Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 9

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I > Part 9

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The father of Dr. Green's second wife, Gen. Timothy Ruggles, of Hardwick, was a distinguished lawyer, judge, statesman and soldier. He was op- posed, however, to the Revolution, and is called by historians "Massachusetts' great loyalist." Hon. Andrew H. Green of New York, a descendant, had a biography of Gen. Ruggles published.

Dr. John Green died in Worcester, October 29, 1799, at the age of sixty-three. All his children were born on Green Hill, Worcester; the first three be- ing the children of Mary Osgood, Thomas's first wife, and the last ten being the children of Mary Ruggles, his second wife :

I. John, born April 1, 1758; died September 20, 1761.

2 Mary, born November 27, 1759; died Febru- rary 15. 1759-60.

3. Thomas, born January 3. 1761: married October 8, 1782, to Salome Barstow of Sutton.

4. John, born March 18. 1763, married to Nancy Barber of Worcester. [See sketch of his life later.]

Timothy, born January 9. 1765; married to Mary Martin of Providence, Rhode Island.

6. Samuel, born May 10, 1767: married to Widow Tillinghast; married secondly, to Waring.

7. Elijah Dix, born July 4. 1769; never mar- ried: he was a graduate of Brown, 1792; practiced medicine at Charleston, South Carolina ; died Sep- tember 21, 1795.

8. Mary, born April 30, 1772: never married ; she died at the house of her brother, Samuel, in Columbia. South Carolina, September 24. 1824.

9. Elizabeth, born July 31, 1774; unmarried ; she died at Green Hill. February 3. 1854, aged eighty: lived chiefly with her brother Timothy, in New York city.

IO. William Elijah, born January 31, 1777. [See his sketch. later.]

II. Meltiah, born July 28. 1779: died immar- ried. December, 1800. of yellow fever. at St. Bar- tholomew, West Indies: was a resident of Jamaica.

12. Bourne, born December 15. 1781 ; died un-

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married, August, 1806, at sea; was engaged in commerce.

13. Isaac, born September 4, 1784; died Sep- tember 9, 1807, while a member of the Sophomore class of Columbia College, New York.

(VI) Dr. John Green, son of Dr. John Green (5) and Mary (Ruggles) Green, was born at Wor- cester, on Green Hill, March 18, 1763. He studied medicine with his father and began to practice at the age of eighteen. He inherited the skill and ability of his father and grandfather. Particularly skilled in surgery, his services were in constant de- mand, "while daily could be seen," says Charles Tappan, "Dr. Green and his half-dozen students mounted on horesback and galloping through the streets as if some one or more were in peril." He lived at first in the little wooden office-building of his father on Main street. Later he built a house just south of it. He was, we are told by the "Gen- ealogy," "of industrious habits, patient, persever- ing; in his manners, urbane and obliging; in his judgments, discriminating, and always reliable; a man of great powers of observation ; he had an ex- tensive practice in Worcester and the surrounding region. He combined with accurate practice as a physician, rare skill as a surgeon." Hon. Oliver Fiske, his biographer, said of him: "From his childhood the natural bias of his mind led him to that profession which through life was the sole object of his ardent pursuit. To be distinguished as a physician was not his chief incentive. To assuage the sufferings of humanity by his skill was the higher motive of his benevolent mind. Every duty was performed with delicacy and tender- ness. With these propensities, aided by a strong, · inquisitive and discriminating mind, he attained to a pre-eminent rank among the physicians and sur- geons of our country." He was tall, strong and attractive in person. He died August II, 1808, at the age of forty-five years, having practiced, how- ever, for twenty-seven years, for the last nine of which he was practically the only physician in the town. The Worcester Spy reported that "To his funeral came the largest concourse of people from this and neighboring towns ever known to be col- lected here on a similar occasion." "It has been the high privilege of few of our community to enjoy so much confidence and respect, to be so loved while living and so mourned when dead."

