HOPKINS-KING",  b.  April  17,  1802;  m.  her  cousin, 
David  King,  son  of  George''.     See  Chapter  XXX. 

EBENEZER  HOPKINS',  b.  May  5,  1805;  d.  Aug.  7,  1879  ;  m.  Julia 
Mawney,  a  descendant  of  the  early  Huguenots.  The  name  was  originally 
DeMorney. 

William  Hopkins',  1844-1S62.     D.  at  iS. 

Peter  Hopkins',  b.  Oct.  15.  1845  ;  d.  Sept.  2,  1900.     He  m.  Susan  Wells.     They  had 
one  child.  Flora,  born  in  18S5. 

John  Hopkin.s',  b.  May  17,  1847  ;  d.  Oct.   23,    1900  ;  ni.  Abbie  Green,     They  had  one 
child.  Edwin  Gardiner,  b.  1S76. 

Mary  Hopkins-Potter',  b.  May  5,  1S49  :  m.  Willis  Potter. 

Charles  Hopkins',  b.  May  12,  1S51  ;  m.  in  iSSi. 

Theophilus  Hopkins',  b.  Aug.  14.  1854  ;  m.  Abbie  Wells. 

George  Hopkins',  b.  Feb.  18.  iS;S  ;  m.  Melissa  Place,  who  died  in  1900. 

DEBORAH  HOPKINS-WHITFORD^  m.  Elisha  Whitford.  Their 
sons  Reuben  and  Joseph  neither  one  left  heirs.  Elisha  Jr.  is  married,  but 
has  no  children. 


"Forthelistof  descendants  of  Chi-i.stopher  and  Dinah  Hopkin 
Kittelle  of  Anthony.  K.  I.,  and  to  Miss  Lois  C.  Hopkins  of  Washingtoi 


194 


^be   (Brcene   Ifamil^ 


El.lZAUETH  \Vihtford--Ed\vards'*,  1S30--1S95.  She  was  tlie  wife  of  Geor<;e  Edw.irds. 
They  had  Charles,  who  m.  Marv  CottreH  and  has  2  children  ;  Rhodes  K..  u-iih  2  children  ; 
and  Mary  E.,  now  .Mrs.  Fred.  Straight,  who  has  four  children  by  her  first  husband,  Whit- 
ford  Reynolds. 

Han.vah  F.  \VHITFORD--PorTEK^  M.  Pardon  T.  Potter.  I'hey  have  Stukeley,  who 
m.  Abbie  Clark  ;  Rhodes  F.,  who  m.  Evelyn  Johnson  and  has  i  child  ;  and  Emeiine  C, 
wife  of  John  Davis. 

Mary  Whitford-Ratheun*,  wife  of  Nathan  Rathbun.  They  have  Hannah  F.,  wife 
of  Edwin  Nichols,  and  mother  of  Mrs.  Clara  Northup,  Mrs.  John  Nicholas  and  Mrs.  Eva 
Capwell  ;  .Vdeline,  wife  of  Calvin  Hopkins  and  mother  of  4  children  ;  and  Jerome,  who  m. 
Hattie  Brown,  and  has  6  children. 

ROWLAND  HOPKINS',    1S0S-1866.      M.  Phebe  Lyon.     One  daugh- 
ter, Phebe  C. 

ELIZA  HOPKINS-KNIGHT",  b.  Mar.  18,  1810;    m.   Ezra  Knight  of 
Foster,  R.  I.     I  have  no  records  of  their  son  William's  family. 

Mary  Knight— Salisbury',  wife  of  Lemuel  Salisbury,     i  son  Elmer  M. 
Edwin  O.  Knight*  and  wife  Mary  have  these  children  living  ;  Susannah  ,    Willard    W., 
Hattie,  and  Estella. 

Ezra  A.  Knight*,  and  wife  Emma  h.ive  Olney,  Lucinda  and  Eliza. 

LEWIS  HOPKINS",  b.  Sept.  2,  1814.    By  first  wife,  Nancy  A.  North- 
up,  had  6  children. 

Ei.iz.-VBETH  HOPKIXS-AUSTIN*.      1S36-1867.     She  W.1S  the  wife  of  James  Austin. 

.Maria  Hcvpkins-Colvin',  b.  Nov.  i6,  1S37  ;  m.  .\lfred  Colvin. 

Palmer  L.  Hopkins*,  b.  Sept.  14.  1839  ;  m.  Rebecca  Young.  He  served  in  the  Civil 
War.  Their  children  are  William  and  Claude.  William' is  married  and  has  2  sons,  Ray- 
mond and  Clarence. 

Mary  Hopkins-Brown*.     1S42-1S7Q.     Wife  of  John  Broivn.     4  children. 

DianTha  Hopkins-Kenyon*,  b.  Feb.  5,  1846  ;  m.  George  Kenyon. 

Ambrose  Hopkins*.  1847-1865.  Killed  in  front  of  Richmond,  Va.,  during  the  Civil 
War. 

E.MMELiNE  HorKiNS-PoTTER*,  wife  of  Peleg  Potter. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

DAVID     king's     descendants 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  Alexander,  first  Lord  de  Greene  de 
Boketon,  A.  D.  1202,  and  from  Robert  the  Strong,  Duke  de  France,  A.  D. 
861,  see  Chapter  XI. 

For  descent  from  Lieutenant  James",  of  John  Greene'  of  Quidnessett ; 
also  from  Capt.  Thomas  Straight  of  Watertown,  Mass.,  and  from  Stukeley 
Westcott,  Elder  Obediah  Holmes  and  Hngh  Parsons,  see  Chapter  XXII. 

For  descent  from  John  King,  and  Peter  La  Valley  see  Chapter  XXII. 
The  strain  of  Pierce-Lascelle-Wardwell  blood  is  treated  of  in  same  Chapter, 
and  more  fully  in  Appendix. 


David  King'^  was  the  eighth  child  and  second  son  of  Samuel  and  De- 
borah Greene-King^  He  was  born  March  11,  17S1,  and  died  May  29,  1828, 
aged  41  years.  He  lived  in  West  Greenwich,  R.  I.  He  was  married 
at  about  22  to  Mary  Andrews,  who  was  born  Feb.  9,  1782.  She  died  Sept. 
21,  1837.  She  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  pioneer  John  Andrews  of 
R.  I.,  the  intimate  friend  of  old  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett.  There  is  a 
slight  uncertainty  as  to  one  of  the  middle  links.  The  line  appears  to 
be  this :  John  Andrews' ;  Charles  Sen".,  Charles  Jrl,  Sylvester',  and  Mary^ 
Her  father's  and  grandfather's  line  removed  to  Vermont,  not  far  from  1800, 
and  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  them  further. 

David  and  Islary  had  9  children,  6  of  them  sons.  Singularly  enough 
there  is  but  one  descendant  of  their's  alive  to-day  that  bears  the  name  of  King, 
and  of  him  practically  nothing  is  known.  A  childless  grandson,  Edgar 
Cady'"*,  is  yet  living  in  1904,  together  with  his  sister,  Jane  Cady-Nicliols"*. 
She,  indeed,  has  five  children,  but  as  she  married  her  second  cousin,  Fern- 
ando' of  Nelson  Nichols,  her  line  is  reckoned  with  his.  So  this  record  of 
David  King  is  of  a  large  family  that  in  a  century's  time  have  become  extinct 
as  a  family.     Most  of  them  lived  in  N.  Y. 

AVIS  KING",  b.  Nov.  27,  1804.  Died  Aug.  30,  1877.  She  was  well 
versed  in  family  lore,  and  ought  to  have  been  a  historian. 


196  ^be   6recne   Jfaniil^ 


GEORGE  KING",  b.  Nov.  30,  1S06.     Died  in  1S51. 

THOMAS  A.  KING^  Born  March  18,  1808.  Died  in  early  part  of 
1865.  He  was  a  skillful  carpenter,  a  good  man  and  of  sound  judgment. 
He  removed  to  Indiana  some  years  before  his  death.  His  wife  was  Sallie 
Andrews,  so  noted  for  eccentricities  that  anecdotes  about  her  will  live  for 
generations.  An  instance  is  where  she  stood  by  her  husband's  bed  in  his 
last  illness,  and  calmly  remarked, — "  I'd  like  to  have  Thomas  get  well,  for 
he  is  a  good  provider.  But  if  he  can't  live,  it  would  be  better  for  his  family 
if  he  would  die  right  a\va\-  !"  The  frank  old  soul  outlived  her  husband 
many  years,  dying  in  R.  I. 

Their  children  were  Sally  Ann,  b.  1S37  and  died  in  1852  at  14;  Caro- 
line E.  who  d.  at  8  months ;  Caroline  E.  (2)  who  died  unmarried  in  Rhode 
Island ;  and  Lucinda,  a  bright,  beautiful  girl  of  14,  who  died  early  in   1865. 

DEBORAH  KING",  b.  Aug.  26,  1810;  died  in  May,  1877,  at  her 
neice's,  Jane  Nichols,  in  N.  D.  She  was  deeply  attached  to  her  sister,  Sally 
Cady,  and  at  her  death  brought  up  her  children  as  her  own. 

SALLY  KING-CADY'.  B.  July  29,  1812.  Died  Dec.  21,  1851. 
She  married  Simeon  Cady  of  N.  Y.  There  was  an  epidemic  of  typhoid 
fever  in  this  King  family,  and  a  half  a  dozen  of  them  died  in  the  latter  part 
of  1851,  among  them  Sally,  her  husband,  and  her  10  year  old  daughter 
Caroline. 

David  A.  Cahy/.  B.  June  2i,  1833.  Died  in  the  service  of  the  Civil  War,  June, 
1864. 

M.\RY  Jane  Cady-Nichols".  B.  Aug.  17,  1S36.  Came  with  her  aunt  Deborah  King 
to  Indiana  when  a  young  lady.  Married  her  second  cousin.  Fernando  Nichols.  Her  line 
is  traced  with  his  in  Chapter  XL.  In  their  old  age  she  took  care  of  three  or  four  of  her 
old  uncles  and  aunts,  until  their  death. 

EuGAR  George  Cadv".  Born  Feb.  25,  1S38.  He  married  his  Uncle  Paul's  step-daughter, 
Sarah  Binghom,  May  18,  1S66.  She  died  within  a  year,  and  the  child  to  which  she  gave 
birth  died  also.      He  never  married  again.     He  lives  with  his  sister,  Mrs.  Fernando  Nichols. 

Caroline  E.  C,\dv*,     B.  July  31.  1S41.     D.  Nov.  29,  iSjr. 

SYLVESTER  A.  KING^  b.  April  28,  1814;  married  Valeria  Bewell  in 
1852,  but  separated  from  his  wife.  One  son,  George,  of  whom  the  last 
known  was  that  he  was  living  in  N.  Y.,  and  was  married  but  childless. 
Sylvester  died  at  his  neice's,  Mrs.  Nichols. 

PAUL  KING'.  Born  April  4,  1816  ;  d.  1894.  He  married  in  middle- 
life  a  widow,  Mrs.  Louise  Bingham.     He  left  no  heirs. 

JOHN  A.  KING^  b.  Oct.  20,  1818.  Never  married.  Died  at  his 
neice's,  Mrs.  Jane  Nichols,  in  Feb.,  1896. 

DAVID  KING^  b.  Aug.  3,  1820.  He  married  Sarah  T.  Jewett  in  1858. 
He  had  one  daughter,  Emily,  who  died  in  1897.  This  entire  family  have 
passed  away.     He  died  in  1898. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

DESCENDANTS   OF   JOKI.    KING 

Family  Trees.  For  the  descent  from  Sir  Alexander,  first  Lord  de 
Greene  de  Boketon,  A.  D.,  1202,  and  the  descent  from  Robert  the  Strong, 
see  Chapter  XI. 

For  their  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Qnidnessett,  through  James 
Greene ;  also  their  lineage  from  Capt.  Straight,  Stukeley  Westcott,  Elder 
Obediah  Holmes  and  Hugh  Parsons,  see  Chapter  XX.  This  family  have  a 
double  strain  of  all  this,  as  they  are,  through  Joel  King's  wife,  descended 
from  Martha  Greene,  sister  to  James  Greene. 

For  their  descent  from  John  King  and  Peter  La  Valley,  see  Chapter 
XXH. 


Joel  King'^  was  the  tenth  child  and  fourth  son  of  Samuel  and  Deborah 
Greene-King^  He  was  born  Nov.  3,  1785,  and  died  Dec.  12.  1867,  aged 
82.  He  outlived  his  wife  by  thirty  years.  He  married  at  24  to  his  second 
cousin,  Esther  IMatteson,  who  was  born  June  18,  1783.  Esther  was  a  sister 
to  Meribah,  wife  of  Joel's  brother  George.  The  sisters'  double  Matteson 
descent,  and  also  their  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Qnidnessett,  is  given  in 
Chapter  XXVL  pertaining  to  George  King. 

Joel  King  was  a  favorite  in  his  family.  He  was  frank  and  generous  in 
his  disposition,  and  of  a  genial,  sunny  temperament.  His  wife  is  yet  re- 
membered as  one  of  the  salt  of  the  earth,  patient,  forbearing,  and  given  to 
kind  words  and  deeds. 

He  went  to  N.  Y.  in  1806,  and  lived  for  a  few  years  with  his  sister, 
Mrs.  Nancy  Nichols.  He  went  back  to  R.  L  after  his  bride,  but  spent  the 
rest  of  his  life  at  Pompey,  N.  Y.  Years  after,  when  some  of  his  own  child- 
ren were  grown,  he  found  that  the  then  owner  of  his  brother-in-law's  old 
place  was  about  to  plow  o\-er  the  grave  of  this  sister  Nancy,  with  whom  he 
had  lived.  He  moved  the  remains  to  his  own  private  burying  ground. 
Then  from  Mill  Creek  he  chose  a  smooth  stone,  dressed  it  into  a  slab,  and 
chiseled  her  name  and  the  date  of  her  birth   and  death  thereon.     It   was  a 


19^  ^be   (Brcene   family 

long,  hard  task,  but  it  was  done  so  well  that  a  regular  stone  cutter  might 
have  been  proud  of  it.  This  incident  illustrates  his  loyalty  and  devotion  to 
his  friends.     His  descendants  are  these  : 

HIRAM  KINCx",  b.  Feb.  i,  1810;  d.    l\Iarch   30,    i860.     Married  Julia 
Keeler. 

Alexander  King^  b.  Aug.  6,  1845.  Went  into  the  Civil  War  at  17,  and  died  the  ne.\t 
year,  Feb.  19.  1863,  at  Fredericksburg. 

Florence  F.  KlNG-SE.\kLES*,  b.  Feb.  13.  1S57  ;  m.  to  Charles  Starles  of  New  Bremen, 
N.  Y.  She  has  been  a  great  sufferer  for  ni.iny  years  with  a  disease  that  settled  in  one 
limb,  causing  several  amputations.      No  children. 

THO^IAS  MATTESON  KING',  b.  Aug.  27,  181 1.  D.  Aug.  28.  1858. 
He  married  his  double  cousin,  Celia  King",  May,  1S36.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  his  uncle  George  and  his  aunt  Meribah.  They  must  have  gona  to  Ohio 
at  once,  as  a  letter  of  1837  speaks  of  them,  then  at  Sharon  Center,  Ohio. 
They  lived  there  until  about  1852,  when  they  removed  to  Wisconsin. 
They  lost  a  daughter  Florence  when  a  child. 
Edwin  Kinc-A     Died  in  the  Civil  War. 

James  Henry  King',  b.  1S37.  Died  in  1S66  from  disease  contracted  in  the  Civil  War. 
Albert  F.  King',  b.  1840  ;  d.  Sept.  14,  18S9,  after  an  invalidism  of  14  years,  the  result  of 
disease  contracted  in  the  army.  Earlier  in  life  he  was  a  teacher  and  farmer.  About  1869 
he  married  a  young  woman  of  Canadian  birth,  Philin.la  MofKt.  Tliey  lived  in  Wisconsin 
until  18S5,  then  in  Nebraska,  and  a  little  later  in  Ohio,  where  he  died  in  '8g.  After  he  was 
unable  to  work  his  two  lads  worked  manfully  to  support  the  family.  The  oldest  girl  died 
the  year  after  her  father,  in  l8go.  The  mother  died  in  1S93.  Clifford,  the  second  son, 
became  ill  in  '92,  and  was  sick  for  si.x  years,  dying  in  189S.  Edna  King  died  in  i8g6,  after 
a  long  illness. 

Those  were  hard,  bitter  years  for  the  old  veteran's  family,  Herbert,  the  eldest  son,  kept 
the  wolf  from  the  door.  When  he  was  21,  the  younger  children  now  being  in  the  Soldiers' 
Orphan's  Home,  and  the  widow  in  receipt  of  a  pension,  he  was  for  the  first  time  free  to 
look  after  himself.  With  but  $5.00  to  his  name,  the  poorly  educated  young  man  entered 
the  common  school,  working  for  his  board.  At  25  he  graduated  from  the  High  School. 
That  same  fall,  with  but  $70.00  as  capital,  and  a  stout  heart  under  his  jacket,  he  started  to 
take  the  full  Ohio  University  course,  including  Civil  Engineering.  He  boarded  himself  for 
$1.25  a  week,  and  did  odd  jobs  to  earn  his  books  and  clothes.  At  31  he  received  his  well- 
earned  degrees. 

Herbert  Sumner  Ki.ng',  b.  May  24,  1870,     He  is  a  civil  engineer,  and  holds  an 
important  and  responsible  position  in  West  Virginia. 
Clifford  King',  b.  Dec.  12,  1872.     D.  in  189S. 
Charles  E.  King^  died  at  I  year  of  age. 
Erwin  Norton  King',  died  at  2  years. 

Miona  .Atlanta  King',  b.  Dec.  4,  1S78,  and  d,  Dec.  24,  1890. 

Olive  King',  b.  May  22,  1883,  She  graduated  from  both  the  Xenia  and  Urbana, 
C,  lli^h  .Schools  by  the  time  she  was  17.  She  is  a  teacher,  and  is  now  living  in 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Edwin  King',  b.  April  1,  1888.     He  is  living  in  Xenia,  Ohio. 
M.\Rcus  Norton  King',  ( of  Thomas'  and  Celia,   of  Joel'  and  Esther).     He  is  com- 
.•nonly  called  Mark.      He  is  married,  and  lives  at  Oakfield,  Wisconsin.     He  has  a  daughter 
Lutheria,  born  about  1SS6. 

Fr.\nk  L.  King',  youngest  son  of  Thomas'  and  Celia,  He  lives  at  Grand  Island, 
Nebraska.  He  has  a  daughter  Mary,  who  married  in  1901,  and  a  daughter  Gertrude,  who 
is  a  traii'.ed  nurse. 


Zl^e   (Svccnc   jfanitlp  199 

HENRY  KING'.  Third  child  of  Joel  and  Esther  King,  b.  April  6, 
1814,  and  died  Sept.  12,  1S16. 

DIANA  KING-KNIGHT',  b.  March  7,  1816  ;  d.  June  26,  1871.  She 
married  Shubal  Knight  and  spent  her  life  at  Pompey,  N.  Y.  They  had  four 
children ;  Esther  and  Adelaide  died  young.  Emma  R.  and  Clifford  live 
together  on  the  old  place,  and  have  never  married.  The  father  died  April 
15-  1900. 

Diana  suffered  greatly  for  12  }'ears  with  an  aggravated  rheumatic 
trouble.  When  Clifford,  a  promising  young  man,  was  about  30  he  was 
attacked  by  the  same  dread  disease.  It  has  now  run  into  hip  disease,  with  no 
hope  of  cure.  At  the  close  of  1903  he  had  had  137  operations  performed 
upon  his  hip,  to  remove  the  accumulation  of  pus  upon  the  bone.  Through 
it  all  he  remains  patient  and  cheerful.  His  sister  Emma  is  giving  her  life 
to  him,  as  she  did  first  to  her  mother,  and  then  to  her  father.  All  the 
heroes  are  not  of  the  battle-field,  nor  are  all  the  heroines  those  who  have 
done  world-famous  deeds.  Emma  was  born  June  21,  1847,  and  Clifford  in 
March,  1859. 

DEBORAH  KING',  b.  May  23,  1818  ;  d.  Dec.  18   1829. 

CYRUS  KING',  b.  Sept.  30,  1820 ;  d.  March  30,  1903.  Wherever  he 
lived,  Cyrus  King  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem.  His  life  was  absolutely 
clean.  He  had  integrity,  industry  and  ability.  He  died,  as  he  would  have 
chosen,  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  without  a  moment's  pain  or  warning. 
He  left  behind  him  a  record  of  a  man  active  in  all  good  works,  and  generous 
in  his  support  of  worthy  causes. 

March  21,  1848,  he  was  married  to  Harriet,  daughter  of  Timothy  and 
Rachel  Brown-Bennett.  All  of  the  Bennetts  who  were  in  N.Y.  previous  to 
1800,  were  descended  from  Samuel  Bennett,  who  came  to  the  colonies 
during  the  great  Anti-Laud  Emigration,  about  1635.  His  son  Samuel  went 
to  R.  I.,  and  the  ne.xt  generation  passed  on  to  Pa.  and  N.  Y.  They  were  so 
intensely  a  patriotic  family  that  25  N.  Y.  Bennetts  served  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.*     Several  of  this  line  moved  to  Ohio  in  an  early  da}'. 

Cyrus  and  Harriet  were  married  in  Wadsworth,  Medina  Co.,  Ohio.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  She  lived  but  four  years, 
dying  in  June,  1852.     She  left  one  son,  Edmund  Burritt  King. 

Cyrus  married  again,  June  4,  1854.  His  second  wife  was  Climena, 
daughter  of  Pliny  and  Betsey  Rhodes-Porter.  The  Porters  were  of  good 
family,  and  she  had  several  heirlooms  which  she  treasured  highly.  When 
a  child,  the  author  used  to  admire  one  of  these.  It  was  an  antique  bureau,  its 
legs  carved  into  fantastic  knobs  and  flowers.  Touch  the  knobs  or  flowers,  and 
tiny  concealed  drawers  would  fly  open.     Mrs.  King  died  Aug.  5th,  1897. 

*See  Bennett  Book,  page  9- 


^be   (Breene   jfamili? 


Jl-ugf  Edmund  Biirriit  Ivini;'*,  b.  July  4,  1S50.  lie  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1S73. 
Two  years  after  this  he  removed  to  Sandusky,  Ohio,  where  he  has  ever  since  made  iiis 
home.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  state.  In  1894  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court  Bench,  a  Court  of  Appeals  and  Errors.  After  five  years  service  he  resigned, 
in  order  to  devote  himself  to  his  law  practice  as  one  of  the  firm  of  King  &  Guerin.  Ex- 
cepting  while  he  was  Judge,  he  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  political  campaigns,  For 
the  greater  part  of  the  last  thirty  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  County  or  State 
Republican  Central  Committee,  and  in  i8S3  was  a  Republican  Elector,  casting  his  vote  for 
Benjamin  Harrison  as  President.  For  17  years  he  held  successively  the  offices  of  Lieuten- 
ant, Captain  and  Major  of  the  National  Guard  oi  the  State,  resigning  in  i8g7,  because 
his  judicial  position  interfered  with  attending  to  its  duties.  He  has  also  been  prominent  in 
the  Masonic  Order,  belonging  to  all  the  Masonic  bodies,  including  the  33d  degree  of  the 
Scottish  Rite,  and  has  held  most  of  the  positions  in  the  subordinate  and  local  bodies.  He 
is  now  Grand  Standard  Bearer  of  the  Grand  Commandary  of  Ohio. 

Burritt  King  married  Emma  E.  Hackett,  Feb.  24.  1S74.  Of  this  marriage  two  children 
have  been  born,  Cora  King-Graves,  wife  of  Tliaddeus  Graves.  Jun.,  of  Hatfield,  Mass., 
born  Nov.  :5.  1S75  ;  and  Clifford  Marshall  King,  born  Dec.  15.  1879,  and  now  fitting  him- 
self at  Cornell  University  for  the  profession  of  Civil  Engineering.  Judge  King  has  one 
grand-child,  Isabel  Graves,  b.  Nov.  24,  1903. 

Ida  E.  King-Wolcott',  born  June  5,  1S55  ;  d.  Oct.  9,  1879.  She  was  married  Dec. 
4.  187S,  to  Samuel  Melforei  Wolcott,  son  of  Simon  and  Nancy  Codding  (or  Coddingtonf 
Wolcott,  and  grandson  of  Joseph  and  Lucy  Hills-Wolcott.  This  is  the  same  Woicott 
family  to  which  the  two  celebrated  Governors-Wolcott  of  Conn.,  and  Oliver  Wolcott,  the 
Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  belonged.  His  mother,  Nancy  Codding  (ton) 
is  descended  from  Sir  William  Coddington,  one  of  the  most  noted  of  R.  I.'s  early  colonial 
governors. 

Ida  King-Wolcott  died  leaving  a  1 7-days  old  child,  Winifred  Ida.  Her  aunt,  Mary 
King,  took  her,  and  has  raised  her  in  the  Cyrus  King  home,  giving  her  every  advantage. 
She  is  a  student  of  Hiram  College. 

D.wiD  Porter  King',  b.  Oct.  23,  1857  ;  d.  Feb.  22.  18SS.  The  mathematical  genius 
that  has  again  and  again  appeared  in  the  family  since  the  days  of  Robert  Greene"  of 
Gillingham,  Eng.,  350  years  ago,  was  shown  in  this  young  man.  He  solved  the  most 
intricate  problems  on  sight,  and  invented  new  methods  of  his  own.  He  had  graduated  as  a 
Civil  Engineer,    but  his  health  failed  him.      He  died  at  30. 

.Mary  Al.mira  KING^  b.  Oct.  24,  1859.  A  companion  to  her  mother,  a  house-keeper 
for  her  father,  a  mother  to  her  orphan  niece,  her  life  has  been  rich  in  deeds  of  love  and 
duty.     She  lives  in  Medina,  Ohio. 

DELIL.\H  KING-HAIGHT',  b.  May  29,  1823,  and  living  in  1904. 
M.  to  James  S.  Haight,  Dec.  22,  1847.  Mrs.  Haight  is  a  gentle  little  old 
lady  that  all  esteem.  She  was  a  teacher  before  her  marriage.  They  came 
to  Ohio  in  1849,  where  Mr.  Haight  engaged  in  farming  and  the  carpenter 
trade.     They  live  with  their  son  Clarence. 

Herbert  D.  Haight*,  b.  Nov.  29,  1S56  ;  d.  June  12,  1S80. 

C1..A.RA  Jane  HAIGHT-BR.\INERD^  b.  Dec.  14,  i860;  m.  George   M.   Brainerd,   April  3, 
1SS4,     He  is  a  teacher,  as  was  his  wife  before  her  marriage. 
Edgar  Preston  Brainerd',  b.  May  S,  1SS5. 
Edna  Ruth  Brainerd'.  b.  Oct.  18,  1S87. 
Edwin  Albert  Brainerd',  b.  Jan.  28,  1893. 
Clarence  King  Haight*,  b.  Dec.  22,  1S62  ;  m.  Gertrude  May  Phelps,  Dec.   22,    iSgi. 
His  birth  and  his  wedding  were  each  on  an  anniversary  of  his  parents'  marriage.      His   wife 
is  a  poet  and  magazine  writer  under  the  tion-de-pliime  of  Dame  Durden.       Since  the   advent 
of  her  children  she  dues  not  write  much.     As  she  expresses  it. 


JLDc   (Brcene   Ifanul^ 


"The  hand  well  lit 

■  Finds  truer  work  in  wiping  tears  away. 

A  woman,  queen  o'er  destinies  of  men. 
May  tind  her  work  is  not  with  voice  or  pen  ; 

To  smooth  the  way  that  leads  unto  the  grave, 
To  train  the  child,  and  it  for  God  to  save  ; 

Great  things  to  do,  and  noble  too,  are  these. 
The  petty  trials,  the  efforts  vain  to  please, 

The  upward  strife,  the  failures  too, 
That  ve.M  the  heart  e'en  though  'tis  true  ; 

These  all  serve,  and  well  He  will  repay 

Clarence  and  Ciertrude's  children  are  these; 

Howard  I'helps  Haight",  b.  May  30,  1S96. 
Derwiu  DeForest  H.iight',  b.  Feb.  11,  iSgS. 
Helen  .Amanda  Haight',  b.  Dec.  2S,  1903. 
Clarence  Hai>;ht  died  early  in  1904,  aged  42. 

ALMIRA  KING-BUTTS^  b.  Nov.  25,  1S25  :  f^-   ^^^Y  i4.   1S75.     She 
married  Homer  Butts,  April  3,  1849.     They  had  no  children. 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

DESCENDANTS   OF    STEPHEN    KING 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  Lord  Alexander  de  Greene  de  Boke- 
tou,  A.  D.  1 202,  and  descent  from  Robert  the  Strong,  Duke  de  France,  A. 
D.  86 1,  see  Chapter  XI. 

For  lineage  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett ;  also  from  Stnkeley  West- 
cott,  Elder  Obediah  Holmes,  Hugh  Parsons,  and  Capt.  Thomas  Straight,  see 
Chapter  XX. 

For  King  and  La  Valley  descent,  see  Chapter  XXH.  For  the  middle- 
ages  history  of  the  Mattesons,  see  Appendix. 


Stephen  King"  was  the  eleventh  and  \-oungest  child,  and  fifth  son  of 
Samuel  and  Deborah  Greene-King''.  He  was  born  May  8,  1787,  and  died 
July  8,  1867,  aged  80  years.  He  was  married  at  22  to  Lydia  Matteson. 
Her  lineage  on  her  father's  side  was  this  :  Henry  Matteson',  the  Emigrant, 
Capt.  Henry-,  Ebenezer'',  Edmund*,  and  Lydia''.  On  her  mother's  side  she 
was  of  this  descent:  John  Green'  of  Ouidnessett,  Lieut.  Jas'.,  John  of 
Bristol'',  James*,  Benjamin'*,  and  Virtue  Greene**,  second  wife  of  Edmund 
Matteson.  As  Stephen  King  was  also  a  great-grandson  of  Jas.  Greene',  he 
and  Lydia's  mother  were  own  cousins.     He  outlived  his  wife  some  i8}ears. 

Stephen  King  purchased  the  old  Magdalen  King  place  at  West  Green- 
wich. Here  was  where  both  he  and  his  father  were  born.  He  had  a  world 
of  trouble  getting  the  title  to  it.  The  farm  had  "belonged"  to  Samuel,  the 
voungest  son  of  ^Magdalen,  Stephen's  father.  But  it  seems  to  have  been 
by  a  tacit  agreement  all  around,  and  not  by  deeds.  Stephen  naturally 
wished  a  clear  title.  But  the  children  of  Magdalen  were  dead,  and  the  grand- 
children and  great-grand-children  were  scattered  over  R.  I.,  N.  Y.,  Ohio  and 
Ind.  He  commissioned  his  nephew,  Joel  Howard,  to  hunt  up  the  distant 
heirs  and  get  their  signatures.  I  have  before  me  a  letter  of  Howard's 
reporting  his  progress.  It  is  yellowed  with  time,  and  bears  a  seal,  as  that 
was  before  the  days  of  envelopes  and  postage  stamps.  The  letter  bears 
date  of  Aug.  13,  1838. 

His  letter  throws  a  light  on  their  trust  in  each  other,  and  the  care- 
ful economy  of  those  days.     "  I  want  to  know  if  uncle  Stephen  will  Accept 


Zbc    (Brecnc    Jfamili?  203 

the  Deed  without  it.  [Heirs'  signatures.]  It  is  not  Convenient  to  take  acknow- 
ledgements of  Henry  King  and  his  wife,  and  Richmond  Nichols  and  wife. 
It  is  agoing  to  be  Considerable  of  trouble  and  75  Cents  Cost,  but  it  Cannot 
be  Done  in  York  state  by  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  They  firmly  Declare  to 
me  that  they  will  never  trouble  Him  if  he  will  Accept  the  Deed  without  it. 
I  have  the  acknowledgement  of  14,  which  Covers  nearly  all  the  blank  paper 
there  is  on  the  Deed.  If  he  will  excuse  us  from  taking  any  more,  I  will 
insure  him  as  safe  as  though  it  was  Done." 

"Joel  Howard." 

In  the  abo\'e  letter,  Uie  J  in  Joel  had  three  might}-  circles  in  the  flourish 
of  its  tail.  The  H  in  Howard  began  with  two  large  and  two  small  convolu- 
tions, and  the  final  d  of  Howard  wound  up  with  a  string  of  lo-loop  flourishes, 
which,  with  the  many  capitals,  show  that  letter  writing  has  its  fashions,  as 
well  as  other  things. 

Soon  after  this,  Stephen  sold  the  farm  and  mo\'ed  to  Pennsylvania,  ar- 
riving there  Jan.  2,  1S40.  The  historic  old  house,  while  vacant,  was  in 
some  way  set  fire  to  by  a  drunken  man.  Only  the  cellar  and  a  few  founda- 
tion stones  are  left  to  mark  the  home  where  Huguenot  Magdalen  King,  and 
his  wife  Marie  La  Valley-King,  breathed  their  last.  The  farm,  once  under 
good  cultivation,  is  now  overgrown  by  scrub  oaks  and  pitch  pine.  It  is  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  value  it  only  for  its  quarry  of  rocks,  and  work  that 
alone.  It  is  a  typical  abandoned  New  England  farm.  The  last  Thursday 
in  August  each  year,  Magdalen's  descendants  meet  at  Indian  Rocks  and 
feast  together ;  and  once  a  }ear  these  same  people  put  in  a  day's  work  on 
the  old  family  cemetery. 

Stephen  and  his  wife  had  eight  children,  two  of  whom  died  young. 
Two  never  married,  and  one  left  no  issue.  Nearly  all  his  descendants  live 
in  Pa.  Roger  William  King,  a  grandson,  sajs,  "  None  of  this  family  have 
been  famous  or  wealthy,  but  they  have  had  the  respect  of  their  associates 
wherever  they  have  been."  They  are  a  deeply  religious  family,  nearly  all 
Baptists,  and  have  a  general  reputation  for  truth,  honesty,  and  mathematical 
proficiency. 

SAMUEL  KING',  [of  Stephen"  of  Deborah  Greene-King'',  James 
Greene'',  John  of  Bristol',  Lieut.  James^  John  Greene'  of  Quiduessett.]  He 
was  born  March  6,  1810.  He  was  married  7  years  before  they  left  R.  I.  to 
Mary  F.  Wood,  May  12,  1833.     He  died  April  i,  1862. 

l.LrcETTA  KING**,  b.  April  22,  1S34 ;  d.  Jan,  iq,  1873,  aged  39  years. 
N.   W.   KlNO«,    b.    April  23,    1843.      He  served   in  the  Civil  War,     in    the    46tli    Pa. 
Volunteers.     Jan.  2.  1S66,  he  married  Nancy  A.  Baker,     lie  is  a   contractor  and   builder 
on  a  large  scale,  taking  contracts  sometimes  for  50  houses  at  a  time. 
Viola  King-.Jivery',  b.  in  1S6S.     Wife  of  Oliver  Avery. 
Carrie  King-Harvey',  b.  March  22,  1870.     Wife  of  John  Harvey.    She  has  a  son. 


204 


^be   <5reene   jfamil^ 


Etta  King--Egan',  b.  March  lo,  1S72  .   m.   John   Egan.     They  have   3   children, 
and  live  in  Brooklyn.  X.  Y. 

Walter  H.  King',  b.  Aug.  27,  1875  ;  m.  and  lives  in  Croolclyn.     No  children. 
James  W.  King*.     A  twin,  b.  April  18,  1845.     Died  July  it).  1901.     He  ni.  Harriet  E. 
McLaud,  Dec.  24.  1870.     Eight  children,  seven  survive  him. 

John  S.  King*.  Twin  of  the  above.  M.  to  Mattie  A.  McLaud,  Nov.  9,  1S-2.  They 
have  4  children,  one  of  whom  is  dead. 

A.NNA  King-Whippi,e*.  b.  Dec.  26,  1850.  Married  James  Whipple,  March  26,  iSSg. 
They  live  at  Silvara,  Pa,,  and  have  one  son,  Earl  J,,  b.    Oct.  12.  1S95. 

WILLIAM  KING",  b.  in  June,  1811  ;  married  Harriet  Dexter  in  1859. 
He  died  Dec.  6,  1891.     No  children. 

RAY  KING",  born  Dec.  9,  1815.  Died  March  22,  1894.  He  was  never 
married.  He  will  be  long  remembered.  For  60  years  he  was  acknowledged 
as  the  best  posted  man  on  family  lore  in  the  King  ranks.  He  was  eccen- 
tric, peculiar  in  his  dress,  and  plumped  so  abruptly  into  the  subject  in  which 
he  was  interested  that  strangers  would  at  first  doubt  his  sanity.  But  he  was 
shrewd  enough,  and  never  forget  a  date,  or  name,  or  incident.  He  would 
start  on  foot  on  one  of  his  genealogy-tours,  and  would  perhaps  journey  a 
1,000  miles  before  he  came  walking  back  to  his  Pennsylvania  home.  He 
would  be  at  Tully,  N.  Y.,  one  day  ;  tarry  three  hours  at  another  place ;  stay 
with  a  cousin  over  night  at  Bromley ;  another  night  at  Pompey  ;  then  shake 
the  dust  of  N.  Y.  off  his  feet,  and  proceed  in  the  same  way  to  R.  I.  Where- 
ver he  went,  he  woke  the  kindred  up  on  genealogical  matters,  and  told  them 
more  in  an  hour  than  they  had  known  in  a  life-time  before.  It  is  a  thous- 
and pities  that  a  man  so  ^•ersed  in  family  history,  and  with  such  a  pictur- 
esque, succinct  style  of  putting  his  knowledge,  never  put  it  down  in  black 
and  white. 

DEBORAH  KING-BUNNELL',  b.  July  23,  1817.  Alarried  Edward 
Bunnell.     No  children.     She  d.  in  April  1882. 

vSTUKELEY  KING",  [Stephen^  Deborah  Greene-King^  James  Green^ 
John  of  BristoP,  Lieut.  James",  John'  of  Ouidnessett.]  Born  July  18,  1824. 
Died  March  25,  1891.  He  married  Fidelia  Fish,  Jan.  9,  1855.  They  were 
deeply  religious  people.  Baptists,  as  were  most  of  the  Stephen  King  line. 

Charles  King^     Died  while  youmg. 

Roger  William  King*,  b.  Feb.  4,  1859.     He  is  unmarried. 

Amy  L.  King-Sturdf.va.nt*,  b.  Aug.  3,  1861  ;  m.  Oct.  3.  1S83.  to  Willis  E.  Stnrde- 
vant.  Arva  and  Veva  are  dead.  These  children  are  living  :  Alma,  b.  18S7  ;  Clark,  in 
18S9;  Carrie,  in  1891  ;  Webb,  in  1893;  and  Sarah,  in  1S97.  The  Sturdevants  live  in 
Silvary,  Pa. 

Caroline  E.  King-Schmidt*,  b.  Dec.  26,  1865.  She  mairied  C.  Schmidt  of  Empor- 
ium, Pa.,  who  died  March  2,  1904.     She  has  no  children. 

.Mary  Delphene  KlNG-PLACE^  b.  Jan.  15.  1870;  m.  July  2,  iSgi.  to  Chas.  A.  Place, 
and  died  Dec.  25,  igoi,  leaving  Claude,  b,  1S92,  and  Leah.  b.  1900. 

Susie  Jane  K.ing-L.\nie*.  Born  Oct.  26,  1S72.  She  was  married  March  9,  1904,  to 
Clark  Lanie  of  Rush,  P.a. 

CAROLINE  KING".     Born  1834.     Died  single  in  1862,  aged  28. 


CHAPTER    XXXII 


FAMILY    OF    DAVID     AND    NANCY    KING-NICHOLS 

As  the  next  eight  chapters  are  really  an  elaboration  of  this  one,  it 
is  thonght  best  to  give  at  tJie  beginning  a  fnll  pedigree  of  this  family 
for  convenience  in  consulting.  Both  husband  and  wife  were  descended  from 
John  Greene  of  Quidnessett,  he  through  Lieut.  John',  and  she  through  Lieut. 
Jamesl  Both  of  them  were  descended  from  Marie  La  Valley  and  Magada- 
len  King,  he  from  their  daughter  Susan,  she  from  their  son  Samuel.  On  his 
side  comes  the  Lascelle,  Wardwell,  Waite,  Hill,  and  Nichols  descent.  Ou 
hers  comes  the  Straight,  Westcott,  Parson  and  Holmes  descent,  as  well  as  a 
Lascelle,  Wardwell,  Waite  and  Hill  descent  also. 

John  Greene  of  Quidnessett  had  nearly  eight  centuries  of  certified  noble 
and  roj'al  blood  behind  him.  There  are  lords,  dukes,  counts  and  kings 
enough  in  his  line  to  enthuse  any  title-hunter.  It  is  a  good  line  too.  Noth- 
ing to  be  ashamed  of.  Chapters  IH  and  V  give  this  in  full.  Chapter  XI 
sums  it  up,  and  shows  their  relation  to  John  of  Quidnessett,  the  stemnifadcr 
Green  of  this  book. 

