Daniel Greene

Notes:

Job's will, written in the 88th year of his age, mentions his deceased wife's sister Catherine Olney, plus five children, and numerous grandchildren, as well as siblings and several nieces and nephews.

Job married Phebe SAYLES 22 Jan 1684/85, Warwick, RI. Phebe (daughter of John SAYLES, Jr. and Mary WILLIAMS) was born Abt 1660, Providence, RI; died Bef 26 Jul 1744, Warwick, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

John Greene came to New England with his family in 1635. On a 1650 map of Providence, his name is shown as owner on one of the original house lots on Towne Steeet. He became a Major in the Rhode Island Militia, Representative to the Rhode Island General Assembly for 12 years, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, agent for the colony in England, and Deputy Governor from 1690 to 1700. (See "Colonial Families of the United States")

"He became a large landowner in his own right as well as by inheritance, and was prominently active in all interests of town and Colony. It was written of him at a later period: 'He was a man of great weight of thought, sharpness of wit, aptness of action, and adroitness of understanding.' " (See "The Greenes of Rhode Island" compiled by Louise Brownell Clarke, New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1903, p. 59)

Official leadership positions he held:
Town Clerk and Surveyor of Warwick, RI
Commissioner: Member of Colonial Assemblies
Deputy, Assistant, and Deputy Governor for about 11 years
Captain of the Militia for 8 years
Major for 7 years
Attorney general 1657 - 1660
Secretary of State 1652 - 1654
Several times was sent to England as an Agent for the Colony

His will, dated Dec 1706, says he is in his 87th year, and his wife in her 80th. He names sons Richard, Samuel, Peter, & Job; and daughters Deborah, Philip(a), Ann, Catherine, & Adere; granddaughter Mary Dyer; and refers to Philip(a)'s children but not by name.

John married Anne ALMY Abt 1648. Anne (daughter of William ALMY and Audrey BARLOWE) was born 26 Feb 1626/27, South Kilworth, Leicester, England; died 6 May 1709, Warwick, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Her name may have been Ann, Annis, or Agnes.

Notes:

The children of this marriage are found in the Warwick, RI, First Book of Marriages.

Notes:

According to the book on Roger Williams' descendants, John & Mary Sayles had six children and lived on Aquidneck Island. Some lists of their children do not include Mary, Anne, or Richard, the latter two probably having died young. The dates of birth of most of these children have not yet been confirmed. When the next book is published by the Roger Williams Family Association, more research will be possible.

John & Mary are buried near Easton's Beach, Middletown, RI.

John married Mary WILLIAMS 1650, Providence, RI. Mary (daughter of Roger WILLIAMS and Mary BARNARD) was born Aug 1633, Plymouth Colony, MA; died 1681, Middletown, Newport Co., RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

He is referred to as Dr. John Greene; John Greene, Surgeon; and John Greene, Sr.

The following information is extracted and paraphrased from the book "The Greenes of Rhode Island," compiled by Louise Brownell Clarke and published in 1903, available at the RI Historical Library and elsewhere:

This John Greene, an English surgeon who became the first professional medical man in Providence Plantations, was the founder of a family which has become as prominent as any in the history of our state. It gave to the Colony two Governors (both named William Greene); to the Army of the Revolution, Major-General Nathanael Greene; to the United States forces in the Civil War, Major-General George Sears Greene . . . and many others (pp. 43 & 44). These notable Greene descendants were also descendants of our ancestor Samuell Gorton (p. 45).

John Greene, Sr. was born at his father's estate, Bowridge Hill, at Gillingham, County Dorset, England in 1597 or 1598 (the above book gives his year of birth as c. 1590). He later moved to Salisbury, Wiltshire (p. 52), and in 1619 was married there at St. Thomas Church to Joan (or Joanne) Tattershall (or Tatarsole). Their marriage is recorded in the church register, as are the baptisms of all their children (p. 54). The family resided at Salisbury for about 16 years. It is not known exactly what prompted Dr. Greene and his wife to leave their homeland, but we do know that they sailed from Hampton (or Southampton), England, with their six children, on 6 April 1635 on the ship "James." After a voyage of 58 days (p. 55), they arrived in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, on 3 June 1635. They first settled at Salem along with Roger Williams who, when he learned in 1636 that officials intended to deport him back to England, escaped south to the Narragansett Bay area, beyond the borders of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The climate of religious persecution also led to the ousting of Dr. Greene, who in the spring of 1637 sold his house in Salem and brought his family to Providence, where he was one of the twelve original proprietors.

According to Massachusetts Colonial Records, i, p. 203 (quoted in above book, p. 57), "John Greene of New Providence [was] fined 20 pounds and forbidden this jurisdiction on pain of fine and imprisonment for speaking contemptuously of magistrates Sep 19, 1637." In a letter sent to the Massachusetts Court, he had charged them with usurping the power of Christ over the churches and men's consciences. It was a bold accusation, one that he would not have made had he not believed it to be both true and an egregious offense.