He married Nancy Barber, granddaughter of Robert Barber of Northville, who was among the Presbyterians who fled from the religious perse- cutions in his native land and sought refuge in Ire- larid, whence he came to America, and made the Barber estate near Barber's Crossing, in North- ville, Massachusetts. The children were:

I. John, born April 19, 1784; married to Dolly Curtis of Worcester. They had no children. [See sketch of his life later.]

2. Eunice, born April 29. 1786: married to Leonard Burbank, (Brown. 1807). They had four children: 1. John Green, graduated at West Point, first in his class. He served in the Seminole and Mexican wars, and was killed in the battle of Molino del Rey. where he had voluntered upon a forlorn hope. He was never married, but was engaged to Anna M., daughter of Gen. Belknap, of the Regular Army, a contemporary of Gen. Scott. 2. Ann Eliza- beth, married to Joseph Gardner, of Fitchburg.

They had one child, Elizabeth, who lived and died in Fitchburg unmarried. Ann Elizabeth is now dead. 3. George G., married to Lydia O. Whiting, of Worcester. No child was born to them, but they adopted one under the name of Caroline Amelia Burbank. George and Lydia are dead. 4. James Leon-

ard, married to Persis S. Wood, of Grafton. They had one child only, Emma Jourdan. James L. is now dead. Emma J. married Frank Richard Macullar, of Worcester, son of Addison Macullar. They had one child, Margaret Burbank, now living. Frank R. Macullar is now dead.

3. Mary, born March 14, 1788; died unmarried, September 16, 1817.

4. Nancy, born August 28, 1790; married to Dr. Benjamin F. Heywood of Worcester, (Dart- mouth, 1812). [See the sketch of the Heywood Family, later.]

5. Samuel, born March 21, 1792; died August 24, 1796.

6. Sarah, born August 22, 1794; died August 23, 1796. 7. Samuel B., born April 1I, 1797; died July 20, 1822.

8. Frederick William, born January 19. 1800; he settled in Columbia, South Carolina; married Sarah Briggs of Columbia; they had thirteen chil- dren and are both dead.

9. James, born December 23, 1802; he married Elizabeth Swett of Dedham. [See his sketch, later, "James Green (VII)."]

IO. Meltiah Bourne, born July 16, 1806; he married Mary Stone Ward. [See his sketch, later, "M. B. Green (VII)."]

II. Elizabeth R., born September 26, 1808; she married Dr. Benjamin F. Heywood, who had also married her sister Nancy. [See Heywood Family sketch. ]

(VI) William Elijah Green, son of Dr. John and Mary (Ruggles) Green, (5), was born on Green Hill, January 31, 1777, and died there July 27, 1865, aged eighty-eight years. He was graduated at Brown University in 1798. He succeeded his father in the ownership of the homestead on Green Hill, comprising then two hundred acres. He studied law under Judge Edward Bangs, with whom and with whose son. Edward D. Bangs, he was as- sociated in practice for some years afterwards. He was an original member of the First Baptist Society of Worcester, but late in life became identified with the Universalists. He will be remembered for the earnest work he did for temperance and the Public schools of Worcester. He was for many years captain of the Worcester Light Infantry, and was a volunteer in the War of 1812. He was one of the foremost promoters of the Blackstone Canal, and never lost an opportunity to help advance the interests of his native town. It has been said of him that he was a man of great geniality and cheer- fulness; affable to men of all conditions, highly respected and very popular. In his later years. Wil- liam E. Green withdrew from the practice of the law and spent his time in the development of his estate on Green Hill. While this estate has been brought to its present perfection by his sons, An- drew H. Green and Martin Green-the latter one of whom resided there for thirty-two years,-Green Hill has been for one hundred and fifty years an attractive spot, a gentleman's estate, suggesting the old English homes rather than the farms of New England. The original house, to which Andrew H. Green added a fine modern structure by cutting the old house in two and putting a new section be- tween the front and rear. is approached by Green Lane, an old county road. It had a museum of family heirlooms and relics. In itself it is one of the choicest inheritances of the early settlers of Worcester. What is called the Green Hill Book originated September 15, 1861, when the ten chil- dren of William E. Green, the old "Squire," met together for the first time since their childhood,

