William Greene

Notes:

Greene William, of Samuel and Mary, Mar. 16, 1695; Warwick Births.

William married Catharine Greene 30 Dec 1719, Warwick, Kent Co., RI. Catharine (daughter of Benjamin Greene and Susannah Holden) was born 31 Mar 1698, Warwick, Kent Co., RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Greene William, of Capt. Samuel, and Katherine Greene, of Capt. Benjamin ; m. by Anthony Low, Justice, Dec. 30, 1719; Town Page Detail: Marriage (Vol. 1: Pg. 41) Warwick, RI.

1. Benjamin Greene was born 19 Aug 1724, Warwick, Kent Co., RI.
2. Samuel Greene was born 28 Apr 1727.
3. William Greene was born 16 Aug 1731.

Notes:

In 1702 Samuel Greene purchased from Jeremiah Westcott the fulling mill at Apponaug. The following three paragraphs are excerpted from the web site of the City of Warwick, RI, and is entitled "Warwick's Villages & Historic Places," by Don D'Amato:

The Greenes in Apponaug
Most historians mark the beginning of the village of Apponaug with the building of the fulling mill by John Micarter on Kekamewit Brook, near Apponaug Cove, in 1696. This was a well-taken point for after that the area began to attract the attention of many of the younger sons of the early settlers. In 1697, Micarter sold the mill to Jeremiah Westcott who in turn sold it to Samuel Greene in 1702.

John Greene, Surgeon
The acquisition of the property by Samuel Greene was a significant event in the village's history as it was through the leadership of the Greene family that Apponaug developed during the 18th and early 19th centuries. This family was that of John Greene, Surgeon, who along with Samuel Gorton and Randall Holden founded Warwick in 1642. In many ways, the history of Warwick, and that of Rhode Island, mirrors the history of the Greene family. As there were many sons and grandsons of John the Surgeon, the names John, James, Samuel, and Thomas Greene appear often in generation after generation.

Major John Greene
The Samuel Greene who purchased the mill in 1702 was the son of Major John Greene and Ann Almy. Major Greene, one of the most powerful and important figures in early Rhode Island history, was the son of Surgeon John Greene and Joanne Tatersall.

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

Samuel married Mary Gorton 24 Jan 1694/95, Warwick, RI. Mary (daughter of Benjamin GORTON and Sarah CARDER) was born 31 Oct 1673. [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:

In 1677 he was one of 48 who, along with his brother John, received a grant from the colony of 5,000 acres in East Greenwich, "in consideration of their services in King Philip's War." In 1686 he was Deputy (member) to the Upper House of the RI Legislature, and was captain of the military company, a position he held to the time of his death. His will names his children, their spouses, and his grandchildren. It contains details such as bequeathing his spectacles to his son Benjamin, and his "biggest silver spoon" to his grandson Benjamin Greene.

Benjamin married Sarah CARDER 5 Dec 1672, Warwick, RI. Sarah (daughter of Richard CARDER and Mary Unknown) was born Abt 1652; died Aug 1724, Warwick, Kent County, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The Gorton book says she died on 8 Aug 1724, the day after her husband's will was probated. However, the probate date for her will is the same day, 7 Aug 1724. Her will mentions her children and several grandchildren.

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.

Notes:

Samuell always signed his name with two "LL"s.

There is an excellent biographical sketch of Samuell by Thomas Gorton in his book "Samuel Gorton and His Descendants," published by Gateway Press. Also interesting is a book entitled "Warwick Neck," compliled by a Mr. Nixon, and published by the Warwick Neck Association. It is available in the reference section of the Warwick Public Library.

Samuell Gorton was a very intelligent free-thinker who was not bound by many of the entrenched conventions of his time. This brought him into conflict with others, especially those who were in positions of power and leadership. Samuell was not hesitant to speak up about what he believed was right, both in his own defense and on behalf of other individuals, and was known to be quite candid and sometimes even sarcastic in his confrontations. While some people of his day considered him to be a rabble-rouser, his political beliefs were vindicated in time, and his religious beliefs are held by many today. I daresay most of us would have strong words for the town fathers of Massachusetts Bay, if we had the opportunity to go back and confront them. Although Gorton has been criticized by some writers, he was greatly respected and admired by many in his own time, and can be credited, along with Roger Williams, for helping to obtain the rights enjoyed by the Colony of Rhode Island, freedoms which eventually spread to the rest of America and to other parts of the world.

There is no ambiguity about his motives in coming to America; his own words were: "I came to New England to enjoy libertie of conscience in respect to faith towards God, and for no other end." Samuell arrived in Boston in March of 1636 or 1637, at the height of a controversy already raging over doctrinal differences. He soon relocated to Plymouth, whose pastor at the time, Rev. Smith, was somewhat "lacking in gifts." As Samuell led his family in times of worship and Bible study at his home, which happened to be rented from the minister, others of the community began to join them. Before long there was jealousy, with some people taking sides. When Mrs. Gorton's servant was ordered to appear in court, supposedly over some inapproprate conversation but really because she had smiled in church, Samuell told her not to go and went to court in her stead to plead her case. Because the proceedings were handled unfairly and the so-called judge criticized by Gorton, the outcome was that he was told to leave the community, which he did. Moving to Portsmouth, RI, he was one of the group who in 1639 signed the second town compact, and was referred to as "Mr." Gorton, which at that time conveyed respect. A struggle over politcal leadership was going on, involving William Coddington and Anne Hutchinson. Of course Gorton freely expressed his opinion, again incurring resentment from certain individuals. A situation with a servant again was the reason for a visit to court, but it soon turned into barrage of accusations against Samuell by the officials, mostly because he had questioned their right to be in charge at all. He and those who spoke up on his behalf were told to leave, which they did, even though the town reversed this order a month later. Gorton and his family, along with his friends and their families, moved to Providence, where most of the town leaders agreed in principle with Gorton's views. However, some key differences in opinion caused tension, so the Gortonites moved south and settled in the area now known as Warwick Neck, adjacent to the settlement at Pawtuxet. A large tract of land was purchased from the Indians, with Roger Williams helping in the negotiations. However, their troubles were not over yet, because a group of Indians on Warwick Neck, the Shawomuts, refused to leave, even though the land had been fairly purchased by the settlers. Years of controversy ensued, during which Massachusetts and Connecticut tried to use differences between the Indian tribes as an occasion to gain control of the Rhode Island territory. At one time Massachusetts even sent a raiding party down to arrest Gorton and the other families. Finally, a charter granted by the King of England and facilited by Richard Rich, the Earl of Warwick, brought resolution to the situation. Samuell named the town Warwick after the Earl. However, the Indians on the neck continued to harass the settlers up until the end of King Philip's War. That such turmoil should prevail in such a beautiful location is a shame. However, in time Samuell Gorton and his family would enjoy the fruits of their labor and persistance.

Samuell, with the help of his sons, built a house at Warwick Neck in 1677, when he was 85 years old -- the year before he died. The house burned down in 1848, and another was built on the site in 1849. There is a stone marker at the lot, 190 Warwick Neck Avenue.

Bio here:
https://www.warwickhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=476:samuel-gorton-15931677&catid=57&Itemid=130

Samuell married Mary MAPLETT Abt 1629, England. Mary (daughter of John MAPLETT and Mary Unknown) was born 12 Mar 1608/09, London, England; died Aft 1650, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I believe this is the Richard Carder who signed the Portsmouth Compact in 1638. Some sources show his name as Richard, and others as Richmond. In the Warwick marriage records of his children, his name is given as Richard.

Richard — Mary Unknown. Mary was born Abt 1625. [Group Sheet]