The right mode of baptism was one of the issues of contention in Massachusetts, where there was no allowance for different beliefs; but in Providence there was freedom of worship. So, here John Greene was baptized by Roger Williams, and was one of the twelve founding members of the First Baptist Church in America. John was also one of the first six settlers to receive home lots, which fronted on Towne Street (now Main Street) facing the cove (now the river) and extending back to Hope Street (p. 59).

Some time after Dr. Greene came to Rhode Island, his first wife Joan died. She was the mother of all his children. He then remarried to Ailsce (Alice or Elsie) Daniels, a widow of Providence.

The first land purchase by an English settler in the Warwick area was made by (Dr.) John Greene, Sr., to whom was deeded on 1 Oct 1642 the tract of land called Occupasuetuxet, by Miantonomi, chief Sachem of the Narragansetts. He moved there in 1642 or 1643 with his new wife and family. His farm came to be known as "Greene's Hold." In addition, John was one of a group of twelve men, including our ancestors Richard Waterman and Samuell Gorton, who purchased "Old Warwick" -- just south of Greene's land -- from the Indians. Known as the Shawomut Purchase, this area deeded to the settlers was about four miles wide and twenty miles inland, extending from the bay to the present-day Connecticut border. Shawomut, an Indian name meaning "a spring," was the original name of Warwick.

Connecticut and Massachusetts officials at various times tried to exert their control over the Rhode Island territory. Massachusetts Bay officials used rivalries among Indian tribes as leverage to stake their own claim to the prime coastal farmlands of Rhode Island, particularly the Shawomut area. Although the Indian Sachem had sold the settlers the land, with a fair written contract to prove it, there was a small group of unfriendly Indians on Warwick Neck who refused to leave and continually harassed the settlers. Massachusetts saw their opportunity and in 1643 sent a posse of armed men from Boston to arrest the settlers, even firing on a house where the English flag was displayed in an appeal to a higher law. The women and children fled in terror to the woods, while some of the men were bound and taken prisoner to Boston. Sadly, two of the wives died, probably from the trauma of fright and exposure to the elements (p. 55). The two who died were Isabel, wife of Robert Potter, and Ailsce, wife of Dr. John Greene.

The leaders of Shawomut, seeing the need for authority from the mother country as a defense against the neighboring colonies, appealed to England for their right to exist. The Earl of Warwick signed the Patent of Providence Plantations on 14 March 1643/44, and so the town was officially named Warwick in his honor.

Official records show that John held numerous leadership positions in the Colony and in the town:
8 Aug 1647 - Member of the first Town Council of Warwick, RI
26 Feb 1648 - Commissioner (Representative of Warwick to the General Assembly)
7 May 1649 - Magistrate in Court of Trials, Warwick, RI
4 June 1649 - Assistant
2 July 1649 - Member of Town Council
26 Oct 1650 - Commissioner
8 May 1655 - Commissioner
6 Oct 1656 - Commissioner
9 Aug 1657 - Commissioner

John made a trip back to London around 1644, where he married his third wife, Phillipa (it was always spelled "Phillip" -- a common name for both males and females at the time; it may have been pronounced as "Phillippe"). Her maiden name is not known. They returned to Warwick in 1646. After a full life, he died in January 1659, and is buried on the family farm in Conimicut, Old Warwick. His wife "Phillip" died in 1687, at about 87 years old.

John is the great-great-grandfather of General Nathanael Greene.

The RI Cemetery Database has his year of birth as 1585.

For more interesting information on the Greenes, see "Warwick's Villages & Historic Places," by Don D'Amato, at the City of Warwick web site:

http://www.warwickri.gov/heritage/damatoshistory/apponaug4.htm

Dr. married Joan TATTERSHALL 4 Nov 1619, St. Thomas Church, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Joan was born Abt 1598, England; died Between 1638 and 1639. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

One online genealogy identifies her parents as Richard (b.1572) & Margaret (Fox, b.1576) Tattershall. No documentation is provided.

Notes:

The church record gives her maiden name as "Tatersole."

Notes:

William is named executor in the will of his father Christopher dated 2 Oct 1624 (see findagrave.com).

William first came to New England in 1631, then returned to England and came back in 1635 with his wife and two children, on the ship "Abigail." The Almy family first settled in Lynn, MA, then went to Sandwich, MA, where William received a grant of land as one of the founders 1637. He later sold his land in Sandwich and moved to Portsmouth, RI, in 1642, where he received a land grant in 1644. He was made a freeman in 1655 and later was a juryman and a commissioner.

His will of 1676 mentions his wife (unnamed), sons John, Christopher, and Job; and daughters An and Catharen.

William is ancestor to at least three US Presidents.

William married Audrey BARLOWE 17 Jul 1626. Audrey (daughter of Stafford BARLOWE) was born 1603, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England; died Aft Feb 1676/77. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

An online family tree traces Anudrey's ancestry back to King Henry II, through his mistress Ida de Tony. This needs more research to be confirmed.