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and this meeting proved also the last gathering of the family as a whole. At that time Oliver B. Green came from Chicago; John P. Green was at home on a visit from Copiapo, Chili, where he lived forty years; Mary R., Lucy M. and Andrew H. came from New York; and Martin from Peshtigo, Wisconsin. Some interesting portrait groups of the family were taken and are preserved in the Green Hill Book, a large folio record book, in which an account of this reunion was entered, and in which records of interest to the family, including notices of visits, have since been kept. It is illustrated with photographs of several generations of the family : has clippings from newspapers containing obituaries and other family items.

Mr. Green died July 27, 1865, in the same room at Green Hill in which he was born,-at the age of eighty-eight years. He was married four times ; first to Abigail Nelson, daughter of Josiah Nelson, of Milford, who bore him one child, William Nel- son Green: secondly, to Lucy Merriam, daughter of Deacon Joseph Merriam of Grafton, who bore him one child. Lucy Merriam Green; thirdly, to Julia Plimpton, daughter of Oliver Plimpton, Esq., of that part of Sturbridge now known as South- bridge. Massachusetts. She had nine children ; and fourthly. to Elizabeth D. Collins, a widow. From this marriage there was no child. The children of William E. Green were:

I. William Nelson, born at Milford. Massa- chusetts, February 23. 1804: died December 6, 1870. He was judge of the police court of Worcester. [See his sketch, later.]

2. Lucy Merriam, born at Grafton, November 12, ISIO. She was for a great many years the joint owner with her sister. Mary Ruggles Green, of a young ladies' school at No. I Fifth avenue, New York city, which they made famous ; unmarried : her brother, Andrew H. Green, a bachelor, lived with these two sisters and helped them conduct their business affairs : she died May S. 1893, at Worcester. 3. Mary Ruggles, born in Worcester. June 29, ISI4: she married Carl W. Knudsen, who was born in Denmark. 1818, and died in South Norwalk, Connecticut, February 27, 1894. She was a teacher and joint proprietor with her sister, Lucy M., of the young ladies' school at No. I Fifth avenue, New York city. She died March 17, 1894.

4. Julia Elizabeth, born in Worcester, February 2, 1816; she lived at home with her parents : was a teacher : never married, and died August 5. ISSo.

5. Lydia Plimpton, born at Worcester, August 4, 1817: died August 27. 18I8.

6. . John Plimpton, born in Worcester, January 19. 1819: he became a physician, practiced in New York and lived in China and South America. He died

7. Andrew Haswell, born in Worcester, October 6, 1820; a prominent lawyer in New York city, associated in practice with Hon. Samuel J. Tilden ; president of the Board of Education: commissioner of Central Park, and comptroller of New York city. [Sce a sketch of his life, later,-"A. H. Green (VII)."1

8. Samuel Fiske, born in Worcester, October IO, 1822 : a physician and missionary in Ceylon.

9. Lydia Plimpton, born at Worcester, March IS. 1824: she lived at the old home on Green Hill, and died there September 7. 1869.

IO Oliver Bourne, horn at Worcester, January I. 1826: he married August 28, 1855. Louisa Pome- roy of Stanstead, Canada ; a prominent civil engineer at Chicago, Illinois. [See a sketch of his life, later, -"O. B. Green (VII)."]

II. Martin, born at Worcester, April 24. 1828;

for many years a civil engineer engaged in import- ant work ; now resident at Worcester. [See a sketch of his life, later,-"Martin Green (VII)."]

