Capt. James Greene

James married Patience Waterman 10 Apr 1740, Warwick, RI. Patience (daughter of John WATERMAN and Anne OLNEY) was born Between 1714 and 1716, Warwick, RI; died 8 Feb 1796, Warwick, RI; was buried , Historical Cemetery 66, Surgeon Greene Lot, West Shore Rd., Warwick, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

His gravestone reads: "4th gen, Fones Greene, son of Capt. James Greene, died July 29, 1758, aged 67 years." This would make his birth year c1691.

Fones Greene married first to Dinah Battey, who drowned a few days after their marriage in 1711. She was sailing across the Bay from Newport to Jamestown.

Fones's uncle Samuel Fones married Ann Tibbetts, aunt of his second wife Rebecca.

For a brief bio, see "Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts" by J.H. Beers & Co, p 1304.

Fones resided in the house which he inherited, built by his father c1687, in the Buttonwoods/Nausauket area of Warwick, RI, bordering on Greenwich Bay. A second house was built in its place in 1715, and is still standing today, in 2008. A large part of the Greene estate was sold in 1868 to the Buttonwoods Association, which developed the area with homes and a campground on the shore.

Fones married Rebecca Tibbetts 5 Feb 1712/13, Warwick, RI. Rebecca (daughter of Henry TIBBETTS and Rebecca MEDBURY) was born Between 1694 and 1695; died 18 Feb 1765; was buried , Historical Cemetery 66, Surgeon Greene Lot, West Shore Rd., Warwick, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

All of James's children except Daniel were named in the will of Isbel Berton, dated 26 Jan 1721/22 at Warwick, RI.

James resided at Nausauket, in Warwick, RI, where he built a house in 1687 (source: "New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial" by William Richard Cutter; Google Books). This is the area where I grew up; my grammar school was Nausauket School.

In the Warwick records James is referred to as Ensign, Lieutenant, and Captain.

James married Mary Fones 25 Jan 1689/90, Warwick, RI. Mary (daughter of John Fones and Margaret Unknown) was born 1668; died 20 Mar 1721/22, Warwick, Kent Co., RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Henry Tibbetts, Junior is on a list of taxes under Gov. Andros, dated 6 Sept 1687, assessing estates of the Towne of Rochester in the King's Province.

According to "The History of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 1677-1960, With Related Genealogy," by Martha R. McPartland (East Greenwich Free Library Assoc., 1960), Henry was born about 1640, was living in Kingstown in 1663, and died in 1713. He came to East Greenwich between 1690 and 1708 and built a home on Frenchtown Road. The Henry Tibbitts House, built before 1708, was given to John, son of Henry, in his will. This house is still in East Greenwich, at 1786 Frenchtown Road, and is owned and lived in by descendants of Henry, John Gifford Tibbitts and his son, Gifford C. Tibbitts. Some very old family furnishing are in the house, such as a maple desk originally owned by Esther Whitford Tibbitts.

Austin's book on early RI families has Henry's date of death as 27 Dec 1702.

Henry married Rebecca MEDBURY Between 1688 and 1690, Kingston, RI. Rebecca was born Abt 1667; died 10 Jun 1752. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I have roughly estimated Rebecca's year of birth; also, I have estimated the birth years for all these children.

Notes:

Information on this couple is noted in New England Marriages Prior to 1750.

Notes:

James was the great-grandfather of General Nathanael Greene, second in command to General George Washington during the Revolution. General Nathanael Greene's birthplace was the Greene homestead at Potowomut, Warwick, RI. Sometimes referred to as James Greene "of Potowomut," he was made freeman of Warwick and Providence Plantations in 1647. He served as Town Clerk in 1661, and was described as "as excellent penman of the old English text" ("The Greenes of Rhode Island," p. 64). Under Rhode Island's first charter, he served as Commissioner, or member of the General Assembly. Under the second charter (1663), he served as Deputy Assistant for ten years, until about 1675. His house, along with all in Warwick except one, was burned down by Indians in the Spring of 1675/76 during King Philip's War. Being warned in advance, he had fled to Portsmouth where his father-in-law, John Anthony, lived. It was some time after this, about 1684, that he located at Potowomut, where he built a house by a river which provided power for a forge which was used by his sons and grandsons to do iron work, such as making anchors. (See "The Greenes of Rhode island," p. 64)

James married Deliverance Potter Abt 1658. Deliverance (daughter of Robert Potter and Isabel Unknown) was born 1637; died 1664. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

John Fones settled at Kingston in 1669.

He may be the John Fones who was Town Moderator at Jamestown about 1680 (see Proprietors Records at town hall, p. 4).

From "Graveyards of North Kingstown, RI" by Althea H. McAleer (RIGS), Lot 4: "the Foneses were early settlers in North Kingstown. In 1672, John Fones and others negotiated with the Indians for a tract of land north of Devil's Foot and west of the Post Road now known as the Fones Purchase. Jeremiah, son of John, and Daniel, grandson of John, both settled on this land. Two old Fones houses, Jeremiah's and that of his son Daniel, the privateer and commander of the colony sloop "Tartar" stood until well into the 20th century on the NW corner of Post Road and Devils Foot Road. [My note: This area has recently been changed due to road construction and rerouting.] According to Hunter White, a Fones house, probably Jeremiah's, was on Namcook Road. It was owned by the Foneses until 1784, then by the Vaughans, the Reynoldses, and the Madisons. The old Fones Graveyard was found by George Harris in 1883 near the NE corner of Newcomb and Post Roads."

My note: this land of the Fones family is near or adjacent to the land of my Austin ancestors.

John married Margaret Unknown Abt 1660. Margaret was born Abt 1640. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Information on this family can be found in "The History of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 1677-1960, With Related Genealogy" by Martha R. McPartland, p. 269.

Henry Tibbetts, Senior is on a list of taxes under Gov. Andros, dated 6 Sept 1687, assessing estates of the Towne of Rochester in the King's Province.

The will of Henry Tibbets was dated 27 Nov 1708 at North Kingstown. Some portions of it are burned, but as near as can be determined, it mentions the following individuals: his wife Sarah; three sons -- George, John, & Henry (dec'd, leaving widow/d-in-law Reb____); three daughters -- Mary Green w/o Edward, Sarah Hall, & ____ha Stanton w/o Benjamin; three grandsons -- Thomas, Henry, & William; three granddaughters, d/o son Henry -- Rebecah, Avis & Dinah; and one other granddaughter -- Anna Fones, d/o S_____; also mentioned is William Tanner who rec'd land (poss. grandson or son-in-law).

From North Kingstown land evidence: Henry Tibbits deeded, by gift after his decease, land to William Tanner, as given to William Tanner in Henry's last will. Land bounded by George Tibbits, etc. (date lost -- possibly 1710).

Henry married Sarah STANTON Dec 1661, Newport, RI. Sarah (daughter of Robert STANTON and Avis ALMY) was born Abt 1640, Newport, RI; died Aft 27 Nov 1708. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Sarah's father, Robert Stanton, was admitted as a freeman of Newport, RI, in 1639. So, if she was actually born in 1640, it must have been in Newport. If she was born earlier, she may have been born in England.