Line  of  Lieut.  John  Greene".  The  emigrant,  John  Greene  of 
Quidnessett'  ( Wickford, )  R.  I.,  and  Joan  Beggarly ;  Lieut.  Jolnr,  whose 
wife  was  Abigail  Wardwell ;  "  Wealthy  John\"  and  wife  Ann  Hill ;  Ann 
Greene*,  who  married  John  Nichols";  Job  Nichols',  whose  wife  was  Susan 
King,  and  David",  their  son. 

Lascelle- Wardwell  Line.  William  Wardwell-,  believed  to  be  the 
son  of  Richard  and  Mary  Ithell-Wardwell,  married  Meribe,  daughter  of 
the  French  Huguenots,  Gershom  and  Meribe  Lascelle.  Their  son,  Lascelle 
WardwelP,  whose  name  was  corrupted   into   Usal ;   William*,   his  son,   who 

came  to  America  in  1634  and  married  Alice  ;    Usal',  born  April   7, 

1639,  and  married  May  3,  1664,  to  the  widow  Mary  Kinsman-Ringe ;  Abi- 
gail", their  oldest  child,  born  Oct.  27,  1665.  She  married  Lieut.  John 
Greene.  Her  line  merged  with  his,  running  thus,  John,  Ann,  Job,  David, 
the  loth  generation  from  Richard  Wardwell  and  from  Gershom  LascUe. 

Waite  and  Hill  Line.     Same  as  the  above,    to  William  WardwelP 


2o6  ^be   (Brecne   jfainil^ 

and   his   wife  Meribe.      Their  daughter  Rosanua"'    married Waite. 

Mehitable  Waite'  married  Richard  Hill  of  Great  Torringtou,  England.  They 
came  with  grown  children  to  the  colonies.  John  Hill",  born  1613,  and  wife 
Frances  had  Jonathan",  born  about  1638.  His  oldest  son  was  Henry  Hill", 
born  Jan.  27,  1661.  His  daughter  was  Ann",  who  married"  Wealthy  John" 
Greene\  David  was  the  nth  generation  fron:  Gershom  Lascelle  and  Rich- 
ard Wardwell,  by  this  line. 

Hill-Westcott  Link.  (Wife's  Side.)  As  above  to  JNIehitable  Waite 
Hill\  then  Rosanna  HilP,  (named  after  her  mother's  mother),  who  married 
Stukeley  Westcott  and  followed  Roger  Williams  to  R.  I.  in  1636.  ( vStuke- 
ley  Westcott's  father,  Richard  Westcott  of  Great  Torrington,  England,  m. 
Mary  Parson  in  1613.) 

Stukeley  and  wife's  oldest  son  was  Amos'',  whose  second  wife  was  De- 
borah Stafford,  whom  hem.  in  1670.  Their  daughter  Rosanna,  widow  of 
Daniel  Smith,  married  John  Straight  in  1705.  The  Straight-'  oldest  daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth*,  married  James  Greene*,  the  son  of  John  Greene  of  Bristol. 
Nancy  King-Nicholas  was  loth  in  descent  by  this  reckoning  from  the  first 
Lascelle  and  Wardwell,  and  7th  from  the  first  Westcott  and  Hill. 

Line  of  Lieut.  James  Greene^.  (  Wife's  side.)  John  Greene'  of 
Quidnessett  and  Joan  ;  Lieut.  James"  and  Elizabeth  ;  John'  of  Bristol,  and 
Elizabeth  Holmes  ;  James'  and  Elizabeth  Straight.  Deborah  Greene-King" 
and  Samuel  King,  Nancy  King-Nichols"  was  their  child. 

Parsons  AXD  Holmes  Line.  (Wife's  side.)  John  Greene  of  Bristol's 
wife  Elizabeth  was  the  grand-daughter  of  Elder  Obediah  Holmes  who  was 
so  severely  punished  for  his  religious  opinions.  See  Chapter  VL  Her 
mother  was  Matilda  (?)  daughter  of  Hugh  Parsons  and  his  wife,  formerly  the 
widow  of  William  English.  Elizabeth  Holmes-Greene  was  the  mother  of 
James  Greene*,  the  grandfather  of  Nancy  King-Nichols.  Elizabeth's  rela- 
tionship to  Parsons  and  Holmes  is  not  shown  by  official  records,  but  rests 
upon  family  traditions  and  strong  circumstantial  evidence. 

Straight  Line.  ( Wife's  side. )  Capt.  Thomas  Straight'  of  Water- 
town,  Mass.,  by  his  first  wife  ]Mary,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Long,  had 
Henry^  born  1652.  He  came  to  R.  L  and  married  Hannah  Tolman.  Their 
son  John'  married  Rosanna  Westcott-Smith,  and  the  latter  couple's  daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth  Straight  Greene',  was  grandmother  to  Nancy  King-Nichols, 
6th  in  descent  from  Capt.  Straight. 

King  and  La  Valley  Line.     Gershom'   and  IMeribe,   his  wife  ;   An- 

teres  Lascelle-Pierce- ;  her  daughter  who  married  a  King"' ;  their  son ', 

who  died  of  the  Plague,  1665 ;  John  King^  the  Buccaneer,  born  1654 ;  Mag- 
dalen King  Vho  married  Marie  La  Valle}'.  Their  son  Samuel  was  Nancy's 
father,  their  daughter  Susan,  David's  mother.     Marie  was  the  daughter  of 


Cbe   Greene   jfainil^  207 

Peter  and  Suzanne  La  Valley.  See  Chapter  XXII,  for  the  old  La  Valley 
history. 

Nichols  Link.  See  Appendix  and  Ann  Greene-Nichols  section  of 
Chapter  XV.  John  Nichols^  of  Glamorganshire,  Wales,  died  1598  ;  John  the 
Mariner",  and  his  wife  Ruth  ;  Thomas'  (probably);  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols^ 
the  Emigrant,  and  his  wife  Hannah  Griffin;  "Aristocratic  JolinV  b.  1666, 
and  wife  Hannah  Fornian  ;  John",  b.  1689;  John^  and  wife  Ann  Greene*; 
Job"  and  wife  Suzanne  King  ;  David"  and  wife  Nancy  King. 

To  most  people  this  will  be  a  dry  list.  But  there  is  at  least  this  com- 
pensation about  it :  The  children  of  David  and  Nancy  Nichols  start  out 
with  72  accredited  and  mentioned  l)y  name  grand-parents  of  various  degrees  ; 
this  exclusive  of  the  eight  centuries  of  ancestors  back  of  John  Greene  of 
Quidnessett. 

Nancy  King  was  born  Dec.  2,  1767.  She  was  the  oldest  child  of  Sam- 
uel and  Deborah  Greene-King.  Her  chapter  is  given  last  because  of  the 
several  chapters  following  it. 

Nancy  was  not  beautiful.  She  was  natural!}-  quiet  and  still-tongued, 
though  a  good  talker  on  subjects  in  which  she  was  interested.  She  was  a 
placid,  sweet-tempered  woman  of  endless  patience  and  forbearance.  Her 
life  was  a  sad  one,  because  repressed  and  curtailed  of  what  it  should  and 
would  have  been  but  for  the  absurd  prejudice  of  her  day. 

Nancy  King  came  nearer  being  a  genius  than  any  other  one  of  the 
entire  Quidnessett  line.  She  had  a  strong  brain.  She  was  one  of  those 
mathematical  prodigies  whose  mind  grasps  on  the  instant  solutions  of  the 
most  intricate  problems,  and  she  had  a  remarkable  historical  bent  of  mind. 
Nowadays  she  w'ould  have  been  a  scientist  or  historian. 

Our  fore-parents  had  woman's  sphere  mapped  out.  She  was  to  keep 
house  and  rear  a  large  family  of  children.  Never,  never,  was  she  to  be- 
come a  student,  or  above  all,  a  writer.  That  would  unsex  her  entirely.  It 
may  not  be  true  that  so  strict  were  their  ideas  of  propriety  that  a  New  En- 
gland maiden  fainted  at  the  mention  of  undressed  lumber,  but  it  certainly 
was  true  that  it  was  considered  masculine,  and  therefore  immodest,  for  a 
woman  to  write  for  publication.  A  friend  of  a  poetess  of  that  day,  inserted 
without  her  knowledge  one  of  her  poems  in  a  Boston  paper.  The  lady- 
expressed  herself  as  so  mortified  that  she  coiald  "  hardlylook  anyone  in  the 
face."  Mary  Somerville  was  a  model  housewife.  Yet  because  she  engaged 
in  scientific  studies,  a  sister  xised  this  severe  language  so  late  as  181 2  :"  I 
hope  you  will  give  up  3'our  foolish  manner  of  life  and  studies,  and  make  a 
respectable  and  useful  wife." 

Samuel  King  and  his  wife  emphatically  sat  down  on  their  daughter's 
ambition.     Her  husband  shared  their  views.     She  was  not  allowed  to  study 


2o8  ^be   (5reene   family 

mathematics,  or  to  write  anything  beyond  family  letters.  She  was  too  sweet 
and  tractable  to  resist.  To  the  day  of  her  death  it  was  a  common  thing  for 
puzzled  neighbors  to  come  to  her  to  find  out  what  a  cistern  would  hold,  how 
much  stone  it  would  take  to  build  a  house,  or  to  know  the  number  of  acres 
in  an  irregular  or  odd-shaped  tract  of  land.  Baffled  in  her  literary  desires, 
she  diligently  searched  out  her  family  history  anywaj',  interviewing  old 
people  who  could  remember  back  before  1 700.  She  wove  a  verbal  narration 
of  this  that  is  said  to  have  been  most  interesting.  The  fragments  that  have 
come  down  to  us  show  much  care  on  her  part.  I  have  never  found  one  of 
her  statements  that  could  not  be  verified. 

This  was  the  bright,  cheerful  girl  with  whom  David  Nichols  fell  in  love 
when  he  visited  her  uncle's  family  after  the  Re\olutionary  War  was  over. 
David  was  quick-brained  himseif.  He  was  good-looking,  and  had  the  stamp 
and  breeding  of  a  city  man.  He  was  a  good  conversationalist,  and  over- 
flowed with  wit  and  mirth.  He  had  the  prestige  of  having  been  a  Revolu- 
tionarj'  soldier.*  He  was  a  fine  singer,  and  an  expert  violinist.  He  was  in- 
dustrious, and  a  man  of  sound  morals  and  principals.  He  wr.s  the  son  of 
Job  and  Susan  King-Nichols,  born  in  1763,  and  had  been  brought  up  in 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Nancy  married  him  about  17S7.  She  thought  she  was  doing  well.  So 
did  her  parents.  She  had  the  French  love  of  finery,  and  her  wedding  outfit 
was  extravagant  for  a  farmer's  daughter.  It  was  half  a  dozen  years  before 
the  first  cotton  cloth  was  woven  in  R.  I.  A  fine  piece  of  cotton  was  then 
esteemed  as  much  as  silk.  Her  wedding  dress  was  purchased  in  Providence. 
It  was  imported  from  England  and  cost  $1.00  per  yard,  equal  to  about  $3.00 
at  present  money  values.  It  was  piece  of  fine  chintz,  thick  and  hand-woven. 
The  creamy  background  was  sprinkled  with  sprays  of  tiny  pink  flowers. 
Cotton  goods  like  this  can  now  be  obtained  for  about  25  cents  per  yard. 

But  the  auspicious  marriage  did  not  turn  out  so  well.  David  could 
neither  make  money  nor  keep  it.  He  was  a  fine  workman,  a  deft  hand  at 
cabinet  making,  one  of  the  half  dozen  men  in  the  United  States  that  alone  at 
that  time  knew  how  to  make  a  \iolin.      But  he  could  not  turn  his  gifts  to 


*It  13  well  known  in  the  family  that  he  eiilUt.-d  twice  .luring  the;  ye;xr,s'  war.  The  flr<t  time  lie  was  only 
in  his  16th  year  when  he  enli.sted.  He  served  this  time  as  a  bugler.iu  the  .»aine  regiment  iu  which  were  a  doz- 
en or  more  of  his  Greene  cousins.  The  second  time  he  served  in  tlie  rank.s.  and  the  first  lock  musket  that  he 
carried  he  gave  as  a  memento  to  his  youngest  son.  Nelson  Nichols,  the  author's  father.  Rhode  Island's 
mihtary  record.s  are  too  ineoniplete  to  throw  any  light  on  his  second  service.  The  former  is  a  matter  of 
record,  as  this  will  .»how  : 

"Rec.irdand  Pension  Office.  War  Department.  Wa.shington.  D.C. 
"  Record  No.  658329.  "July  1.  I9iil. 

"  It  is  shown  by  the  records  that  one  David  Nichols  served  as  a  private  in   Captain  Philip  Tiaflanr-i 
companyof  Col.  John  Tophan's  regiment.  R.I.  State  Troops.  Revolutionary  War.    He  enlisted  June  H. 
1778.  and  his  name  appears  on  rolls  otthat  organization  from  Jnlr.  I77s.  to  February.  1779,  without  remark. 
"By  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  War." 


ttbc   (Breene   family  209 

advantage.  He  spoiled  a  first-class  artisan  to  become  a  third-rate  fanner. 
He  could  not  plan.  His  family  increased.  He  shifted  from  pillar  to  post, 
always  in  hard  lines,  never  in  easy  circumstances. 

David  was  buoyant  and  overflowing  with  life  and  hope,  when  he  was 
wearing  his  rose-colored  spectacles.  But  when  the  pendulum  swung  the 
other  way  he  was  morose,  down-hearted  and  mood}-.  He  was  ne\-er  well, 
and  subject  to  attacks  of  heart  trouble  and  nervous  prostration,  at  which 
times  he  was  irritable  and  notional.  It  fretted  and  galled  him  that  men  with 
out  half  his  talent  succeeded  in  life,  while  he  was  a  failirre.  Poor,  patient 
Nancy  put  up  with  all  his  humors,  took  the  brunt  of  everything,  worked 
like  a  slave  for  her  dozen  children,  and  never  scolded  or  fretted.  No  wonder 
that  her  children  thought  her  an  angel.  When  she  was  young  she  had  a 
physique  that  should  have  carried  her  to  90.  She  died  Nov.  22,  1820,  aged 
53 — worn  literally  out. 

They  seem  for  a  short  period  to  have  lived  in  R.  I.  They  lived  most- 
ly, however,  among  the  Berkshire  Hills  of  Massachnssetts,  until  near  the 
close  of  1800.  N.  Y.  was  at  that  time  offering  great  inducements  to  settlers 
in  the  northern  part  of  her  territory,  in  what  were  called  the  military  districts. 
David  caught  the  emigration  fever.  In  the  spring  of  1801  they  moved  to 
Pompey  Hill,  N.  Y.,  the  highest  point  of  land  in  the  State,  bitter  cold  in 
winter,  and  yet  possessing  many  advantages.  Here  they  lived,  and  here 
Nancy  died.  Her  tombstone,  cut  and  lettered  by  her  brother  Joel's  hands, 
now  lies  prone  and  broken.  But  it  can  yet  be  deciphered  where  "Anna 
Nichols  died,  Nov.  22,  1820."  Anna  was  really  her  name,  but  as  she  was 
always  called  Nancy,  I  have  retained  it  always  in  speaking  of  her. 

David  Nichols  married  again.  The  last  wife  was  Mrs.  Abigail  Brown. 
B)'  her  he  had  a  daughter,  Betsey.  Becoming  dissatisfied  with  N.  Y.,  in 
1831  he  removed  to  Sharon  Center,  Ohio.  Here  he  died  and  was  buried. 
He  died  Nov.  5,  1839,  aged  76  years. 

David  and  Nancy  had  12  children.  There  is  a  little  uncertainty  aj  to 
where  the  first  George  and  Almira  came  in.  I  follow  the  judgment  of  those 
best  qualified  to  place  them.  Nine  children  lived  to  grow  up,  and  eight  to 
marry.  As  the  eight  ha\-e  their  lives  given  in  the  next  eight  chapters,  only 
their  birth  and  death  dates  will  be  given  here. 

SUSAN  NICHOLS",  b.  about  1788.  Accidentally  smothered  in  bed 
when  si.x  weeks  old. 

HENRY  NICHOLS',  b.  Nov.  22,  1790.     Died  April  21,  1851. 

JOHN  NICHOLS',  b.  in  1792.  He  never  married.  He  died  Dec. 
27,  1865.  He  was  a  fifer  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  so  frank  and  jovial 
as  to  be  a  great  favorite  with  both  officers  and  men.  He  was  under  Col. 
Scott,  afterward  General  Winfield  Scott.     They  were  stationed  for  a  time  in 


Zbe   (Brcene   Jfantil^ 


Canada.  John  used  to  delight  in  telling  anecdotes  of  this  period.  All  the 
Nichols  have  a  tooth  for  cream.  The  soldier  boys  were  foraging  one  time, 
when  John  could  not  resist  slipping  into  a  milk  house,  and  helping  himself 
to  cream.  He  was  busy  poking  the  cream  into  his  mouth,  when  the  mistress 
of  the  house  appeared,  and  the  way  she  spluttered  was  a  caution !  On  an- 
other occasion  his  mess  helped  themselves  to  a  Tory  farmer's  hone}-.  He 
came  the  next  morning,  and  raised  so  a  great  a  kick  that  Col.  Scott  went 
with  him  to  find  the  secreted  honey.  When  they  came  into  the  part  of  the 
log  barrack  where  Nichols'  mess  was.  Col.  Scott  opened  a  sort  of  a  cupboard, 
and  as  luck  would  have  it,  awkwardly  jabbed  his  hand  right  into  the  honey. 
Fifer  Nichols  was  a  personal  friend  of  his,  and  Scott  was  not  minded  to 
make  an  example  of  him.  Slamming  the  cupboard  door  to  he  whipped  out 
a  handkerchief  and  began  to  wipe  his  hand. 

"  What  do  you  mean, you  !"  thundered  Scot,  apparently 

in  a  great  rage.     "  Keeping  your  soft  soap  in  with  your  victuals !     

,  I've  a  mind  to  send  you  to  the  guard-house  for  it !     Don't 

you  let  it  occur  again."  The  Tory  did  not  find  his  honey,  but  Scott  had 
plenty  of  it  for  his  dinner. 

John  Nichols  was  a  noble  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  Upon  her 
death-bed  his  mother  charged  him  to  always  look  after  his  father,  and  ga\e 
her  8-year  old  Nelson  to  him.  He  had  thought  of  marrying  a  young  woman 
with  whom  he  was  in  love.  He  resolutely  turned  his  back  on  all  this, 
raised  his  little  brother,  and  stayed  with  his  father  during  the  old  gentle- 
man's life  time.  Then  he  cared  for  his  stepmother  and  half-sister,  until  the 
latter  married  and  left  him.  He  spent  the  last  35  years  of  his  life  in  Sharon 
Center,  Ohio.  He  was  always  called  Squire  Nichols.  He  was  a  fine 
business  man,  and  the  soul  of  honor. 

RICHMOND  NICHOLS",  b.  Dec.  3,  1795;  died  Feb.  9,  1882. 

CYNTHIA  NICHOLS"-KING',  b.  March  4,  1796;  died  after  1870. 

GEORGE  NICHOLS'  (i).     Died  in  infancy. 

MIRANDA  NICHOLS-BARNES',  b.  Dec.  16,  1799 ;  d.  Jan.   7,   1S52. 

MARIAM  NICHOLS-BRADLEY',  b.  Jan.  26,  1801  ;  d.  July  24,  1871. 

SALLY  NICHOLS-LAMSON",  b.  Feb.  13,  1804;  d.  May  20,  1879. 

ALMYRA  NICHOLS".     Died  in  early  childhood. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  NICHOLS'  (2),  b.  about  1809 ;  d.  March 
21,  1839. 

NELSON  NICHOLS^  b.  May  11,  1812  ;  d.  Feb.  4,  1865. 

By  his  second  wife  David  Nichols  had  a  daughter  Betsey.  She  married 
a  Mr.  Breck.  Both  are  dead  long  ago.  She  left  at  least  two  sons,  Dr.  Ira 
Breck,  and  Dell  Breck,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


CHAPTER     XXXm 


DESCENDANTS  OF   HENRY   NICHOLS' 


Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  the  first  Lord  de  Greene  de  Boke- 
ton,  A.  D.  1 202,  and  descent  from  the  royal  Capet  line  of  France,  from  A. 
D.  861,  see  Chapter  XL  For  lineage  from  John  King  and  Peter  La  Valley, 
see  Chapter  XXII.  For  all  other  lines  of  descent,  including  two  from  John 
Greene'  of  Quidnessett,  and  lineage  from  Capt.  Straight,  Stukeley  West- 
cott,  Hugh  Parsons,  etc.,  and  from  the  Lascelles,  Waites,  Hills  and  Wardwells, 
see  Chapter  XXXII,  and  also  the  Appendix. 


Henry  Nichols  was  the  second  child  of  Ua\'id  and  Nancy  Nichols,  an 
infant  sister  dying  before  his  birth.  He  was  born  Nov.  22,  1790,  in  Berk- 
shire County,  Alassachusetts.  When  he  was  1 1  years  old  his  father  moved 
to  Pompey,  N.  Y.,  then  a  new  cotmtry.  He  lived  here  until  1834,  and  then 
at  44,  started  out  once  more  to  live  in  a  new  country.  He  came  to  what  is  now 
Wolcottville,  Indiana,  when  no  other  white  man  was  living  in  the  town- 
ship, although  his  brother.  Nelson  Nicholas,  and  brother-in-law,  Peter  Lam- 
son,  had  entered  land,  and  came  there  to  live  shortly  afterwards.  He  lived 
in  Indiana  from  this  time  until  hisdeath,  April  21, 1851,  nearly  17  years  after. 

The  oldest  of  a  poor  man's  large  family,  and  twice  a  pioneer  in  a  new 
country,  it  goes  without  saying  that  he  was  used  to  hard  work,  hard  times 
and  hard  lines  in  life.  He  never  let  it  worry  him.  He  had  an  odd  habit, 
if  much  fatigued,  of  lying  flat  down  on  his  back  and  sticking  his  legs 
straight  up  in  the  air.  Then  he  would  sing  to  the  top  of  his  voice,  and  by 
the  time  his  song  was  over  he  was  rested  and  ready  to  go  to  work  again. 
He  cut  short  his  honeymoon  to  enlist  in  the  War  of  1812-14,  and  as  he  used 
to  say,  never  saw  a  battle  or  a  scratch,  as  peace  was  declared  three  months 
after. 

Henry  was  married  July  10,  1S14,  to  Eleanor  Lord.  She  was  born  in 
Deerfield,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  23,  1794.  She  was  lineally  descended  from  Thomas 
Lord,  of  Braintree,  England,  who  was  a  noted  man  in  his  day,  and  helped 
to  found  the  city  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1635.     Hartford  has  erected  a  monu- 


^bc    (Brccne    Jfamil? 


ment,  a  massive  sandstone  structure,  to  the  honor  of  her  founders,  of  whom 
Thomas  Lord  is  named  as  one.  Eleanor's  father  was  killed  by  the  Indians 
in  1801,  when  she  was  but  7  years  old.  The  little  orphan  fell  into  cruel 
hands.  To  the  day  of  her  death  she  carried  deep  scars  that  marked  the  in- 
human beatings  and  the  knocking  down  with  clubs  that  she  had  experi- 
enced. She  was  not  sent  to  school,  but  picked  up  a  knowledge  of  how  to 
read. 

Twenty  years  Henry  and  Eleanor  lived  in  N.  Y.,  and  here  8  of  their 
children  were  bora  ;  2  more  were  born  in  Indiana.  These  children  were  Al- 
niyra,  Ira,  Nancy,  Deborah,  Halsey,  Sally,  Rachel,  George,  Margaret  and 
John.  There  was  not  a  break  in  this  family  until  1839,  then  in  a  year's 
time  4  died.  Almyra  died  of  consumption  at  23,  dying  Jan.  26.  1839  or  1840 
(both  dates  given).  Nancy,  the  19  year  old  daughter,  died  Feb.  5,  1839. 
The  mother  took  a  fatal  cold  standing  by  the  grave  in  chill  weather.  She 
took  pneumonia,  and  one  week  later,  Feb.  12,  1839,  she  died  also.  John, 
the  baby,  died  the  next  October. 

The  family  had  begun  to  thin  out.  In  1853,  Sally  died,  aged  19.  The 
father  died  in  1851,  and  Halsey,  a  young  man  of  27,  died  in  1852.  Margaret 
died,  March  27,  1864,  Ira  in  1865,  Deborah  died  May  25,  1894,  and  George 
died  Feb.  2,  1901.  Rachel  alone  of  all  this  family  is  yet  living,  in  1904. 
The  old  place  passed  into  other  hands  after  Henry's  death  in  185 1.  He  had 
married  again,  nearly  eight  years  after  his  first  wife's  death.  He  had  no 
children  by  Polly — the  last  wife. 

ALMYRA  NICHOLS',  b.  Sept.  18, 1816;  d.  Jan.  30,  1839.  She  died  un- 
married, as  did  her  aunt  and  great  aunt,  and  her  cousin,  all  of  whom  were 
Almyra  Nichols,  and  all  luider  25  at  time  of  death.  It  became  almost  a  su- 
perstition in  the  family  after  that,  that  no  Almyra  Nichols  would  live  to  see 
a  quarter  of  a  century. 

IRA  VAN  RENSEALLER  NICHOLS',  b.  Jan  21,  1818.  He  was  mar- 
ried Dec.  ri,  1S41,  toNancy  Matteson,  or  Nanc}'  Mu tiger,  as  she  was  often  call- 
ed, having  been  brought  up  in  the  Munger  household.  She  was  a  quiet,  good 
woman.  She  died  early  in  1865.  Her  husband  enlisted  after  her  deith, 
and  was  soon  one  of  the  many  victims  of  the  Civil  War.  They  left  5  child- 
ten,  only  one  of  whom  was  married. 

Lucy  Nichoi.s-Chaffee'.  married  .ind  went  out  West. '  Had  a  daughter,  and  a  son  Al- 
vin,  born  about  1861.     She  died  not  far  from  ths  time  her  parents  did. 

Albert  Nichols'.  He  married  a  iliss  Dickinson,  a  diuj^hter  of  Barrett  Dickinson,  of 
Wolcottville,  Indiana.  He  is  a  farmer,  and  lives  at  South  Milford.  Indiana.  Ilis  children 
are  Elsie,  Glen  and  Vernon. 

Fulton  Nichols'.  He  fives  at  Wolcottville,  Indiana.  He  has  buried  three  children, 
and  has  two  Ilvmg.  Mabel  is  married,  and  lives  in  KendallviUe,  Indiana.  She  has  a  son. 
Fulton's  youngest  daughter  is  Pearlie. 

Ann.^bhlle  Nichols-Nichols'.    Extremely  tnodest  and  retiring,  she  was  yet  one  of  the 


Zbc   (5rcene   jTannl? 


sweetest  girls  the  author  ever  knew.  She  was  always  as  frail  as  a  wildwood  flower.  She 
married  William  Nichols,  no  relation  of  hers,  and  had  three  children,  Earl,  b.  about  1SS5, 
Alta,  b.  about  1S87,  and  Trim  (Ira?)  b.  about  1S96.  She  died  of  consumption  in  April,  190I. 
Dr.  Henry  A.  Nichols*.  He  was  only  4  years  old  when  his  parents  died.  He  was 
taken  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ira  Meeker,  of  Wolcottvilla,  Indiana.  They  were  dear,  good  old 
people,  who  were  real  parents  to  the  homeless  boy.  He  owes  much  of  his  success  to  them. 
Henry  became  a  physician,  and  has  a  large  practice.  He  lives  in  Flint,  Indiana.  He  was 
married  in  1897  to  Flora  Benninghoof.     They  have  no  children. 

NANCY  NICHOLS',  b.  July  2,  1820;  d.  Feb.  5,  1839. 
DEBORAH  NICHOIvS-ABBOTT',  b.  Jan.  i,  1823.  Died  after  1890. 
Deborah  was  one  of  those  patient,  gentle,  domestic  women  that  the  world  never 
half  appreciates,  because  they  blow  no  trumpet  over  their  deeds.  She  mar- 
ried the  Rev.  Daniel  Abbott,  in  1856,  and  moved  out  West.  She  died  at 
the  home  of  her  daughter,  Ella  Abbott  Parker,  May  25, 1894,  a  year  after  her 
husband's  death. 

Ella  Abbott-Parker'  was  the  oldest  child  of  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Abbott,  .\mbiiious, 
resolute  and  independent,  she  was  no  more  like  her  meek,  never-speak-for-hcrself  mother 
than  as  though  a  thousand  generations  rolled  between  them.  Born  in  a  new  country,  she 
breathed  in  her  native  air  with  a  sense  of  freedom  and  a  breadth  of  soul.  Her  father  liad  an 
old-time  distrust  of  learned  women.  But  repression  could  not  repress  as  dauntless  a  soul  as 
Ella  Abbott's.  She  studied,  she  taught,  though  she  had  to  begin  her  first  school  in  short 
dresses.  At  si.xteen  she  ran  away,  so  determined  was  she  to  go  to  school.  She 
came  looo  miles  alone  to  Iier  aunt  Rachel's.  Here  she  was  encouraged,  and  given  ilie  ad- 
vantage of  superior  schools.  Won  over  by  her  pluck,  her  father  invited  her  back,  and  con- 
eluded  it  was  a  fine  thing  to  have  a  schoharly  daughter  after  all. 

Aug.  16,  1SS3,  Ella  was  married  to  W.  H.  Parker,  of  Long  Island,  Kansas.  Toi;ether 
they  have  faced  hard  years,  dry  years,  and  no-crop  years.  Neither  of  them  ever  gave  up. 
To-day  they  have  a  fine  farm  of  over  400  acres,  and  all  the  comforts  of  life.  They  have 
had  seven  children.  Carrie  Pearl,  their  oldest  child,  died  Oct.  9  1SS4,  aged  7  weeks.  Their 
living  children  are  Ray  K.,  b.  Oct.  24,  1S85,  Hattie  Mabel,  b.  Feb.  7,  1S90,  Henry  Jay, 
b.  Nov.  3,  iSgi,  Lou  Abbott,  b.  April  16,  1S93,  Ina  Evelyn,  b.  Feb.  14.  1899,  and  Ira 
Theodore,  b.  Oct.  15,  1900.  These  children  are  chips  of  the  old  block.  Mabel  graduated 
from  her  home  school  at  3  months  past  12,  the  youngest  graduate  ever  in  the  country.  Ray, 
the  oldest  son,  who  intends  to  be  an  engineer,  was  up  with  his  studies  to  enter  such  a  course 
when  he  lacked  two  full  years  of  being  old  enough  to  enter  any  engineering  school. 

George  Abbott',  married  Hattie  Parker,  a  sister  of  Ella's  husband.  She  was  a  most 
worthy  woman.  She  died  in  i\Iarch,  1900,  leaving  4  children,  Clyde.  Clair,  Una  and  Uee. 
George  Abbott  is  a  farmer  on  a  large  scale,  owning  640  acres  of  land  not  far  from  his  sister's 
home. 

HASLEY  NICHOLS",  b.  Aug.  23,  1825;  d-  J"iie  17,  1852. 

SALLY  NICHOLS*,  b.  Sept.  23,  1824;  d.  March  27,  1843. 

RACHEL  NICHOLS-BOOSINGER-HODGES\  b.  Aug.  28,  1830.  After 
her  father's  death  Rachel  lived  with  her  uncle  Nelson  until  her  marriage 
with  Conrad  Boosinger,  Oct.  i,  1858.  She  has  lived  ever  since  in  Rome 
City,  Indiana.  Mr.  Boosinger  died  in  1870.  Afterwards  his  widow  married 
Nelson  P.  Hodges,  and  is  again  a  widow.  Rachel  Hodges  has  given  me 
almost  all  the  dates  and  facts  in  this  letter.  She  has  never  had  any  children 
of  her  own,  but  she  has  been  almost  a  motlier  to  her  orphan  nephews  and 


214  ^f5e   (5reene   family 

nieces.  She  raised  one  of  these,  Ida  Kesler,  and  this  niece  and  husband 
live  with  her. 

GEORGE  NELSON  NICHOLS*,  b.  June  30,  1833  ;  d.  Feb.  2,  1901, 
went  west  when  a  young  man.  He  was  married  in  Iowa  to  Sarah  Baxter, 
June,  1855.  He  died  in  Nebraska.  They  had  two  children,  Nellie,  mar- 
ried and  living  in  Hardin,  Nebraska,  and  William  in  another  part  of  Nebras- 
ka. He  has  three  sons,  Charles,  Paul  and  Fred.  His  sister  Nellie  is  the 
mother  of  six  children. 

MARGARET  NICHOLS-KESLER'.  She  was  the  ninth  child  and 
the  first  one  born  in  Indiana.  She  married  William  Kesler  at  Rome  City, 
Ind.,  in  May,  1858.     She  died  April  21,  1864. 

Henry  Kesler'.  Joined  the  regular  army,  18S2.  Went  to  Fort  Gibson,  Arizona. 
Never  heard  from  again. 

Ida  Kesi.er-Tice'.  She  was  brought  up  by  her  aunt  Rachel,  and  has  never  been  sep- 
arated from  her.     Her  husband  is  William  Tice  of  Rome  City.     They  have  no  children. 

JOHN  NICHOLS',  b.  Oct.  26,  1838,  and  d.  Oct'.  6,  1839. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

DESCENDANTS   OF   RICHMOND   NICHOLS 

Richmond  Nichols^,  of  Nancy  King-Nichols",  Deborah  Greene-King'", 
James  Greene*,  John  Greene\  of  Bristol,  Lient.  James  Greene^  and  John 
Greene'  of  Ouidnessett. 

Family  Trees.  For  English  pedigree,  with  descent  from  the  first 
Lord  de  Greene  de  Boketon,  A.  D.  1202,  and  descent  from  the  royal  Capet 
line  of  France,  A.  D.  861,  see  Chapter  III  and  XL  For  lineage  from  Capt. 
Thomas  Straight,  Stukeley  Westcott,  Hugh  Parsons  and  Elder  Obediah 
Holmes  ;  together  with  the  Ouidnessett  Greene  descent  on  his  father's  side  ; 
and  for  both  father's  and  mother's  descent  from  John  King  and  Peter  La 
Valley,  see  Chapter  XXXH.  This  same  chapter  and  the  Appendix  show 
Richmond's  relation  to  the  Lascelle-Wardwell,  Waite  and  Hill  families. 
The  generations  in  this  chapter  are  numbered  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnes- 
sett, counting  from  the  mother,  Nancy  King-Nichols'  side.  The  Nichols 
pedigree  is  also  in  Chapter  XXXH. 


Richmond  Nichols  was  the  fifth  child  of  David  and  Nancy  King- 
Nichols.  He  was  born  Dec.  3,  1795.  The  family  Bible  was  destroyed  by 
fire.  Curiously  enough  in  filling  out  the  records  in  a  new  one,  every  date 
in  it  was  placed  exactly  a  year  later  than  it  really  was.  I  have  therefore 
given  his  birth  as  the  other  Nichols  records  have  it,  in  1795  instead  of  1796, 
and  the  births  of  the  older  children  to  correspond  with  these  records  also. 

In  his  sixth  year  his  parents  moved  to  Pompey,-  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived 
for  49  years  longer.  He  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  died,  32  5'ear  later, 
Feb.  9,  1882,  in  his  87th  year.  He  was  married  iu  1820  to  Margaret  Rice, 
remotely  of  Welsh,  and  more  nearly  of  Rhode  Island  descent.  Through  a 
marriage  of  one  of  the  early  Rices,  she  was  of  Randall  Holden  lineage,  the 
fiery,  radical  man,  a  refugee  to  R.  I.,  because  of  the  "  damnable  error,"  as  the 
Massachusetts  people  put  it,  of  his  religious  views,  and  who  suffered  arrest 
and  imprisonment  for  the  same.     See  Chapter  VIII. 


2i6  ^be   (Breene   jfamil^ 


Margaret  was  born  in  Hastings,  Oswego  Co.,  N.  Y.  She  came  of  a 
family  of  whom  some  reached  the  century  mark.  She  herself  died  in  18S9 
aged  89.  She  was  an  active,  independent,  energetic  woman,  neat  as  a  pin, 
and  held  in  the  family  annals  to  be  second  only  to  Marie  La  Valley  as  a 
marvelous  cook. 

When  the  War  of  1812-14  broke  out,  Richmond  tried  to  enlist.  He  was 
but  16,  and  was  rejected  on  account  of  his  youth.  He  was  rejected  again  in 
1814,  this  time  as  physically  unfit.  The  Nichols  home  at  Pompey  was  in 
Western  N.  Y.,  near  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  Canada  line.  The  York  State 
men  realized  that  war  was  at  their  door,  when  General  Prevost  attacked 
Sackett's  Harbor  on  Lake  Ontario.  Every  civilian  who  could  march  or 
carry  a  musket,  rushed  to  its  defense.  Samuel  King,  Richmond's  own  broth- 
er-in-law, saj-s  this  1 7-year  old  boy  was  one  of  those  that  helped  defend  this 
important  fort.  Patriotism  was  a  marked  trait  in  his  family.  The  war  rec- 
ord of  his  sons  breaks  any  other  recorded  in  this  book.  Six  of  his  sons  went 
into  the  Civil  War.  One  died  of  wounds,  one  lost  his  eyes,  two  came  back 
to  die  by  inches,  and  two  returned  hale  and  well. 

According  to  the  old  saying  that  every  son  is  worth  a  thousand  dollars 
to  his  parents,  and  every  daughter  half  that  sum,  Richmond  and  Margaret 
Nichols  accumulated  quite  a  little  capital  in  children,  as  they  had  10  sous 
and  4  daughters.  There  was  over  29  years  difference  in  the  ages  of  the  old- 
est and  the  youngest  sons,  full  brothers.  Wealth  in  a  tangible  form  never 
came  to  this  couple,  but  no  millionaire  could  have  more  hospitably  welcom- 
ed friends  to  his  home  than  did  they. 

Richmond  kept  a  young  heart  to  the  last.  Once  a  niece  visited  them. 
She  was  wretchedly  homesick.  He  saw  it.  With  a  merry  "  now  for  some 
fun ! "  he  took  her  in  charge.  Such  a  happy,  lively  day  as  they  had  !  Such 
tricks  as  he  played !  Such  droll  stories  as  he  told !  She  never  forgot  it. 
How  many  men  of  70  would  take  tliat  much  trouble  to  give  a  14-year  old 
girl  a  day  of  pleasure  ? 

Thirteen  of  Richmond's  children  lived  to  be  grown.  The  fourth  child 
died  at  1 1.  This  family  was  called  the  best  looking  of  the  entire  David  Nic- 
hols branch.     Two  or  three  of  the  sons  were  particularly  fine  looking  men. 

GEORGE  NICHOLS*,  b.  March  19,  1822.  Thespecial  turn  of  mechani- 
cal genius  of  his  great-grandfather,  Samuel  King,  was  inherited  by  him.  He  is 
a  mill-wright,  and  one  who  stands  at  the  head  of  his  profession.  After  he 
was  38  he  gave  up  all  other  kinds  of  mill  construction  and  confined  hini- 
self  to  saw-mills  alone.  The  finest  and  largest  saw-mills  on  the  North  Ameri- 
can continent  he  has  constructed.  From  Canada  to  Louisiana  he  has  built 
monster  plants  for  Jay  Gould  and  other  capitalists.  Twenty-three  of  these 
saw-mills  have  had  a  capacity  of  from  100,000  to  500,000  feet  of  lumber  in 


^be   Greene   jfamili?  217 

10  hours  run.  He  has  taken  out  various  patents  in  his  line  of  work,  and  has 
brought  his  sons  up  to  be  draftsmen  and  niill-wrights,  also. 

At  the  age  of  30  Heorge  married  Hannah  IM.  Coleman,  of  Pompey,  N. 
Y.  She  was  born  in  1S32  and  died  in  1894.  Since  then  he  lives  with  his 
sons  in  Canton,  111.  His  oldest  son,  Frederick  Adell,  died  in  August,  1853, 
at  3  months.  Eva  Anna,  died  in  1864,  aged  9  years,  and  Alfred  J.  died  in 
1881,  at  the  age  of  24.     This  left  but  two  sons. 

WiNFiELD  SciiTT  NiCHOLs',  coninioiilv  Called  Scott,  was  born  April  2g,  i36i.  He  has 
charge  of  the  construction  work  of  a  large  manufactory  of  Canton.  lil.  liec.  27,  iSSS,  he 
m.  Anna  Beck.  They  have  Bessie,  b.  Oct.  5,  1889.  George  IJeck,  b.  Feb.  10,  1892,  and 
Elmer  Leroy,  b.  Aug.  31,  1897. 

Frederick  Richmond  Nichols',  b.  June  14,  1S63.  lie  is  the  Superintendent  of 
Machinery  in  a  Canton,  111.,  plow  manufactory  that  employs  1200  workmen.  Sept.  23,  1SS5, 
he  m.  Mary  H.  Manviile.  They  have  Eva  Mary,  b.  July  17,  1SS6,  Harry  Manville,  b. 
March  13.  188S.  Margaret  C,  b.  Oct  20,  1890,  and  Helen  Je-inette,  b.  Oct.  26,  1S92. 