John married Phillipa SOULE 11 Aug 1625, St. Lawrence's Parish, Little Waldingfield, Suffolk Co., England. Phillipa was born Abt Feb 1601/02, All Saints Parish, Sudbury, England. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Did you know: When Roger Williams crossed the Seekonk River to found Providence, the Narragansetts greeted him with "What cheer, netop?" A common greeting in the 17th century, "What cheer?" or "What news of cheer do you bring?" is similar to a 21st century expression, "What's new?" "Netop" is a Narragansett word for friend. (source: RI Historical Society)

The following notes are from "Descendents of Roger Williams" by Dorothy Higson White, Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, 1991:

"Roger's youth was spent in the parish of 'St. Sepulchre's, without Newgate, London.' While a young man, he must have been aware of the numerous burnings at the stake that had taken place at nearby Smithfield of so-called Puritans or heretics. This probably influenced his later strong beliefs in civic and religious liberty. During his teens, Roger Williams came to the attention of Sir Edward Coke, a brilliant lawyer and one-time Chief Justice of England, through whose influence he was enrolled at Sutton's Hospital, a part of Charter House, a school in London. He next entered Pembroke College at Cambridge University from which he graduated in 1627. All of the literature currently available at Pembroke to prospective students mentions Roger Williams, his part in the Reformation, and his founding of the Colony of Rhode Island. At Pembroke, he was one of eight granted scholarships based on excellence in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Pembroke College in Providence, once the women's college of Brown University, was named after Pembroke at Cambridge in honor of Roger Williams.
"In the years after he left Cambridge, Roger Williams was Chaplain to a wealthy family, and on 15 December 1629, he married Mary Barnard at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England. Even at this time, he became a controversial figure because of his ideas on freedom of worship. And so, in 1630, ten years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Roger thought it expedient to leave England. He arrived, with Mary, on 5 February 1631 at Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their passage was aboard the ship 'Lyon' (Lion).
"He preached first at Salem, then at Plymouth, then back to Salem, always at odds with the structured Puritans. When he was about to be deported back to England, Roger fled southwest out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was befriended by local Indians and eventually settled at the headwaters of what is now Narragansett Bay, after he learned that his first settlement on the east bank of the Seekonk River was within the boundaries of the Plymouth Colony. Roger purchased land from the Narragansett Chiefs, Canonicus and Miantonomi, and named his settlement Providence in thanks to God."

(Continue reading about his amazing accomplishments which paved the way for future generations. Log on to the following web sites.)
http://www.rogerwilliams.org

We are (at least) triple descendants of Roger & Mary, through two of their children, Mary & Mercy.

The following notes are from a manuscript at the Warwick Historical Society, Pawtuxet, RI (the original source is not clearly identified): "The first English missionary to the Indians of New England was Roger Williams, who preceded John Eliot by at least fourteen years. Williams began to study the languages in 1631 while at Plymouth and by 1633, according to Mr. Wood in the 'New England Prospect,' was the only English missionary and so good a[nd] proficient that he could converse with them (Ernst p. 251) . . . From 1631 to 1683 he was constantly doing missionary work among the New England tribes. While studying the language and telling them of Christ and his love, he built up a large and profitable Indian trading business; much of the profits he used for their peace and welfare (p. 252) . . . Williams was handsome and winning in appearance, generous and enthusiastic in temper, eloquent, religious, and philosophic (Ernst p. 368)."

The following is excerpted from "Materials Toward a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island," Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society of the 4th Series, Boston, Crosby Nichols & Co., 1854, @ [http://21tnt.com/morganedwards/#edwardsrhodeisland]:
"It is certain that he embraced the sentiments of the Puritans, and suffered on account thereof. (Hist. Of Mass., Vol. 1, page 39. Neal, Vol. 1, p. 140.) This sent him and many more to America. He landed at Salem [Boston] Feb. 5, 1631, and immediately was admitted a preacher in the independent church of Salem as an assistant to Mr. Skelton. Soon after he removed to the church of Plymouth, where he continued about three years, and was much thought of by the governor (Bradford) and the people, of whom the former gives this testimony: "Mr. Roger Williams (a man godly and zealous, having many precious parts) came hither, and his teaching was well approved, for the benefit whereof I still bless God and am thankful to him even for his sharpest admonitions, &c." But Mr. Skelton, of Salem, growing infirm, Roger Williams returned thither and soon succeeded him in the ministry. Here he had not been long a preacher before his favorite sentiment, liberty of conscience, gave offence to a small but the leading part of the congregation. Yet, this would have been borne with had he not further maintained that civil Magistrates as such have no power in the church, and that Christians as Christians are subject to no laws of control, save those of king Jesus. These were intolerable positions among the Massachusetts Magistrates, who, from the beginning discovered an itch for being kings in Christ

Roger married Mary BARNARD 15 Dec 1629, Essex, England. Mary was born Abt 1605; died 1676, Providence, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Roger & Mary were married at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England.