(VII) Dr. John Green, son of Dr. John Green (6), was born in Worcester, April 19, 1784. He was graduated at Brown University in 1804, and began to practice medicine in Worcester in 1807, a year before the death of his father and eight years after that of his grandfather, Dr. John Green of Revolutionary fame. He seems destined to be re- membered longer than either, for he will be known to future generations as the founder of the Free Public Library of Worcester. Having early decided to devote a liberal portion of his fortune to the founding of such an institution, he was engaged for many years in collecting books, which in 1859 he presented to the city, adding continually to the number afterward. and leaving in his will funds of $35,000 for the library, with a provision for further accumulation. The funds amounted, November 30, 1903, to $61.403.

He studied medicine with his father, succeeded to his father's practice at his death, and for half a century was the acknowledged leader of his pro- fession in this section of the state. He was a good student. gentle and sympathetic with his patients, especially with women and children, but quite in- flexible when it seemed to him necessary; very cautious and also very daring : but his most valuable professional quality was the keenest possible obser- vation.

Although this third Dr. John Green is likely to be best known hereafter as the founder of Worcester's Public Library, contemporary physicians and his own patients generally believed him to be the greatest physician and surgeon of the three who, under the name of Dr. John Green, had cared for this community for ninety-eight years. He was the last Dr. Green of the four in this con- tinuous family line who had served this neighbor- hood medically for over one hundred and thirty- five years without a break. He was given the de- gree of M. D. by Harvard College in IS15, and in 1826 by his Alma Mater. Brown University. He was treasurer of the District Medical Society three years, vice-president five years, and president seven : vice-president of the American Medical Society in 1854: the first president of the Worcester County Horticultural Society ; a councillor of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society and of the American Anti- quarian Society. He was an early and constant patron and supporter of the Worcester Natural History Society. On account of age and failing health, he retired from practice ahont 1855. He died in his eighty-second year, at Worcester, Oc- tober 17. 1865. He married Dolly Curtis, daughter of David Curtis, of Worcester, and aunt of the late George William Curtis, the distinguished author and orator. They had no children.

(VII) James Green, son of Dr. John Green (6), was born in Worcester. December 23. 1802, less than six years before the death of his father. who died at the early age of forty-five years, and left a family of nine children surviving him. The oldest son. John (7). had already received his col- legiate and medical education, and had started in 1826 by his Alma Mater. Brown University. He practice : but James had to go to work at the age of twelve, after very little schooling. This calamity made him very eager afterwards to give his own children the best education he could. TIe lived all his life in Worcester, and married, May 1. 1833. Elizabeth Swett, daughter of Samuel Swett of Boston and Dedham. Massachusetts, a merchant engaged in foreign trade. They lived at

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WORCESTER COUNTY

12 Harvard street, in Worcester, for about twenty- eight years just preceding his death on June IO, 1874. All their children were born in Worcester. The widow Elizabeth continued to live in the same house until she died, May 7, 1901, leaving her three sons surviving. Their children were:

I. James, born February 15, 1834; died Febru- ary 17, 1834.

2. John, born April 2, 1835; graduated at Har- vard College, 1855: M. D., Harvard; an eminent ophthalmologist and leader of his profession in St. Louis, Missouri. [See sketch of his life later,- "Dr. John Green (VIII)."]

3. Samuel Swett, born February 20, IS37; A. B., Harvard, 1858; Harvard Divinity School, 1864: Harvard A. M., 1870. [See a sketch of his life later .- "Samuel S. Green, VIII."]

4. Elizabeth Sprague, born April 19, 1839; she died at St. Louis at the home of her brother John, January 9, 1870.

5. James, born March 2, 1841 ; Harvard A. B., 1862; LL. B., 1864; A. M., 1865. [See sketch of his life, later,-"James Green, VIII."]