HENRY  NICHOLS^  [  Rich.',  Nancy'',  Deborah  Green-King^  etc.,  ] 
born  Aug.  31,  1824.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  Sharon  Center,  Ohio, 
when  a  young  man,  and  has  lived  there  ever  since.  Henry  has  the  family 
records.  As  his  older  brother,  George,  has  always  been  away  from  the  rest 
of  the  family  since  he  was  grown,  Henry  is  looked  up  to  as  the  head  of  the 

Ohio  Nicholses.     He  is  a  farmer.     His  wife  was  Huldah . 

Edwin  O.  Nichols',  b.  May  3,  1856.     Married  (i)  to  Catherine  E.  Long,  in  1876.     M. 
(2)  to  Eva  A.  Helmer  in  18S6.      His  son  and  daughter  are  by  his  first  wife. 

Myrtle  L.  Nichols-Wilkinson'",  b.  Jan.  iS.  1878  ;  m.  1896  to  Edwin  E.  Wilkinson. 
They  have  Lloyd  C.  b.  June  S.  1897,  and  May  Lavonn,  b.  July  5,  igoi. 
Bernard  Nichols'",  b.  Sept.  7,  1879. 
Edith  Nichols-Gray",  wife  of  James  Gray.    Her  children  are  Henry,  who  died  at  less 
than  a  year,  George  Delno,  Lloyd  William,  and  Richmond  Henry. 

Georce  Nichols'.  Married  Nettie  Buckley.  She  is  the  third  or  fourth  generation 
from  a  Revolutionary  War  veteran,  Benjamin  Bentley,  a  pioneer  settler  who  died  at  Sharon, 
O.,  in  iSiS.  He  was  the  great  grandson  of  William  Bentley,  who  was  counted  a  leading 
citizen  of  (Jnidnessett  in  the  early  days,  .\s  such,  along  with  old  John  Greene  and  39 
other  prominent  men  of  the  Narragansett  country,  he  signed  in  1679  a  petition  to  the  King 
begging  him  to  put  a  stop  to  Connecticut's  claims,  which  invalidated  the  title  to  their  land. 
Narragansett  Wm.  Bentley  was  the  grandson  of  a  William  who  came  to  the  colonies  about 
1635. 

PERRY  NICHOLS",  b.  Aug.  8,  1825.     Died  not  far  from   1900.     His 

wife  was  Melvina .     He  was  a  life-long  hotel  keeper.     The  more 

of  hustle,  coming  and  going  about  him,  the  happier  he  was.  He  knew  how 
to  be  in  sixteen  places  at  once,  how  to  manage  a  waiter's  strike,  or  to  care 
for  a  train-load  of  excursionists  at  two  hours'  notice.  Nichols  Junction,  AIo., 
was  named  in  his  honor  by  the  Frisco  R.  R.  Co. 

Fra.sk  Nichols".     His  wife  is  Emma  .  He  is  proprietor  of  the  Nichols   House, 

Norwalk,  Ohio.      They  have  a  daughter.  Geneva  B. 

Kate  Nichols-Cunningham"'     She  lives  in  New  London,  C,  and  has  several  children. 

AMY  ROSETTE  NICHOLS^  d.  in  1838,  aged  11. 

LEANDER  NICHOLS^  b.  May  i4-.'  1829.     He  married  Eliza  L.  Mar- 


^be   (5reene   family 


tin,  Feb.  9,  1854.  She  was  the  daughter  of  James  and  Ruamy  Martin, 
Friends  or  Quakers  who  came  from  X.  Y.  to  Ruggles,  O.  Leander  Nichols 
is  in  comfortable  circumstances.  His  wife  was  an  expert  amateur  gardener 
and  kept  their  home  literally  embowered  in  flowers.  He  has  been  a  widower 
many  years. 

Elmer  Nichols^,  b.  Nov.  14,  1S54.  He  was  married  Nov.  i6,  1S-5,  to  Eval.vn 
Woolley.     They  have  but  oue  daughter,  Lena  D.,  born  Nov.  15.  1S7S. 

ANN  NICHOLS-BATTERSON*,  b.  Jan.  19,  1832.  She  was  married 
to  Simeon  Batterson,  Dec.  15,  1852.  They  live  at  Wanda,  O.  Mrs.  Batter- 
son  has  furnished  me  considerable  data  for  this  work. 

Amy  B.\TrERSOn-R()OD».  b.  March  25,  1S54,  and  m.  Feb.  25,  1S92,  to  Warren  Rood  of 
Medina,  O.      They  have  a  daughter  Agnes,  born  May  10,  i8gS. 

Herm.xn  B.iTTERSOx",  b.  Oct.  3,  1857,  and  m.  Jan.  25,  1S87.  His  children  are  Eurdette, 
b.  Jan.  8.  iSSS,  and  Carrie,  b.  Dec.  27,  1S92. 

ALBERT  NICHOLS',  b.  Sept.  4,  1833.  He  was  married  Oct.  10,  1857, 
to  Jane  Gano,  who  was  the  mother  of  his  children.  He  married  his  present 
wife,  who  was  Mrs.  Phebe  Newton,  July  18,  1901.  Albert  enlisted  in  the 
Civil  War  in  Feb.  1864.  He  draws  a  total  disability  pension,  as  he  sacrificed 
two  good  eyes  for  his  country.  He  is  almost  entirely  blind.  He  lives  in 
Beaton  Harbor,  Mich.     The  list  of  grandchildren  was  not  furnished  me. 

WiLMER  Nichols",  lives  at  Bangor,  Mich. 

Grace  Nichols-Newton',  She  «as  her  father's  housekeeper  for  some  years.  She  mar- 
ried her  step-mother's  son,  and  lives  in  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Leah  Nichols-Shkrman'.     Wife  of  R.  O.  Sherman,  Chicago. 
Florence  Nichols-Johns'.     Lives  in  Genoa,  Te.xas. 
LuTA  Nichols',  died  Nov.  30.  1874. 

DANIEL  NICHOLS-,  b.  Ang.  8,  1835.  Daniel  served  three  years  in  the 
103d  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  during  the  Civil  War.  He  m.  in  1880,  when 
he  was  45,  Julia,  daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Elizabeth  Gaver-Cramer.  She 
was  born  and  rai.sed  in  Frederick  Co.,  Maryland.  Their  only  child  died  at 
birth.  Since  1895  they  have  had  their  orphan  niece,  Minnie,  daughter  of 
John  Nichols,  deceased.     He  lives  at  Chagrin  Falls,  Ohio. 

LOUISE  ROSINA  NICHOLS-FOSTER^  b.  April  25,  1837.  Louise 
was  housekeeper  for  many  years  for  her  bachelor  uncle,  John  Nichols.  She 
m.  William  Foster,  Nov.  30,  1870.  Her  husband's  death  and  financial  re- 
verses came  together,  in  1890.  Louise  at  53,  wasted  no  time  in  putting  up 
a  "poor  mouth,"  but  began  to  support  herself  as  a  housekeeper.  As  she  ex- 
presses it,  she  "  never  borrows  as  long  as  she  can  buy,  and  always  keeps 
enough  money  on  hand  to  pay  a  doctor's  bill,  and  buy  the  coflfin  she  will 
need  by  and  by." 

CLARA  A.  NICHOLS-IRVIN*,  b.  April  20,  1839;  d.  July  19,  1897. 
She  was  left  a  widow  with  two  daughters,  only  one  of  whom  is  living. 

Ella  Irvin',  b,  Nov.  Ii,  1862  ;  d.  Sept.  16,  18S1. 

Ida  JL  Irvin-Sieffen',  b.  Feb.  2g,  i860  ;  m.  Jan.  17,  1S78.  She  lives  in  Hinckley, 
Ohio.     Her  children  are  Clara,  b.  July  I,  1879,  Alta,  b.  Jan.  24,  1881,  Harry  J.,   b.   Dec. 


Cbe   Greene   jfamil^  219 

1S82,  Kalie,  b.  Sept.  23,  1S84,  Ruby,  b.  Feb.  20,  iSS;,  Ray,  b.  July  II,  iSSg,  Duiiiel  J.,  b. 
Dec.  I,  iSgi.  and  Georgie,  who  died  in  iSg3,  aged  nearly  6. 

WILLIAM  H.  H.  NICHOLS',  (Harrison,)  b.'  Nov.  4,  1841.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  one  of  six  brothers  in  the  service.  He  was  struck 
with  a  shell  at  Antietam,  and  although  he  lived,  he  died  a  few  }-ears  after 
from  the  effects  of  the  wonnd. 

JOHN  NICHOLS*,  b.  Aug.  6,  1844  ;  d.  in  1895.  During  the  Civil  War 
he  was  sent  home  to  die.  He  rallied,  but  was  never  well  again.  He  ni.  in 
1874. 

Charles  Nichols'.     He  served  three  years  in  the  Spanish-American  W.-ir,  iSgS-igoi. 
He  is  now  living  in  Madina  Co.,  O. 

Dee  Nichols".     Lives  in  Medina  Co..  O. 

MiN.MK  Nichols',  b.  June  22,  iSSS.     She  lives  with  her  uncle,  Samuel  Nichols. 

CHARLES  NICHOLS^  b.  May  12,  1848.  He  was  the  youngest  of  the 
six  brothers  who  went  to  the  war.  He  died  from  a  wound  in  the  Civil  War. 
He  was  under  18  years  of  age  at  his  death. 

FRANKLIN  LEROY  NICHOLS',  b.  May  28,  185 1.  When  he  was 
born,  he  had  8  brothers  and  sisters  over  15  years  of  age,  and  one  brother  was 
in  his  30th  year.  Frank  himself  is  No.  14.  He  lives  at  Creston,  Ohio. 
He  has  the  largest  family  in  the  Richmond  Nichols'  third  generation,  having 
Leroy,  Henry,  Clarinda,  Flina,  Grace  and  DeForest. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

DESCENDANTS    OF    HENRY    AND    CYNTHIA    NICHOLS-KING 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  Sir  Alexander,  first  Lord  de  Greene 
de  Boketon,  A.  D.  1202,  and  descent  from  the  Capet  Kings  of  France,  from 
line  beginning  A.  D.  861,  see  Chapter  XL  For  the  lineage  of  both  hiis- 
band  and  wife  from  the  Kings  and  the  La  Valleys,  see  Chapter  XXII.  For 
all  other  lines  of  the  wife's  descent,  including  two  strains  of  John  Greene 
of  Ouidnessett  blood,  also  lineage  from  Capt.  Straight,  Hugh  Parsons, 
Stukeley  Westcott  and  Obediah  Holmes,  together  with  lineage  from  Lascelles, 
Wardwells,  Waites  and  Hills,  see  Chapter  XXXH,  and  Appendix  also. 

Spink  Descent,  on  husband's  side.  ( See  Chapter  XXII.)  Robert 
Spink',  an  early  Ouidnessett  settler;  Capt.  Ishmael  Spink"  and  wife  Deliver- 
ance Hall  ;  Benjamin  Spink"'  and  wife  Jane  ;  Deliverance  Spink^,  who  married 
John  King,  grandfather  to  Henry  King. 

Albro  Descent,  on  husband's  side.  "  Quaker  John  Alburro',''  or  Al- 
borough,  now  pronounced  Albro.  He  died  at  the  Quaker  settlement  of 
Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  Dec.  17,  171 2,  aged  96.  Hon.  John",  Assistant  President 
of  Providence  Plantations,  the  earliest  name  of  R.  I.  His  wife  was  Mary- 
Stokes  ;  John^,  and  Abigail  Belloo ;  John^  and  Lydia  Spencer ;  Job'^  and  De- 
borah Andrews,  who  was  probably  of  those  Andrews  (see  chapter  XVIII) 
who  were  of  double  Quidnessett  Greene  descent ;  Eunice®,  who  married  Job 
King,  and  Henry^,  their  son. 


Cynthia  Nichols'' was  born  March  4,  1796,  and  died  after  1870.  She 
was  married  Jan.  5,  181 5,  to  hei  second  cousin,  Henry  King,  and  thus  their 
marriage  gave  three  strains  of  both  King  and  La  Valley  blood  to  their 
children.  Henry  was  descended  from  John,  son  of  Magdalen  and  Marie  La 
Valley-King,  Cynthia,  on  her  mother's  side,  came  from  Samuel,  John's 
brother,  and  on  her  father's  side  from  Susan,  their  sister.  Cynthia's  child- 
ren inherited  from  her  two  strains  of  Quidnessett  Greene  blood,  one  line 
coming  from  Lieut.  James  Greene",  and  the  other  from  his  brother,  Lieut. 
John  Greene-.     Their  father,   moreover,   was  almost  certainly   through  his 


Cbe   Greene   JTamili? 


grandmother,  Deborah  Andrews-Albro,  descended  twice  over  from  Lieut. 
John  Greene". 

Henry  and  Cynthia  King's  children  therefore  had  the  most  crossed  and 
most  related  blood  of  an}-  of  David  and  Nancy  Nichols''  grandchildren.  In 
the  family  it  was  always  understood  that  they  partook  largely  of  the  Albro 
temperament,  having  their  independence  and  their  unyielding  will.  The 
oldern  Kings  had  a  thrifty  side.  The  triple  infusion  of  their  blood  has  made 
this  entire  family  money  makers.  Like  their  three-times-over  first  American 
ancestress,  Marie  La  Valley,  they  have  been  tremendous  workers.  The  La 
Valley  reserve  is  also  marked.  Many  of  this  line  prefer  the  barest  mention 
of  tlieir  individual  families,  holding  that  their  details  are  not  for  outside  eyes. 
From  the  Nichols  side  not  a  few  have  taken  a  passionate  love  of  music. 

Forty  years  ago  Job  King,  a  brother  of  Henry,  summed  up  his  family's 
characteristics  in  these  words :  "  They  are  long-lived,  hardy,  industrious,  very 
fond  of  sports,  hunting  and  fishing ;  all  ver^-  tenacious  of  what  they  believe 
to  be  their  just  and  honest  rights,  and  would  willingly  sacrifice  time  and 
money  to  defend  the  same,  when  attacked  by  an  eneni}-.  To  friends,  they 
are  more  than  a  common  friend  ;  to  an  enemy,  they  are  equally  noted  as  un- 
yielding and  unconquerable,  not  much  given  to  compromise." 

Of  the  heads  of  this  line  this  may  be  said : 

Henry  King  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  May  ii,  1794.  He 
died  March  25,  1865.  His  wife  was  born  at  Pompe)-,  N.  Y.,  March  4,  1796. 
In  the  War  of  1812,  Henry  King  served  in  the  army  along  with  Cynthia's 
brothers,  John  and  Henry.  His  intimacy  with  the  brothers  ended  in  an 
attachment  to  the  sister,  whom  he  married  Jan.  5th,  181 5.  Their  large  fam- 
il}-  were  all  born  in  N.  Y.  Most  of  their  relatives  having  moved  to  Indiana 
or  Ohio,  their  clannish  feeling  led  them  to  follow  them.  In  1839  they  moved 
to  Huron  County,  Ohio,  where  the  rest  of  their  lives  were  spent.  Here  Cap- 
tain King,  as  he  was  called,  purchased  several  hundred  acres  of  land.  A 
settlement  grew  up,  called  at  first  King's  Corners.  When  it  put  on  village  and 
young  city  airs  it  changed  its  name  to  New  London.  Energetic  from  the 
crown  of  his  head  to  the  sole  of  his  foot,  Henry  King  set  various  enter- 
prises into  motion  and  kept  them  there.  Under  his  direction  a  large  part 
of  the  first  railroad  was  built  that  passed  through  northern  Ohio.  He  built 
the  first  church  in  New  London,  according  to  the  recollection  of  his  children, 
paying  for  it  out  of  his  own  pocket.  At  the  time  of  his  death  his  home 
paper  said  of  him,  "  The  poor  man,  provided  he  was  industrious, 
was  certain  of  finding  in  him  a  most  excellent  friend.  The  lazy  always 
found  themselves  held  in  abhorence." 

Mrs.  Ascher,  their  youngest  child,  pays  this  feeling  tribute  to  her 
parents :  "  My  father  was  a  man  respected  by  all  with  whom  he  came  into 


Zbc   (5reene   jfamil^ 


contact.  He  was  foremost  in  every  enterprise.  My  mother  was  methodical 
and  self-controlled.  She  was  fond  of  reading  in  a  time  when  books  were 
few  and  difficult  to  obtain.  I  remember  her  as  a  thoughtful  woman  who 
had  an  uncommon  dislike  of  gossip  and  idleness.  She  seems  to  me  to  have 
been  of  the  best  type  of  the  old  fashioned  New  England  woman.  She  was 
perhaps  peculiar.  She  said  and  did  things  that  I  never  knew  any  one  else 
to  say  or  do.  One  of  her  sayings  was  that  all  time  belonged  to  God,  and  she 
must  use  it  to  the  best  advantage.  She  commenced  the  day  with  devotion. 
After  breakfast  she  meditated,  planning  out  the  order  of  the  day,  and 
the  way  it  should  be  done.  After  the  regular  forenoon's  work  was  done  she 
read  her  Bible  and  spent  some  time  in  reflection,  for  she  said  all  reading  and 
no  reflection  was  not  good. 

"  My  brothers  were  industrious  and  intelligent.  They  were  men  of  in- 
tegrity, and  their  word  was  counted  good  anywhere." 

Owing  to  their  dislike  of  publicity,  the  rest  of  the  family  biography  will 
be  rapidly  passed  over.  There  were  lo  children,  7  sons  and  3  daughters, 
viz. :  George,  Vernon,  Charles,  Degoliar,  Henry,  John,  Cynthia,  Job,  Hul- 
dah  and  Sabrina.     Only  one  died  3'oung. 

GEORGE  KINg'«,  b.  Jan.  12,  1S16.  He  died  in  1898,  aged  82.  He 
was  married  first  to  Susan  Williams.  By  this  wife  he  had  6  children, 
Eunice,  who  became  ]\Irs.  Morrill,  and  George,  Henry,  De  Loss,  De  Golier, 
and  De  Witt.      He  married  the  second  time. 

VERNON  KING',  b.  July  10,  1818.  Married  (i)  to  his  cousin,  Polly 
Ann  Bradley.  See  Chapter  XXXVH.  2  children,  only  one  of  whom  lived 
to  marry.  He  was  married  (2)  to  Regina  Powers,  who  had  no  children. 
He  and  his  family  lived  in  ^Michigan.     He  died,  March  29,  1895. 

Homer  W.  King',  b.  Nov.  13,  1S44.     Married  on  his  22d  birthday  to  Ellen  S.  Gates. 
Two  sons. 

Wallace  E.  King'",  b.  April  27,  1S70.  Married  to  Miss  Emily  S.  Granville. 
They  had  Veva  G..  born  Oct.  17,  1S92,  Sabra  Verna,  b.  Jan.  11.  1895,  and  Rachel 
E.,  born  Dec.  19.  i8q6. 

April  15,  1902.  the  father  was  away  for  the  night.  His  second  cousin  Alma,  the 
l8-year  old  daughter  of  Charles  King  (of  De  Goliar,)  came  to  spend  the  night  with 
them.  The  house  took  fire.  Five  year  old  Rachel  alone  escaped,  the  youngest 
occupant  of  the  house.  Her  mother,  her  sisters  Veva  and  Verna,  and  her  cousin 
Alma,  all  perished  in  the  flames.  Two  months  later  .Alma's  father  died  of  grief. 
making  this  fearful  tragedy  to  have  blotted  out  live  human  lives. 

Jay  S.  King'".  Married  Miss  Beckwith.  They  have  twin  sons  born  Jan.  15.  1903. 
Elmer  L.  King'.  Youngest  son  of  Vernon,  B.  .^pril  ig,  1S51  ;  d.  July  13,  1S73, 
aged  22. 

CHARLES  KING^  b.  April  20,  1819.     M.  (i)  Olivia  Merrifield,  Sept. 

4,  1844.     They  had  6  children.     M.  (2)  Myra ,  who  d.  in  1866.    She 

had  4  children.     M.   (3)  Julia ,  who  had  3  children,  and  lastly  m. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Kester .     Of  the  first  wife's  6  children,  Celestine,  Rosa- 


Cbe   Greene   JTamtl^ 


lette,    Charles    W.    and    Charles    U.,    (2)    died    young. 

Makvlite  Kin-g-Milli.man«,  b.  Maicli  6,  1S45.  M.  Kiyant  Milliman,  May  23,  1867, 
They  live  in  Kansas,  and  liave  no  children. 

Urvine  King-IIotchkiss',  b.  Nov.  29.  1851.  M.  Dec.  25,  1S73,  to  Egbert  C.  Hotch- 
kiss.  Their  cliildren  are  Lillie  Elva.  b.  April  II,  1S75,  Xellie  .Margaret,  b.  June  iS, 
1S77,  Daisy  Edith,  b.  April  9,  iSSo,  and  William  Jay,  b.  Dec.  26,   1SS2. 

By  his  second  wife,  Charles  King  had  these  children  : 

Charles  M.  King',  b.  July  6,  1S57.  He  was  the  third  son  to  be  named  Charles. 
Me  married  Alice  A.  Wayman  in  1SS5.  He  lives  in  Oakland,  California.  Their  oldes, 
child.  Myrtle  May,  died  in  1S8S,  aged  15  months.  Their  other  children  are  Mabel  Lavinat 
b.  Jan.  13,  1SS9,  Chauncey  Melrose,  b.  Aug,  21,  1S91,  and  Lucile  Elvira,  b.  Nov.  18, 
1S97. 

Edward  .\Min:KST-KiNG'. 

\V.\i.i.ACE  Lincoln  King',  left  home  in  1S73,  and  all  trace  of  him  lost. 

Cynthia  King-Powers',  b.  March  26,  1S63  ;  m.  at  20  to  William  H.  Powers  of  Ben- 
ton Harbor,  .Michigan.  They  lost  a  four-months  old  baby,  Wallace  Earle,  b.  March  26, 
18S6,  and  a  bright  little  boy  of  5,  Karl  Clyde,  who  died  in  1S96.  Their  only  living  child 
is  Robin  B  ,  b.  Aug.  22,  1S96. 

By  his  third  wife,  Charles  King  was  the  father  of  these  : 

Henkv  Oscar  King',  b.  April  22,    1S73.     Usually  called  Oscar.     He  lives  in  Upper 
Sandusky,  Ohio. 
George  A.  King',  b.  Sept.  9,  1S74. 
.Vnson  DeLoss  King',  b.  in  Nov.  1S76.     He  lives  in  Lorain,  Ohio. 

DEGOUAR  KING^  b.  Jan.  3,  182 1  ;  d.  April,  1896.  His  daughter, 
Mrs.  Piper,  gives  these  incidents  of  him  :  "  At  18  his  famih-  moved  from  Jef- 
ferson Co.,  N.  Y.,  to  New  London,  Ohio.  He  was  homesick  for  the  old  home. 
One  night  he  slipped  out  of  the  house  and  started  back  on  foot,  all  his  belong- 
ings tied  up  in  a  red  handkerchief,  and  an  old-fashioned  sixpence  piece  in 
his  pocket.  He  reached  his  destination  and  the  sixpence  was  yet  in  his 
pocket !  After  some  years  he  returned  to  Ohio.  At  29,  he  married  Mary  Earl. 
He  used  to  joke  about  it,  saying  his  children  were  surely  well  born,  as  they 
came  from  an  Earl  on  one  side,  and  a  King  on  the  other.  After  this  wife's 
death,  he  married  in  1855  his  brother  Henry's  widow,  who  was  also  a  sister 
to  his  first  wife.     By  Almira  Earl-King-King  he  had  another  family." 

Soon  after  1855  Degoliar  moved  to  Michigan,  where  in  Benton  Harbor, 
he  died,  in  April,  1896.  His  wife  died  about  13  years  before.  He  was  post- 
master at  Sodus,  Michigan,  for  some  years.  He  was  a  just  man,  whose 
motto  was  "truth  and  honesty."  His  daughter  says  he  had  one  of  the 
sweetest,  strongest  voices  she  ever  heard  ;  he  could  be  heard  singing  a  mile 
away. 

By  his  first  wife  Degoliar  had  four  children,  two  of  whom   died  in   in- 
fancy.    The  other  two  were  these  : 
John  King'. 
•iMELiNE  King-Piper'.     Married  to  Dr.  Piper  of  Turtle  Lake,  Mich. 

By  the  second  wife,  there  were  several  children,  some  of  whom  died 
young. 


224  ^be    (Breene    family 


Charles  King',  b.  Jan.  7,  1857.      He  married  Mary  Carmony,   March   12,  iSSi.       His 
second  child,  Alma,  a  girl  of  iS,  was  burned  todeath,  April  15,  1902.     See  under  lieading of 
Vernon  King,  this  chapter.     Charles  grieved  himself  to   death  over  the  awful  catastrophe, 
dying  June  13,  1902,  less  than  two  months  after. 
Claude  King^",  b.  Feb.  16,  1S83. 
Alma  Kingi",  b.  Sept.  1SS4.     Burned  to  death  at  iS. 
Emeline  King'",  b.  Nov.   17,   1886. 
Earl  King'",  b.  Jan.  g,  1895. 
Fern  King'",  b.  June  20,  1S99. 
An,\bei.i.e  Kixg-Burdick".     Died  about  1S87,  leaving  three  children.  Myrtle,  Roy  and 
Hattie. 

LiBBli;  King-CijNKEy",  of  Benton  Harbor,  Michigan. 

Chaun'Cf.v  Degc.ii.iar  King',  b.  May  12,  1S72.     Married  Ida  Megbon,  in  Jan.   1897, 
Their  children  are  Lizzie,  b.  Aug.  2,  1898,  and  Mildred,  born  Jan.  27,  1902. 

HENRY  KING',  b.  August  29,  1822.  He  married  Almira  Earl.  He 
died  at  about  30.  His  widow  married  his  brother  Degoliar.  His  children 
were  Laura,  who  became  MrS.  Cook,  and  Delila,  who  died  young. 

JOHN  KING^  b.  Aug.  27,  1824.  He  .spent  his  life  at  New  London,  Ohio. 
B}-  his  first  wife,  who  was  a  j\Iiss  Case,  he  had  a  son  John,  who  was  brought 
up  by  his  mother's  people  and  took  the  name  of  Case.  The  second  wife  was 
Ann,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  Vernon,  now  living  at  New  London. 

CYNTHIA  KING-AKEWRIGHT\  b.  April  19, 1826.  Married  to  Mr. 
Akewright.     They  lived  in  Michigan. 

WiNEiELD  Akewright",  of  Sodus,  Mich. 

HiNRY  Akewright'. 

Cei.estine  Akewright'-Omw.\g.      Living  at  Sodus. 

JOB  KING",  b.  ]\Iarch  29,  1S28.     Died  in  Tilichigan. 
Chauncev  Kini;'. 
BEkr  King'. 

HULDAH  KING',  b.  Dec.  i,  1830.     Died  young. 

SABRINA  KING-ASCHER\  b.  .Vug.  17,  1835^  She  is  the  youngest 
of  this  family,  a  bright,  alert  and  quick-brained  woman.  At  about  17  she 
married  Herman  Ascher,  who  was  born  of  Jewish  parents  in  Konigsburg, 
Prussia.  He  was  the  son  of  a  brave  old  Prussian  soldier,  who  was  decor- 
ated for  conspicuous  bravery.  The  Jew  has  an  inborn  love  of  music.  Its 
strains,  weird,  sad,  sweet  and  strong,  voice  to  him  his  race's  heaped  up  sorrow 
of  the  ages.  Herman  Ascher  had  this  passionate  love  of  melody, 
and  passed  it  on  to  his  children  after  him.  Though  he  came  to  America, 
and  married  here,  our  land  was  never  home  to  him.  Finally  he  shook  its 
dust  from  off  his  feet,  and  went  to  the  far  Orient.  For  many  years  he  was 
in  India,  and  is  said  to  have  accumulated  a  large  estate  there.  He  was  on 
his  way  back  to  his  family  in  America,  and  had  reached  France,  when  he 
sickened  and  died  there.  Some  of  his  .sons  have  travelled  into  strange  and 
distant  lands  also,  but  all  are  now  living  in  the  Lake  states. 

Cecelia  AsciiER-CASiAD.v',  b.  March  4,  1S53.     Wife  of  Dr.  Cassada,  and  mother  of 
eight  children. 


^bc   (Brcene   family 


=25 


Soi'HlA  Ascher',  b.  iS55;d.  1S7S,  aged  23. 

Edward  K.  Aschkk',  b.  Marcli  17.  1857.  He  married  Martha  McCook  Rowley. 
They  have  Frances,  Herman,  Margaret  and  James. 

Otto  K.  Ascher',  b.  July  3,  1863.  He  married  Mary  Stiles,  and  has  Harry,  Mary 
and  Philip. 

Louis  K.  Asciier",  b.  March  i,  1S65.  He  married  Alice  Bailey,  and  has  one  son, 
Norman. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

DESCENDANTS   OF   MIRANDA   NICHOLS-BARNES' 

Family  Trees.  A  general  suniming  up  of  all  lines  is  given  in 
Chapter  XXXII.  For  descent  from  the  First  Lord  de  Greene  de  Boke- 
ton,  A.  D.  1202,  and  descent  from  Robert  the  Strong,  Duke  of  France,  A. 
D.  86i,  See  Chapter  XL  For  full  particulars  of  lineage  from  John  Greene 
of  Ouidnessett  through  his  son,  Lieut.  John,  see  Chapter  XV ;  through  his 
son,  Lieut.  James,  see  Chapter  XX  ;  all  other  lines,  Nichols,  King,  La  Valley, 
Straight,  Westcott,  Hill,  Wardwell,  etc.,  are  in  the  first  mentioned  Chapter 
XXXIL 


Miranda  Barnes  was  born  Dec.  i6,  1799,  among  the  Berkshire  Mount- 
ains of  ]\Iassachusetts.  She  was  brought  up  in  Pompey,  N.  Y.  She  died 
in  Wolcottville,  Indiana,  Jan.  7,  1852.  She  was  married  on  her  18th  birth- 
day to  Samuel  Barnes  of  Mass.  descent.  He  was  lineally  descended  from 
John  Barnes,  who  came  to  Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  1631.  This  John  Barnes' 
immediate  descendants  intermarried  with  the  Mayflower  faniiles  of  Gov.  John 
Carver,  Richard  Warren  and  Gov.  William  Bradford.  Sanniel's  grand- 
father served  in  the  French  and  Indian  War.  His  father,  Hartwell  Barnes, 
served  almost  seven  years  in  the  Revolutionary  War  under  Gen.  Putnam. 
His  mother  was  Hannah  Clark,  who  descended  from  Peter  Wolcott,  emi- 
grant in  1630.  She  was  the  granddaughter  of  Governor  Roger  Wolcott  of 
Connecticut,  and  neice  of  Oliver  Wolcott,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence. 

Samuel  Barnes  was  a  true  son  of  the  Puritans.  His  character  was  as 
rugged,  .strong  and  enduring  as  the  granite  hills  amid  which  he  was  born. 
He  was  unflinching  in  his  convictions  and  called  a  spade  a  spade.  Like  a 
chestnut  burr,  beneath  his  brusque  exterior  was  a  heart  of  worth.  The 
Baptist  Church  at  Wolcottville,  Ind.,  of  which  he  was  a  charter  member, 
erected  a  beautiful  memorial  window  in  his  honor.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  1812.     He  outlived  his  wife  22  years,  dying  April  6,  1874. 

The  Barnes  remained  in  N.  Y.  nearly  twenty  years  after  their  marriage. 

226 


^e   (Brccne   jfamili? 


227 


Tlien  with  10  children  they  moved  to  Indiana,  at  tliat  time  a  new  conntrv. 
The  rest  of  their  life  was  spent  in  Wolcottville,  Indiana.  Mrs.  Barnes  died 
Jan.  7,  1852.  She  was  a  woman  of  fine  mental  powers  and  tireless  energy. 
She  not  only  cared  for  her  14  children,  but  found  time,  in  this  pioneer 
region  where  at  first  there  were  no  doctors,  to  compound  herbs  and  home 
remedies,  in  which  she  had  great  skill.  She  would  never  take  a  penny  for 
her  services.  Their  children  were  Nancy,  Orville,  Harriet,  Samuel  King, 
Mariam,  Riley  (i),  Riley  (2),  Nelson,  John,  David  Hartwell,  Antionette, 
Richmond,  and  the  twins,  Theodore  and  Theodosia.  Rilev  (i)  died  in 
1828,  aged  I  year.     Theodore  died  in  1843,  9.ged  3  weeks. 

NANCY  A.  BARNES-EMERSON^  b.  Aug.  14,  i8i8;d.  March  22, 
1879.  She  lived  up  to  the  family  tradition  that  a  strenuous  life  awaited 
each  Nancy.  The  oldest  of  a  great  family,  when  other  children  of  her  age 
were  making  mud  pies,  she  was  cooking  the  family  meals,  and  standing  on 
a  chair  to  wash  dishes.  Twice  she  was  a  pioneer  in  a  new  country.  At  16 
she  was  a  teacher.  ]\Iay  3,  1840,  she  married  Alba  Emerson,  and  became 
the  mother  of  1 2  children.  Alba  Emerson  was  a  scion  of  the  New  England 
family  to  which  the  poet-philosopher,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  belonged. 
He  had  the  Emersonian  ways  of  thought,  and  the  Emersonian  way  of  ex- 
pressing them.  This  is  reflected  in  his  children  who  have  much  the  same 
turn,  and  are  also  mostly  Emersons  in  looks,  being  of  slender  build  and  of 
fairest  blonde  type. 

Eight  of  their  children  live  in  Michigan,  one  in  Minnesota,  and  one  in 
Indiana.  All  are  well-to-do,  all  are  ambitious  for  their  children.  None  of 
them  use  tobacco  or  intoxicating  drinks. 

Ji-LIETTE  Emerson'-Siu-man',  b.  May  25.  1S42,  and  m.  Aug.  30.  1S60,  to  William 
Shunian.  Their  home  is  in  Benton  Harbor,  Mich.  I  am  iiiJebted  to  her  for  much  of  this 
data. 

Eva  E.  Shumaii-Shriver'",  b.  Oct.  29,  1S65  ;  m.  Oct.  27.  18S7,  to  Charles  Shriver. 
They  have  Gladys  V.,  b.  Nov.  iS,  iSSg,  and  Uldene  E.,  b.  .A.ug.  iS,  iSqi. 

Leona  M.  Shuman-Koontz'",  b.  Sept.  I,  1867  ;  m.    to  Georje   Koontz,   Dec.    23, 

iSSg.     Their  only  child,  Lester  Emerson,  died  when  a  few  months  old,  in  1895. 

Theodore  A.  Emerson',  b.  Nov.  29,  1843  ;  m.  Mary  Bower,  .\ug.  25,    1867.     He  was 

a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War.     For  36  years  he  lived  on  a  large  and   well   appointed    farm    at 

Brandon,  Minn.     Here  all  his  children  were  born.      He  removed  to  Wolcottville,    Indiana, 

in  March,   1903. 

Ro.xanna  Emerson-Landa'",  b.  May  25,  i36S.     Married  to  James  Landa  of  Bran- 
don, Minn.     She  died  Oct.  21,  1895.     Her  children  were  Eunice,  b.  April  15,  1S91, 
Myrtle,  b.  Dec.  21,  iSg2,  Clarence,  b.  and  d.  in  1S94,  and  Ralph,  b.  Oct.  21,  1S95. 
Byron  Todd  Emerson'",  b.  Sept.  30,   1S75. 

Lenora  Emerson-Ewing'",  b.  July  28,  1878.  She  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  W.  J. 
Ewin<5.  Winfield,  their  oldest  child,  died  in  iSgg  at  i  month  old.  They  have  a  son 
Everett  Emerson,  b.  March  8,  1903. 

Eva  L.  Emerson-Wold'O,  b.  Feb.  12,  1880;  m.  Carl  Wold  July  4,  igoo.  They 
live  in  Brandon.  Minn.,  and  have  a  daughter,  Blanche,  b.  Sept.  3.  igoi.  Her 
husband  is  a  merchant. 


228  Zbc   (5reene   jfamil^ 

Raymond  Emerson'",  b.  Sept.  26,  iSSi. 
Mary  Edith  Emerson'",   b.  Nov.   14.  1883. 
Nancy  A.  Emerson'",  b.  Sept.  16,  18S7. 
Elsie  Viola  Emerson'",  b.  Jan.  17,  1889. 

Ho.N'.  John  O.  Emerso.n',  b.  March  6,  1845.  has  spent  most  of  his  life  in  Minnesota. 
He  married  Addle  McKibben,  a  sister  to  John  C.  Nichols'  wife.  Something  of  her  line  is 
given  in  Chapter  XXXIX.  His  wife  frankly  says  of  Hon.  John.  "I  am  proud  of  him, 
not  because  of  his  wealth,  or  his  legislative  record,  but  because  his  word  is  as  good  as  a  first 
mortgage  on  a  gold  bond." 

MiR.^NDA  M.  Emerson-Shimer',  b.  Oct.  26,  1846;  m.  Isaac  Shinier,  Oct.  6,  1S69.  She 
d.  April  16,  1891.  Of  her  a  sister  says,  "Few  enjoyed  a  profitable  argument  better  than 
she  ;  few  as  enthusiastically  studied  the  problems  of  human  life  or  of  our  social  sj'stem. 
She  believed  in  making  the  world  better."     She  left  one  son,  Harry,  b.  Dec.  13,  1870, 

Clark  S.  Emerson',  b.  Sept.  6,  1848.  M,  Margaiet  McCray,  April  27,  1S76.  '1  hey  live 
near  Benton  Harbor,  Mich.,  on  the  old  home  place.  He  has  two  sons,  Aden  McCray,  b. 
Aug.  25,  1S78,  and  Ralph  Waldo,  b.  April  8,  18S0.  Aden  took  the  highest  honors  at  his 
graduation. 

Harriet  A.  Emicrson-Rosa',  b.  April  23,  1S50.  M.  to  Abraham  Rosa,  Oct.  16,  1869. 
They  have  Alba,  b.  Sept.  4,  1870,  and  John,  b.  March  21,  1875.  Their  home  in  Benton 
Harbor,  Mich. 

Lydia  L.  Emerson-McCray',  b.  Feb.  14,  1S52  ;  m.  to  George  McCray  of  Benton 
Harbor,  July  3,  1S79.      No  children. 

Polly  A.  Emerson-Mills',  b.  Jan.  28,  1S54  ;  m.  Feb.,  1S72,  to  George  A.  Mills  of 
Benton  Harbor.     They  have  no  children. 

Myron  Emerson',  b.  Sept. 15,  i860;  m.  July  5,  18S1  ,  to  May  D.  Finch.  Their  first 
children  were  twins,  Ruth  and  Rae,  b.  March  I,  1SS5.  Ruth  died  at  6  months.  Their 
other  children  are  Archie  Lyle,  b.  July  29,  1888,  Amy  Elizabeth,  b.  Sept.  5,  1S90,  and 
Kathyrn,  b.  Jan,  24,  1898.     This  family  live  at  Benton  Harbor. 

Bertia  a.  Emlrson-Noe-Mollhagan',  b.  Sept.  15,  1863.  She  was  m.  (i)  to  William 
Noe,  April  2,  1882.  M.  {2)  to  John  Mollhagan,  Sept.  18,  1894,  By  this  last  marriage  she 
has  one  son,  Lloyd  Emerson,  b.  April  4,  i8u6.  She  lost  a  daughter,  Doris  Mollhagan,  at 
birth.  Sept.  27.  1901.     She  lives  in  St.  Joe,  Mich. 

ORVILLE  S.  BARNES^  b.  Aug.  21,  1819;  d.  Oct.  29,  1889.  He 
was  m.  Oct  i.  1845,  to  Amanda  Culver,  who  d.  in  1892.  They  had  12 
children.  Lewis  Irvine,  Henry  Harrison,  and  the  twins  Susan  and  Sarah,  all 
died  in  infancy.     The  others  are  these  : 

Christopher  Columbus  Barnes',  b.  Nov.  i6,  1846;  m.  Sarah  Stevenson,  April  27, 
1873.     Their  children  are  Grace,  b.  March  29,  1874,  and  Ida.  b.  Sept.  17,   1877. 

William  Ira  Barnes',  b.  March  11.  1849.  He  married  his  cousin,  Emma  J.  Culver,  Oct. 
5,1874.  They  have  Alice  A.,  b.  April  6,  1875,  Mabel  M.,  b.,  Sept.  23,  1877,  Francis 
Marion,  b.  Aug.  15,  iSSj,  Elsie  M.,  b.  March  28,  1S84,  Beulah  H.,  b.  May  18,  18S5. 
andCalcie  C,  b.  May  19,  1889.  Of  this  family  one  has  said,  "  William  and  Emma  have 
raised  as  fine  a  family  as  I  ever  knew." 

Samuel  C.  Barnes',  b.  Sept.  11,  1850.  M.  Elizabeth  Bull.  She  died  1891  They 
had  William  Irvine,  b.  April  14,  1875,  James  H.,  b.  Oct.  21,  1S76,  Charles  W,  b. 
Sept  2,  1878,  Albert  C,  b.  July  8,  1880,  and  Francis  M..  b.  Dec.  26,   1882. 

Lydi.\  Antio.nette  Barne.s-Nelson',  b.  Oct.  24.  1S55  ;  m.  John  Nelson.  11  children, 
of  whom  4  died  in  infancy.  Those  who  lived  are  Archie  A..  Amanda  E.,  b.  Sept.  25, 
1881,  Sarah,  b.  June  3,  1883,  Edith  E.,  b.  July  12,  1885,  Merdie  M.,  b.  Dec.  24,  1887, 
Chester,  b,  Jan.  8,  1891,  and  Lester  E..  b.  March  10,  1895. 

John  Riley  Barnes',  b.  Aug.  iS,  1859  ;  d.  Dec.  13,  1898  ;  m.  Amanda  Butts.  No 
children. 


MRS.    GERTIE    BARNES-PALJIER 


^be   (Breene   jFamil^  229 

Margaret  Barnes-Pierce'.   A  twin.  B.  May  24,  1864 .  M.  Monroe  Pierce.  6  children. 

La  Fayette  Barnes'.     Margaret's  twin.     He  ni.  Flora  Ripley. 

Flora  Belle  Barnes-Merritt',  b.  March  i,  1870.  M.  to  Albert  Merritt.  Nochildren. 

HARRIET  LA  VALLEY  BARNES-McNALL'.  M.  Hiram  McNall, 
of  :\Iich.  She  left  Celestia  'M,  b.  June  4,  1848,  Harriet  F.,  b.  June 
7,  1849,  ^^^  Myron  Irvine,  b.  Sept.  5,  1850.     They  live  in  Michigan. 

SAMUEL  KING  BARNES',  b.  Oct.  6,  1823;  d.  Oct.  20,  1891.  He 
married  Eliza  Johnson,  Oct.  i,  1848.  She  was  born  April  8,  1827,  i^^  Gosh- 
en, N.  Y.,  and  died  ]\Iarch  13,  1897. 

How  plainly  King  Barnes'  good-natured  face  comes  to  memory  !  His 
stubby  grey  hair  that  ivoitld  stand  straight  up,  and  that  genial  voice  that 
related  his  exhaustless  fund  of  good  stories !  King  was  warm-hearted  and 
large-souled,  and  successful  in  all  he  undertook.  It  is  a  peculiar  coinci- 
dence that  he  was  born,  married  and  died  in  October,  and  that  he  and  all 
of  his  children  were  married  by  the  same  minister,  Rev.  F.  P.  Hall.  They 
lived  for  a  time  in  Indiana,  other  years  in  Iowa,  and  their  later  life  in 
Huron  County,  Ohio.  Both  of  them,  by  their  own  request,  are  buried  in 
Iowa,  by  the  side  of  their  daughter  Lottie,  in  beautiful  Oakland  Cemetery. 
They  had  but  one  son,  who  died  Aug.  2,  1851,  aged  a  little  over  2  years. 

Laura  Josephine  Barnes-Evans',  b.  Sept.  21,  1.852;  d.  April  10,  1S84,  aged  nearly  32. 
She  was  always  called  Lottie.  She  married  John  C.  F.vans,  Sept.  20,  1877.  They  re- 
moved to  Iowa,  where  he  became  a  leading  man.  He  is  the  founder  of  Evanston,  and  is  a 
grain  buyer  and  capitalist.  They  lost  their  first  child  at  birth,  July  23,  1S78.  Lottie 
left  two  others,  Edith  Mae,  b.  Sept.  16,  18S0,  and  Edna  E.,  b.  Sept.  12,  1S82,  whom  she  re- 
quested should  be  raised  by  her  sister  Mary.  This  sister  has  been  indeed  a  mother  to 
these  children. 

^L\RY  Elizabeth  Barnes-Evans',  b.  Oct.  5,  1S54.  She  married  J.  C.  Evans,  whose 
first  wife  was  her  sister  Lottie,  March  8,  18S5 .  They  have  one  daughter,  Lottie  Josephine, 
b.  Sept.  22.  1888.     The  Evans  have  an  elegant  home  in  Fort  Dodge,   Iowa. 

Gertie  .A..  Barnes-Palmer',  b.  July  i,   i860.     She  was  m.  Oct.  i,    1879,  to  .\bner 
Eugene  Palmer.     The  Palmers  go  back  to  crusading  days.     Their  name  itself  means  palm- 
bearer,  i.  e.,  one  who  having  made  the  journey  to  the  Holy  Land  and  back,  was  entitled  to 
bear  palms  in  procession  upon  Palm  Sunday.     The  first  .\merican  Palmer  was  Walter,   who 
came     to    Massachusetts   in     1629     in     charge,     with     John     (Governor)     Endicott,     of 
si.x  ship-loads  of  colonists.     He  settled  eventually  in  Connecticut.     At  Stonington,   Conn., 
is  a  monument  to  the  three  founders  of  the  town,  one  of   whom   was   this    Walte-    Palmer. 
From  Walter',  came    .\bijah=,    William',    William*,    .\bijah=,    Hiram^,    and     then     .\bner 
Eugene.     Mr.  Palmer  has  been  very  successful  in  all  his  undertakings.     They  live  in  Fort 
Dodge.  Iowa,  where  the  two  sisters,  all  that  is  left  of  their  family,  can  be  near  each  other. 
Their  oldest  child.  King  Barnes,  d.  Sept.  14,  iSSi,  aged  15  months. 
Mabel  Fern  Palmer'",  b.  May  22,  1881. 
Jesse  Wetmore  Palmer'",  b.  Sept.  30,  1883. 
Chester  Ray  Palmer",  b.  April  2g,  1SS5. 

MARIAM  M.  R.\RNES-TERRYl  B.  March  30,  1826.  She  was 
m.  Nov.  15,  1856,  to  Rev.  George  Terry  of  Mich.,  who  left  her  a  widow  in 
1861 .  She  returned  to  Wolcottville,  Indiana,  and  was  her  father's  house- 
keeper.    June  2,  1874,  a  little  over  a  month  after  his  death,  this   dutiful 


23° 


^be   (Breenc   jfamil^ 


daughter  who  had  so  tenderly  cared  for  her  father's  declining  years,  followed 
him  to  her  grave.  Her  son  returned  to  jMichigan.  He  is  a  railroad  man 
and  lives  in  Kalamazoo. 

George  Nelson  Terry',  b.  Aug.  14,  i36o.  His  mother's  death  threw  him  out  to  do 
for  himself  at  14.  He  m.  Cora  IJ.  Golden,  Aug.  31,  1882.  fie  is  the  Foreman  Car  Inspector 
for  a  Michigan  Railway  Co.  George  lost  his  first  son,  Leon  at  5  months  old,  in  Oct.  1SS4. 
He  has  one  son  living,  Roy  William,  born  August  30,  iSgS. 

RILEY  RINALDO  BARNES',  b.  June  i,  1829.  Died  unmarried  Feb. 
I,  1892,  aged  63.  He  had  something  of  a  roving  disposition  in  his  j-ounger 
days  and  spent  the  years  from  1858  to  1862  in  California,  Oregon,  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  when  these  regions  were  considered  quite  outside  of 
civilization.  He  was  a  mill-wright,  and  a  good  one.  He  put  up  many 
mills  in  the  states  that  border  on  Canada.  For  14  )-ears  he  made 
his  home  with  his  nephew,  T.  A.  Emerson,  of  Brandon,  ]\Iinu.  The  last 
ten  years  of  his  life  were  spent  with  his  brother  and  brother's  family,  the 
widow  and  children  of  Hartwell  Barnes  in  Iowa.  He  was  totally  blind  for 
nine  years.  Riley  was  turned  like  his  father,  abrupt  of  speech,  but  kind  of 
heart.  He  was  well  read  and  observant.  He  served  3  years  in  an  Oregon 
company  during  the  Civil  War. 

NELSON  IRVINE  NICHOLS  BARNES^  b.  Nov.  15,  1830,  and  d. 
Nov.  29,  1850,  aged  20.     Unmarried. 

JOHN  O.  M.  BARNES*,  b.  Feb.  25,  1833 ;  d.  Jan.  13,  1862,  aged  29. 
He  was  married  April  12,  1856.  He  left  two  children,  Theodore  Irvine 
and  Harriet.  The  widow  married  again  and  moved  away,  and  all  trace  has 
been  lost  of  these  heirs. 

DAVID  HARTWELL  BARNES',  b.  Aug.  9,  1835  ;  d.  March  7,  1891, 
aged  56.  Hart  Barnes,  as  he  was  commonly  known,  adopted  teaching  as 
his  life  profession.  He  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  Daniel  Webster, 
having  the  same  massive  brow,  square  jaw,  thin-lipped  mouth  and  dark 
complexion.  He  was  a  man  of  intense  energy  and  resolution.  He  was 
married  June  22,  1856,10  Mary  Jane  Strayer,  the  oldest  daughter  of  Michael 
and  Melinda  Nichols-Strayer.  She  was,  and  is,  a  comely  woman,  fair  and 
blue-eyed,  with  rippling,  curly  hair  that  frames  in  a  face  always  illumined 
with  smiles. 

Hartwell  suffered  long  from  asthmatic,  heart  and  nervous  troubles.  He 
taught  for  years,  when  only  sheer  will  power  kept  him  up.  No  man  ever 
had  a  more  devoted  family.  Jane  Barnes  did  man's  and  woman's  work,  in- 
door and  out,  to  spare  him.  When  even  his  iron  will  had  to  yield  to  physical 
weakness,  Emma,  the  oldest  daughter,  began  to  teach  at  a  month  past  14. 
Frances,  the  second  daughter,  commenced  teaching  at  15.  The  children  all 
worked  hard,  but  their  struggle  but  bound  them  the  closer  together.  The 
entire  family  moved  to  Iowa  in  1880.     Here  Hartwell's  health  improved, 


ABXER    EUGENE    PALMER 


^be   (5reene   famili? 


and  he  i^ros^^ered  also. 

There  was  a  romance  connected  with  the  older  daughter's  marriage. 
Her  husband  used  to  say  that  he  fell  in  love  with  her  before  he  ever  saw 
her,  because  she  was  so  good  to  her  parents.  He  proposed  the  second  day 
after  he  met  her,  and  wooed  with  such  earnestness  that  they  were  married 
two  months  and  a  day  from  the  time  they  first  met. 

Emma  J.  Barnes-Sockridek'',  b.  March  II,  1S5S  ;  m.  John  W.  Sockrider,  Feb.  26, 
1879.  ^I''5-  Sockrider  is  now  a  widow,  and  lives  at  Jennings,  Louisiana,  near  the  Gulf,  on 
a  rice  farm. 

Guy  W.  Sockrider'",  born  in  the  summer   of    1880.      M.    Myrtle    Belle    Clark,    of 
Louisiana,  Jan.  16,   1901.     They  have  a  son,  Clyde,  born  in  igo2. 

Norah  Gay  Sockrider-Norton'",  b.  June  30,   1S82.     She    is  the   wife   of   Carl   G. 
Norton,  of  Jennings,  Louisiana.     They  have  one  son,  Ernest,  b.  in  igo2. 
Frances  J.  Barnes-Sells',  b.  June  16.  1S60,  and  ra.  to  B.  W.  Sells  of  Webster,  Iowa, 
Sept.  21,  18S1.     He  belongs  to  a  prominent  family.     They  live  on  an   extensive   farm    four 
miles  from  Webster  City.     Their  only  child  is  Mary  Elma,  b.  Nov.  18,  1S86. 
Charles  Barnes*,  died  Oct.  22.  1S62,  aged  7  weeks. 

WILLL4M  Henry  Barnes',  b.  Jan.  19,  1864,  m.  Alice  Whistler,  Oct.  30,  1S88.  Their 
children  are  David  Hartwell,  b.  March  31.  1890,  Katie  Belle,  b.  Nov.  2,  1S93,  and  Mary 
Jane,  b.  Feb.  18,  1897. 

George  Melvin  Barnes',  b.  Feb.  iS,  1866.     Hem.  Arvena  Traver,    Feb.   24,    1S91. 
They  have  Lula  Jane,  b.  Jan.  20,  1S92,  Benuie  W.,  who  d.  in  1894  aged  9  months.    Helen 
J.,  b.  July  22,  1895,  Leslie  Traver,  who  died  young.  Ada  Leona,  b.    March    7,    1900,   and 
Kittie  Melvena,  b.  Dec.    16,  190). 
John  Michael  Barnes',  b.  April  13,   1S75 
Samuel  King  Barnes",  b.  Aug.  3.  iSSo. 
MIRANDA  ANTIONETTE  BARNES-ELUS\   b.    Dec.    27,   1836. 
Married  William  Ellis,  Aug.  26,  1866.     They  went  to  Nebraska  where  she 
yet  lives.     She  is  a  woman  who  despises  shams,   affectation  or  toadying 
to  wealth  and  title.     She  speaks  of  herself  as  a  "white  haired  old  woman," 
but  she  still   has  the  energy  and  enthusiasm   of  a  girl.     She  is  the   last 
survivor  of  14  children.     Mrs.  Ellis  gives  this  boiled  down  paragraph  as   to 
her  children  : 

"William  R.  is  the  County  Attorney  of  Knox  Co.,  Neb.  He  has  a 
good  wife  and  two  bright  boys.  He  is  a  copy  of  his  uncle  King,  and  succeeds 
in  whatever  he  undertakes.  Hattie  Dennis  lives  in  Iowa  on  a  farm.  She 
has  a  kind  husband  and  four  of  the  brightest  kind  of  children.  John  has 
the  Barnes  penchant  for  the  frontier,  and  has  been  in  Montana  for  several 
years.  Carrie  lives  with  me,  in  Madison,  Neb.  Her  husband  is  a  shoe- 
maker, and  does  a  good  business.     Her  husband  is  Peter  S.  Olin,  a  Swede." 

Anna  >L  Ellis',  d.  at  birth,  Sept.  6.  1S67. 

Willl^m  Riley  Ellis',  b.  Sept.  10,  1869.  M.  Edna  Cooper.  March  2S,  1S94.  They 
have  Leslie,  b.  Jan.  I,  1896,  and  Paul  Cooper,  b.  June  9,   1S97. 

Harriet  Ellis-Dennis',  b.  May  11,  1871.  M.  to  Edgar  Dennis,  Dec.  8,  1889.  They 
have  Millie,  b.  July  6,  1891,  Stella,  b.  July  18,  1892,  Gladys,  b.  Nov.  22,  1893,  and  Lily, 
b.  March  31,  1898. 

John  Samuel  Ellis',  b.  Oct.  28,  1872 


232  ^be   (Brccne   family 

Curtis  \V.  Elms',  a  twin.     He  d.  Aug.  23.  iSyS.  ayed  2  years. 

Carrie  W.  Ellis',  twin  to  Curtis.     Born  June  11.  1S76.     M.  to  Peter  S.  Olin,  April  5, 
iSgg. 
Gertie  A.  Ellis",  b.  Jan.  21,  1S77,  and  d.  July  24,  1879. 

JAMES  RICHMOND  G.  BARNES^  b.  Oct.  26,  1840.  Killed  be- 
fore Petersburg,  Va.,  June  9,  1864.  Unmarried.  Had  Richmond  lived,  he 
would  have  made  his  mark  in  the  world.  He  was  running  over  with  mirth 
and  wit,  had  a  fine  mind,  and  poetical  talent.  His  first  verses]  were  mostly 
clever  squibs  and  parodies.  After  his  effervescence  of  fun  had  worn  off,  he 
would  doubtless  have  settled  down  to  serious  literary  work,  had  he  lived. 

He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War.     A  favorite  army  amusement  of  his 
was  to  improvise  rhyming  letters,  written  as  fast  as   the  pen  could  travel. 
From  a  newspaper  account  of  a  raid,  written  by  him,  I  give  a  single  extract : 
"  The  way  we  scratched  the  gravel 
Was  anything  but  slow  ! 
*  *  *  * 

The  rain  commenced  to  pour, 

And  till  ten  o'clock  that  night 

We  trod  Pamunkey's  shore, 

And  were  on  the  march  next  morning. 

At  the  dawning  of  the  day. " 
Poor  hoy  !     His  war  experiences  were  soon  over. 

At  the  attack  on  Petersburg,  June  9,  1864,  by  a  blunder,  an  impossible 
assault  was  ordered.  Captain  Ringland  says,  "  it  was  a  slaughter  pen."  The 
officer  refused  to  send  men,  but  asked  for  volunteers.  Only  three  men  fol- 
lowed their  lieutenant  to  what  was  certain  death.  "  As  they  came  up  to  the 
rifle  pits,"  says  the  Captain,  "Barnes'  was  the  first  foot  planted  upon  the 
barricade.  He  was  instantly  killed."  Later  the  Federals  captured  this 
outpost,  and  an  officer  and  men  were  at  once  detailed  to  inter  the  brave 
soldier.  His  captain  thus  describes  it.  "  They  dug  his  grave  with  bayonets, 
and  laid  his  body  in  a  shallow  grave.  They  left  it  to  sleep  upon  the  battle- 
field. *  *  *  *  We  all  mourn  the  loss  of  Barnes,  with  his  cool  deter- 
mination and  intrepid  heart.  If  I  am  to  fall  in  defense  of  the  Old  Flag,  I 
do  not  ask  for  a  more  honorable  death  than  his." 

THEODOSIA  ALMYRA  BARNES',  a  twin  to  Theodore  Almyron 
who  d.  at  3  weeks.  She  was  b.  Aug.  10,  1S43,  ^""^  ^-  Oct.  25,  1858,  in  her 
1 6th  year. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII 

DESCENDANTS  OF    MARIAM    NICHOLS-BRADLEy'' 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  Alexander,  first  Lord  de  Greene 
de  Boketon,  A.  D.  1202,  and  descent  from  the  royal  Capet  line,  A.  D.  861, 
see  Chapter  XI.  For  the  old  time  history  of  King  and  L,a  Valley  families, 
see  Chapter  XXII.  For  all  other  lines,  inclnding  two  of  descent  from  John 
Greene  of  Onidnessett,  Straight,  Westcott,  Nichols,  Parsons,  Hill,  Waite, 
Wardwell,  Lascelle,  etc.,  see  Chapter  XXXII. 


Mariam  Nichols',  fonrth  danghter  and  eighth  child  of  David  and  Nancy 
(Anna)  Nichols,  was  born  Jan.  26,  1801,  in  Rhode  Island.  Her  parents 
moved  to  Pompey,  N.  Y.,  when  she  was  but  a  few  months  old.  Here  she 
lived  until  middle  life,  when  she  came  to  New  London,  Ohio,  where  both 
she  and  her  husband  finally  died.     She  died  July  24,   1871. 

One  of  the  playmates  of  her  childhood,  and  her  early  lover,  was  a  boy 
a  few  months  older  than  herself.  He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and 
his  father  had  been  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  This  Josiah  Bradley  was  not 
born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  his  mouth.  He  had  his  own  way  to  make. 
Love,  however,  makes  light  hearts  and  willing  hands,  and  January  3d, 
1820,  the  boy  and  girl  lovers  were  married.  She  was  just  under  nineteen, 
he  a  few  months  under  twenty.  Nearly  a  year  after,  by  a  singular  coin- 
cidence, one  of  the  greatest  joys  and  one  of  the  deepest  sorrows  of  her  life, 
came  to  her  upon  the  same  day.  On  the  22nd.  of  November,  1820,  Darius, 
her  first  born,  was  laid  in  her  glad  arms,  and  on  that  same  da}-,  her  good, 
patient,  loving  mother  died. 

Five  children  were  born  to  them,  all  of  whom  grew  up.  Josiah  and 
Mariam  Bradley  were  an  industrious,  thrifty  couple.  She  was  a  perfect 
type  of  a  quiet,  mind-her-own-business  woman,  as  neat  as  wax,  and  orderly 
in  everything.  In  those  days  people  did  not  expect  a  boy  to  sow  his  wild 
oats  as  a  step  toward  getting  on  in  life,  nor  did  they  expect  a  girl  to  prom- 
enade the  streets  while  her  mother  was  at  home  bending  over  the  wash- 
tub.  So  the  Bradley  sons  were  early  trained  to  work,  and  the  Bradley 
daughters  became  as  skilled  housewives  as  their  mother. 


Zbc   (5rccne   Jfamili? 


We  never  have  heard  the  slightest  whisper  against  Mariam  Bradle}-. 
Her  strong  Christian  faith  and  pains-taking  disposition  were  exemplified  by 
her  last  hours.  She  calmly  specified  all  that  she  wished  to  have  done  after 
her  decease,  and  arranged  the  details  of  her  funeral,  even  to  selecting  the 
minister,  the  text  for  her  memorial  sermon,  and  the  hymns  that  were  to  be 
sung.     Her  husband  survived  her  many  years,  dying  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

DARIUS  BRADLEY'.  Darius  Bradley  is  an  optimist.  He  has 
always  looked  on  the  bright  side,  and  always  will.  He  is  a  hale  old  gentle- 
man, now  several  years  past  eighty,  doing  the  daily  work  of  a  usual  man  of 
fift}',  and  writes  and  talks  as  though  but  in  his  prime.  Such  a  life  points  a 
moral.  The  man  who  keeps  a  young  heart,  who  lives  healthfully  and  con- 
tentedly, and  goes  without  fuss  or  worry  through  the  world,  when  he 
reaches  the  autumn  of  life,  will  find  it  a  mellow  Indian  suirmer  that  retains 
the  flowers  of  summer  and  adds  them  to  the  fruits  of  fall. 

At  twenty-one,  Darius  married  Hannah  IMerrifield.  There  is  a  touch  of 
pathos  in  this  record  that  he  gives. — ''I  lived  with  Hannah  sixty  years  and 
fiftv-eight  days,"  as  though  even  the  days  were  so  precious  that  he  would 
record  them.  Hannah  Bradley  was  indeed  a  good  woman.  The  one  sor- 
row of  their  wedded  life  was  their  childless  home.  There  was  a  bevy  of 
pretty  children  at  David  Bradley's  home,  and  the  older  brother  and  sister 
fin-ally  persuaded  David  and  his  wife  to  allow  them  to  have  Estella,  one  of 
that  family,  as  their  own.  They  gave  her  every  advantage.  She  grew  up 
an  attractive  young  woman,  and  a  fine  musician.  Estella  is  the  wife  of 
George  Morton,  of  Wellington,  Ohio,  and  her  foster  father  makes  his  home 
with  her.  She  is  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  art,  and  until  her  health  failed 
gave  much  time  to  it. 

DAVID  BRADLEY^  David  Bradley  was  born  in  Pompey,  N.  Y., 
May  21,  1823.  He  married  his  brother  Darius'  sister-in-law,  Polly  Merri- 
field.  Their  entire  married  life  was  spent  in  New  London,  Ohio.  David 
was  a  hard-working  man,  a  good  provider,  and  affectionate  in  his 
family.  His  good  wife  did  all  in  her  power  to  make  a  happy  home.  There 
was  a  large  family,  of  which  the  girls  were  particularly  fine  looking.  After 
being  long  unbroken,  the  family's  ranks  were  thinned  fast.  In  seventeen 
months,  four  of  the  family  died.  Ettie,  a  lovely  girl,  was  first.  Then 
the  mother  died.  Louisa,  the  oldest  married  daughter,  a  young  woman  deaily 
loved  by  her  associates,  was  the  next  to  go,  and  after  her,  Luella,  the 
youngest  child.  Isadore  (Mrs.  Barnes),  whose  pretty  ways  and  winsome 
girlhood  we  remember  well,  died  in  1894,  leaving  six  motherless  little  ones. 
Last  of  all  the  father  died  March  26,  1899.  Over  half  the  family  have  now 
passed  away. 

Gertie  Bradley,  after  her  mother's  death,  took  her  place  as  housekeeper 


JLhc   (Breene   jfamil^  235 

and  home-maker  for  her  father.  A  trimmer,  neater,  livelier  little  body  than 
she  no  one  need  ever  expect  to  see.  She  is  a  good  sister  as  well  as  a  good 
daughter.  After  Isadore's  death,  Gertie  brought  home  Georgie ,  the  baby 
boy,  and  tenderly  cared  for  him  until  his  death  in  1901.  She  is  now  living 
in  Wellington,  Ohio,  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Morton. 

The  sous  of  this  family  are  personally  unknown  to  us.  But  they  are 
said  to  be  upright  and  respected  citizens,  with  the  Bradley  trait  of  not  being 
afraid  to  work.  Alfred  Bradley  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War.  He  is  now 
a  Master  car  and  locomotive  painter  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad, 
and  lives  at  Washington,  Indiana. 

Albert  Newlaxd  Bradlky',  b.  Nov.  23,  1S45,  at  New  London,  Ohio.  He  married 
Ella  A,  Gregory,  June  il,  1S67.  His  two  older  children  were  by  her.  He  married  again. 
Nov.  26,  1S70,  to  Ida  Chapman,  and  by  her  has  five  children. 

David  Albert  Bradlev'",  b.  March  30,  186S;  d.  .Sept.  10,  l8go. 
Fred.  Bradley'",  b.  Sept.  18,  1869. 

Maud  May  Bradley-Porter'",  b.  Aug.  7,    1872.      Married  June   18,    1899,   to   W. 
L.  Porter. 

Sadie  Ellis  Bradley'",  b.  July  27,  1874,  at  Pana,  111. 

William  Edward  Bradley'",  b.  Nov.  . 

Nina  Adaline  Bradley'",  b.  Jan.  16.  1S86,  at  Cochran,  Ind. 
Benjamin  Harrison  Bradley'",  b.  Oct.  10,  1888,  at  Cochran,  Ind. 
James  Erskine  Brahi.ey'.     He  is  married,   and  has  a  family.     He  lives  in  Newark, 
N.J. 

Mary  Louisa  Bradley-Mathers".      She  was  married  to  D.   T.    P.   Mathers.     She 
died  June  3.  1878,  leaving  one  son,  John  A. 
Gertrude  H.  Bradley". 

Flora  Estelle  Bradley-Morton".  Married  in  La  Grange,  Indiana,  to  George 
Morton.     No  children. 

IsADORE  Marion  Bradley-Barnes'.  She  was  married  June  14,  1873.  to  G.  \V. 
Barnes.  She  died  in  1894,  leaving  Hugh,  Vera,  Glenn,  May,  Cecil  and  George  W.  The 
latter  died  Jan.  16.  1901,  in  his  eighth  year. 

Charles  Lewis  Bradley".  He  married  Electra  Bruce.  They  have  Viola,  b.  in  Oct. 
1886,  Freemont  and  WiUard. 

Etta  Bradley",  died  April  6,  1S77. 
Luella  Bradley",  died  Sept.  23,  1S7S. 

WARREN  BR  ABLE  Yl  He  was  a  man  well  spoken  of  in  all  relations 
of  life.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War.  He  was  born  in  Sept.,  1826, 
and  died  May  27,  1882,  in  Ohio.     He  married  Ann  Day. 

Ada  Bradley-Call".     She  lives  in  New  London,  O.,  and  has  a  son  Charles, 
Alice  Bradley-Barrett".     She  m.  Ranson  Barrett.     Lives  in  New  London. 
Josiah  Bradley",  m.  Noble.      Lives  in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

POLLY  ANN  (PAULINE)  BRADLEY-SEGUR^  b.  Oct.  15,  1828. 
Polly  Ann,  or  as  her  husband  calls  her,  Pauline,  was  married  when  but 
sixteen,  to  her  cousin,  Vernon  King.  Two  children  were  born  to  them, 
one  of  whom  died  when  a  young  man.  Her  marriage  proved  unhappy, 
and  it  was  dissolved.  Her  second  husband  is  Joseph  Segur.  They  live  in 
a  pretty,  well-kept  home  in  New  London,   Ohio.     Polly  Ann  is  a  capital 


^be   6reene   ifainil^ 


housewife  and  has  enough  French  about  her  to  arrange  everything  in  the 
most  inviting  way.  She  and  her  husband  both  have  the  knack  of  making 
a  visitor  feel  at  home.  It  was  with  this  daughter  that  Josiah  Bradley  lived 
until  his  death.  Her  children's  line  is  given  in  the  Cynthia  King  chapter. 
It  was  her  grandson's  wife  and  two  children  that  were  burned  to  death  in 
1902,  as  described  in  that  chapter.     But  one  of  her  sons  lived  tomarr>'. 

SARAH  ANN  BRADLEY-HEMENWAY**.  B.  May  28,  1834.  Died 
Jan.  26,  1904.  Sarah  Ann  Bradley  was  one  of  those  fortunate  mortals  in 
whose  cup  of  life  the  wine  was  ever  rich  and  sweet.  She  was  married  at 
twenty  to  Charles  Hemenway,  son  of  Daniel  and  Marinda  Hemenway.  He 
was  born  Nov.  24th,  1829,  in  Massachusetts.  Charles  Hemenway  was  a  fine 
man,  a  home-loving  man,  and  what  some  would  regard  even  more,  a  fin- 
ancially successful  man.  He  used  to  be  thrice  busy  with  sawmills,  brick-yards 
and  much  real  estate  to  look  after.  He  died  in  the  summer  of  1903  at  Wel- 
lington, Ohio.  His  wife  was  first  of  all  a  faultless  housekeeper.  But  she  had 
leisure  to  indulge  her  love  of  the  beautiful,  and  her  husband  encouraged  her 
to  do  so.  Nearly  all  who  share  the  Greene  blood  retain  the  characteristic 
Greene  love  of  nature,  of  trees  and  flowers.  Now  and  then  the  old  passion 
breaks  out  in  full  force.  Sarah  Hemenway  was  one  of  the  Greene  descend- 
ants whoseflowers  'were  her  meat  and  her  drink.  Rare  plants  were  in  her 
windows,  beautiful  flowers  upon  her  lawn.  Indoors  was  beautiful  fancy 
work  of  every  kind,  a  collection  of  curios  and  blown  glass,  wax-work,  and 
dainty  bric-a-brac. 

William  T.,' their  only  son,  was  born  Sept.  30,  1855,  and  married  Feb.  i.  1SS2  to 
Addie  Tripp.  They  live  in  Wellington,  Ohio.  They  have  two  sons,  George  Courtland,  b. 
Nov.  4,  1884,  and  Sidney  Tripp,  b.  Nov   3,  i888. 


CHAPTER  XXXVm 

DESCENDANTS   OF    SALUE   NICHOLS-LAMSON^ 

Family  Trees.  Her  full  pedigree,  from  Alexander,  first  Lord  de 
Greene  de  Boketon,  A.  D.  1202;  Robert  the  Strong,  Duke  de  France,  A.  D. 
861;  on  the  grandmother's  side  from  John  Greene  of  Ouidnessett,  including 
descent  from  Capt.  Thomas  Straight,  Stukeley  Westcott,  Elder  Obediah 
Holmes  and  Hugh  Parsons;  on  the  grandfather's  side  from  John  Greene  of 
Ouidnessett  again,  including  Lascelle-Wardwell,  Hill  and  Nichols  descent; 
— also  their  King  and  La  Valley  pedigree  from  both  father  and  mother  of 
said  Sallie  Lamson,  is  given  in  Chapter  XXXH. 


Sallie  Nichols  was  born  in  Pompey,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  13,  1804.  She  died 
May  20,  1879.  She  was  a  quiet,  even-dispositioned,  home  loving  woman,  and 
a  sincere  Christian.  She  was  married  in  her  21st  year  to  Peter  Lamson, 
in  Lorain,  N.  Y.  He  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  and  Ann  Cobb  Lamson,  both 
of  whom  were  Massachusetts  people.  His  mother's  family,  the  Cobbs,  went 
back  to  nearly  the  first  years  of  New  England  settlement,  and  were  noted 
for  the  number  of  clergymen  in  their  ranks. 

The  Lamsons  were  of  English  descent.  Peter's  ancestors  are  said  to 
have  lived  in  London  at  the  time  that  city  was  visited  by  three  great  cal- 
amities in  two  successive  years, — the  Black  Plague  in  1665,  that  killed 
70,000  people,  and  the  same  dread  disease  again  next  year,  killing  30,000 
more,  but  brought  to  a  sudden  end  by  the  Great  Fire  of  London  in  Septem- 
ber, 1666.  Three  days  and  nights  the  fire  burned,  destroying  a  third  of  the 
city.  After  this,  the  government,  or  as  some  say,  the  Colonial  Emigration 
Society,  chartered  a  ship  and  offered  free  passage  to  America  to  all  able- 
bodied  men  and  boys  of  the  burnt  district.  The  Lamsons  have  it  handed 
down  that  one  of  their  ancestors  came  over  in  this  ship,  and  settled  in 
Mass.,  late  in  1666.  We  know  that  Sallie  Lamson's  great-great-grandfather, 
John  King',  came  to  Rhode  Island  in  1665,  the  sole  survivor  of  a  plague- 
destroyed  family  of  London.  It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  fore- 
parents  of  this  couple  should  have  landed  in  New  England  within  a  year  of 


238  ^be   (Breene   family 

each  other,  and  that  each  should  have  owed  his  coming  to  the  horrors  that 
overlook  London  in  1665- 1666. 

Sallie's  husband  was  well  thought  of.  There  was  plenty  of  Down- 
Eastern  grit  and  moral  backbone  about  him.  He  was  honest  and  upright 
and  so  strong  in  his  convictions  that  during  the  anti-slavery  agitation,  he 
cast  one  of  the  four  sole  abolition  votes  in  Lagrange  Co.,  Ind.,  his  brother- 
in-law.  Nelson  Nichols,  and  his  son-in-law,  Ozias  Wright,  being  two  of  the 
other  three.  Aside  from  his  rock-ribbed  principles,  however,  there  was  little 
of  the  New  England  granite  in  his  make-up.  He  was  brimful  and  boiling 
over  with  mirth.  He  was  never  blue  or  discouraged,  though  he  commenced 
life  with  with  no  possessions  beyond  a  pair  of  willing  hands  and  a  stout 
heart. 

Seven  years  after  their  marriage  they  moved  to  Sharon,  Ohio.  Be- 
lieving there  was  a  better  opening  farther  on,  in  the  spring  of  1S34  Lam- 
son  and  his  brother-in-law.  Nelson  Nichols,  explored  the  whole  of  northern 
Indiana.  "They  took  their  foot  in  their  hand,"  to  use  an  Irish  expression, 
passing  through  trackless  forests,  and  around  great  swamps  and  quagmires, 
seeing  many  Indians,  but  meeting  not  a  white  man  in  all  that  time.  In 
what  is  now  Lagrange  County  they  found  land  to  their  liking.  The  govern- 
ment had  appointed  a  Land  Ofifice  at  Ft.  Wayne,  40  miles  away.  A  second 
trip  on  foot  had  to  be  made  before  they  found  the  office  open.  Theirs  were 
the  second  entries  in  their  county,  and  Nichols'  the  first  in  their  township. 
The  men  then  returned  to  Ohio. 

In  the  fall  they  returned,  with  Lamson's  family.  Two  ox  wagons  held 
the  household  goods.  Cows  and  other  stock  were  driven  through  a  road- 
less region,  and  through  the  dreaded  Black  Swamp,  which  was  but  31  miles 
across,  but  took  five  days  to  cross.  In  the  boggiest  part  but  three  miles 
were  covered  in  two  days'  time. 

When  they  reached  their  destination  they  found  that  Henry  Nichols, 
]\Irs.  Lamson's  brother,  was  already  there.  Nichols'  family  of  eight  were 
living  in  a  log  cabin  16x16.  There  were  eight  of  the  newcomers,  making 
a  total  of  sixteen,  one  to  each  square  foot  of  space;  but  they  found  a  home 
for  a  time,  somewhere  and  somehow,  under  that  humble  roof.  Such 
were  the  struggles  and  hospitalities  of  our  forefathers. 

An  incident  will  show  something  of  the  conditions  of  the  early  settle- 
ments, and  suggest  a  little  of  the  romance  of  pioneer  days.  There  was  a 
Pottowatomie  Indian  village  a  few  miles  away.  It  was  surrounded  by  large 
old  apple  orchards.  The  seed  of  these  trees  had  been  planted  by  Jonathan 
Chapman,  the  famous  "Apple-seed  Johnny"  of  tradition.  Before  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  and  for  many  years  after,  thishalf  demented  wanderer  regularly 
appeared  each  fall  at  the  Pennsylvania  cider  presses,  and  filled  sacks  full  of 


^be   <5reene   yamil^ 


apple  seeds  which  he  carried  off  to  the  wilderness.  Over  the  present  territory 
of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  wherever  he  could  find  an  open  glade,  there  he 
planted  his  apple  seeds.  The  Indians  never  molested  him,  as  they  be- 
lieved insane  people  under  the  special  protection  of  the  Great  Spirit.  The 
Indians  were  not  slow  to  appreciate  "Apple-seed  Johnny's"  gift  when  the 
apples  began  to  fruit. 

This  particular  village  was  called  Mongoquenong,  which  means  the  White 
Squaw.  Peter  Lamson  had  a  faculty  of  getting  on  with  the  red  man,  and 
often  let  Indian  hunters  "sneap"  (sleep)  before  his  own  fire.  So  with  his  wife 
he  visited  Mongoquenong,  he  to  visit  the  orchards,  slie  to  see  the  famed 
"White  Squaw"  that  had  given  name  to  the  settlement.  The  Indians  loaded 
their  good  friend  with  apple  grafts  and  with  fruit,  and  Sallie  Lamson  was 
taken  to  see  the  white  Indian.  Seated  on  the  ground  in  her  wigwam, 
her  grey  hair  hanging  down  in  two  long  braids,  and  a  blanket  wrapped 
around  her  in  Indian  fashion,  was  an  old  woman,  blue  eyed  and  fair  skin- 
ned. In  a  foray  upon  the  whites  she  had  been  captured,  and  adopted  into  the 
tribe  when  an  infant.  All  through  the  border  states  a  report  had  gone  forth 
of  a  white  Indian.  Once  a  brother  presented  himself,  and  through  an  in- 
terpreter asked  her  to  return  with  him  to  her  kindred.  But  she  refused  to 
leave  her  Indian  husband  and  sons  and  lived  and  died  with  her  adopted 
people.  Soon  after  their  visit  the  White  Squaw  was  taken  ill.  The 
Indian  doctors  stripped  her  to  her  waist  and  stretched  her  before  a  fire  with 
her  naked  back  to  the  blaze  to  roast  the  disease  out.  She  died  under  this 
heroic  treatment. 

Peter  Lamson  died  in  July,  1846.  There  had  been  a  land  transaction 
between  he  and  a  neighbor,  and  a  trifling  irregularity  gave  the  grasping 
neighbor  a  chance  to  harass  the  widow.  Lawsuit  after  lawsuit  he 
brought  against  her.  Having  secured  in  some  way  a  hold,  he  served  To- 
days' execution  on  her  land  at  the  beginning  of  wheat  harvest.  In  pioneer 
da>'s  ready  money  in  a  lump  sum  was  hard  to  get  hold  of,  and  by  rushing 
it  through  in  this  way  he  hoped  to  get  her  land  for  himself  at  a  third  of  its 
value.  The  widow  was  a  favorite  with  her  kindred.  The}'  rallied  to  her 
assistance  and  told  her  persecutor  that  they  would  pay  the  amount,  how- 
ever unjust,  as  soon  as  their  harvest  was  over  and  the  grain  marketed.  He 
refused  to  give  them  a  day's  time. 

Her  younger  brother.  Nelson  Nichols,  at  once  left  his  harvest  with  hired 
hands,  and  set  out  on  foot  for  Sharon,  Ohio,  200  miles  away,  as  there  was 
no  public  conveyance.  He  reached  there  after  night  fall  on  the  fourth  day. 
John  Nichols,  Sallie's  wealthy  brother  at  Sharon,  advanced  the  money,  and 
at  daybreak  the  next  day  the  younger  brother  started  back,  getting  home 
at  the  close  of  the  eighth  day,  but  in  time   to   siive   the   sister's   land.     In- 


240  (Ibe   (Breenc   family? 

cidents  like  these  show  that  the  pioneer's  path  was  not  all  roses,  and  that 
there  were  rascals  in  those  days  as  well  as  now. 

Some  years  after  the  widow  married  Rev.  William  Hall  and  remo\-ed 
to  Iowa,  where  she  died.  May  20,  1879.  Her  children  were  all  by  her  first 
husband.  Her  only  surviving  sons  were  in  the  Civil  War,  and  her  only  two 
grandson";  old  enough  to  see  service,  also  were  in  the  war,  and  both  died 
for  their  country.  Although  she  had  a  large  family,  her  descendants  have 
been  few. 

THERESA  LAMSON-WRIGHT^  1825-1853.  Died  at  28.  She 
was  the  wife  of  Ozias  Wright.  Her  brother  says  that  none  of  her  kindred 
ever  saw  her  ruffled  or  angry,  so  serene  was  her  natu  re. 

JANE  LAMSON-PERCELL',  b.  May  12,  1826;  died  July  13,  1882. 
She  was  married  Dec.  8,  1844,  to  William  Percell,  who  was  born  Dec.  19, 
1S22,  in  N.  Y.  They  spent  the  whole  of  their  wedded  life  in  Michigan. 
Jane  as  a  child,  a  girl  and  a  woman,  faced  pioneer  hardships  and  privations. 
She  was  ambitious  and  hard-working,  and  lived  to  see  a  good  home  in  what 
had  been  a  wilderness.  Her  latter  life  was  saddened  by  the  untimely  death 
of  her  two  older  sons,  scarcely  half  grown-lads,  both  of  whom  died  in  the 
terrible  Civil  War  that  made  wreck  of  so  many  homes. 

Francis  William  Percell',  b.  April  17.  1846,     Went  into  the  army   at   15.     Died   at 
Campbell  Hospital,  Washington,  D.  C,  on  March  3,  1S63,  in  his  17th  year, 

John  Calvin  Percell',  b.  Nov.  25,  184S.     Enlisted  ;:',  15.     Died  from  homesickness, 
at  Huntsville,  Alabama,  Feb.  28.  1864,  aged  15  years,  3  months  and  3  days. 

Henry  Percell',  b.  Jan.  8,  1S52.     He  married  Belle  Burt,  Sept.  14,  1S71.     They  live 
on  the  old  Percell  homestead. 

Carrie  Percell-Garner'",  b.  Jan.  3,  1873.  Wife  of  Went  Garner.  One  daughter, 
Bessie,  b.  Nov.  28,  1903. 

John  Percell'",  b.  July  31,  1874.  Married  Maud  Davis,  Jan.  13,  189S.  One 
dau..   Irene,  b.  Sept.  19.   1S98. 

Charles  Percell'"-  b.  Oct.  2,  1876.     M    Lottie  Elligot  in  1900. 
Mary  Percell-Brown'",   b.    Nov.    4,    1S7S.     M     to    Harley  Brown.      They    have 
Charles,  b.  Sept.  14,  189S,  Nellie,  b.  .\ug.  4,    1900,    Cassie.  b.    June  2,    1902.   and 
Louise,  b.  Nov.  16,  1903. 

William  Percell'",  b.  March  22,  1883. 
Julia  Theresa  Percell',   1853-54.     D.  at  10  months. 
George  Curtis  Percell',  1857.     D.  in  infancy. 

Belle  Percei.l-Slanker',  b.  June  18,   1S59.     M.  to  Samuel  Blanker.     They   live  in 
Stanton,  Mich.      Her  husband  was  a  teacher  for  many  years. 

Bertha  Slanker-Grill'",  b.  Jan.  3.  1876.  and  m.  to  Allen  Grill  in  1893.  Their 
children  are  Hazel  Lucile,  b.  Dec.  3,  189S.  and  Mabel,  b.  Mar.  7.  1901. 

Theresa  Slanker-Stroudt'",  b.  July  31,  1877;  m.  to  Eli  Stroudt  in  1895.  Their 
children  are  Letha  Belle,  b.  Aug.  7,  1896,  Lyle  Edmond,  who  died  at  15  months,  and 
Eunice  Ethel,  b.  June  26,  1901. 

Gertrude  Slanker-Kinsman'",  b.  Nov.  17,  1S82;  m.  to  Jay  Kinsman  in  1903. 
J.  Lee  Blanker'",  b.  and  d.  in  1889. 
Raymond  H.  Blanker'",  b.  Nov.  13,  1892. 


vtbe   (Brecne   ffainil^  241 

JUDGE  JOHN  COBB  LAMSON',  b.  Nov.  29,  1827.  Left  an  or- 
phan in  his  teens,  the  oldest  son  in  a  large  family,  and  in  a  new  conntry, 
he  had  to  literally  make  his  way.  He  stndied,  star\-ed  and  economized, 
worked  and  taught,  and  pushed  him.self  through  Oberliii  College  and  the 
Law  Department  of  Albany  (N.  Y.)  University.  Under  Lincoln'  s  first  call 
he  joined  the  17th  Indiana  Infantry  and  served  four  years  and  four  months 
in  the  Civil  War,  coming  out  with  the  rank  of  Captain.  In  1866  he  located 
at  Pineville,  Mo.,  and  engagd  in  the  practice  of  law.  Here  he  was  success- 
ively elected  County  School  Commissioner,  Representative,  Prosecuting- 
Attorney  and  Judge  of  the  Twenty-fourth  District.  He  is  the  largest  tax- 
payer in  his  county,  and  can  truthfully  say  that  not  a  penny  of  his  fortune 
has  been  built  upon  speculation,  or  get  rich  schemes. 

At  45  he  married  Lois  A.  Santley,  of  Ohio.  She  is  of  English  and 
Virginia  parentage,  and  is  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  ability.  On  the 
English  side,  she  can  boast  of  what  few  people  on  the  globe  can  claim — 
kindred  blood  to  Shakespeare.  Remembering  his  own  early  struggles,  in 
the  last  quarter  of  a  centur)-  the  Judge  and  his  wife  have  taken  into  their 
home  not  less  than  a  dozen  deserving  young  men  and  women,  and  helped 
them  to  get  an  education  and  to  make  something  of  themselves. 

BELLE  (ARABELLE)  LA^ISON-GUERNSEY;  was  b.  June  5, 
1831.  April  17,  1S52,  she  married  Curtis  Guernsey.  Her  husband  was 
for  some  years  a  merchant  in  Freeport,  O.,  and  then  for  19  years  lived  in 
Kansas.  They  are  now  living  in  Fostoria,  O.  The  Guernseys  are  intel- 
ligent, whole  souled  people  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  know. 
John  Peter  Guernsey',  d.  at  8  years  of  age. 

Charles  L.  Guernsey^  b.  Jan.  31,    1858.     Married    .\laliiia   C.    Brown   on   his   22d 
birthday.     He  lives  in  Fostoria,  O.,  and  is  a  successful  lawyer  with  a  large  practice. 
Ethel  Guernsey'",  b.  Jan.  3,  1882. 
Charles  A.  Giiernsey'",  b.  July  17,  1884. 
Marion  Bernice  Guernsey'",  b,  Feb.  28,  1886. 
Curtis  Guernsey'",  b.  May  17,  1888. 
John  Philip  Guernsey'",  b.  April  29,  l8gi;  d.  in  1892. 
Carrie  Ci.EORA  Guernsev-Warner',  b.  Aug.  19,  1S64,  and  d.   June   16,   1900.     She 
was  the  wife  of  N.  Warner,  and  spent  all  of  her  wedded  life  in  Kansas.      Her  death   was  a 
grief  from  which  her  parents  have  never  recovered.      Her  energy  and  vim   was  wonderful. 
She  was  housekeeper.  bool;-keeper  for  the  firm  with  which  her  husband  was  connected,  and 
was  a  musician  and  a  church-worker.     She  left  no  children. 

FRANCIS  LAMSON^  d.  in  1833,  and  d.  at  6  weeks. 

FRANKLIN  LAMSON\  1834-1850.     Died  at  16. 

MARILDA  FOSTER  LAMSON-WIREBAUGH^  b.  Nov.  22,  1837. 
She  was  the  second  daughter  of  this  name,  as  a  sister  born  6  years 
before  her  had  borne  the  name  of  Marilda  F.  during  her  short  life.  Rilla 
inherited  her  father's  wit  and  liveliness.  She  was  a  teacher  for  more  than 
20  years.     Aug.  20,  1877,  she  married  Nicholas  Wirebaugh.     They  live  at 


242  Zbe   (Srcene   family 

Prairie  Depot,  O.  I  learn  from  others  that  Mr.  Wirebaugh  is  liberal  toward 
religious  and  educational  objects,  and  has  several  times  made  gifts  to  them 
which  requires  four  figures  to  express  the  amount. 

BETSEY  MIRANDA  LAMSONl  A  most  estimable  young  lady. 
Died  at  Pearce  City,  Iowa,  in  iS66. 

HUBERT  THRACEA  LAMSON*,  b.  June  3,  1841.  Married  Emily 
Fanning,  July  i,  1868.  Hubert  T.  is  a  man  fond  of  reading,  of  travel,  and 
of  the  companionship  of  his  friends.  His  wife  is  a  cherry,  active  little 
body,  who  will  never  let  things  stagnate  about  her.  Their  home  is  in 
Girard,  Kansas. 

John   Lamson',  b.  Nov.  2,  1S70.     M.  Winne  Reese,  Sept.  3,  igoi.     They  have  one  son. 
They  live  in  Kansas. 

Mary  Lamson-Grove',  b.  Dec.  2,  1S73.     M.  to  Frank  Grove.  .-Vug.    16,   1S94.     They 
are  living  at  Jamestown,  N.  Y.     She  has  had  two  children,  one  of  whom  died. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

DESCENDANTS   OF    GEORGE     W.     NICHOLS^ 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  the  first  Lord  de  Greene  de  Boke- 
ton,  A.  D.  1 202,  and  descent  from  Robert  the  Strong,  Duke  de  France,  A. 
D.  861,  see  Chapter  XI. 

For  full  particulars  of  descent  from  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett,  througli 
Lieutenant  James",  including  lineage  from  Hugh  Parsons,  Elder  Obediah 
Holmes,  Capt.  Thomas  Straight  and  Stukeley  Westcott  see  Chapter  XX. 
For  particulars  of  descent  from  John  Greene  though  Lieut.  John",  including 
lineage  from  the  Wardwells,  Hills  and  Nicholses,  see  Chapter  XV.  King 
and  La  Valley  descent  will  be  found  in  Chapter  XXH.  A  summing  up  of 
all  is  found  in  Chapter  XXXII. 

Albro  Descent  (of  wife)  is  this:  "Quaker  John"  Alburro  or  Al- 
borough,  of  Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  was  the  first.  The  name  soon  became  Albro. 
He  d.  in  171 2  at  96.  Hon.  John  Albro",  Assistant  President  of  Providence 
Plantations.  His  wife  was  iVIary  Stokes.  SamueP,  who  m.  Ruth  Lawton; 
Rev.  SamueP,  who  m.  Jane  Cole;  Samuel',  who  m.  Sarah  Conves;  James'', 
whose  daughter  was  Eunice,  the  wife  of  George  Nichols.  Eunice  died  in 
1902,  aged  86. 


George  Washington  Nichols',  was  born  about  1809,  and  married  Eunice 
Albro  about  1833.  He  died  March  21,  1839.  They  had  but  three  children, 
Sarah,  born  March  2,  1834,  John  Convass,  born  Aug.  9,  1835,  and  Juliette, 
next  younger,  who  died  in  the  spring  of  1839  in  her  third  year.  George's 
wife  was  but  17  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  She  was  a  cousin  and  name- 
sake of  the  elder  Job  King's  wife,  whose  son  Henry  married  Cynthia, 
George  Nichols'  sister.  This  brought  about  a  double  relationship  between 
the  familes  of  George  Nichols  and  Cynthia  Nichols-King.  In  the  fall  of 
1835,  the  young  couple  with  their  two  small  children,  moved  to  northern 
Indiana,  where  several  others  of  George's  family  soon  afterwards  followed 
them.  At  that  time,  however,  the  only  white  inhabitants  were  the  families 
of  Henry  Nichols  and  Sally  Nichols-Lamson,  and  a  single  brother,  Nelson 
Nichols.     All  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  fell  to  their  lot. 


^be   ©reenc   jfamil)? 


Ill  the  fall  and  winter  of  1838-9,  a  strange  epidemic  swept  the  country. 
Eight  of  the  Nichols  relatives  died.  George  Nichols  wore  himself  out  tak- 
ing care  of  the  rest,  then  sickened  and  died.  The  yonngest  child  soon  fol- 
lowed her  father.  The  disheartened  widow  sold  out  and  returned  to  the 
East  with  her  remaining  children,  Sarah  and  John. 

Eleven  years  later  Mrs.  Nichols  married  David  Lake.  Sometime  after 
her  mother's  marriage,  Sarah  married  Jackson  Leighty.  Mr.  Leighty  died 
in  1865.  Sarah  married  Samuel  Miller  for  her  second  husband,  and  is  again 
a  widow.  She  had  two  sons  by  her  first  husband.  Emmett  Leighty  was 
an  engineer,  and  was  killed  in  a  railroad  wreck.  Frank  Leighty  married 
and  has  children. 

JOHN  CONVASS  NICHOLS''.  The  marriages  of  his  mother  and 
sister  broke  up  the  home  ties  of  the  son,  John  Convass  Nichols.  He  drifted 
back  to  Indiana,  and  became  an  inmate  of  his  uncle  Nelson  Nichols'  family. 
October  8th,  1863,  he  enlisted  in  Company  C.  of  the  129th  Indiana  Infantry, 
and  served  during  the  rest  of  the  Civil  War.  It  showed  his  patriotism.  For 
from  an  injury  received  when  a  child,  his  left  arm  was  shortened,  and  he 
could  never  have  been  forced  into  service. 

In  1866  he  removed  to  Douglass  Co.,  Minnesota,  then  just  opened  to 
settlement.  The  rude  fort  or  stockade  and  soldiers'  barracks  were  still 
standing,  and  cellars  and  heaps  of  rubbish  marked  where  the  adventuresome 
settlers  before  them  had  been  massacred  by  Sioux  Indians,  and  their  homes 
burned.  However,  the  new-comers  were  not  molested,  and  the  country 
was  soon  thickly  settled.  Oct.  nth,  1868,  John  C.  Nichols  was  married  to 
Jane  McKibben.  He  was  thirty-three,  she  fifteen  and  a  half.  As  this  was 
the  first  of  three  marriages  between  our  family  and  the  McKibbens,  a  par- 
agraph about  them  may  be  of  interest. 

About  one  hundred  years  ago  a  family  by  the  name  of  Jennings  came 
into  that  part  of  Illinois  commonly  nick-nanied  Egypt  from  the  abundance 
of  its  corn.  This  family  has  of  late  years  acquired  prominence  because  one 
of  its  scions,  William  Jennings  Bryan,  has  twice  been  candidate  for  the  pres- 
idency. A  daughter  of  this  house  married  Francis  Stanley,  a  brother  of 
the  man  who  brought  up  the  celebrated  African  Explorer,  Henry  M.  Stan- 
ley, and  whose  name  the  explorer  adopted. 

Among  these  Jennings-Stanley  children  were  two  daughters,  Mary  and 
Lucinda.  They  married  two  brothers,  Zebulon  and  Henry  McKibben. 
Zebulon  McKibben  died  in  the  army.  His  widow  with  her  double  brother- 
in-law  and  his  family,  came  to  Brandon,  Minnesota,  and  took  up  a  home- 
stead. John  C.  Nichols  married  one  of  the  Widow  McKibben's  twin 
daughters.  John  Emerson  of  the  Barnes-Emerson  line,  married  Addie,  the 
youngest  daughter,  and  Amasa  Pierce  of  the  Stephen  Pierce  line,  married 


^be   6reene   family 


=45 


Martha,  the  doable  cousin  of  the  other   two,  making  a   triple  tie    between 
our  families. 

Jane  IMcKibben-Nichols  measures  up  to  the  standard  of  our  family 
tradition  as  to  what  is  required  of  our  Janes.  Her  doors  are  open  to  all  of 
the  kin,  and  she  delights  in  doing  all  in  her  power  for  her  own.  John  C. 
himself  is  a  man  deeply  attached  to  his  own  fireside.  One  special  incident  is 
a  pleasure  for  us  to  record.  When  the  widow  of  the  uncle  with  whom  he  liad 
so  long  had  a  home,  came  to  Minnesota  to  stay  for  a  time  with  her 
children,  he  insisted  on  being  considered  as  a  son,  and  his  aunt  and  little 
cousin — the  author — spent  the  entire  winter  of  1869-70  at  his  hospitable 
home.  He  has  by  industry  and  economy  secured  a  competency.  They  now 
reside  upon  a  prairie  farm  near  Holmqnist,  South  Dakota.  They  have  a 
large  family  of  daughters,  but  only  one  son,  the  youngest  of  all. 

Mary  Eunice  Nichols,  the  first-born,  was  a  favorite  child.  Love,  that 
comes  to  all,  came  to  Mary  in  the  first  flush  of  womanhood.  David  Parks,  her 
sweetheart,  was  not  liked  by  her  parents.  When  all  remonstrances  were  of 
no  avail,  her  father  gave  a  reluctant  and  bitter  consent  to  theii  marriage. 
Poor  Mary,  that  had  scarcely  known  what  a  care  was,  became  the  mother 
of  more  children  in  a  given  length  of  time  than  any  other  woman  men- 
tioned in  this  book.  Her  health  failed.  She  died  at  twenty-eight,  leaving 
nine  children  of  whom  the  youngest  was  six  weeks  old,  and  the  oldest  but 
eleven  years  of  age.  Her  last  wishes  were  that  her  people  might  have  an 
oversight  over  her  little  ones,  and  that  her  sister  Julia  would  raise  the 
youngest  two  children. 

Her  husband,  however,  could  not  forget  old  grievances.  He  kept  Wit- 
hue,  Lucy  and  Ray,  the  three  older  children.  Ada  was  given  to  his  wife's 
uncle,  J.  McKibben.  The  other  five  were  given  away  to  strangers.  James 
was  given  to  a  family  that  moved  to  the  state  of  W'ashington.  Minnie  and 
Reuben  were  given  to  a  family  that  moved  to  Montana.  The  two  smallest 
ones  had  both  their  Christian  and  surnames  changed.  One  of  these  was 
adopted  by  a  Methodist  minister,  the  other  by  a  Bristol,  South  Dakota, 
man.  All  this  has  been  a  great  grief  to  this  family,  as  it  has  wiped  out 
half  Mary's  descendants  from  all  connection  with  their  line. 

Four  more  of  their  daughters  are  married.  Alice  is  Mrs.  Swanson, 
Sarah  is  Mrs.  Burg,  Elsie,  Mrs.  Faulkner,  and  Myrta  is  Mrs.  Lake.  All 
of  them  live  reasonably  near  their  parents,  the  farthest  but  ten  miles  away. 
Julia,  Grace,  Josie,  Frankie  and  John  S.  are  yet  at  home. 

Mary  Eu.nice  Nichols-Parks',  b.  Aug.  2,  iS6g.     Wife  of  David   Parks.     Died  Dec. 
23.  1897. 

Withue  Parks'",  b.  .-Vug.  26,  1886. 
Lucy  Parks'",  b.  Oct.  S.  1SS7. 
Ray  Parks'",  b.  Feb.  28,  i8Sg. 


24^) 


Ebe   (Breene   jfanul^ 


Ada  Parks>»,  b   Oct.  7.  iSgo. 

James  Parks'",  b.  March  5.  iSg2.    "j 

Minnie   Parks'",  b.  July  7,   1893.     I 

Reuben  Parks'",  b.  Nov.  20,  i8q4.    j- Given  away.     Lost  to  the  family. 

Sarah  Parks'",  b.  June  23,  1896.     | 

John  Parks'",  b.  Nov.  10,  1897,      J 
Alice  Nichols  Swanson',  b.  July  16,  1S71.     M.  to  Ole  Swanson  of   South   Dakota, 
March  26,  1890. 

John  Swanson'",  b.  Jan.  9,  1S90. 

Hannah  Suanson'",  b.  Feb.  17,  1892. 

Maggie  Swanson'",  b.  Aug.  4,  1893. 

Albro  Swanson'",  b.  Jan.  4,  1S95. 

Hendricks  Swanson'",  b.  Feb.  9.  1897. 

Evarts  Swanson'",  b.  July  24,  1S99. 
Juliette  Nichols*',  b.  July  16,  1S73. 
Sar.\ii  Nichols-Burg',  b.  May  26,  1S76;  m.  to  Henry  Burg,  Feb.  iS,   1896. 

John  Nicholas  Burg'",  b   Jan.  8,  1S97. 

Arthur  Burgi"   b.  Aug.  8,  1S9S. 

Florence  Burg'",  b.  March  8,  I900 

Perry  Edward  Burg'",  b.  May  4,  1902. 
Myrta  Nichols-Lake',  b.  in  Feb.      ,   1878;  m.  to  her  cousin,   George  Lake,  April 
27,  1901. 

Hazel  Irene  Lake'",  b.  July  10,  1902. 
Elsie   Nichols-Faulkner',  b   July  31.  1S80.     M.  to  Lur  Faulkner,  June  23,  1899. 

Edith  Faulkner'",  b.  Feb.   9,  1900. 
Grace  Nichols'. 

Perry  Nichols',  d   March  2,  1885;  aged  12  days.     The  first  son. 
Josie  Nichols',  b.  Aug   9.  1886. 
Frankie  Nichols',  b.  March  24    i333. 
John  Emmett  Nichols',  nth  and  youngest  child,  and  only  living  son.  b.  July  19,  1897. 


CHAPTER  XL 

DESCENDANTS   OF   NELSON    NICHOLSl 

Family  Trees.  For  descent  from  royal  Capet  line  from  A.  D.  86i, 
and  descent  from  Sir  Alexander,  first  Lord  de  Greene  de  Boketon,  see  Chapter 
XI.  For  lineage  from  John  King  and  Peter  La  Valley,  see  Chapter  XXII. 
For  all  other  descent,  including  two  lines  of  Greene,  Waite,  Hall,  Lascelle, 
Wardwell,  Straight,  Westcott,  Holmes,  Parsons  and  Nichols,  see  Chapter 
XXXII;  also  Chapters  XV  and  XX  and  Appendix. 


[All  who  read  this  chapter  aie  warned  to  make  full  allowance  for  my 
partiality.  There  is  not  an  intentional  over-statement  in  it.  I  always  be- 
lieved my  father  and  mother  to  be  remarkable  people,  and  my  brothers  and 
sisters  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth.  I  have  probably  been  too  enthusiastic.  I 
freely  acknowledge  this.  I  am  thankful  that  those  nearest  and  dearest  to 
me  are  good  enough  and  wise  enough  that  I  dare  enthuse  over  them. — L.  S.  L.] 


Nelson  Irvine  Nichols''  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  twelve,  half  of 
whom  were  grown  at  his  birth.  Years  after  his  death,  a  cousin  of  his  said 
this  of  him :  "  We  were  always  proud  of  Nelson.  He  was  good  looking, 
bright  and  keen,  and  had  a  moral  record  as  clean  as  any  woman's.  On 
Sundays  he  used  to  look  as  though  he  stepped  out  of  a  band-box,  so  spruce 
was  he  in  his  broadcloth  and  beaver.  But  he  was  not  afraid  of  work,  and 
always  had  an  eye  out  to  the  main  chance."  To  this  we  may  add  that  he 
had  his  mother's  even  disposition.  With  strangers  he  was  still-tongned,  but 
among  his  friends  he  was  boiling  over  with  life  and  merriment. 

In  February,  1831,  this  young  man  of  nineteen  came  with  his  father's 
family  to  Sharon,  Ohio.  Three  years  later  he  went  to  Indiana,  then  newly 
opened  to  settlement,  and  opened  up  a  farm  near  the  present  town  of  Wol- 
cottville.  In  due  time  he  returned  to  Ohio  after  his  bride,  and  on  January 
23d,  1837,  was  married  to  Kezia  Waltman. 

She  was  of  this  ancestry :     Her  great-great  grandfather  was  Valentine 


24^  ^be   (Breene   iTamil^ 


Waltipan  of  Germany,  who  married  Barbara,  the  heiress  and  last  of  the  line 
of  a  family  of  barons.  The  second  son,  Valentine,  eloped  with  his  wife, 
Miss  Bierly,  crossed  the  ocean  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  Their  son  John 
served  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  To  this  John  and  his  proud  little  wife, 
Anna  Marie  Marguerite,  (Surface,)  was  born,  in  1790,  a  son  named  Valen- 
tine, and  this  son  married  Achsa,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Rebecca  Wilson. 

Achsa  Wilson-Waltman's  maternal  uncles  won  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  the  title  of  "  The  three  fighting  Colonel  McLanes."  One  of  the  uncles. 
Major  Allen  McLane,  rose  to  high  distinction  under  General  W^ayne  and 
General  Henry  Lee.  These  Scotch-Irish  McLanes  suffered  great  loss  during 
the  war,  the  British  laying  waste  their  estates  near  Philadelphia  in  reprisal. 
The  mother  of  the  "fighting  McLanes  "  withstood  them  to  the  last,  throw- 
ing it  in  their  teeth  as  her  houses  burned,  that  her  sons  were  making  great- 
er havoc  for  them  than  all  the  injury  the  British  could  do  to  her.  Hearing 
of  her  distress,  one  of  the  sons  returned  to  aid  her.  She  quickly  sent  him 
back  to  his  command,  tersely  telling  him  she  could  look  after  herself,  and 
expected  him  to  attend  to  the  fighting. 

Kezia,  oldest  daughter  of  Valentine  and  Achsa  Waltman,  was  born  Oct. 
8th,  1814,  at  Huntington,  Luzerne  Co.,  Pa.  She  was  said  to  resemble  her 
resolute  Revolutionary  grandmother  in  both  looks  and  disposition.  She  was 
beautiful,  fair  as  a  lily,  with  eyes  and  hair  as  dark  as  midnight.  She  never 
lost  her  birth-right  of  good  looks.  At  eighty,  her  eyes  were  as  bright  as 
ever,  her  cheeks  pink,  and  her  fair  skin  almost  transparent  in  its  whiteness. 
Her  brain  was  quick,  her  memory  astonishing.  At  twelve  years  of  age  she 
could  repeat  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  and  Young's  Night  Thoughts,  word  for 
word.  She  often  said  that  if  the  Bible  were  blotted  out  of  existence,  that 
with  the  exceptions  of  the  genealogical  tables,  she  could  write  it  again  from 
memor\-. 

All  of  her  life,  Kezia  was  eccentric  in  many  of  her  way.  She  never 
did  anything  because  others  did  it.  She  was  absolutely  independent  in  her 
thinking.  She  believed  in  progress,  and  as  thoroughly  disbelieved  in  the 
old  hide-bound  '^woman's  sphere  "  beliefs.  She  had  the  honor  of  being  one 
of  the  pioneers  among  western  women  teachers.  About  this  time  also,  she 
completed  a  volume  of  verse  of  merit,  which  she  would  never  allow  to  be 
printed. 

It  was  this  radical  but  winning  teacher  that  Nelson  Nichols  fell  in  love 
with,  won  from  many  competitors,  and  married.  He  never  lost  his  faith  in 
her  goodness,  or  admiration  for  her  talents.  After  28  years  of  wedded  life, 
when  death  faced  him,  he  could  not  bear  to  have  her  out  of  his  sight.  By 
his  side  she  went  with  him  to  the  very  brink  of  the  grave,  and  for  31  years 
after  remained  in  widow-hood,  true  to  his  memory.     All   of   their   married 


^be   (Brcenc   jfainilp  249 

life  was  spent  on  their  fami  at  Wolcottville,  Indiana.  Nelson  had  all  the 
Greene  love  for  well-keiDt  premises,  and  his  husbandry  showed  in  orderly 
fields  and  meadows,  orchards  and  woodland.  Kezia's  yard  contained  more 
flowers  and  more  rare  plants  than  any  other  home  in  the  township,  if  not  in 
the  county.  Here  their  nine  children  were  born,  six  of  whom,  Fernando, 
Attie,  Valentine,  John,  Nancy  and  Lora,  lived  to  grow  up  and  become  heads 
of  other  families.  Besides  these,  two  orphan  nephews,  John  Lamson  and 
John  C.  Nichols,  and  an  orphan  neice,  Rachel  Nichols,  had  their  home  with 
their  uncle  and  aunt,  and  were  considered  full  members  of  the  family. 

It  was  pleasant  in  after  years  for  their  children  to  recall  the  high  moral 
ground  their  parents  took.  The  Nichols'  home  was  one  of  the  regular  sta- 
tions of  the  famous  Underground  Railway  of  anti-slavery  days,  harboring 
escaped  slaves  and  anti-slavery  agitators.  Nelson  had  the  courage  to  vote 
the  Abolition  ticket  when  but  four  such  votes  were  cast  in  the  county.  His  in- 
fluence is  seen,  in  that  all  three  of  his  sons  and  his  two  adopted  nephews, 
fought  in  the  Civil  War  for  the  Union.  The  last  time  he  ever  left  his  room 
he  was  carried  to  the  polls  to  casta  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln's  second  term. 

Kezia  Nichols  was  never  so  busy  that  she  could  not  do  Christian  work, 
encourage  the  weak  or  fallen,  or  care  for  the  sick  and  the  poor.  To  the 
last,  it  was  never  too  muddy  or  cold  for  her  to  meet  her  Sunday  school  class, 
and  at  eighty  she  was  still  an  angel  of  mercy  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick. 
When  her  last  day  dawned  upon  earth,  the  watchers  at  her  bedside  caught 
the  faint  words — "  Thy  will  be  done  !  "  and  Kezia  Nichols  had  crossed  to 
the  Great  Beyond.  She  died  Dec.  3d,  1895,  and  was  buried  in  Pineville,  Mo. 
Her  eighty  years  of  life 

Were  spent  in  doing  good  ; 
By  deeds  she  proved  her  faith 
In  human  lirotherhood. 

Death  came  and  breathed  his  icy  chill 
Just  where  our  Mother's  footsteps  trod  ; 

Her  throbbing  heart  grew  cold  and  still — 

Her  work  is  done.      She  rests  with  God. 

— .Vrs.  Siovue. 


Their  children  were  these : 

Fernando,  b.  Jan.  20,  1838. 

Maranda,  b.  Sept.  i,  1839  ,  d.  Oct.  7,  1839. 

Almira,  b.  Nov.  27,  1841  ;  d.  Sept.  30,  185! 

Attie  A.,  b.  Oct.  30,  1843. 

Valentine  David,  b.  Oct.  26,  1845. 

John  Joel,  b.  Sept.  13,  1S48. 


^be   (5rcene   family 


Nancy  Theresa,  b.  Dec.  14,  1850. 

Myron,  b.  Nov.  14,  1853  ;  d.  Oct.  10,  1861. 

Lora  Sarah,  b.  April  2,  1857. 

As  might  have  been  expected  with  parents  of  such  marked  personality, 
their  children  presented  diverse  temperaments.  A  waggish  relative  once 
gave  "  character  "  names  to  them,  which  were  so  pat  that  they  have  come 
down  in  a  snb-rosa  waj-  to  this  hour.  Attie,  dignified,  and  faultlessly  cor- 
rect in  her  manners,  was  The  Duchess  ;  Nannie,  whose  keen  eye  took  in 
every  detail,  and  who  wanted  everything  done  precisely  right,  was  In- 
spector General ;  \'alentine  was  .  Tine  the  Good ;  his  younger  brother 
was  Happy-go-lucky  John ;  Fernando  was  The  Singed  Cat.  The  ref- 
erence was  to  a  cat  which  had  been  scorched  and  bore  a  rough  and  touzled 
coat  in  consequence,  but  could  out-mouse  and  out-rat  any  of  his  slick  breth- 
ren. The  allusion  was  plain  to  anyone  who  ever  saw  Fernando  Nichols 
arise  in  church — necktie  knotted  under  his  ear,  and  his  hastily-puUed-on 
coat  sagging  six  different  ways  at  once — and  deliver  a  red-hot  talk  that  set 
everyone  aquiver  to  get  into  church  or  Sunda)-  school  work  instanter. 

FERNANDO  NICHOLS*.  His  children  are  all  of  them  successful 
and  respected,  and  all  are  fortunate  in  their  home  ties.  "  Our  children  are 
every  one  a  comfort  to  us,"  saj-s  their  mother,  and  their  father,  as  though 
something  was  left  unsaid,  adds  this  unusual  testimony, — "All  of  mv  cliil- 
dren-in-law  are  pure  gold,  also." 

So  Fernando  Nichols  has  a  right  to  be  called  a  successful  man,  although 
with  all  his  industry  he  has  never  accumulated  material  riches.  His  fortune 
has  been  in  his  faniil}-.  January  22,  1859,  he  married  his  second  cousin, 
Mary  Jane  Cady,  whose  genealogy  is  given  in  Chapter  XXIX. 

The  curious  family  superstition  that  every  Jane  among  them  would  be 
a  care-taker  of  the  friendless  or  infirm  among  her  connection,  reached  high- 
water  mark  confirmation  in  her  case.  Her  father  and  mother  died  within 
six  weeks  of  each  other.  For  a  time  the  orphans  lived  at  the  old  King  home 
in  New  York,  a  perfect  nest  of  old  bachelor  uncles  and  old  maid  aunts.  Then 
their  Aunt  Debbie  (Deborah)  took  the  children  with  her  to  Indiana,  and  here 
Jane  married.  The  only  other  one  of  her  family,  her  brother  Edgar,  came 
to  live  with  her,  and  her  house  is  yet  his  home.  The  aunts  and  uncles  be- 
came too  old  to  live  by  themselves.  Good  Jane,  that  never  lost  her  grati- 
tude, that  never  tired  of  them,  took  care  of  them  all,  of  feeble  Uncle  John, 
infirm  Uncle  Sylvester  and  childish  Aunt  Debbie,  who  at  the  last  had  to  be 
waited  on  as  a  babe.  Jane  never  paraded  as  a  martyr ;  she  never  thought 
herself  a  saint  ;  she  was  too  busy  patching,  cooking  and  sweeping  to  take  a 
leading  part  in  church  or  mission  work.  But  the  Master  who  counts  the  cups 
of  cold  water  given  in  His  name  will  surely  give  her  the  reward  of  her  deeds. 


Zbc   (Brccne   jfamil^  251 

Fernando  Nichols  has  lived  in  Indiana,  New  York,  North  Dakota  and 
Tennessee,  and  is  now  at  Warren,  Arkansas.  He  has  always  worked  for  the 
betterment  of  the  community  in  which  he  has  lived.  He  is  a  Deacon  in  the 
church.  Not  one  christian  in  a  thousand  is  as  efficient  and  tireless  a  worker 
in  the  church  as  he.  He  is  an  ideal,  up-to-date  Sunday  school  superintend- 
ent. His  speeches  are  short,  crisp,  sawed-off  right  in  the  middle,  but  they 
hit  the  mark  every  time.  His  prayers  are  earnest,  brief,  face-to-face  peti- 
tions that  touch  the  most  indifferent.  He  spends  no  time  seekinq;  a  mission, 
but  does  the  work  nearest  his  har.  i,  and  does  it  with  all  his  might.  He  has 
five  living  children. 

Minnie  (Mrs.  Rose,)  is  a  fine  woman,  in  her  traits  happily  combining 
the  best  characteristics  of  both  her  father  and  mother. 

Charles  has  one  of  the  kindest  hearts  that  ever  beat  in  mortal  frame. 
Quiet  and  still-tongued.  he  is  like  his  mother's  people.  His  wife  was  a  re- 
porter before  her  marriage. 

Allen  G.  Nichols  is  the  printer  son.  He  has  done  much  reportorial 
work,  and  has  made  a  specialty  of  fraternal  writing,  particularly  of  that  per- 
taining to  the  Odd  Fellows  and  Knights  of  Pythias  orders,  in  which  he  has 
risen  to  high  rank  for  so  young  a  man.  He  wields  a  vigorous  political 
pen  also,  and  was  rewarded  for  his  political  services  by  the  position  of 
Collector  of  Customs,  at  Sabine  Pass,  Texas.  He  was  here  when  the  dreadful 
Galveston  Flood  swept  hundreds  of  homes  and  human  beings  into  the  ocean's 
waters.  A  perverseness  of  fate  dogged  this  young  man,  to  which  he  alluded, 
upon  his  recent  removal  to  Los  Angeles,  California,  after  this  manner : 

"  I  am  a  builder  of  liouses  for  fires  to  burn  and  floods  to  wash  away. 
What  with  fires,  floods  and  hurricanes,  I  am  in  the  position  of  the  man  who 
had  that  taken  from  him  that  he  seemed  to  have.  The  only  things  I  have 
left  are  the  sweetest  wife  and  the  two  finest  children  on  earth,  a  wrecked 
nervous  system,  and  a  determination  to  build  me  up  another  home." 

Harry  E.  is  siii  generis.  A  letter  from  him  is  a  treasure.  Something 
like  his  father's  prayers,  it  begins  without  a  beginning,  and  ends  without  an 
ending.  He  jumps  right  into  the  middle  of  what  he  is  interested  in,  and 
goes  after  it,  up  and  down,  tooth  and  toe-nail,  hip  and  thigh,  but  the  interest 
never  lags.  We  gratefully  acknowledge  that  this  indefatigable  digger,  who 
plunged  into  old  books,  dry  official  records  and  out-of-the-way  references, 
has  helped  the  making  of  this  history  materially.  He  is  a  postal  clerk  on 
the  Iron  Mountain  R.  R.,  and  lives  in  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Eddie  F.,  born  in  i8So,  proved  himself  in  his  teens  an  exceptional  stu- 
dent, and  has  already  given  good  earnest  of  being  as  exceptional  a  business 
man.  He  is  honest,  quick,  steady  and  tireless.  Already  he  holds  the  im- 
portant position  as  manager  of  a  certain  territory  for  a  large  lumber  company. 


252  ^be   (Brecne   jfamil^ 

Feriiaiido's  table  of  descendants  is  this  : 

Nelson  Nichols',  born  dead,  Dec.  i6.  1S59. 

Mary  Lincoln  Nichols',  b.  May  i8,  1S61  ;  d.  Jan.  14,  1S63. 

Minnie  O.  Nichols-Rose',  b.  May  15,  1866;. m.  to  Wilber  Rose  at  Jamestown,  N,  D., 
March  9,  1886.  Their  first  child,  Charles  Wilbur,  was  born  April  12,  1887.  Their  sec- 
ond son,  Clifford  Allen,  died  May  25,  1890,  aged  14  months.     They  live  at    Warren,  Ark. 

Charles  Dickinson  Nichols',  b.  Jan.  24,  1868  ;  m  to  Bernice  Bennett,  Nov.  3,  1890, 
at  Jamestown,  N.  D.      They  have  Henry  F.,  b.  Dec.  17,  1895,  and  Ruth,  b.  Oct.  6.  1900. 

Allen  George  Nichols',  b.  Dec.  5,  1869.  Married  Emma  S.  Reichmann,  Nov,  3, 
1892.  They  have  two  children,  Harry  George,  b.  Oct.  17,  1894,  and  Gladys,  b.  •■Vpril  21, 
1899. 

Mary  E.  Nichols',  b.  June  lo,  1S71  ;  d.  Aug.  17,  1871,  aged  10  weeks. 

Cora  Nichols',  b,  July  25.  1S73.     Died  the  ne.xt  day. 
Harry  Elton  Nichols',  b.  Aug.  12,  1S74  ;  m.  Clara  Deihl.     They  have  one  daughter, 
Marjory  D.,  b.  Jan.  2,  1900. 

Edg.^r  Fi:rnando  Nichols',  b.  Sept.  22,  iSSo.  M.June  11,  1903,  to  Ida  Godwin,  o 
Oakdale,  La,     They  live  in  Louisiana. 

ATTIE  A.  NICHOLS-STOWE*  will  not  allow  ns  to  say  as  much 
about  her  as  we  would  like.  She  puts  a  special  bar  upon  us  as  to  her  poet- 
ical efforts.  We  submit  the  more  cheerfully  that  her  stanzas  interspersed 
through  this  book  are  her  own  best  interpreters.  If  anyone  can  read  them 
and  not  believe  her  a  woman  of  intellectual  power  and  high  ideals,  our  words 
would  be  idle. 

Mrs.  Stowe  is  dignified,  self-controlled  and  well-poised.  Her  affections 
are  true  as  steel  to  her  own.  She  holds  life  as  a  sacred  trust,  and  believes  it 
a  duty  to  make  the  world  happier  and  wiser  by  all  possible  efforts.  She 
must  allow  us  to  use  this  poem  of  hers,  written  when  her  heart  was  sad,  and 
when  the  world  seemed  to  her  to  have  passed  by  and  forgotten  her.  It  shows 
how  free  from  envy  or  sordid  littleness  are  the  impulses  of  her  heart. 
Because  another's  muse 

Gives  her  a  sweeter  lay, 
Shall  1,  then,  dare  refuse 

The  words  mine  bids  me  say .? 
Because  another  paints 

With  touch  and  skill  more  free, 
Shall  I  hold  in  restraints 

The  talent  God  gave  me? 
Because  another's  path 

Seems  brighter  far  to  me, 
Dare  I  assume  God's  wrath  ? — 
Refuse  His  love  to  see  ? 

Because  another's  work 

Lies  in  the  focus  light 
Of  fame,  dare  I  to  shirk 

I\Iy  duty  to  the  right  ? 


^be   (Brecnc   jramiii?  253 


Because  some  other  miiul 

Received  tlie  talents  ten, 
Shall  I,  with  envy  blind, 

Hide  me  in  darkest  den? 
No  ;  let  me  rather  ask 

God's  blessing  on  my  one  ; 
If  I  do  well  my  task, 

I'll  hear  Him  say,    "Well  done." 
— J.  A.    S/iiwe. 

Mrs.  Stowe  has  done  good  descripti\-e  work  for  Collier'' s  iVcekly  and 
Leslie's  Monthly^  and  various  other  magazines.  Her  best  work  is  in  verse, 
however,  and  of  this  her  patriotic  poems  are  probably  the  best.  Her  work 
rings  true,  because  she  puts  her  heart  in  it,  and  writes  only  what  she  feels. 

Attie  A.  Nichols  was  married  in  1863  to  Fletcher  H.  Noble,  her  second 
cousin  on  her  mother's  side.  He  lived  but  a  few  years.  Naturally  restless, 
and  always  seeking  a  region  where  his  health  would  improve,  they  moved 
from  point  to  point  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan  and  Minnesota.  Three 
children  were  born  to  them,  Myia  and  Clara  in  Indiana,  and  Ralph  in  Min- 
nesota. Little  Clara  died  early.  Ralph,  restless  as  his  father,  wandered  from 
state  to  state.  In  Colfax,  Washington,  he  married  Effie  Benton.  March,  1891, 
and  in  November  of  the  same  year  he  died,  leaving  a  widow  of  seventeen. 
Five  months  after  his  death  a  posthumous  child  was  born,  who  was  named 
Ralph  for  the  father  he  had  never  seen. 

Myra,  the  remaining  child  of  the  first  marriage,  has  unfortunately  been 
handicapped  all  her  life  by  inherited  disease,  but  is  growing  stronger  as  the 
years  pass  by.  She  married  Ernest  E.  Everett,  October,  1886,  and  has  been 
the  n:other  of  five  children,  all  of  whom  are  dead.  She  is  living  now  in 
flower-environed  Pasadena,  California. 

Attie  A.  married  for  her  second  husband,  Captain  Martin  Stowe.  He 
was  born  at  Princeton,  Mass.,  1830.  He  had  a  brave  war  record  and  was  a 
man  of  distinction  in  every  way.  He  was  magnetic,  polished,  large-brained, 
and  had  traveled  extensively  in  South  America  and  the  U.  S.  He  had  made 
two  large  fortunes  and  lost  them,  only  to  make  a  third.  After  his  marriage 
he  became  a  merchant.  He  represented  his  district  in  the  Minnesota  legis- 
lature several  terms.  All  their  children  were  born  in  Brandon,  Minnesota. 
He  moved  to  Hailey,  Idaho,  in  1S82,  and  in  mining  operations  again  became 
embarrassed.  Before  his  usual  good  fortune  returned  to  him,  his  health  fail- 
ed. His  plucky  wife  stepped  into  the  breach,  and  put  her  scholarship  to 
use.  She  soon  rose  to  be  assistant  principal  of  the  Hailey  schools,  refusing 
the  principalship  as  taking  too  much  time  from  her  home  duties. 

June  6th,  1891,  Captain  Stowe  died  froin  injuries  received  in  a  fall  from 


254  ^be   (Brccnc   family 

his  horse.  The  accident  was  superinduced  by  an  attack  of  heart  trouble, 
the  direct  result  of  his  arduous  army  experiences.  Mrs.  Stowe  could  never 
bear  to  live  in  Hailey  afterwards.  Her  home  is  in  Los  Angeles,  California, 
where  she  is  active  in  church  and  club  work. 

Mrs.  Stowe's  descendants  by  her  first  husband  are  these : 

Myra  Estelle  Noble-Everett',  b.  Feb.  23.  1864  ;  m.  at  Jamestown,  N.  D..  to 
Ernest  E.  Everett,  Oct.  25,  18S6.  Their  children  are  all  dead.  They  were  Irene,  an  un- 
named infant,  Edith,  Myra,  Grace  and  Ernest  Earle. 

Clara  Noble",  b.  Aug.  22.  1S65.     Died,  March  13,  1S6S. 

Ralph  Noble',  b.  July  17.  1S6S.  Died  in  State  of  Washington,  Nov.  22,  1S91.  leaving 
a  young  wife  and  posthumous  child.  Ralph. 

By  her  second  marriage,  Mrs.  Stowe  has  these  descendants : 

Cora  Allen  Stowe-Davey",  b.  June  11,  1871  ;  married  to  Edward  Davey. 
Eugene  M.  Stowe".  b.  Dec.  4,  1872  ;  m.  Oct.  28,  1903,  to  Stella  Gimble. 
.•\rthur  Wilder  Stowe",  b.  Aug.  29,  1874.     His  home  is  in  Alaska. 
George  Walt.man  Stowe",  b.  Aug.  28,  1876.     He  lives  in  Alaska. 

VALENTINE  NICHOLS'.  It  is  a  singular  paradox  that  the  most 
thoroughly  good  child  out  of  this  Nelson  Nichols  family  should  have  been 
the  one  who  delighted  most  in  war  and  bloodshed.  Even  as  a  small  boy, 
Valentine  (or  Tine)  was  everlastingly  poring  over  the  history  of  some  war, 
or  the  biography  of  some  fighting  general.  The  only  time  he  disobeyed 
his  father  in  his  life,  he  ran  away  to  be  a  soldier.  He  was  rejected  four  or 
five  times  on  account  of  his  size,  but  persevered  until  he  found  a  more  com- 
pliant recruiting  officer.  When  asked  his  age,  he  frankly  told,  and  when  he 
was  warningly  re-asked,  unflinchingly  answered  : — "  Not  quite  seventeen." 
Not  all  the  gold  of  Australia  could  have  made  Tine  Nichols  tell  a  lie.  The 
officer  smiled  as  he  looked  at  the  eager,  conscientious  lad,  slight,  boyish,  and 
weighing  not  a  hundred  pounds.  "  We'll  take  him,"  said  he.  "  That  boy's 
got  the  making  of  a  soldier  in  him." 

He  served  three  years,  and  saw  hard  campaigning.  He  could  lia\-e  been 
lieutenant  or  captain,  but  with  characteristic  self-effacement  refused  to  ac- 
cept either  office  because  of  his  youth.  Twice  he  was  called  out  of  the  ranks 
and  publicly  thanked  for  exceptional  bravery. 

One  of  these  occasions  was.late  in  November,  1863.  In  a  forced  march 
across  the  Huston  River,  in  East  Tennessee,  a  gun  was  caught  in  a  crevice 
of  a  rock  in  a  deep  and  dangerous  ford,  and  behind  it  were  four  more  can- 
non, a  wagon  train  of  supplies,  and  the  ambulances  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 
If  abandoned,  these  would  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands,  who  were  near.  Vol- 
unteers were  called  for  to  dislodge  the  cassion.  Not  even  its  own  gunners 
responded.  The  night  was  dark,  the  water  swift  and  deep  and  full  of 
needle  ice. 

Nichols  stepped  out.  "  Come  boys  ! "  he  cried,  and  nine  followed  him. 
They  worked  for  six  hours,  but  saved  the  gun  and  waiting  trains.     Then  it 


^be   (Sreenc   Jfainil^  255 

was  that  General  Garrard  called  Nichols  out,  still  in  his  frozen  garments,  and 
publicly  eulogized  him.  "  If  we  had  a  thousand  men  like  you,"  he  said, 
"  we  could  take  Richmond."  They  took  up  the  march  again,  when  he  sud- 
denly sank  to  the  ground  from  exhaustion.  To  this  day  he  suffers  severely 
from  rheumatism  and  heart  trouble  contracted  in  that  fearful  night's 
exposure. 

In  186S,  Tine  Nichols  removed  to  Brandon,  Minnesota,  where  he  lived 
for  35  years.  He  is  now  living  in  East  San  Jose,  California.  He  has  pros- 
pered financially,  and  his  valuable  ^Minnesota  farm  of  about  four  hundred 
acres  is  so  well  kept  that  not  even  a  thistle  or  burdock  is  tolerated.  As  a 
man,  he  lives  his  Christianity,  and  his  charity  reaches  from  his  neighbor 
to  the  distressed  of  the  nations  beyond  the  seas  ;  for  in  his  creed,  all  man- 
kind are  brothers. 

His  first  wife,  Antionette  Stevenson,  of  New  York,  was  unfortunately 
an  invalid.  When  her  youngest  child  was  twelve  days  old,  she  died  from  a 
sudden  return  of  her  old  malady.  She  left  five  children,  Harold,  Hubert, 
Clyde,  Rosa  and  Lucien.  Clyde  was  drowned  while  a  child.  Harold  is  an 
engineer  on  the  Nothern  Pacific  Ry.  Hubert  and  Lucien  are  also  railroad 
men.     None  of  the  first  wife's  children  are  married,  except  Harold. 

V.  D.  Nichols'  second  marriage  was  to  ]Mrs.  Katherine  Landa-Bartoss. 
She  was  born  Nov.  nth,  1S53,  in  Vesely,  Bohemia,  and  came  to  America 
when  seven  years  old.  The  Luanda  family  were  of  gentle  blood,  of  the  upjDer 
middle  class.  This  daughter  was  always  a  person  of  distinctive  character. 
She  was  energetic  and  forceful  in  other  matters.  .  Quick,  resourceful  and 
self-reliant,  she  is  always  ready  for  an  emergenc)'.  If  a  machine  breaks  in 
the  fields,  she  is  ready  to  repair  it ;  and  if  a  castastrophe  occurs,  she  keeps 
her  presence  of  mind,  and  is  the  first  to  suggest  a  practical  alleviation. 
With  it  all,  she  is  a  keen  business  woman,  hospitable  in  her  home,  and  kind 
to  the  poor.     Her  husband  is  very  proud  of  her. 

By  his  second  marriage,  V.  D.  Nichols  became  the  father  of  four  child- 
ren. Besides  these,  his  wife  was  the  mother  of  a  daughter  by  her  first 
husband.  This  daiighter  took  the  name  of  Nichols,  and  was  considered  as 
entirely  belonging  to  the  family. 

Valentine's  children  by  the  first  wife  : 

Harold  Nfxson  NICHOLS^  b.  Sept.  20,  iS6g.     Married,  March  6,  1S98,  to  Mrs.  Anna 
Rosedal. 

Hubert  V.  D.  Nichols',  b.  Oct,  21,  1S71. 

Clyde  Bowman  Nichols',  b.  Oct.  g,  1S73,     Drowned  April,  1S78,  aged  4  years. 

RoSEMOND  E.  Nichols',  b.  Aug.  16,  1S75. 

Luci.\N  Martin  Nichols',  b.  Sept.  4,  1S77. 
His  children  by  the  second  wife  are  these  : 

Ethel  NiCHOLS-TH0RSO>i',  b.  .A-ug,  2S,  1S79  ;  m.  Jan,  24,  iSgg,  to  Theodore  Thorson. 


256  tTbc   (Breene   family 

Benjamin  Franklin  Nichols',  b.  Dec.  14,  1880. 

LoRA  Kezia  Nichols',  b.  April  12,  18S5. 

Mareus  M,  Nichols',  b.  Nov.  25,  1S87. 

Mary  Bartos-Ukestad.  Adopted  daughter,  and  second  wife's  cliild  by  first  marriage. 
Born  April  17,  1874.  M.  Dec.  24,  1S97  to  Julius  Ukestad.  Died  Jan.  31,  1903,  leaving  two 
children,  Marcus,  born  Sept.  2,  189S,  and  Valentine  David,  b.  June  9.  1901. 

JOHN  J.  NICHOLS-  was  the  joUiest  boy  alive,  laughing,  joking,  and 
singing  from  morning  until  night.  He  entered  the  Civil  War  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  and  served  until  its  close.  In  1866,  when  but  eighteen,  he  went 
to  north  central  INIinnesota,  then  newly  opened  to  settlement.  His  romantic 
disposition  led  him  to  Fort  Abercrombie,  in  the  heart  of  the  Sioux  Indian 
reservation,  where  he  lived  with  the  Indians  for  some  time,  learning  their 
language  and  much  of  their  wood  and  prairie  craft. 

At  twenty  he  returned  to  Brandon,  Minn.,  and  was  then  married  to  a 
French  frontierman's  daughter,  Josephine,  the  sixteen-year-old  daughter  of  An- 
toine  and  Samantha  Pelissier.  She  could  shoot,  hunt  or  swim,  and  in  back- 
woods' parlance, was  "as  smart  as  a  steel  trap."  Six  children  were  born  to  them. 

After  a  time  John  Nichols  joined  a  sur\-eying  corps  working  in  the  then 
unexplored  territor}-  of  North  Dakota.  Believing  home-seekers  by  the  tens 
of  thousands  would  flock  in  as  soon  as  the  region  would  be  opened  to  settle- 
ment, he  engaged  in  a  unique  busine.ss.  He  moved  his  family  into  this  un- 
settled country,  near  the  present  city  of  Jamestown.  Then  for  years  he 
traveled  over  the  wide  territory,  preparatory  to  guiding  parties  to  it  later. 
His  Indian  training  had  developed  almost  a  sixth  sense,  a  sensitized  memory 
of  locality.  He  could  not  be  lost  and  he  never  forgot  lake  or  wood  stream, 
or  soil.  No  other  man,  Indian  or  white,  ever  knew  North  Dakota 
as  he  did. 

He  had  a  hundred  adventures.  He  had  a  score  of  narrow  escapes  from 
drownings,  stampedes  of  buffaloes,  and  terrific  blizzards.  Several  times  he 
was  reported  killed  and  scalped.  He  drove  with  his  faithful  greys  12,500 
miles  a  year,  or  as  he  expressed  it,  "  Put  a  belt  around  the  earth  every  two 
years."  He  was  not  in  the  least  of  a  cnw-boy  type.  He  was  a  gentleman 
always,  and  an  expert  in  his  line.  He  became  a  member  of  an  opulent  real 
estate  firm,  and  when  the  rush  of  emigration  began,  fortune  in  her  most 
gracious  mood  smiled  upon  him. 

There  are  those  to  whom  all  the  misfortunes  of  a  lifetime  come  in  one 
terrible  storm.  It  was  so  with  easy,  trusting  John.  Business  reverses  swept 
away  all.  Trouble  and  death  came  into  his  home.  North  Dakota  proved 
the  charnel  house  of  his  hopes.  When  he  married  again,  he  sought  his  for- 
tune anew  on  the  Pacific  coast.     He  now  lives  at  Palo  Alta,  California. 

His  second  wife  was  Miss  Jeannette  Emond,  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Elizabeth  Emond.     She  was  born  August  7th,    1855,   at  Fergus,  Canada. 


^be   6reene   JTaniii^  257 

She  came  to  the  States  in  1890  and  two  years  later  married.  vShe  is  of  good 
English  and  Scotch  blood,  and  takes  a  pride  in  her  family  ancestry.  She 
has  a  literary  talent,  but  writes  only  for  her  friends.  We  have  room  for  bnt 
two  stanzas  from  a  memorial  poem  of  hers. 

"The  Master  walked  in  His  garden, 
In  search  of  the  flower  most  rare. 
Amid  all  the  flowers  in  His  garden, 
He  found  one  e.Kceedingly  fair. 

Gladl_v  he  gathered  the  blossom, 
'Twas  a  lily  of  spotless  white. 
Pure  as  the  riven  snow  it  shone 
In  the  darkness  of  the  night. 

"  Grieved  was  the  gard'ner's  heart  and  sad. 

But  the  Waster  in  tentierest  tone 

Said,   '  I've  need  of  this  one  sweet  lily. 

To  adorn  a  place  by  my  throne'. 

A  voice  like  a  dream  of  the  morning. 

Said  '  Beloved  one,  come,  come  away  ; 
The  Master  hath  need  of  thy  presence. 
Then  wliy  dost  thy  coming  delay  .?  " ' 

Mr.  Nichols'  children  by  his  first  wife  all  lived  to  be  grown.  At  twenty, 
George  was  killed  by  the  kick  of  a  horse,  and  Fannie  died  at  nineteen  from 
an  attack  of  heart  trouble.  Clara  married  early,  and  was  left  a. young  widow 
with  two  or  three  little  daughters.  She  is  noted  as  being  one  of  the  best 
cooks  in  this  family  of  cooks.  This  results  from  her  double  French  blood, 
as  they,  of  all  people,  elevate  cookery  to  a  fine  art.  Emma,  a  successful 
teacher,  married  her  distant  cousin,  Merritt  Pierce,  and  lives  at  Wolcott- 
ville,  Indiana.  Nelson  is  a  promising  young  man,  and  prominent  in  frater- 
nal orders.  Before  he  was  nineteen  he  married  a  girl  of  fifteen.  He  was 
but  twenty  when  his  only  child  was  born.      He  lives  at  Jamestown. 

Antoine,  the  remaining  son  of  the  first  marriage,  inherited  a  love  of 
travel.  In  1896,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  enlisted  in  the  naval  service, 
cruising  to  Central  and  South  America  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  When 
the  Maine  was  blown  up  in  Havana  harbor,  the  Baltimore,  on  which  he 
belonged,  was  ordered  to  Hong  Kong,  China.  Here  she  sailed  away  with 
Commodore  Dewey  for  Manila.  What  follows  is  in  Tone's  own  words,  a 
graphic  picture  of  the  famous  Manila  Battle  of  May  ist,  1898. 

"  April  30th  we  lay  just  outside  of  the  Bay.  We  waited  until  the  moon 
went  down  near  midnight.     Then  we  put  out  all  the  lights  only  on  the  stern 


258  ^be   (5reene   Jfamil^ 

of  the  ships,  and  steamed  in,  waiting  about  seven  miles  out  from  Manila  for 
daylight.  Then  we  saw  the  fleet  and  started  for  it.  The  Spanish  ships 
commenced  firing,  but  Dewey's  orders  were  to  reserve  our  fire  until  within 
3000  yards.  This  we  did.  We  turned  broadside,  steamed  slowly  and  poured 
shot  into  them  lively,  for  nearly  three  hours.  Nearly  all  the  Spanish  ships 
were  on  fire,  and  two  of  them  sunk.  Then  Dewey  signalled  to  get  out  of 
range  and  get  breakfast. 

"At  11:30  a.  m.  we  steamed  back.  We  soon  had  the  Flagship  Reine 
Christina  and  the  other  ships  destroyed.  Then  the  Baltimore  opened  fire 
on  the  fort  at  Cavite.  The  second  shot  knocked  one  of  their  ten-inch  guns 
more  than  two  hundred  feet  high  in  the  air.  At  2:00  p.  m.  we  landed.  One 
of  the  first  things  I  saw  was  a  big  bunch  of  keys,  very  ancient  and  curious, 
hanging  in  the  door  of  the  arsenal.     I  have  them  now." 

Antoine  was  one  of  the  men  chosen  to  return  to  America  with  Admiral 
Dewey.  He  was  one  of  his  Orderlies,  and  was  one  of  the  five  who  went 
with  Dewey  wherever  he  went, — Asia,  Europe  and  America,  they  were  lion- 
ized, and  attended  parades,  receptions,  and  court  presentations.  Congress 
voted  them  special  medals,  and  they  were  personally  presented  to  them  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  by  President  McKinley  himself.  Having  had  enough 
of  globe  trotting.  Tone  accepted  a  discharge,  and  is  now  a  machinist  at  San 
Jose,  California. 

John  Emons  is  the  only  surviving  child  of  the  second  marriage.  This 
"  last  little  one"  is  younger  than  some  of  his  own  nieces.  This  last  John  is 
not  only  the  son  of  a  John,  but  from  one  line  to  another,  the  descendant  of 
a  dozen  Johns  who  have  lived  upon  American  soil.  He  is  a  baker's  son  and 
cotnpletes  a  baker's  dozen  that  have  borne  this  good,  old-fashioned  name. 

Ci.ARA  Evelyn  Nichols-Williams',  b.  May  2,  1870.  M.  at  Jamestown.  X.  D..  to 
Harrison  M.  Williams.  She  is  a  widow  with  three  children.  The  two  oldest  are  Harriet  M  . 
b.  Aug.  27,  1887,  and  Dolores,  b.  June  25.  iSSg. 

Gf.orge  Albert  Nichols',  b.  Oct.  21,  1S71.  Died,  Nov.  9,  iSyi,  killed  by  a  kick  from 
a  horse . 

Emma  N.  Nichols-Pierce',  b,  March  S.  1S73.    M.  Aug.  1S96,  to  her  third  cousin,  Merritt 
Pierce,  of  Wolcottville,  Indiana.     They  have  .1  daughter,  Marjorie,  b.  Aug.  16,  1897. 
Fannie  Loka  Nichols',  b.  Jan.  5,  1S75;  d.  Oct.  23,  1893,  aged  19. 
Nelson  Peter  Nichols',  b.  Dec.  31,  1S76;  m.  Nov.  4.  1S95.  to   Bertha   Lebo.      They 
have  Elizabeth  Irene,  b.  Dec.  7,  1896. 
Antoine  NiCHor,s',  b.  .Sept.  15,  1S-9. 

By  the  second  marriage  John  Nichols  has : 
John  Emons',  b.  Aug.  26,  1893. 
Linton  and  Lomore',  twins,  b.  Jan.  4,  1895,     Died,  Jan.  6.  1896. 

i\IRS.  NANNIE  T.  NICHOLS-TUCKl  :\Irs.  Tuck  had  the  fore- 
thought to  make  out  a  list  of  her  faults,  and  send  them  on  in  time  to  be 
used  in  this  work ! 


^be   (Brecne   family  259 

Mrs.  Tuck  has  always  protested  that  the  name  Nancy  fitted  no  one  bnt 
a  fat,  black,  bandanna-turbaned  cook.  Therefore  her  friends  have  softened 
her  name  to  Nannie.  She  might  well  afford  to  put  up  with  the  homely  old 
family  name,  for  she  took  the  lion's  share  of  all  that  was  good,  that  the  family 
blood  could  give  her. 

She  is  fine-looking,  with  the  coveted  Marie-Iya Valley  expressiveness  of 
features.  There's  a  world  of  meaning  in  a  single  flash  of  her  eye,  and  her 
face  reflects  every  shade  of  animation  or  emotion,  even  though  not  a  word 
be  spoken.  Her  tongue  and  brain  are  ready,  and  her  wit  as  quick  as  an 
Irishman's,  though  never  bitter,  for  she  has  the  kindliest  of  hearts. 

Her  husband  is  James  Tuck,  born  December  20th,  1842,  at  Clyde,  Ohio. 
He  is  the  son  of  Shubal  and  Mary  Tuck,  and  is  an  original  character.  He 
is  a  Free  Mason,  an  Eastern  Star  man,  a  G.  A.  R.,  and  an  old  soldier  from 
head  to  foot.  He  is  a  seven-times-dyed-in-the-wool  Republican,  a  Baptist  to 
the  bone  and  marrow.  But  he  is  so  hail-fellow-well-met  with  all,  that  no 
one  takes  offence  at  his  ultraness. 

]\Ir.  Tuck  was  a  successful  druggist.  He  was  badly  injured  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  has  for  3'ears  been  an  invalid.  He  put  his  business  in  charge 
of  one  he  trusted.  His  confidence  was  misplaced.  There  was  a  sudden 
crash,  and  the  sick  and  disheartened  man  faced  what  seemed  absolute  ruin, 
everv  dollar  gone,  and  heavy  debts  against  him. 

;Mr.  Tuck  was  too  sick  a  man  to  do  anything.  His  wife  promptly  put 
her  household  in  charge  of  her  daughter,  conferred  with  the  creditors,  and 
soon  convinced  them  that  she  had  the  vim  and  the  brains  to  build  up  a  new 
business  from  the  wreck  of  the  old.  She  was  given  a  chance.  She  still  con- 
ducts the  drug  store  and  its  allied  departments.  Long  ago  Nannie  Tuck 
paid  off  every  cent  of  debt  with  full  interest.  She  has  been  full  of  original 
ideas.  All  this  time,  church,  temperance  and  Simday  school  work  has  been 
actively  engaged  in.  Nor  have  business  cares  made  her  dull,  narrow,  or  ill- 
tempered.  She  is  particularly  charitable  toward  her  sister-woman,  and  at 
forty-nine  was  able  to  say,  "  I  have  almost  completed  a  half-century,  and  no 
woman  can  ever  say  I  have  spread  an  unjust  report  against  her  good  name, 
or  ever  pushed  a  weak  sister  down." 

This  woman  who  has  stood  so  loyally  by  her  infirm  husband,  and  been 
a  pillar  of  strength  to  every  good  cause,  she  it  is  who  sent  a  list  of  her  faults 
to  be  recorded  in  these  pages  ! 

Mrs.  Tuck's  first  two  children,  both  sous,  died  at  birth.  Besides  them 
she  had  these  decendents  : 

Mary  Lora  Tuck-Baird",  b.  Sept.  13,  1S75  ;  m.  to  Riley  Baird,  June  25,  1893.     They 
have  Donald  Keith,  b.  April  8.  1897.     Their  home  is  in  Oklahoma. 

Grace  Tuck-Ileff',  b.  in  June,  1880.     She  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Ilefif.     They  have  one 
son,  Gerald  Tuck,  b.  Sept.  2i.  iSgg. 


26o 


Jibe   (Breene   family 


LORA  SARAH  NICHOLS-LA  MANCE^  born  April  2iid,  1857.  Mar- 
ried April  14th,  1880,  to  M.  N.  La  Mance.  She  is  the  author  of  this  book. 
As  to  what  manner  of  woman  she  is,  when  she  dies  this  might  be  inscribed 
on  her  headstone  : — 


LORA  S.  LA  MANCE. 

Here  Lies  a  woman  with   more  hobbies 
than  she  had  fingers  and  toes. 

*      *      * 

She  always  went  at  things  as  though  killing 
snakes. 

She  found  the  cup  of  life  full  and  rich,  and 
enjoyed  it  to  the  last  drop. 

She  departed  this  life,  firmly  believing  it  but 

the  prelude  to  an  infinitely  fuller  and 

deeper  life  beyond  the  grave,  with 

God  and  Christ  our  Saviour. 


In  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  The  lines  have  fallen  unto  her  in  pleas- 
ant places."  As  daughter,  sister,  wife  and  mother  she  has  all  of  her  life 
met  with  more  than  ordinary  affection.  She  has  had  time  for  study  ;  oppor- 
tunity to  gather  about  her  flowers,  books  and  curios,  and  a  chance  to  work 
for  the  reforms  and  beliefs  she  cherishes.  In  middle  life  she  began  to  write 
for  the  press,  her  first  efforts  being  along  floral  lines.  Of  her  series  of  floral 
booklets,  "Beautiful  Home  Surroundings,"  "  House  Plants,"  and  "  Pansies," 
75,000  copies  have  been  sold.  She  has  written  historical  sketches,  etc.,  and 
one  novel,  "  When  Roses  Have  Fallen,"  a  romance  of  early  Ohio.  She  is 
now  at  work  on  "  Our  First  Inheritance,"  a  book  on  surnames,  and  a  relig- 
ious biography,  "Jesus,  the  Christ."  This  last  she  esteems  as  the  best  thing 
she  has  written. 

Lora  S.  Nichols  was  married  April  14th,  1880,  to  Marcus  N.  La  Mance, 
of  Pineville,  Mo.  One  daughter,  Lora  Lee,  was  born  to  them,  January  27th, 
188 1.  Oak  Lawn,  the  home  of  the  family,  lies  at  the  foot  of  Battle  Moun- 
tain, from  the  summit  of  which  Pineville  was  shelled  during  the  Civil  War. 
It  owes  its  name  to  the  lawns  upon  the  one  hand,  with  their  background  of 
shrubs,  roses  and  flowers,  and  a  long  slope  upon  the  other,  this  declivity 
clothed  with  noble  forest  trees. 


^be   (Brcene   jfamili^  261 

M.  N.  La  Mance*  was  born  October  i6th,  1844,  of  Huguenot-French 
descent.  His  father  was  Lieut.  James  P.,  son  of  Jacob  and  grandson  of  John 
La  Mance,  who  crossed  the  ocean.  His  mother  was  Cynthia  H.,  daugliterof 
Adam  and  Jane  Given  Caldwell.  His  parents  were  married  in  Georgia.  IMarcus, 
however,  was  born  in  the  same  county  where  he  now  resides.  He  shows  the 
Scotch  characteristics  of  his  mother's  side  of  the  house,  being  conservative, 
prudent,  farseeing,  firm  as  a  rock,  and  honest  to  the  core. 

Marcus  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  Army  in  1863,  and  remained  with  it 
until  the  war  ended.  After  the  war  was  over,  father  and  son  returned  to 
find  the  town  nearly  all  burned,  and  the  streets  white  with  the  bloom  of  the 
dog  fennel.  So  destitute  was  the  land  that  during  a  considerable  part  of  that 
summer  of  1865  the  family's  sole  diet  was  braushorts  mush  and  wild  black- 
berries. 

In  the  spring  of  1866  M.  N.  La  Mance  opened  up  a  dry  goods  store  in 
Pineville,  following  the  same  occupation  as  his  father  and  grandfather  before 
him.  For  many  years  he  was  Post  Master,  and  he  served  four  terms  as 
County  Treasurer.  A  man  of  more  integrity  cannot  be  found  anywhere,  or 
one  more  deeply  respected. 

Lora  Lee,  the  only  child,  has  all  her  life  been  one  of  the  dearest  and 
most  affectionate  of  daughters.  She  holds  one  silver  and  two  gold  medals, 
won  in  her  school  days.  She  has  always  been  a  popular  young  woman,  be- 
cause of  so  generous  a  disposition,  so  warm  a  heart,  and  her  entire  freedom 
from  affectation  of  any  kind. 

Lora  Lee  La  Mance  was  married  April  14th,  1902,  to  Joseph  C.  Watkins, 
of  Galena,  ^lo.  He  was  born  September  ist,  1877.  He  is  the  son  of  Jo- 
seph C.  and  Betty  G.  Watkins.  The  father  was  a  well  known  educator,  and 
for  twenty-one  years  before  his  death  was  superintendent  of  schools  at  Ennis, 
Texas.  It  is  in  his  honor  that  the  Joseph  C.  Watkins  Library  of  Ennis, 
Texas,  is  named.  The  mother  has  made  a  life  specialty  of  music,  and  is  the 
author  of  an  elementary  work  upon  piano  forte  playing. 

Joseph  C.  Watkins,  Jr.,  is  an  exceptional  young  man,  a  Christian,  a 
scholar,  and  a  gentleman.     He  holds  several  diplomas  and  is  professionally 


♦Several  have  asked  the  meauing  of  the  family  name,  and  also  how  La  Manee  is  pronounced.  It  is 
an  old  and  rather  uncommon  French  name.  Originally  it  was  La  Normanee  orLe  Normance.  i.  e..  The 
Norman,  or  of  Normandy.  In  time,  the  Catholic  branch,  who  remained  in  France,  nmstlv  slmvtpnp.l  the 
name  to  Mance.  The  Protestant  wing,  in  eastern  Franf-e.  after  the  Massacre  of  8t.  l;  ,i  i  h  i  ...  v,  Aug. 
24,1572,fledinterroroverthe  borderintoSwitzerlanil.   Here  tlieii-namebecameshori.'i      i  n       I,,  "-i  in.'e. 

200  years  after  this,  John  La  Mance,  native  of  a  ^n■nc:■ll-^ipeaking  canton  of  Swit/'ilm  i, i  ■  tiie 

United  States.  He  pronounced  his  name  as  though  spelled  La  Monz,  with  the  last  coMsnuaiit  proiuuyed 
until  almost  La— Mon— ze.  Whereupon  his  Southern  neighbors  made  a  mess  of  the  name,  twisting  it  in- 
to Lamonts  and  Lemons,  Lemons  was  so  sour  a  surname  that  the  next  generation  Anglicized  the  pro- 
nounciation  as  La  Mance  to  rhyme  with  la  chance.  So  don't  try  to  Frenchify  the  author's  name.  It  has 
Americanized  itself,  and  that  is  better. 


262  ^be   (5recne   Ifamilip 

a  Civil  Engineer  and  Mineralogist.  He  is  the  General  Manager  of  the 
McDonald  Land  and  Mining  Co.'s  interests  in  Stone  and  McDonald  Count- 
ies, in  Missouri. 

LouALEE  Watkins'".  bom  August  2,  1904. 


p 


APPENDIX 


Bppcnbix 


AN   ACCOUNT   OF  THE  MATTESON,  LASCELLE-WARDWELE, 
WAITE  AND  OTHER  FAMILIES. 

A  Correction.  On  page  17  Robert  the  Strong,  the  head  of  the  royal 
Capet  line,  is  spoken  of  as  a  Saxon  leader  in  England.  It  should  have  been 
"  a  Saxon  leader  in  Gcniia/iy.^^ 

Fully  one-third  of  the  Quidnessett  Greenes  are  of  jMatteson  descent  also. 
Nearly  as  many  are  of  Lascelle-Wardwell  extraction.  Toward  a  half  are  of 
Waite  blood.  All  that  I  can  learn  of  these  lines  is  therefore  given  here. 
This  is  the  first  time  the  Lascelle-Wardwell  or  IMatteson  lines  have  had  their 
British  history  traced.     The  task  has  been  most  difficult,  therefore. 

THE   MATTESONS 

Matteson,  JMadison,  Mathewson  and  ]\Iathis  are  all  surnames  derived 
from  Matheson.  The  Alathesons  were  a  sub-clan  of  the  royal  siol  claim 
(great  seed  or  royal  clan)  of  McAlpine.  This  clan  united  in  its  blood  two 
rival  royal  lines,  that  for  hundreds  of  years  had  divided  Scotland's  territory 
between  them. 

Scotland  lies  to  the  north  of  England.  From  55  B.  C.  to  A.  D.  448  the 
Romans  held  England  as  a  conquered  province.  But  this  land  of  North 
Britain  stubbornly  resisted  and  perpetually  harassed  them.  It  was  held  by 
a  Celtic  people  originally  from  the  Orkney  Islands.  They  were  sun-wor- 
shippers, living  in  tents.  They  were  fierce  and  savage,  daubing  their  bodies 
with  paint,  or  hideously  staining  their  skins  with  the  juice  of  the  woad,  or 
dyer's  weed. 

The  historian,  Dion  Cassius,  speaks  of  the  annoyance  the  Emperor  Se- 
verus  received  A.  D.  208,  from  Maeatas  in  the  vicinity  of  Hadrian's  Wall,  a 
fortified  rampart,  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  long,  built  to  keep  the  bar- 
barians off  the  Roman  territon,'.  Severus  lost  forty  thousand  men  trying  to 
overcome  the  Caledonians  and  this  tribe.    This  is  the  first  mention  in  history 


266  Zbc   6reene   famtli? 

of  the  Mseatfe,  presumably  the  nucleus  of  the  Matheson  clan.  The  Romans 
later  gave  the  name  of  Picts  to  all  the  North  Britain  tribes,  including  the 
Mseatae. 

After  the  Romans  left  Britain,  in  448,  the  Picts  plundered  the  Britons. 
This  unwarlike  people  appealed  to  the  Saxons  in  Germany  to  help  them. 
The  Saxons  came,  sent  the  Picts  about  their  business,  and  gobbled  up  Britain 
for  themseh-es.     With  them  began  England  and  English  history. 

The  Picts  were  no  longer  savages.  They  had  already  picked  up — no 
pun  intended — a  few  glosses  of  civilization,  when  in  A.  D.  400,  Saint  Nini- 
an  preached  the  gospel  to  them  and  converted  the  South  Picts.  From  that 
time  their  advance  was  rapid.  But  they  had  scarcely  settled  down  to  peace- 
ful pursuits  when  a  rival  nation  appeared  contending  for  Pictavia  or  Caledo- 
nia, as  North  Britain  was  variously  called. 

A  few  centuries  before  Ireland  had  been  conquered  by  the  Gael,  said  to 
have  been  Milesians  from  Spain.  They  were  a  Celtic  people,  for  they  could, 
though  with  some  diificulty,  converse  with  the  Picts  of  North  Britain. 

The  city  of  Tara  was  their  capital,  and  at  Tara's  court  were  gathered  an 
imposing  number  of  bards,  sages,  sooth-sayers  and  law-makers,  showing  that, 
though  heathen,  their  civilization  was  of  a  high  type  for  those  days.  Mac- 
firbis,  who  died  in  1400,  quotes  one  of  the  old  Irish  bards  as  saying  of  this 
ruling  class  : — "  Every  one  who  is  white  of  skin,  brown  of  hair,  bold,  honor- 
able, daring,  prosperous,  Ijountiful  in  the  bestowal  of  property,  wealth  and 
rings,  and  who  is  not  afraid  of  battle  or  combat — is  the  descendant  of  I\Iilesi- 
us  in  Erinn."     This  is  flattering,  but  graphic. 

A.  D.  426,  Saint  Patrick  the  Missionary  began  his  labors  in  Ireland. 
He  was  so  earnest  and  faithful  that  King  Laogaire  McNeill  became  a  con- 
vert, and  the  whole  nation  followed  the  King's  example.  The  good  bishop 
spent  the  rest  of  his  century  or  so  of  life  in  Ireland.  It  is  said  that  he  him- 
self baptized  more  than  twelve  thousand  persons.  One  of  these  was  a  boy 
of  royal  blood,  Fergus  McEarc,  son  of  Earc  (or  Ferchard),  King  of  Meath, 
the  principal  kingdom.  Patrick  was  attracted  to  the  lad  and  gave  him  his 
patriarchal  blessing,  a  circumstance  of  which  the  prince  was  not  a  little 
proud  and  to  which  it  is  said  he  attributed  much  of  his  good  fortune  in 
after  days. 

Fergus  raised  an  army  of  men  to  conquer  himself  a  kingdom  in  the 
land  of  the  Picts.  The  Irish  king  seems  to  have  helped  him,  perhaps  glad 
to  be  rid  of  so  ambitious  a  .spirit  so  near  his  throne.  It  was  A.  D.  503  when 
the  Irish  army  crossed  the  North  Channel  in  their  skin  boats,  and  landed 
in  what  is  now  Argyleshire,  Scotland.  Fergus  went  forth  prepared  both  to 
conquer  and  to  colonize.  He  had  his  priests  and  his  Seanachaidhe^  men 
skilled  in  herbs  and  remedies.     He  had  his  bards,  one  set  of  which  chanted 


^be   6reene   jTaniil^ 


267 


the  laws,  and  one  the  chronicles  of  the  nation.  These  were  his  harper-her- 
alds, that  led  his  army  into  battle.  He  had,  as  his  rank  required,  his  Oelamh 
Fila^  the  Master  Poet,  whose  office  requires  him  to  know  three  hundred  and 
fifty  songs  of  wars,  destructions,  adventures  and  battles,  and  to  have  at  his 
tongue's  end  poems  of  Tir  Tairiigair,  the  Land  of  Promise,  and  Magh  Mell, 
the  Plain  of  Honey,  the  half-heathen,  half-christian  Paradise,  and  the  Isle  of 
the  Blessed,  with  a  wonderful  palace  of  glass  that  floats  in  the  air.  Only  a 
ruler  could  wear  the  peaked  hat  of  thin,  beaten  gold  ;  but  the  Oelanili  Fila 
might  wear  the  fringed  and  6color  robe,  lawful  beside  but  for   the  king  to 


STONB     OF-     SCONE  "     IN     CORONATION    CHAIR 

wear.     These  high  honors  show  the   control  exercised   over   Erin's  rude 
warriors  by  the  learned  class  of  that  day. 

According  to  most  authorities,  Fergus  McEarc  carried  with  him  also  a 
sacred  stone  from  Tara.  According  to  others  it  was  brought  to  lona  fifty- 
eight  years  later  by  Saint  Columba.  To  the  modern  eye  it  is  but  a  slab  of 
dull  red  sand-stone,  twenty-six  inches  long,  sixteen  inches  broad,  and  ten 
inches  thick.  But  this  inanimate  stone  has  played  no  small  part  in  history. 
In  after  years  fabulous  stories  gathered  about  it.  It  was  said  to  have  been 
the  stone  upon  which  Jacob  pillowed  his  head  when  he  saw  the  vision  of 
angels  ascending  and  descending  a  ladder  from  Heaven.  It  was  claimed  the 
stone  was  carried  from   Palestine  to  Egypt  by  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,*  who 


e."  by  William  Ellery  Cu 


26S  tEbe   (5reene   jfamil^ 

acted  as  a  guardian  of  the  Princess  Circa  or  Scola,  who  fled  to  that  land 
shortly  after  her  father,  King  Zedekiah,  was  taken  captive  to  Babylon, 
B.  C.  580. 

The  story  goes  that  Princess  Circa  went  from  Egypt  to  Ireland,  where 
refugees  from  the  lost  ten  tribes  had  already  established  themselves.  She 
took  the  precious  stone  with  her  because  all  her  ancestors,  the  kings  of 
Israel,  had  been  crowned  upon  it.  She  married  a  royal  prince,  and  from  her 
time  all  the  Irish  kings  were  crowned  upon  it  to  the  time  of  Fergus  McEarc, 
who  carried  it  to  Scotland. 

Still  another  account  of  this  "  Holy  Pillar  of  Jacob,"  is  that  Hiber  or 
Iber,  the  Phoenician,  came  from  Palestine  and  Egypt  to  Spam,  bringing  the 
relic.  F'rom  there  he  came  with  Miletus,  and  helped  to  conquer  Ireland, 
which  is  sometimes  called  Hibernia  in  his  name.  Whatever  its  real  history 
it  was  venerated  as  sacred.  It  was  called  the  Stone  of  Scone,  because  the 
Scotch  Kings  were  crowned  on  it  at  Scone,  and  Lia  Fail,  i.  e.,  the  Stone  of 
Destiny,  because  it  was  held  to  insure  the  supremacy  of  the  kingdom  that 
possessed  it.  In  1296,  Edward  I.,  King  of  England,  captured  the  stone  from 
its  shrine  at  Scone,  and  carried  it  to  England,  where  he  had  a  magnificent 
cornation  chair  built  to  receive  it.  Every  English  monarch  since  then  has 
been  crowned  at  Westminster  Cathedral,  sitting  upon  the  sacred  stone  that 
Fergus  McEarc  brought  across  the  channel  fourteen  hundred  years  ago. 

King  Fergus  wrested  West  Scotland  from  the  Picts,  and  founded  the 
kingdom  of  Dalriada,  or  New  Scotia.  Tradition  says  both  he  and  his  son 
Eugenius  were  slain  in  battle. 

Half  a  century  later  a  son  of  the  royal  Irish  house  became  a  missionary 
priest.  This  Columba,  or  Colum  Ceille,  sailed  away  to  the  new  kingdom 
across  the  sea  in  563.  The  king  then  upon  the  throne  was  Conal,  a  great- 
grandson  of  Fergus.  Columba  asked  of  King  Conal,  and  of  King  Brude  of 
the  rival  Pict  nation,  a  grant  of  the  quiet  little  island  of  lona,  that  he  might 
build  a  monastery  and  a  priests'  college  there.  His  favor  was  granted,  and 
he  immediately  erected  his  ecclesiastical  buildings.  What  lona  did  for  Scot- 
land is  beyond  computation.  For  centuries  it  was,  as  Dr.  Johnson  has  said, 
"  The  luminary  whence  savage  clans  and  roving  barbarians  derived  the  bene- 
fits of  knowledge  and  the  blessings  of  religion." 

King  Brude  himself,  and  all  of  the  North  Picts,  were  yet  heathen.  He 
granted  Columba  permission  to  preach  before  him,  but  connived  at  his  pagan 
priests  and  sages  raising  an  infernal  din  as  soon  as  the  sermon  began.  Col- 
umba had  a  voice  of  extraordinary  compass.  He  immediately  chanted  the 
forty-fifth  Psalm  in  a  voice  so  clear  and  loud  that  all  the  shrieks  and  yells  of 
the  Picts  could  not  drown  it.  King  Brude  thought  it  a  miracle  and  at  once, 
with  all  his  people,  embraced  Christianity.     This  good  priest  of  the  royal 


^be   (5reene   JTamii^  269 

house  we  are  tracing  did  a  wonderful,  noble  and  lasting  work.  And  he 
died,  as  became  his  life,  on  his  knees  at  prayer. 

The  two  lines  of  Dalriada  and  Pict  Kings  were  both  now  Christians. 
None  the  less  they  remained  rivals  at  perennial  war  between  themselves. 
Neither  was  able  to  expel  the  other,  but  for  two  centuries  or  more  the  Pict 
kings  were  the  stronger. 

The  history  of  these  Pict  kings  is  most  obscure.  Sir  Walter  Scott  in 
the  sixth  chapter  of  The  Antiquary  touches  off  in  ludicrous  fashion  the  un- 
pronounceable names  of  some  of  their  kings, — Trynel  McLachlin,  Drust 
McTallargam,  Golarge  McChanannail  and  Eachan  JMcFungus,  that  made 
Sir  Arthur  sneeze  but  to  speak  them.  Whereupon  sarcastic  Jonathan  Old- 
buck  put  in  a  fling  about  "numbering  in  genealogy  all  the  brawling,  bullet- 
headed  since  the  days   of   Crenttreminachcryme, — not    one  of 

whom  could  write  his  own  name  ! " 

Occasionally  a  name  stands  out  with  more  distinctness.  There  was  an- 
other King  Brude,  who  in  685  killed  the  English  King  Egfred  in  battle,  and 
gained  great  victories.  There  was  pious  King  Nectan,  who  held  great  re- 
ligious councils,  and  built  churches.  After  him,  in  730,  came  King  Angus 
McFergus,  the  most  acti\e  of  all.  He  conquered  his  rival.  King  Selvach,  of 
Dalriada.  The  fortunes  of  the  Scottish  or  Delriada  kings  were  at  low  ebb, 
indeed. 

Not  far  from  A.  D.  800,  Alpine  came  to  the  weak  Scotch  throne.  He 
was  both  a  warrior  and  statesman.  He  had  the  sagacity  to  see  there  could 
never  be  peace  with  two  royal  houses  to  claim  the  same  territory.  Having  ob- 
tained an  advantage  over  the  Picts,  he  compelled  their  king  to  give  him  the 
Pictish  crown  princess  in  marriage.  The  Pictish  crown  descended  each  time 
through  a  daughter.  The  oldest  son  of  the  oldest  daughter  inherited  the 
crown  from  his  grandfather,  instead  of  it  going  to  the  kings'  sons.  Alpine's 
heir  was  Kenneth,  and  Kenneth  was,  of  course,  the  heir  through  his  mother 
to  the  Pict  Kingdom.  King  Kenneth  succeeded  his  father  in  836.  Seven 
years  later  he  succeeded  the  old  Pict  King,  and  the  two  kingdoms  were 
united.  It  was  Kenneth's  policy  to  incorporate  the  Picts  with  the  Dalraida, 
henceforth  known  solely  as  the  Scotch,  and  their  land  as  Scotland.  It  is 
said  the  Highland  dress  owes  all  its  distinctive  features  to  the  Picts,  and  that 
the  red  hair  and  grey  eyes,  so  often  seen  in  Scotchmen,  are  from  the  Picts, 
also.     On  the  other  hand  their  language  and  customs  gave  way  to  the  Irish. 

Kenneth  was  a  lineal  descendant  from  Fergus  McEarc  of  more  than 
300  years  before.  So  far  as  we  know,  the  oldest  tribe  among  the  Picts  was 
the  Maeatae.  It  was  a  particularly  warlike  tribe  also.  It  is  reasonable  that 
from  this  old  and  heroic  clan  the  royal  line  should  spring.  When  the  two 
peoples  were  merged  together,  the  king's  own  lines  would  be  naturally  placed 


270  ^be   (Breene    jfamil^ 

together  in  one  royal  clan.  That  there  was  such  a  royal  line  we  know, 
which  was  called  the  Clan  of  McAlpine,  in  honor  of  King  Kenneth's  father. 
The  Mathesons  were  a  division  or  snb-clan  of  this.  Their  tradition  has  ever 
been  that  they  were  of  markedly  royal  blood;  their  name  means  "sons  of 
heroes,"  and  is  apparently  derived  from  the  obsolete  term  of  Mseatse  itself. 
It  is  supposed,  therefore,  that  they  are  descendants  of  the  royal  Pict  clan, 
intermarried  with  the  McAlpine  line  until  equally  of  their  own  blood  also- 
All  of  the  Scotch  kings  are  descended  from  Kenneth,  as  are  also  all  of  the 
English  kings  from  James  I.  The  King  of  England  counts  among  his  pro- 
genitors the  Pict  and  early  Scotch  Kings.  These  far-away  kings,  however, 
are  as  truly  the  fore-fathers  of  those  who  bear  the  Matheson  or  Mattison 
name  as  they  are  of  England's  royal  family. 

A  Scotch  clan  consists  of  tribesmen  who  intermarry  until  the  humblest 
of  the  clan  has  of  the  blood  of  the  head  of  the  clan  who  gave  it  its  name. 
Clan  pride  was  great.  The  old  Scotch  traced  their  kinship  to  fourteenth 
coiisins,  or  five  hundred  years  to  a  common  ancestor.  The  head  of  each 
clan  was  called  The  ]\IcIntosli,  The  McDonald,  The  Matheson,  etc.  His 
word  was  law,  above  the  king's  own.  When  the  chief  would  summon  his 
men  to  war,  he  took  a  cross  of  wood,  marked  it  with  fire  and  blood,  then 
gave  it  to  the  first  man  he  met,  naming  a  day  and  the  field  of  rendezvous. 
He  who  received  the  "  fiery  cross "  fled  as  though  for  his  life,  until  he 
reached  another  one  of  the  tribe,  to  whom  he  gave  the  cross  and  message. 
The  largest  clan  in  this  way  was  assembled  in  two  days'  time.  In  time  a  large 
clan  divided  into  sub-clans,  who  never,  however,  forgot  their  common  tie. 

The  royal  clan  of  IMcAlpine  divided  into  the  sub-clans  of  McGregor, 
Grant,  ]\IcKinnon,  McNab,  McPhie,  McOuarie,  ]\IcAuley  and  Matheson. 
They  had  many  customs  in  common,  and  all  wore  in  battle  or  parade  the 
clan  badge,  a  sprig  of  pine  or  Scotch  fir.  Scott  in  his  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
that  has  for  its  motif  the  pride  and  power  of  the  McAlpine  chief,  put  this 
song  of  the  pine  in  the  mouth  of  a  hundred  clansmen,  as  they  sing  of  their 
chief,  Rhoderic  Dhu. 

"  Hail  to  the  chief  who  in  triumph  advances  ! 
Honored  and  blest  be  the  ever-green  Pine  ! 
Long  may  the  tree,  in  his  banner  tliat  glances. 
Flourish,  the  shelter  and  grace  of  our  line  ! 
Heaven  send  it  happy  dew. 
Earth  lend  it  sap  anew, 
Gayly  to  bourgeon  and  broadiy  to  grow, 
While  every  Highland  glen 
Sends  our  shout  back  again, 
'  Roderigh  Vich  Alpine  dhu,  ho!  ieroe  ! ' 


Sbe    (Breene   Jfainil^ 


271 


"Ours  is  no  sapling,  cliance-sown  by  tiie  tount.iin. 
Blooming  at  Beltane,  in  winter  to  fade  : 
When  the  whirlwind  has  stripped  every  leaf  on  the  mountain. 
The  more  shall  Clan  Alpine  exult  in  her  shade. 

Moored  in  the  rifted  rock, 

Proof  to  the  tempest's  shock. 
Firmer  he  roots  him  the  ruder  it  blows  ; 

Mentieth  arid  Breadalbane,  then. 

Echo  his  praise  again, 
'  Roderigh  Vich  Alpine  dliu,  ho  !  ieroe  !  '"  * 

The  seat  of  the  Matheson  clan  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  High- 
lands of  Rosshire,  in  Northern  Scotland.  They  had  their  own  clan  music 
that  their  bag-pipers  played,  and  they  rushed  into  battle  with  a  wild  cath- 
ghainn  or  battle  cry,  '■'■  Dail  acha'n  da  t/iear  tiai f'' — "The  field  between 
two  hills  !  "  This  was  their  clan  rendezvous,  a  valley  plain  where  they  al- 
ways assembled  to  muster  for  warfare,  for  every  ]\Iatheson  believed  that  ill- 
luck  would  attend  them  did  they  muster  elsewhere.  They  had  their  own 
tartan  plaid,  that  only  a  Matheson  might  wear,  and  the  men  wore  buskins, 
or  short  boots  of  deer-skin  after  a  pattern  of  their  own. 

For  hundreds  of  years  they  had  their  great  clan  gatherings,  a  feature  of 
which  was  the  dancing  of  the  clansmen.  Expert  dancers  not  only  could  "  do 
the  spring,"  as  the  Scotch  say,  in  reel,  fling  and  strathspery,  but  could  wind 
through  the  intricate  step  of  "  Kemshoal,  Kemkossy,  Lamatrast,  Kenbrade- 
noch  and  forgladlu." 

After  the  Reformation  the  clan  embraced  the  most  straight-laced  Pres- 
byterianism.  Under  James  I.,  about  1608,  there  was  a  great  emigration  of 
the  Scotch  to  Ulster,  in  the  northern  part  of  Ireland.  Some  of  that  branch 
of  the  family  in  which  those  who  read  this  sketch  are  interested,  were  among 
the  number.  It  was  two  grandsons  of  these  emigrants  that  came  to  New 
England  in  the  early  days,  and  whose  descendants  are  now  so  numerous. 
One  of  these  came  to  R.  I.,  probably  about  1668.  This  was  Henry  Matteson, 
born  in  Ireland,  Oct..  1646.  He  married  Hannah  Parsons,  and  became  the 
head  of  a  large  line  that  has  largely  intermarried  with  the  house  of  Greene. 
A  large  part  of  the  Josiah  ^Matteson  line  adopted  the  spelling  and  pronun- 
ciation of  ]Mathewson.  President  James  ]\Iadison  was  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry 
also.  At  the  time  of  his  election,  a  part  of  the  family,  because  he  was  the 
most  eminent  of  the  blood,  adopted  his  form  of  the  name  in  compliment  to 
him.  But  Matteson,  Mathewson  or  jMadison,  all  are  of  the  same  general 
descent. 

There  was  a  James  ilatteson  who  came  to  R.  I.  before    1650.     His  de- 

*  Black  Eoderiek.  descendant  of  Alpine,  hurrah  ! 


272  tlbe   (Breene   family 

scendants  are  yet  about  Newport,  and  southern  R.  I.  His  line  was  easily 
enough  traced,  but  as  it  has  not  intermarried  either  with  the  Henry  Matte- 
son  branch,  or  the  Greene's,  it  is  not  given.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  uncle  of  Henry  Matteson. 

Many  have  asked  for  a  genealogical  table  of  the  Mattesons.  I  will  give 
the  men  of  the  family  for  the  first  three  generations,  and  sometimes  beyond 
that.  Almost  any  one  of  the  Mattesons  can  trace  their  ancestry  back  to 
Revolutionary  times,  so  that  this  will  be  ample  for  them  to  complete  their 
l^edigree.  Henry,  the  father,  born  in  1646  in  Ireland.  Married  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Hugh  Parsons  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Wm.  English. 
Henry  died  in  1690.  The)-  had  a  daughter,  Hannah,  and  six  sons,  Henry, 
Thomas,  Francis,  Joseph,  Josiah  and  Hezekiah. 

CAPT.  HENRY  MATTESON=,  b.  1670;  m.  Judith  Weaver  in  1693. 
He  had  10  children,  6  of  them  sons.  Two  of  his  children  m.  Waites,  3  sons 
and  3  grandsons  m.  Sweets.     Line  much  crossed  with  the  Greenes. 

Henry^,  m.  Ruth  Sweet,  1720.  His  line  was  continued  by  Henry,  Ruth,  who  m.  John 
Greene',  (see  Chapter  XV.),  Caleb,  Dinah,  who  m.  her  cousin  Jonathan  ;  Nathan,  who  m. 
"Wealthy  John"  Greene's  step-daughter  Freelove  Bowen;  Thankful,  who  ni.  William  Waite, 
and  Jonathan,  whose  1st  wife  was  Alice  -Sweet,  and  2d  Meriba  Waite.  By  his  last  wife 
this  Jonathan  had  Jonathan.  Jr.,  whose  line  is  traced  with  the  Howards,  in  Chapter  XXVIII. 

John',  b.  1706  ;  111.  Elizabeth  Hunt.  They  had  Thomas,  who  m.  Hester  ArnoKl  ;  John, 
Henry,  whom.  Dinah  Spink  in  1760;  and  probably  Joseph,  who  m.  Catherine   Hatheway. 

J.\MES',  b.  1712.  He  ra.  Enfield  Greene.  See  Chapter  XV.  Their  son,  Uri:ih.  m. 
Mrs.  Waite  Sweet. 

Ebenezer',  b.  171S;  m.  Susannah  Comstock.  Their  son,  Edmund',  m.  (i)  Susannah  Mat- 
teson, of  the  Thomas  Matteson^  line  ;  and  (2)  Virtue  Greene.  See  Chapter  XX.  This 
Edmund'  had  John,  Rowland  and  Ezra,  and  by  the  last  wife,  Stukeley.  Another  son  of 
Ebenezer*  was  Ebenezer',  who  m.  Sarah  or  Susan  Fish,  or  both. 

Hezeki.\h',  m.  Mary  Sweet,  1639.  He  had  7  d.,  4  sons.  George',  was  the  father  of 
Reuben,  b.  1780.  Reuben  m.  Barbara  Bowen.  Thomas  was  b.  1762,  no  other  record.  Jer- 
emiah, b.  Dec.  31,  1743,  m.  Ruth  Sweet  at  ig.  He  had  Caleb,  Jesse  and  Jeremiah  ;  Sol- 
omon, who  m.  Rosanna,  of  Josiah  Matteson  line  ;  and  Reuben,  b.  M.ay  g,  1767,  who  ni. 
Sarah  Matteson. 

It  will  be  seen  there  were  two  Reuben^s,  cousins  to  each  other  ;  Reuben*  of  George*. 
Hezekiah',  Capt.  Henry^,  b.  17S0,  m.  Esther  Burleson.  They  had  Archibald,  John,  Reu- 
ben, James,  and  3  dau.  The  oldest  of  the  sons,  Henry',  m.  May  Angelyn  Rouse,  and  had 
Walter  H.",  who  m.  Eliza  J.  Hope,  .ind  has  Minnie  Angelyn  and  Susie  Elizabeth. 

THOMAS  MATTESON^  Probably  the  second  son,  as  he  was  m. 
Nov.  14,  1695,  to  Martha  Shippee.  They  had  7  or  8  children,  3  of  them  sons. 
Thomas  Matteson'-'.  b.  1703.  He  and  his  sister  Mercy,  married  brother  and  sister. 
His  wife  was  Susannah,  the  daughter  of  Frances,  and  granddaughter  of  John  Briggs.  Her 
mother  was  Susannah,  daughter  of  John  and  Susannah  Griffin-Spencer,  and  granddaughter 
of  William  Spencer,  the  emigrant.  The  first  3  sons  are  by  her.  The  second  wife's  name  is 
not  known.      His  5  daughters  T  do  not  give. 

David  Matteson'.  b.  March  26.  1726. 

Richard    Matteson',  b.  Sept,  22.  1728.     Father  of   Susannah,  whom,  her  second 
cousin,  Edmund*  of  Eben',  Freelove  and  Richard,  Jr,,  whom.  Mary  Spencer  in  1775. 
Jonathan  Matteson',  b.  June  l6,  1730.     He  had  Josiah  and  two  dau, 
Solomon  Matteson',  b.  Oct.  5,  I73g.     Married  3  times. 


^be   (Breene   Jfamtl^  273 


Francis'',  (Piob.)  born,  1763. 

Oliver^.      Prob.  by    the  second   wife.     Bom,  17S7.      Removed  in    i8o3    to 
Otsego  Co.,  N.  v.,  and    became  the  head  of  a  well    known  family  there.     By 
his  first  wife,  Hannah  Brounell,  he  was  the  father  of  Celinda  (.Mrs.  N.  Tolls), 
Anson  and  Henry.       By  the   second    wife.  Lydia    Draper,  he    had   Catherine 
(Mrs.  W.  Toll),  Electa   (Mrs.  Bresee),  Andrew   P.,  Clynthia  (Mrs.  J,  Angel). 
Edward  and  Martha  (Mrs.  D.  Radley),  all  heads  of  families. 
The  last  wife  of  .Soloman'   appears  to    have   been  Sarah,  the  dan.  of  Jeremiah  and 
Hannah  (Matteson)  Waite.      By  her  he  had  Joseph,  born  1792  ;   Thomas,  born  1794, 
(who  was  the  father  of  Oliver,  born  1820),  and  Sheffield,  born  1796. 
Joseph^,  b.  1705.       A    Revolutionary   soldier.       His  sons  were  Benjamin,  who  m.  Mary 
Pierce,  and  Elias,  b.  1746. 
Henry^,  b.  1707. 

JOSEPH  MATTESON-.     His  first  wife  was  Rachel .     By  her 

he  had  Joseph,  b.  1707.  His  second  wife  was  Martha  Greene.  He  had  a 
large  family  of  children  by  her,  whose  line  is  given  in  Chapter  XX. 

FRANCIS  MATTESON-,  b.  March  15,  1680;  m.  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Phebe  Nichols,  May  i,  1700.  10  children,  5  of  them  sons. 
Their  daughter,  Hannah'",  m.  Pasco  Whitford,  and  had  George',  who  m.  Di- 
nah Whitford,  his  cousin.  George  and  Dinah's  only  child,  Esther',  m.  Jo- 
seph Tarbox.  Roby  Tarbox''  became  -Mrs.  Spencer,  and  Amanda  Spencer'^ 
became  Mrs.  Job  Briggs.     See  Chapter  XX. 

JOHN^,  b.  1704,  had  John',  who  m.  Comfort  Weaver,  and  had  son  Eleazer.     By  a  second 
wife,  Martha  Phillips,  of  Greene  descent,  he  had  Joshua,  John,  and  4  dan.   See  Chapter  XX. 
Francis',  m.  Dinah  Tibbetts,  1740. 

Henry',  b.  1712  ;  m.  Rachel  Greene  of  Nathaniel  and  Anna  Gould,  Warwick  Greenes. 
She  d.  1740,  leaving  prob.  Rachel,  who  m.  Wm.  Richmond. 
Job',  b.  about  1714  ;  m.  twice.     He  had  4  dan.  and  2  sons. 

Allen',  by  his  first  wife,  was  b.  Jan.  20,  1755.  Removed  to  Berlin,  N,  Y.  He 
was  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  His  wife  was  Jermima  Johnson.  He  had  David,  Job, 
who  m.  Rebecca  Wilcox  ;  Ebenezer,  who  ni.  Ro.xanna  Greene,  and  Allen,  who  m. 
Lucy  Thomas.     All  of  N.  Y. 

Capt.  David  Matteson^,  of  above,  in.  Anna  Fuller,  descended  from  Dr. 
Samuel  Fuller,  the  only  physician  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower.  The  line 
came  thus  :  Dr.  .Samuel',  Robert',  Samuel',  Abial',  Jedutlian',  Amos*,  Dan- 
iel', and  Anna".  They  had  S  children,  but  only  2  continued  the  line.  David 
O.*,  by  second  wife,  Helen  M.  Rose,  has  Martha  and  Amanda.  Job  O.*  m. 
Hannah  Nichols  in  1S48.  She  was  descended  from  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols 
(see  Chapter  XV)  thus:  Hon.  Thomas',  Deputy  Governor  Benjamin-,  John', 
Jonathan',  Capt.  John^,  George*,  and  Hannah'.  Job  O.'  and  Hannah  had 
Edwin',  who  m.  Alma  Shaw,  and  Albert  O.',  a  farmer  and  surveyor,  who  lives 
on  the  homestead  taken  up  by  his  great-grandfather  in  17SS.  He  has  many 
relics,  and  is  keenly  interested  in  genealogy.  He  married  his  cousin,  Amanda 
E.  Matteson,  dau.  of  David  O.  They  have  Allen,  Harold,  Phyllis  and 
Stephen,  Job  O."  had  also  a  daughter,  Eunice',  who  m,  Owen  D.  Fuller, 
like  herself,  descended  from  Daniel  Fuller,  the  7th  in  descent  from  Dr.  Fuller 
of  the  Mayflower.  They  live  in  West  Shelly,  N.  V.,  and  have  Albert,  Floyd 
and  Eunice. 
Joab',  (by  last  wife),  m.  Deliverance  Spink.  He  had  daughters,  and  sons  Ishmael 
and  Titus. 
Thomas',  had  Joseph*,  who  m.  Ruth  Jones,  1762. 


274  ^l5e   (Brecne   family 

JOSIAH  MATTESONl  Next  to  the  youngest  son  of  Henry  IMatte- 
son,  the  Emigrant.  Named  after  his  mother's  people.  Born  about  1685. 
He  lived  for  many  years  in  Foster,  R.  I.,  but  his  line  are  nearly  all  of  West 
Greenwich.  He  married  Rosanna,  daughter  of  Zerubabel  Westcott.  [Rich- 
ard Westcott',  Stukeley  Westcott",  (see  Chapter  VI),  Robert^  ZerubabeP, 
Rosanna".]  He  had  Nathan,  who  m.  in  1738,  David,  who  m.  in  1739,  and 
Josiah,  whom,  in  1746.  He  probably  had  John  who  m.  in  1740,  James, 
whom,  in  1749,  and  possibly  William,  who  m.  in  1752. 
David',  Lived  in  West  Greenwicli.  R.  I. 

Silas*,  m.  Patience 1766.    Had  Rosanna*  who  m.  Solomon*  of  Capt.  Henry' 

line,   and    Christopher*,    whose   son    was  James  McKinsey'.     Also   James   Oliver. 
Gardiner,  Royal,  John  and  Josiah  Gifford. 

David*,  b.  Oct.  25,  1763.     A  Revol.   Soldier.    He  m.  Dorcas,  dau.  of  Silas  Waitc. 
They  had  Andrew  rind  Waite,  who  moved  to  Pa. 

Amos*,  moved  to  Mich.  Had  David,  Joseph,  a  Chicago  capitalist,  and 
daughters. 

Peleg*,  m.  Polly  James.  13  children.  Rebecci"  m.  Calvin  Wilco.x.  Pliilip« 
by  two  wives  had  9  children  (See  chapter  XVIII  for  line  of  David  of  these.) 
Simon*  h.-id  I  child  ;  Hannah' m.  Daniel  Lillibredge  and  had  Thurston.  Rhoda, 
Amyand  Hannah;  Pele.s;  Jr.'m.  Hannah,  dau. of  Col.  Edward  Barber;  hischild- 
ren  are  Mary  M..  widow  of  Charles  S.  Nichols,  and  mother  of  Nettie 
May  Nichols,  and  David  Edwin,  who  m.  .-Mice  A.  Greene,  (see  Chapter  XXI., 
line  of  White  Hat  John),  and  Phebe  C,  wife  of  J.  J.  Greene.  4  children. 
Of  the  other  children  of  Peleg*,  Dr.  James'  line  are  all  dead  ;  Fanny*  and 
Polly*  m.  Bradford  and  Welcome  Barber,  and  had  6  and  7  children  respective- 
ly, of  which  Fanny's  are  all  dead  ;  Albert  m,  twice,  children  all  de.id.  .An- 
drew* has  2  children,  and  Charles*  is  a  bachelor. 

Jeremiah*,  m.  Sallie  Bennett.  John,  William.  Benjamin,  George  and  Jere- 
miah married. 

Benoni',  m.  .Mice,  dau.  of  Col.  Edward  I?arber.     Had  Phebe  and  Dorcas, 

and    Eunice,   who  m.   Reynolds  Waite,  and    had   a   dau.,  Mabel  E.  .\.     See 

Chapter  XVHI. 

Josiah^  m.  Mercy  Nichols,  March  5,  1746.     She  descended  from  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols 

thus  :     Thomas',  Thonla^^  b.  1660,  and  m.  to   Mercy    Reynolds  ;  Stephen',  m.   to   Sarah, 

and  Mercy,  their  daughter,  born,  1722. 

Stukeley*,  m.  Mapleb  Hopkins.  Their  dau.  Sally  m.  Caleb  Shippce. 
Rosanna*,  m.  Ezekiel  Matteson.  of  Joseph-  Line.  See  Chapter  XX. 
Rachel*,  m.  Burton  Sweet.     .See  Chapter  XXH. 

Russell*,  b.  April  18,  1774  :  m.  Mary  Straight.     Had   beside  these  given  below, 
Luther,  .\bel  and  George. 

David  A.*     He  had  Bradford,  David  S.  and  Sarah. 

Wilbur*,  m.  Hannah  Potter.  Took  the  name  of  Mathewson,  followed  by 
all  his  descendants. 

Ezekiel*.  Had  George.  Daniel,  John,  Charles,  Byron,  and  4  dau. 
Syria  Wilbur*,  m.  Anna  Eliza  Hill,  descended  from  Roger  Wiiiiams, 
the  Warwicks.  Greenes,  Hills.  Aliens,  Lascelle-Wardwells,  and  other 
first  families  of  R.  I.  He  is  the  proprietor  of  The  Mathewson.  Narra- 
gansett  Pier,  R.  I.  See  illustration.  Their  children  are  Mrs.  Ida  B. 
Benson,  Thomas  Greene,  m.  to  Celia  Madison,  (see  Chapter  XX, 
line  of  Martha  Greene  Matteson),   Syria  Wilbur  Jr.,    Walter   H..  and 


^be   (Brcene   Ifamil?  275 


Peleg  Clarke",  who  lias  Lucius,  Albert,  Lorenzo  and  Carrie. 
Wanton^,  who  had  Horace,  father  of  Jas.  and  Wanton. 
John',  prob.  of  Josiah=,  m.  1740,  had  Job,  Joshua,  Abel  and  Thomas. 
James',  prob.  of  Josiah^  m.  Hannah  Sweet  1749.     They  had  Rufus  who  m,  Lucy  Spink 
and  had  Thos.  who  m.  Maria  James. 

HEZEKIAH  MATTESON^  m.  Margaret,  daughter  of  Zerubabel  and 
Jane  Westcott.     See  under  heading  of  Josiah. 

Abraham'.     ^^    his  second  cousin,  Freelove  Phillips.     See  Chapter  XX.     Sons  John, 
Abraham,  Daniel  and  Thomas. 

The  other  sons  of  Hezekiah  jMatteson  were  Amos,  Zerubabel,  and  Sam- 
uel.    It  is  supposed  they  mostly  moved  to  N.  Y. 


THE   LASCELLE-WARDWELL   LINE 

There  are  no  kings  or  princes  to  fall  back  upon  in  this  line,  or  even 
lords.  Nevertheless  it  has  given  to  the  world  President  Pierce,  Susan  B. 
Anthony  and  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  which  is  glory  enough  for  one  line. 
It  has  furnished  progenitors  for  the  Pierce,  Wardvvell,  Anthony,  Waite, 
Slocum  and  Hill  families.  The  entire  line  of  Lieut.  John  Greene"  is  de- 
scended from  them,  through  Abigail  Wardwell,  his  wife.  I  confess  the  old 
records  are  tantalizingly  obscure  and  chopped  off.  It  has  taken  long  and 
patient  study  to  weld  the  links  together.  There  may  be  minor  errors,  but 
practically  this  account  is  correct. 

Both  lines  have  been  hard  to  trace  because  pronounced  and  written  so 
many  different  ways.  Wardwell  is  the  correct  form  of  the  name  of  the 
Welsh-English  line.  It  is  an  old  compound  word  meaning  the  guard's 
spring,  pointing  to  the  feudal  landmark  near  which  the  first  name-bearer 
lived.  We  find  the  name  recorded  in  English,  Welsh,  ]Mass.  and  R.  I.  re- 
cords under  24  different  spelling,  viz.:  Wardwell,  Woodall,  Udall,  Warrell, 
Woddle,  Warden,  Wordell,  Wardall,  Werdell.  Woddall,  Waddall,  Wadle, 
Wadell,  Wardel,  Wardayle,  Werdall,  Woddell,  Worrall,  Udell,  Wriddell, 
Warrall,  Wodell,  Wadel  and  Wadall. 

Lascelle,  the  other  original  line,  was  French.  When  the  name-bearer 
came  to  England,  pronouncing  the  name  as  he  did,  with  his  Frenchy  slurred 
consonants,  and  burry  accent  on  the  terminal  syllable  "  celle,"  his  English 
neighbors  in  despair  gave  him  various  names  ending  in  sounds  of  zell,  sell, 
or  sail,  [Mitchell's  History  of  Bridgewater.]  It  became  Hazell,  Hazeal,  La 
Zelle,  La  Zalle,  Yazell,  Youzell.  Yousiel,  Uzzell,  Uzel,  Uzzall,  Uzal,  Usal, 
Usual,  Lasell,  and  Uzzele  ;  or  as  Savage  in  his  "Genealogical  Dictionary  of 
New  England  "  says,  after  enumerating  five  U-capitaled  variations,  "  or  any 
other  outlandish  name  ! "  The  Wardwell  line,  and  Lieut.  John  Greene- 
branch  of  the  Wardwell  line,  adopted  Lascelle  as  a  given  name,  and  for 
seven  generations  used  it  and  spelled  it  every  possible  wild  way  that  could 
commence  with  a  capital  U  or  Y. 


2  76  ^be   (Breenc   J'amil^ 

About  A.  D.  1480,  one Ithell,  of  North  Wales,  married  a  Miss 

Pierce.  They  had  a  son,  Pierce  Ithell,  whose  daughter  Mary  was  m.  about 
1540,  to  Richard  Woodall,  Udall,  Woddall,  Worrell,  or  Wardwell,  of  War- 
wick, England.  One  of  their  sons.  Dr.  John  Wardell,  and  a  grandson,  who 
crossed  the  ocean  in  1594,  had  much  to  do  with  early  Virginia  settlements. 
An  older  son,  William,  was  married  by  1565  to  Meribe  Lascelle,  the  daught- 
er of  a  French  couple,  Gershom  and  INIeribe  Lascelle. 

Reading  between  the  lines  of  the  records,  it  is  evident  that  the  French- 
man came  to  England  with  his  wife  and  family  of  grown  chil  dren  about  1560 
at  the  first  muttering  of  the  storm  that  finally  broke  into  bloody  wrath  against 
the  Huguenots,  or  French  Protestants.  Gershom  had  many  namesakes  for 
more  than  a  century,  and  Meribe,  her  name  anglicized  into  Meriba  or  Merib- 
ah  and  Meribeth,  still  has  her  namesakes  scattered  over  New  England.  The 
next  two  generations  of  the  family  intermarrieil  with  the  Slocuins,  Kings, 
Waites  and  Hills.  Their  names  were  so  peculiarly  odd  and  Frenchy,  that 
they  can  almost  be  traced  by  that  alone.  Anteres,  another  daughter  of  these 
Huguenot  refugees,  married  a  Pierce.  There  is  more  about  her  line  in 
Chapter  XXIV. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  restlessness  in  the  blood  of  these  allied  families. 
Before  the  New  England  settlement  some  of  the  Pierces  and  Wardwells 
went  to  Virginia,  where  the  older  generation  of  the  Wardwell's  had  invest- 
ments. Some  of  these  then  drifted  to  the  Barbadoes,  where  later  we  read 
of  one  of  the  Pierces  owning  many  acres  of  land  and  80  slaves.  All  of  the 
Lascelle- Wardwell  line  seem  to  have  been  Independents  in  religious  mat- 
ters, and  under  religious  oppression  quite  ready  to  cross  the  sea  for  con- 
science's sake.  Some  of  the  Pierces  were  in  Plymouth  in  1623.  And  re- 
belling against  Laud's  tyranny  about  a  score  of  the  allied  families  of  this 
line  came  to  Mass.  in  1633-5. 

There  were  three  great-grandsons  of  Gershom  Lascelle  and  Richard 
Wardwell  among  these.  Two  of  them,  William^  and  Thomas^  were  brothers, 
sons  of  Lascelle  WardwelP.  The  other  was  their  cousin,  William*',  son  of 
Gershom  Wardwelll  The  fathers  of  these  men,  Lascelle  and  Gershom,  were 
sons  of  William^  and  Meribe  Lascelle  the  younger,  mentioned  in  a  preceding- 
paragraph.  William,  son  of  Gershom,  went  to  Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  and  be- 
came a  Friend.  Two  of  his  daughters  married  Anthonys,  one  of  them, 
F'^rances,  who  married  John  Anthony,  became  the  fore-mother  of  Susan  B. 
Anthony. 

Thomas  of  Boston  was  the  father  of  SamueP.  This  Samuel's  wife, 
Sarah  Hawkes,  in  a  fit  of  religious  enthusiasm,  in  order  to  "  mortify  the 
flesh,"  appeared  at  church  one  day  in  the  costume  that  Eve  wore  in  the  gar- 
den of  Eden.     The  town  authorities  had  her  soundly  whipped  for  it.     When 


Zbe   6reene   JTamiii?  277 

the  witchcraft  excitement  broke  out  in  1692,  Sarah  Hawkes-Wardwell  and 
her  daughter  were  both  arrested  as  witches.  Badly  frightened,  they  said  it 
was  Samuel,  the  husband  and  father,  who  had  been  bewitching  people.  He 
denied  it,  but  was  hung  Sept.  20,  1697,  as  "  an  impenitent  v.-itch  and  pos- 
sessor of  a  familiar  spirit." 

William,  of  Boston,  brother  to  Thomas,  was  born  in  1610.  Came  to 
the  colonies  in  1633,  as  "  Our  brother,  Edmund  Quincey's  servant,"  (Church 

records.)     He  married  Alice  and  had  5  children,  of  whom  the  second 

was  Uzel  (Lascelle),  b.  April  7,  1639.  When  the  church  banished  Rev.  Mr. 
Wheelwright  for  heresy,  William,  for  being  too  friendly  with  him  had  his 
arms  and  freeman's  privileges  taken  from  him  for  a  time.  William  died 
either  at  Wells  or  Boston  in  1670.  One  of  the  entries  in  the  Wells  records 
gravely  assigns  a  pew  in  the  church  to  him,  "  To  sitt  in  ye  sixth  of  ye  men's 
long  seats  in  consideration  that  his  son  Elihu  sitt  in  ye  same  seat." 

William  of  Boston's  two  sons,  Uzel  and  Elihu  Wardwell,  both  served  in 
King  Philip's  War,  1675-6,  as  the  Mass.  archives  show.  Uzel,  the  ancestor 
of  all  of  Lieut.  John  Greene's  line  (of  Chapter  XV)  served  under  Capt.  Nich- 
olas Paige,  and  the  state  of  Mass.  still  owes  him  for  his  services,  5^,  los 
($25.00).      [Mass.  Archives,  vol.  68.] 

Uzel  was  m.  May  3,  1664,  when  25,  to  the  young  widow  of  Daniel 
Ringe,  Mary  Kinsman-Ringe.  They  lived  at  both  Bristol  and  Ipswich,  Mass. 
At  the  latter  place,  Abigail,  their  oldest  child,  b.  Oct.  27,  1665,  was  married 
at  19  to  Lieut.  John  Greene  of  R.  I.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  of  the  other 
W^ardwells,  except  to  say  that  William  of  R.  I.  also  had  a    Uzel,    born  the 

same  year  as  the  Mass.  Uzel.     He  married  Grace and  their  lines  are 

entirely  different. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  trace  in  this  the  Kings,  Pierces,  Motts  or  Slo- 
cums.      One  other  line  needs  to  be  spoken  of. 

Another  child  of  William  and  Meribe  Wardell  was  Rosanna,  who  mar- 
ried   Waite.     They  had  several  children  who  came  to  the  Colonies, 

Alelutable,  the  oldest,  who  married  Richard  Hill,  of  William,  and  was  left  a 
widow  soon  after  coming  to  the  new  country  ;  Richard  Waite,  born  in  1596, 
Gambiel,  b.  in  1598,  and  Thomas,  b.  1601.  All  of  these  came  about  the 
height  of  the  Anti-Laud  emigration.  One  of  the  sons,  Thomas,  went  to 
Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  in  1639,  and  from  him  all  the  R.  I.  Waites  are  descend- 
ed. D.  Byron  Waite's  "  Waite  Genealogy  "  takes  up  their  history,  so  it  need 
not  be  given  here. 

There  were  a  number  of  the  Hills  came  at  the  same  time  that  Richard 
Hill  and  his  wife  Mehitable  did.  A  nephew  of  Richard's,  Valentine  Hill, 
(of  John  of  William),  a  wealthy  and  prominent  man  of  Boston  and  Dover, 
Mass.,  was  the  head  of  a  line  from  whom  Frances  E.  Willard,  that  peerless 


2  78  ^be   (Breene   fmm\^ 

soul  and  apostle  of  temperance,  was  seventh  in  descent.  All  of  the  lines  of 
"Wealthy  John "  and  Usal  Greene  (Chapter  XV,  XVI,  XVII)  can  claim 
blood  kin  to  her — an  honor  greater  than  kinship  to  a  queen. 

Richard,  who  died  in  1639,  left  two  children  that  concern  us,  John  and 
Rose  (Rosanna),  both  born  in  1613,  and  who  came  together  to  the  colonies. 
John  married  Frances,  and  lived  at  the  "  Great  Lotts  "  i.  e.  Dorchester,  Mass. 
Their  oldest  son  was  born  about  1638.     He  married  while  yet  in  his  teens 

Mary  ,  and  removed  to  Portsmouth,  R.  I.     Here  Jonathan,  Jr.  was 

born  in  1657,  '^°  '^  nineteen  year  old  father.  Jonathan,  Jr.  was  the  father  of 
Patience  Hill  who  married  Daniel  Pierce.  See  Chapter  XXVI.  He  was 
also  the  father  of  Caleb,  Ebenezer  and  Thomas,  all  heads  of  R.  I.  Hills,  and 
probably  of  Capt.  John  Hill,  also. 

Jonathan  Hill's  second  son,  Henry,  brother  to  Jonathan  Jr.  of  above 
paragraph,  was  born  Jan.  24,  1661.  He  was  the  father  of  Ann  Hill,  and 
Susanna  Hill,  who  married  the  brothers  "  Wealthy  John  "  and  Usal  Greene, 
Esther  Hill  who  married  John  Nichols,  and  IMary  Hill  who  married  William 
Nichols. 

Rosanna  Hill,  the  emigrant,  undoubtedly  married  Stukeley  Westcott. 
They  were  both  old  friends  at  Great  Torrington,  England,  and  nearly  the 
same  age.  Stukeley's  descendants  carried  the  name  of  Rosanna  down  for  a 
half-dozen  generations.  For  more  than  100  years  the  name  was  never  found 
in  R.  I.  records  e.xcept  in  families  that  sprang  from  the  Westcotts.  Stukeley 
and  his  wife  followed  Roger  Williams  to  Providence,  1636.  (See  Chapter 
VI.)  They  had  Amos,  who  m.  two  Stafford  sisters,  Jeremiah,  who  m.  Ellen 
England,  the  step-daughter  of  his  father's  cousin,  Hugh  Parsons — see  Chap- 
ter XX — Robert,  who  m.  Catherine ,  Mercy,  who  m.  Sam.   Stafford, 

and  Damaris,  who  m.  Benedict  Arnold.  All  these  became  heads  of  promi- 
nent families, 


THE   WAITE    FAMILY 


Rognvald,  Jarl  (earl)  of  More,  was  a  friend  of  Jarl  Harald  Haarfagar 

JiiVJ*  (Harold  the  beautiful  haired).     But    when    Harald  in  872 

^*^^fe>  ^       made  himself  king  of  Norway,  he  put  down   Rognvald  and 

''^     *"  ^    ^        all  the  other  jar  Is,  with  a  high  hand.      One   of   Jarl    Rogn- 

vald's  sons  was  Ganger  Rolf  (Ralph),  also  called  Rollo,  and 

Rolf  the  Dane.     Deprived  of  his  dominion,  Rollo   entered 

upon  a  gigantic  scale  of  roving,  plundering  piracy.     Harald 

coAT-oP-AKMs     gxpellcd  him.     Rollo  with  his  followers,   A.  D.   876,  sailed 

to  France  and  compelled  the  king  to  cede  a  large  territory  to  him.      Here 

he  settled  with  his  followers,  becoming  the  first  duke  of  Normandy. 

After  him  in  succession  came  William,  Richard  and  then  another  Rich- 


Zbe   (5reene   JTantili?  279 

ard.  This  last  Richard,  fourth  Duke  of  Noruiandy,  died  in  1026.  Among 
the  grandchildren  of  the  fourth  duke  were  three  that  concern  us.  One  of 
these  was  William  the  Conqueror  ;  the  other  two  were  brother  and  sister, 
cousins  to  the  Conqueror.  In  1075,  nine  years  after  he  had  conquered  Eng- 
land, William  the  Conqueror  made  this  cousin  Roger  Earl  of  Hereford.  The 
Earl's  sister  was  Emma,  named  after  her  great-aunt,  Queen  Emma,  the  wife 
of  two  kings  and  the  mother  of  two  others,  all  four  of  whom  in  turn  ruled 
over  England. 

This  Emma,  so  closely  related  to  earls,  dukes  and  kings,  gave  her  hand 
to  one  Ralf  (Ralph)  de  Waiet.  We  only  know  of  this  man  that  his  father 
was  Ralf  also,  and  was  the  son  of  an  English  father  and  Welsh  mother.  For 
the  fourth  of  a  thousand  years'  Ralf's  and  Emma's  descendants  are  traced 
under  various  spellings,  Waiet,  Wate,  Waight,  or  Wayght,  Wayt,  or  Wayte. 
Richardus  (Richard)  who,  in  1315,  was  by  Edward  II.  made  Escheator  over 
five  counties, wrote  his  name  le  Wayte.  During  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  142 1- 
71,  the  le  was  dropped  from  the  name,  and  never  resumed. 

The  home  of  the  Waites  was  mostly  in  south  central  England  and  in 
Wales.  A  scion  of  one  of  the  North  Wales  families  was  Thomas  Wayte,  a 
cousin  to  Mehitable  Waite-Hill,  and  Thomas  Gamaliel  and  Richard  Waite 
mentioned  under  Lascelle-Wardwell  heading.  This  Welsh  Thomas  was  a 
member  of  Parliament,  and  was  one  of  the  regicide  judges  who  signed  the 
warrant  in  Jan.,  1649,  for  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  The  family  hold  that 
upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  to  the  throne  in  1660,  Judge  Wayte  was 
hung.  His  descendant,  the  late  Chief  Justice  Waite,  owned  the  death  war- 
rant on  which  the  regicide  was  apprehended.  In  it  the  execution  was  order- 
ed "  Tomorrow,  being  the  30th  day  of  the  instant  month  of  Januar)',  [1661  ?] 
between  the  hours  of  ten  in  the  morning .  and  five  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day." 

Nevertheless,  history  says  he  was  not  hung.  There  were  59  judges 
signed  the  instrument.  In  the  eleven  years  that  intervened  between  the  ex- 
ecution of  King  Charles  I.  and  the  restoration  of  his  son,  quite  a  number  of 
these  died,  four  fled  to  America,  several  escaped  to  the  continent,  twenty- 
seven  were  apprehended  in  England,  and  a  death  warrant  issued  against 
them.  But  Hume  says  explicitly  that  but  nine  were  executed,  Scott,  Carew, 
Harrison,  Clement,  Jones,  Scope,  Berkstead,  Cobbet  and  O'Key.  The  other 
eighteen,  which  would,  of  course,  include  Wayte,  were  imprisoned  for  life. 
D.  Byron  Waite  furnished  me  with  this  cut  of  the  Waite  coat-of  arms. 

From  the  five  sons  of  Thomas  Waite  of  R.  I.,  Samuel,  Joseph,  Jeremiah, 
Thomas  and  Reuben,  the  R.  I.  Waites  are  descended.  I  am  indebted  to  D. 
Byron  Waite's  interesting  work  for  many  of  the  facts  here  related. 


28o  Zrbc   6reene   ifainil^ 


OTHER    FAMILIES 

THE  NICHOLS  FAMILY 

The  derivation  of  name,  description  of  coat-of-anns  and  reference  to  the 
founders  of  this  line  is  given  in  the  Ann  Greene-Nichols  section  of  Chapter  XV. 

Late  researches  indicate  that  all  of  the  original  lines  of  Mass.  and. Rhode 
Island  Nichols  sprang  from  the  same  stem  father,  John  Nichols  of  Glamor- 
ganshire, in  the  south  part  of  Wales.  He  died  late  in  1598,  leaving  much 
property.  His  sons  lived  in  Wales  and  the  near  counties  of  south  England. 
Very  likely  this  man  was  the  same  John  Nichols,  a  friend  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh's,  to  whom  that  nobleman  made  a  grant  of  land  in  1587.  This  is 
the  more  probable  as  several  of  his  sons  were  concerned  in  various  colonial 
enterprises.  William,  a  merchant,  1610,  was  a  charter  member  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Co.;  Christopher  and  Thomas,  merchants,  were  also  charter  members. 
John,  a  fourth  brother,  is  supposed  to  have  been  he  who  made  a  West  Indies 
voyage  in  1606,  which  he  described  the  next  year  in  his  book  of  travels, 
which  bore  the  odd  title  of  "  An  Houre  Glasse  of  Indian  Newes."  A  dozen 
years  later  we  find  John"  living  at  Tavenstock,  Devonshire,  near  Wales. 
Most  of  his  children  and  grandchildren  came  to  the  Colonies.  The  indica" 
tions  are  that  Francis  Stafford  Nichols  (b.  1595),  William,  Richard  and  Ken- 
dall (or  Randall),  all  emigrants,  were  all  sons  of  John.  His  daughter,  Pru- 
dence, m.  Thomas  Fones  in  1620.  Their  son,  Capt.  John  Fones,  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Quidnessett,  R.  I.,  and  head  of  the  company  of  whom  John 
Greene  was  also  one,  that  secured  first  from  the  Indians  and  then  the  Gener- 
al Assembly,  the  celebratad  "Fones  Purchase"  region,  1772-7. 

Yet  another  son  of  John  Nichols^  was  Thomas  (?),  who  lived  in  Wales. 
His  son  was  Lieut  Thomas  Nichols,  the  same  recorded  in  Chapter  XV. 
This  Thomas  came  first  to  the  Barbadoes  in  the  West  Indies.  Then  he 
came  to  R.  I.  about  1658  or  1659.  His  cousin  Kendall  (or  Randall)  Nich- 
ols was  at  Newport,  and  another  cousin,  Capt.  Fones,  at  North  Kingstown. 
Thomas  himself  settled  at  Newport  by  1660.  He  was  married  the  year  be- 
fore this  to  Hannah  Griffin,  born  1642,  a  girl  of  Quaker  parentage.  Susan- 
nah, a  sister  of  Hannah's,  married  John  Spencer,  the  first  of  the  name  in  R. 
I.,  making  a  bond  of  relationship  between  these  two  pioneer  families.  Chap- 
ters XXXIII  to  XL  inclusive  are  all  of  descendants  of  Greene  and  this  house 
of  Nichols.  A  very  large  branch  of  the  Mattesons  are  of  this  line,  Josiali 
]\Iatteson  Jr."  marrying  Mercy,  daughter  of  Stephen,  who  was  the  son  of 
Thomas,  oldest  child  of  this  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols.  The  houses  of  John, 
Perry  and  Joseph  Greene"  (see  Chapter  XXI),  each  an  important  line,  are 
also  of  this  blood,  these  three  brothers  having  married  Catherine,  Sarah  and 


(Tbe   (Brcenc   Jfamil^  28 1 

Hannah  Nichols,  daughters  of  Jonathan,  grand-danghters  of  Deputy  Gover- 
nor Benjamin,  and  great-grand-daughters  of  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols. 

None  of  the  rest  of  tlie  original  Nichols  colonists  concern  us  save  Rich- 
ard', already  spoken  of  as  the  probable  son  of  John"  of  John'  of  Wales.  He 
was  in  Ipswich  by  1630.  His  son,  Capt.  Richard  of  the  Indian  Wars 
(Pequot  ?),  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza  Eaton.     Their  son, 

Richard^  m.  Phebe ,  and  their  daughter,  Sarah,  in  the  year  1700,  m. 

Francis  Matteson^,  head  of  one  of  the  branches  of  that  family. 

An  uncle  of  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols',  Robert  Nichols  of  Mass.,  together 
with  his  wife,  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  Sept.  2,  1775,  in  King  Philip's  War. 

THE   COGGESHALL    FAMILY 

As  Humility  Coggeshall  was  the  foremother  of  the  "  Tribe  of  Benja- 
min," the  largest  family  of  the  Greenes,  many  will  wish  to  know  of  her  line. 

The  family  dates  back  nearly  to  the  Conquest,  to  a  certain  Lord  de  Cog- 
geshall, a  noted  Crusader.  The  town  of  Coggeshall,  in  the  County  of  Essex, 
England,  perhaps  marks  the  ancestral  home.  In  the  oldest  records  the  name 
is  also  spelled  as  Coxsall  or  Coxall. 

Hon.  John  Coggeshall,  the  first  president  of  Providence  Plantation — 
equivalent  to  governor  of  R.  I. — was  born  in  the  County  of  Essex,  England) 
in  either  1581  or  1599.  He  sailed  in  the  ship  Lion,  and  landed  in  Mass. 
Sept.  16,  1632,  with  his  wife  Mary  and  three  children.  In  1638,  when  IMrs. 
Anne  Hutchinson  and  her  followers  were  banished  from  Massachusetts  for 
heresy,  he  went  with  the  rest  to  the  Island  of  Aquidneck,  which  they  pur- 
chased from  the  Indians,  and  where  they  settled  Pocasset  (Portsmouth)  that 
same  year.     Portsmouth  became  the  storm  center  of  Quakerism. 

One  of  Hon.  John's  daughters.  Wait,  married  Daniel  Gould.  This  Daniel 
Gould,  Mary  Dyer,  the  wife  of  a  Portsmouth  neighbor,  and  President  Cog- 
gcshall's  own  son  Joshua,  introduced  the  Friends'  doctrine  into  R.  I.  ]\Iary 
Dyer  was  hung  as  a  "  pestilent  heretic,"  while  in  Mass.  preaching.  Daniel 
Gould  also  passed  into  that  forbidden  territory,  and  "ye  22  of  ye  9th  month, 
1654,"  was  whipped  in  Boston,  receiving  30  lashes  from  a  cat-of-nine-tails. 

Joshua  Coggelshall-  did  not  fare  as  ill.  He  married  Joan  West.  Their 
next  to  the  youngest  child.  Humility,  married  Benjamin",  the  youngest  son 
of  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett. 

SPENCER 

There  is  a  tangle  of  Spencer-Briggs-]Matteson  and  Greene  marriages  in 
some  lines.  The  head  of  the  New  England  Spencers  appears  to  have  been 
William',  who  probably  came  to  the  colonies  during  the  Anti-Laud  emigra- 
tion.    He  was  a  married  man  with  a  familv.     After  living  for   a    time    in 


282  Zlic   ©reene   jfamil^ 

Massachusetts  he  removed  to  Connecticut,  where  most  of  his  children  re- 
married. It  is  supposed  that  one  of  his  older  sons  was  John^,  first  of  the 
name  in  R.  I.,  who  became  the  head  of  the  old  and  well  known  family  of 
Spencers  in  that  state.  He  married  Susannah  Grifl&n,  a  sister-in-law  of  Hon. 
Thomas  Nichols.  His  son  John  married  Audrey,  daughter  of  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor John,  and  grand-daughter  of  Surgeon  John  Greene  of  the  Warwick 
line.  His  daughter  Susannah  (;\Irs.  Richard  Briggs")  was  grandmother  of 
Capt.  Thomas  Briggs  who  married  Mary  Greene  of  Ouidnessett  blood.  See 
Chapter  XXI.  Two  other  sons,  MichaeP  and  Robert",  by  the  intermarriage 
of  their  grandchildren,  Daniel  Briggs*  of  Susannah',  and  Welthian  Sweet*  of 
Susannah^,  of  Robert',  headed  a  line  that  two  generations  later  intermarried 
with  the  N.  Y.  branch  of  Ouidnessett  Greenes.  There  were  many  intermar- 
riages in  later  generations. 

THE    BRIGGS   FAMILY 

John  Briggs,  pioneer  and  intimate  friend  of  old  John  Greene  of  Ouid- 
nessett, was  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  167 1  ,  and  shareholder  in  the  va- 
rious land  companies  of  that  day.  His  great-grandson,  Capt.  Thomas  Briggs* 
(Francis-^  Richard",  John'),  m.  Mary  Greene*.  See  Chapter  XXI.  Another 
great-grandson,  Daniel'  (Benj.',  Daniel",  John'),  m.  the  Welthian  Sweet 
mentioned  in  Spencer  paragraph.  Very  many  cross  marriages  occurred  be- 
tween the  Ouidnessett  Greenes  and  the  Briggs  family. 

It  is  handed  down  in  the  family  that  there  were  three  of  the  Briggs 
brothers  who  came  to  the  colonies.  Also,  that  as  they  sailed  away  their 
friends  were  kneeling  upon  the  shore,  prating  for  their safet}-.  Their  small 
craft  was  disabled,  and  from  June  to  September  they  were  afloat  upon 
the  then  scarcely  traveled  ocean,  the  captain  (who  was  one  of  the  brothers) 
and  his  eighteen  men  having  to  depend  upon  their  oars  most  of  the  journey. 
As  usual,  tradition  has  assigned  this  to  a  later  generation,  Capt.  Thomas 
Briggs*  being  made  the  hero  of  the  incident  that  really  happened  to  his 
great-grandfather. 

VAUGHAN    FAMILY 

Intermarried  largely  with  the  Quidnessett  Green  and  branch  families. 
The  name  is  Welsh,  and  means  "little."  In  the  oldest  records  it  is  written 
Vahan.  The  first  family  of  the  name  in  R.  I.  was  that  of  John  Vahau.  To 
hira  and  his  wife  Gillian  were  born  John",  1644,  and  Davy,  1646.  Gillian 
and  Davy  are  Welsh  names,  and  would  indicate  that  the  family  emigrated 
from  there.  While  there  is  no  positive  proof,  it  is  supposed  Mrs.  Gillian 
Vaughan  was  nearly  related  to  Hon.  Thomas  Nichols,  also  of  Wales.     Both 


lines  head  the  same  family  names,  and  there  were  five  intermarriages  within 
the  first  100  years  after  the  Vaughans  came  to  R.  I.  John  Vaughan'  and 
his  wife  were  Quakers. 

HILL   FAMILY 

See  Lascelle-Wardwell  article.  Of  the  American  line,  Henry,  son  of 
Jonathan  and  Mary,  and  grandson  of  John  and  Frances,  was  the  ancestor  of 
all  the  R.  I.  Hills. 

Rosanna  Hill,  named  for  her  grandmother,  Rosanna  Wardwell-Waite, 
m.  Stukeley  Westcott  and  had  any  amount  of  namesakes  in  the  next  150 
years.     See  Westcott  Family. 


INDEX 


Ifnbei 

The  first  three  generations  of  R.  I.  John,  Benjamin  and  Joan  Greens 

are  marked  to  distinguish  them,  a  0.  standing  for  Ouidnessett 

line,  and  a  W.  for  the  Warwick  members. 


Abbott,  Deborah  Nichols,  line  of 213 

Admiral  de  Coligiiy ug 

Akewright  Cyuthia  King— line  of 224 

Allen,  Hon.  John 121—164 

Andrews,  Elnathau  and  Jane 104-5 

Andrews.  Family  of Chapter  XTIII 

Andrews,  Hannah  Greene— and  John 103-4—106 

Andrews.  John  and  Antha  Sweet— line  of 108 

Aiidrews,  Mary  Howard— line  of 189-90 

Andrews.  Muddle  100-1—103 

Andrews,  Timothy— Hue  of 107 

Andrews,  William  and  Eebeeea  Greene— line  of I04-9 

Andros,  Gov 85-e-lu4 

Anne  Askew  and  Henry  VIII Chapter  IV 

Anthony,  Jliss  Susan  B 075.6 

Anti-Laud  Emigration Chapter  VI  276 

Apple-seed  Johnny 238 

Archbishop  Laud Cliaptcr  VI  276 

Arrest  of  John  Greene  of  Quidnessett 5.';-7 

Atherton.  Major,  and  the  Atherton  Land  Purchase 63—63-6 

Athletic  Sports  of  the  Early  Greenes 8-34 

Awashuwett  Ciiief 68—103-4 

A  visa  Queen , 6-7 

Aylesworth  Kachel  Greene— line  of 103 

Baldwin  Abigad  Bris;ss-line  of 135-7 

Baldwin  Evelyn  BiiKtr-.  Explorer 136-7 

Baptism  of  La  Valley-Kinj;  children 152-3 

Baptism  of  Eoger  Williams 45 

Barnes  David  Hartwell-line  of 230-1 

Barnes  Miranda  Nichols— line  of Chapter  XXXVI 

Barnes  Orville    line  of 22R-9 

Barnes  S;iniu.'l  Kin-- line  of 229-30 

Barrows,  H..niv.  Jl.iityr. 2-112-3 

Battcrson.  Ann  Xi.-li-M-line  of 218 

Beating  the  Bounds 7 

Bennett  Family 70-3-199 

Bentley  Family 71-3 

Bluebeard 149-50 

Houghton,  England 5-7—20 

Boughton  Fair 20 

Bradley.  David— line  of 2.34-5 

Bradley  Family.  Chapter  XXXVII 

Briggs,  Capt.  Cary,  Caleb  and  Elias-lines  of 134-7 

Briggs  Family Appendix  106-133-4-2S2 

Briggs.  Mary  Greene-line  of 134-7-282 

Bromley  Family 180 

287 


2SS 


flnDei 


Buccaneers 

Buiuiug  of  Pi-udeuee  Island  by  tlie  Biiti 

Captain  Kidd,  the  Pirate 

Capet  Kings,  Greenes  descent  Irum 

Catlierine  Parr,  Queen  of  England 

Cliarlemagne 

Cliarles  tlie  Bald.  King  ■  .t  France 

Cliarles  I.,  King  „S  England 

Children,  3.",  uii.I.t  .  .ne  i  m.  ,f 

Church  at  Cmw.. -it 

Clarke,  J.jlin,Tiaditi..ii  nf 

Coat-o£- Arms 

Coggeshall  Family 

Columb  a.  Saint  

Coryell,  Sarah  Beutley— line  of 

Count  de  Ve rni andois 

Crusades 

Darrohn,  Ellen  Greene— line  of 

Death  of  .Joan  Tatter.sall  Greene  among 

Death  of  Haz.'ll 

Division  of  .T<  ihn  of  Quidnes-i.^tfs  Land. 

Dr.  MeS  I  .an  a  n 

Doing  Homage 

Draytous,  Lords  of 

Dyer,  Mary,  the  Martyr 


Page 

143-52—164 
121—164 


24-7 

14a-14l> 

17 

23— 40-1-279 

125 

152-3 

33-6—74 

10-12-34 

281 


he  Indians Close  of  Chapter  VIII 


Ear 


•  Economi' 


43—114-  125— 2S1 

61 
101—165 


.Chapters  III  and  V 


El-i ■/.•■r  (li-.-'iie  Spoon 

EdK;,nlI 

Edward  III 

Ellis,  Ant ioiiette  M.  Barnes  ~  line  of 231-2 

Emerson,  Nancy  Barnes- line  of .• 227-8 

Eadicott,  Governor 43—116-7 

Escutcheon  of  Admiral  de  Laval 149 

Estabrook.  Belle  Pierce 160-170 

Esten,  Sarah  Winsor— line  of 180 

Estates  of  the  de  Greenes 6-7—19—28  -  3i> 

Excess  of  sons i;o— 72 

Fashions  of  Kiehard  II,'s  Court  so 

Family  Superstitions 59—62-83-4-212-215—250 

Faneuil  Peter 151-2 

Fergus  McEare,  King  of  Scotland Matteson  matter— Appendix 

Field  Deborah  Kittelle— line  of 170-7 

First  Baptist  Church  in  America 48-119 

First  Greenes  in  America 39 

Following  Roger  Williams  to  R.  I Chapter  VII 

Fones  Purchase 58- -103-4— lOii-230 

Foster  Louise  Nichols  218 

Franklin  J.  C- line  of 179-189 

Genealogy  of  John  of  Quiduessett 17-37-67-112-207-205 

Geva  Princess 14b 

Gillingham  Greenes 16-7—19-37 

Good-natured  Greenes 69— 76-7  - 156—207 

Gorton  Samuel 50-52 

Grassie  Sarah  West— li if 92 

Graves  of  the  First  Ouidiiessett  Greenes 75-113 

Greene  Abel  of  James-line  of  120-156 

"        Abigail  Wardwell 75-6-175-277 

Abner,  Mortimer  H.and  Marion  Jabez-lines  of 94 

Lord  Alexander  de  Boketon 5-8-07 

Amos  and  Capt.  Amos— lines  of 125-8 

AuTui.  Greene-Sweet 123-130-140 

Archibald  Harper  and  John  West— lines  of 93 

Beheaded  Sir  Henry,  Personal,  and  Chapter  V,  of  his  Line 20-4-  23-32 


■fln&ei  2S9 


Page 

Greeae  Benjamiu.  (Q.)— line  of Cliariter  XXI  66—69—75 

Benjamin'  of  Benj,=.  (Q.)— line  of 132-7 

Benjamin'  of  Benj.'  of  Beuj.^.  (Q  Mine  of 133 

Benjamin' of  Henry^.  ((J.)— line  of 138-40 

Benjamiu*  of  James',  (Q. )  -line  of 1111 

Benjamin'  of  White  Hat  John,  (Q,)— line  of 128-131 

Benjamin  of  Warwick  Line,  ( W) 130 

Caleb',  of  Benj.=.  of  Beuj," 137 

Caleb*,  of  Joshua' 132 

Charles  A.,  of  B.  I,.— line  of 127 

Charles  A,  of  N.Y, -line  of 95-6 

Charles  E.,  of  California— line  of 93 

Clarke.— line  of 130 

Daniel,— line  of ..Charter XIX  66-7— 75-C 

Douglas  N..— line  of 13',) 

Ebenezi  r.— line  of             loo-I 

Capt  Edward —line  nt      Chapter  XII  66-74 

Ehsha,  of  White  Hit  John 127-8 

FiankL                            125 

f  Caleb*- line  of 137 

L. (id  Chi 


Gi 

eon\  ( 

Sir 

Henr^ 

Ml 

Henij 

He 

He 

Hu 

iiji  1 

Iia'ft    -I   \    r   1   itliiii  III  1  Nathan-lines  of 

Col  Isu.     I'll,      t  

Jdbez\  Tli-  .ml  uid  line  of Charter  XVI 

Jacob— line  if  

Lieut.  James!  — Une  of      Chapter  XX 

James*,  of  Mamon  bwamp-line  of Chapter  XIV 

James',  of  James*  —line  if 

James',  of  John  of  Bristol* .—line  of 

Joan  Beggerly  (Q I . . . . ! 

Joan  Tattersall  (W) 

Sir  John  de  Boketon,  the  Crusader 

John  the  Fugitive 

—Coat-of-arms  and  Sword  Praetice 

—E.  I.  Version 

Ruling  Elder  John  of  Mass— line  of 

Surgeon  John  ( W) Chapters  VI,  VII.  VIII 

John  of  Newport 

John  of  Quidnessett  (Q) Chapters  VI.  VII.  VIII,  IX  and  XI 

Deputy  Governor  John  (W)  

John  Flavel 

Lieut.  John  (Q) Chapter  XIII-3( 

John  of  Bristol*  (Q)— line  of 

Wealthy  John*  (Ql-Chapter  XV 

White  Hat  Johns  (Q)— line  of 

John  Jr.  of  Penn  Yan,  N.  Y 

Josepli' of  White  Hat  John*-line  of 

Joshua*  of  Benj.'-^— line  of 

Joshua' of  White  Hat  John* -line  of 

Josiah'— line  of 

-Kittelle  line '. 

Greenes  as  Land  Owners Chapter  V 

Greene  Lords  de.  of  Greene's  Norton Chapter  IV 

Matthew— line  of 

Most  Prolific  Line 

Myron  W.,  Personal  and  line  of 

—the  name  of 

'•       Nathan'— line  of 

Gen.  Nathaniel .' 

"      Snuire  Nathaniel',  and  Nathaniel  Jr. '-lines  of 


118-20 

46-7—58-9—76—112-4 

47—51-2 

14a— 15-6 

11-34-5 

35-  47  -  74 

290  Unbcx 


Green's  Norton Chapter  IV 

Greene  Philip' of  White  Hat  Jotm3-liue  of 

Setli'-liueof 

Silas'— line  of 

Norval  Douglas— line  of 

Greenes,  State  kept  by  the  Lords  de 

Greene  Sir  Thomas  de  Boketon' , 

"       SirThomas'= 

Thomas'  of  White  Hat  John^— line  of 

Eev.  Timothy— line  of 

Usel'— line  of  

Usual'— line  of 

•'      SirWalterde  Boketon'^ 

Wardwell— line  of 

Greenes'  War  Beeord 

Warwiek-the  Family  of Chapters  VII-VIII 

Guernsey.  Belle  Lamson— line  of 


Haight.  Delilah  King-line  of 

Hall,  Eaehel  Briggs— line  of  

Halstead's  Geuealogios. 

Harkuey  Hill 

Harrington  Line 

Harrington,  Hannah  Kittelle— line  of 

Hathaway  Line Chaptti  XXII 

Hemenway.  Sarah  Bradley— hue  of 

Henry  L,  King  of  France 

Henry  IV 

Henry  VII See  John  the  Fugitivi 

Henry  VIII 

Hen ry-Howard  Line 

Heredity.  Remarkable  In^^tanees 

Hill  Faniilv Appendi: 

HoMh...  Knn.lrin 

H-i       -.  I     -     'i;,a.liah 

H  ,      I  

H  .|.Ki;,-,  I',:   lii  ivin;,'    line  of Chapter XXVI 

Hoi.iuiis,  Mi^-Lmis 

Howard  Family Chapter  XXVI 

Howard,  George  Paris— line  of 

Howard,  Hannali  Sweet 

Howard,  .Joel 

Howard,  John  W.— line  of 

Howard,  Mary  Bromley— line  of 

Hugh  Capet,  King  of  France 

Huguenot  Persecutions 

Huling,  Kay  Greene 


Idoloflrminsaul 14b 

Indian  Anecdotes 76—167-  212—239 

Indian  Rocks 153-203 

Indian  Transactions 45— 47-51— .53-5- 281 

Intolerance  of  Puritans Chapter  VII  277—281 

James,  Miss  Hattie 103-4- 108— 121 

James.  Henry,  the  Novelist  130 

Jane,  Superstitions  of  the  Name 45— 67-02— 245  -  250 

Johnson,  Jennie  Field— line  of 177 

"John  of  London" ...  74 

John,  King  of  England 2—5-6^9 

Kidd.  the  Pirate 140-7 

King  Caleb  and  Caleb,  Jr.— lines  of 1S2 

King  Charles,  Sr.,  George  and  Vernon— lines  of 222 

King,  Cynthia  Nichols  and  Henry— line  of Chapter  XXXV  203 

'•     Cyrus— line  of 190-200 


1In&ci 


29] 


Page 


116-20-143 


154-6 
182—209 
143—152 


.Chapter  XXXI 


198 


.Chan 


•XXV 


9—16-7- 


Kiag  David— Family  of  Chapter  XXIX 

••     Deborah  Greene— Deseeadauts  of All  of  Part  III..  Chapter  XXII 

■■     Deborah  Greene— Personal 

■'     De  Gol iar— line  of 

••     History  ot  family 

••     George-Family  of Chapter  XXVI 

'■     Job  and  John— line.;  of 

••     Joel— line  of Chapter  XXX 

■•     John,  the  Buccaneer 

••      Judge  E.  B.— line  uf -200 

■•     Magdalen— line  of Cliapter  XXII.    Personal  147-8—150-2 

■■     JIagdalen— Home  of 153—202-3 

"     Magdalen  Cemetery 153-4-  203 

King  Philip's  War .54-58-74-116-277-281 

King  Ray  and  Stukeley— line  of 204 

King  Samuel,  of  Magdalen 154—156-7 

"Stephen 203.4 

■■     Stephen— line  of 

■'     Thomas  M.— line  of 

••     Whipple  and  John  W.  P.-lines  of 

Kittelle  Family 

Kittelle.  Sara  E 

Lady  Lucie  de  la  Zouche,  of  the  Royal  line 

La  Mauee,  Lora  S  62—116-132—151-  245—260-2 

LaManee,  M.  N 261 

Lamson  Family Chapter  XXXVIII  211-243 

Larason.  Judge  J.  C.  and  Hubert  T.-line  of 241-2 

Laseelle  and  Lascelle-Wardwell  Families Appendix     83—99-118-134—144 

Latin  Documents  and  Inscriptions Chapters  III,.  IV.  and  V 

La  Valley  Family Chapter  XXII 

La  Valley,  Marie 154-6—216-221—259-250-1 

La  Valley.  Peter 150-2 

Leonard-Harris,  Flora  Pieree-line  of ' 169-70 

Lewis  Elinor  Greene— line  of 132-3 

■■  London  John " 74 

London  Plague 144-5— 206- -237 

Longevity  of  the  Ward  well; 75-99 

Madison— lines  of  Joseph  and  Ezekiel 121—274 

Maple-Root  Church 88—104-6 

Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  Troubles Chapters  VII.  VIII  and  IX 

M»tteson,  David-line  of 110—274 

David  E— line  of 128—274 

Elizabeth  King— and  Deacon  John  h'nes 108—122—153 

Franci,s^Allen^Capt.  Davids  and  Albert  O.'-Iines  of 273 

Family.  History  and  Pedigree Appendix  263—275 

Henry,  the  Emigrant •. 117—272 

— Howardline 185-7 

Josiah^.  Peleg=.  and  Peleg"— lines  of 280—274-5 

Rev.  S.  K.,  Personal,  and  of  his  line 157-187 

Mayflower 162-3— 19]— 273 

MeCrossen,  Mary  Waite-line  of 131 

MoNall.  Harriet  Barnes— line  of 229 

McQueen.  Family  of 170-2 

Miantanomo  Chief 63 

Name  of  Greene 7 

Name  of  Meriba.  1:9— 27G.— Welthian.  37.— Usn.il 99—275 

Name  Superstitions 62—83-4—212—245—250 

Name-Spoon 165 

Nancy.  Traditions  of 62-83-4 

Narragansett  Indians. , 63 

Nichols.  Albert.  Leander  and  Daniel-lines  of 218 

Ann  Greene— line  of 84-7 

David Chapters  XXXII  to  XL.    Personal  87-90-208-9 

Family  History Appendix  85-6 


292  1fn^er 


Nioholo.  Fernando— line  of 249-52 

George',  and  John  Convass'  lines .Chapter  XXXIX 

George",  ot  Biehmond-  line  ot 216-7 

Henry*,  and  Perry,  of  Kichmond-lines  of 217 

Henry',  ot  David— line  of Chapter  XXXIII  238— 24J 

Ira— line  of 213 

John  J.— line  ot 23ii-8 

John  and  Franklin,  of  Kichmond 219 

Kezia 247-9 

Nancy  King 62—197—207-8 

Nelson Chapter  XL  172-238-9-243 

••       Kiehmond-line  of Chapter'XXXIV  2i)3 

Hon,  Thomas,  the  Emigrant Appendix  85— 2U7 

ValentineD.— line  of 234-6 

Norman  Uprising 7-8 

OldField  Graveyard  59-76 

O'Neil,  Mabel  Waite 111—274 

Pagan  Saxons 14a— I4b 

Parsons  Family Appendix    116-8— 179-185— 18B— 205-278 

Peroell,Jane  Lamsou— line  of 240 

Pict  Kings Matteson  Matter,  Appendix 

Pierce  Amasa  and  Kev.  D.  M.    linesof    173-4 

Clark— line  ot 167-8 

Ebenezer— line  of 160-70 

History Chapter  XXIV  276 -  278 

Rev.  Francis  and  .Joseph  Ansel— lines  of 168-9 

John,  the  Patentee 162 

MaiT  King— line  of  Chapter  XXIV  165-6 

"      Capt.  Michael 162-3 

Olive  Greene    line  of Chapter  XXIV  165-171 

Samu.'l.  th.'  Patiiut 164-5-171 

Captain  St.pli'Mi-lineot 172-4 

"       Captain  William 162-4 

Pirates 143-7 

Providence  Settlement Chapters  VII  and  VIII 

Prudence  Island 164-5 

Queen  Avisa 6-7 

Queen  Catherine  Parr 24-7 

Queen  Isabelle  (1201) 6-7 

Queen  Isabelle  (1395-9) 3o-l 

Quidnessett 47—53-4-65 

Quidnessett  Greenes All  of  Parts  II  and  III  17-37 

Quidnessett  Land  Dispute 53-56-8-113 

Quiney.  Sieur  de.  Earl  ot  Winchester 18 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter 280 

Regicide  Judges 191-2-277-279-281 

Religious  Persecutions Chapters  VI,  VII  116-7-144 

Richard  II 29-31 

Richard  III 35 

Robert  the  Strong Ua-17-263 

Robert  I..  King  of  France n 

Rogers  Family l'2S-9 

Royal  Clans.    Matteson  Matter Appendix 

Royal  Genealogy  of  Greenes -  15-9—149-61 

Ryder  History 134-5 

Sale  of  the  old  Quidnessett  Farm  11* 

Soofleld,  Orril  Pierce -line  of 174 

Sehomaek,  the  Pottowatamie  Chief 167 

Seigfried  King 1*1) 

Sliakespear's  Henry  Green 31-2 

Six-Principles  Baptists ws 

Slaveholding 60-1-75-163-4-276 

Smitli.  Richard ■• .  47-53-6-59 

"      his  Castle  and  Trading-Post 47—53-5 


lln^ev  293 


Pago 

Spencer  and  Warwiek-Greene  Data Appendix  123-4— 134-  28U--2 

Stone  ol  Destiny,  or  Stone  of  Scone Matteson  Appendix  16 

Stowe.  Mrs.  Att ie  A 3— -252-4 

Stowe.  Mrs.  Attie  A..  Poems  by All  poems  in  Parti.    Also  249-232 

Sweet  Family 45— 107— i.5.5-f> 

Sweet,  Kev.  Philip 109 

Sweet,  William  Leon llO 

Superstitions 61-2—83-4—146—212-245 

Tarbox,  Mrs.  Caroline  Lewis 122—133 

Daniel  and  David- lines  of 124 

Fones'  W -line  of 123 

George  W.*,  and  Hiram'— lines  of 122 

Hiram'— line  of ^ 123 

Tarbox  Family  and  History 122-4 

Tarbox— Matteson— Spencer  Line 122-4 

Terry,  Mariam  Barnes— line  of • 229-3» 

Titus  Line 72-3 

Titus,  Dr.  Frank  H 72-3 

Tombs  of  the  Lords  Greene , Chapter  V  22-3 

Tradition  of  London  John 35-6-74 

of  the  Re£rieide  Judge ^^ 

otJohuClarke 35-0—74 

Tuck,  Nannie  T. -line  of 258-9 

Updike  House  54 

Usual,  Name  of , , ,  99-275 

Vaughan  Family 86—187—282-3 

Vermandois,  Count  de 13—18 

Waite,  D.  Byron— line  of 130-1 

Waite.  Elvaton— lino  of 130 

Waite  Family Appendix  46—118—130—185—205 

Waite.  Mary  Greene— line  of 130-1 

War  Anecdotes 17 -8— 80— 121— 210-254— 557-» 

Ward  well  Family Appendix  44-46-74-5-99-205 

WardweU,  Sarah  Hawks— Anecdotes  of 276-7 

Warwick 51 

Warwick  Greenes See  Greenes,  Warwick 

War  of  the  Roses Chapters  IV  and  V 

Weaver,  Mary  Greene— line  of 79-80 

West.  Huldah  Green— line  of 91 

West,  Henry  Tracy  and  George  H— lineslof 92 

Westcott  Family 117-9- 188— 205-6 

Westeott  Stukeley 50—117—119—179—206—278 

Whaley.  Judge 121—191-2 

Willard,  Miss  Frances  E 277-8 

Williams,  Roger 44-5-50—54-5-105-107—114-117 

Wirebaugh,  Marilda  F.  Lamson .\ .  241-2 

Witchcraft 61—75—277 

Wittekind 14a— l4b-67 

Wolcott  Family 168— 200— 226 

Youngest  Soldier  of  the  Revolution  115 


The    Greene    Tree 
and     Its     Branches 

A  New  Book  on  a  New  Plan 
Nothinor  Else  Like  It 


This  book  gives  the  only  full  account  of  the  rise  and  early  history  of 
the  House  of  Greene.  It  brings  the  narration  down  the  centuries  to  the 
coming  of  the  Greenes  to  the  American  colonies,  and  to  the  part  that  the 
Warwick  and  Quidnessett  Greenes  took  in  the  stirring  pioneer  days  of  Rhode 
Island.  It  is  the  fullest  history  that  has  every  appeared  of  the  large,  but 
hard  to  trace  line  of  the  Quidnessett  Greenes.  So  peculiarly  is  the  story  of 
this  House  the  story  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  other  New  England  colonies 
as  well,  that  copies  of  this  book  have  been 

Ordered    for    Reference   by  the  Astor  Library,   R.    I. 
Historical  Society,  N.  Y.  Historical  Society,  and 
Other  Public  Libraries  and  Historical  Societies. 

When  this  edition  of  1200  volumes  is  exhausted,  no  more  can  be  ob- 
tained. An  historical  and  chronological  work  of  this  kind  is  an  expensive 
undertaking.  The  author  has  small  hopes  of  getting  back  in  dollars  and 
cents  what  this  book  has  cost  her.     She  will  never  repeat  the  experiment. 


Price,    $3-00   Each,  Prepaid 

ADD  RESS 

MRS.    LORA   S.    LA   MANCE,         PINEVILLE,   MO. 


READY     FOR     FRAMING! 

A  FINE   LITHOGRAPHED   COPY  OF   THE 

yoo-  Year -Old 
Greene   Coat-of-Anns 


There  are  probably  not  a  dozen  Coats-of-Arms  in  existence  to-day  that 
have  as  great  an  age.  This  is  the  genuine  escutcheon,  and  is  in  the  true 
and  proper  colors,  asurt\  or  and  gules,  (blue  and  gold,  picked  out  with  red.) 
The  old  Lords  de  Greene  were  exceedingly  proud  of  their  family  arms  and 
used  the  famous  device  of  three  bucks  trippant,  or,  on  an  aziire  field,  not 
only  on  their  seals  and  escutcheons,  but  on  their  banners,  tombs,  and  their 
horse  and  armor  trappings. 

The  small  crescent  in  the  upper  center  of  the  shield  is  of  a  somewhat 
later  date,  having  been  adopted  not  far  from  1485  by  the  line  of  John  the 
Fugitive,  from  whom  the  majority  of  American  Greenes  descend. 

This  beautiful  colored  Coat-of-Arms  is  mounted  on 
a  heavy  grey  mat  10x13  inches,  ready  to  frame. 


Price  $1 .00  Each,  or  Six  for  $^.00 

ADDRESS     ALT.     ORDERS    TO 

MRS.    LORA    S.    LA  MANCE,       PINEVILLE,    MO. 


4in'