(VII) Meltialı Bourne Green, son of Dr. John Green (6), was born in Worcester. July 16, 1806. He married Mary Stone Ward, daughter of Artemas Ward of Worcester, Massachusetts. He lived in Worcester, and died there May 24, 1888. His wife died at Worcester, January 7, 1896. Their children were:

I. Meltiah, born August 27, 1838; died August 29, IS38.

2. Mary Caroline, born December I3, IS39; died August 13, IS40.

3. Meltiah Bourne, born January 3. 1843: A. B. Trinity, 1865; LL. B. Harvard, 1867. He died at Geneva, Switzerland, December 27, 1877.

(VII) William Nelson Green, son of William E. Green (6), was born in Milford, Massachusetts, where his father lived and practiced law for a time, February 23, IS04. He was educated in the public schools of Worcester. He studied law in the office of Samuel M. Burnside in Worcester, and was ad- mitted to practice in 1827 .. From 1833 to 1836 he was the editor of the National Aegis, a Worcester news- paper, distinguished more for the excellence of its editing and the greatness of some of its editors after they left the paper, than for any degree of financial success attained. Somebody has said that half the lawyers in Worcester in the early days served their time as editor of the Acgis. He was for a time a school teacher. He will be remembered best for his high-minded and efficient service as the first judge of the city court. When Worcester was incorporated as a city in 1848, the new charter es- tablished a police court, of which he became the justice. Judge Green was undoubtedly the best qualified among the justices of the peace who had hitherto administered the criminal law in the town of Worcester. He was not only the first but the last and only judge of the Worcester police court. When, after a faithful service of twenty years, Judge Green retired, the municipal court was es- tablished and the police court abolished to meet new needs of the city. Judge Green loved nature and was very fond of hunting. He died December 6. 1870, two years after retiring from the judgeship. He married, February 23, 1839. Sarah Munroe (Ball) Staples, who was born in Northboro and was a widow when he married her. They had five children. born in Worcester :

I. William Nelson, (S), born January 10, IS43. He enlisted in the 25th Massachusetts Regiment, and was promoted for gallantry in the battle of Roanoke to be second lieutenant in the 102d New York Regi-

ment. He was in the battle of Cedar Mountain and was a prisoner in Libby Prison. He received special mention for brave conduct in the battle of Chancel- lorsville, and a commission as lieutenant-colonel in the 173d New York Regiment. He was shot at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, during a battle, and died May 13, 1864, from the wound.

2. Timothy Ruggles, born June 22, IS41. He lived many years in New York with his uncle An- ' drew H. Green, and after his uncle's death returned to Worcester, where he now resides.

(VII) Andrew Haswell Green, son of William E. Green (6) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, October 6, 1820. The best account of the life and achievements of "the Father of Greater New York" is that written by his cousin and friend, Samuel Swett Green, librarian of the Free Public Library of Worcester, and read at the semi-annual meeting of the American Antiquarian Society, April 27, 1904. From that account the writer of this sketch has drawn most of the facts and in many cases has quoted freely from it.

At the age of fifteen Mr. Green left school. His early education was obtained at the old Thomas street school at the corner of Summer street. He went to work in New York city, whither he jour- neyed by stage and steamboat. He was employed first at the munificent salary of fifty dollars a year in the store of Hinsdale & Atkins as errand boy. His next position was clerk in the store of Lee, Savage & Co., wholesale cloth merchants and im- porters, where he steadily advanced until he had reached nearly the head position when the firm failed. After a severe illness and return to Green Hill for some months during convalescence and re- cuperation, he entered the employ of Wood, Johns- ton & Barritt, linen importers, Exchange Place, New York. Then he went to the house of Simeon Draper. At the age of twenty-one he went to Trinidad, where he spent a year on the sugar plan- tation of Mr. Burnley, a friend of the family. While there he became interested in the cultivation of sugar cane, the manufacture of sugar and molasses and tried without success to introduce some im- provement in the methods and processes in use. He gave up the attempt. returned to New York and entered the law office of a relative, John W. Mit- chell. He began the practice of law in the office of Samuel J. Tilden, "whose political principles he shared." to quote his own words, "and with whom he sustained confidential and trusted relations throughout life."

He was elected trustee of the schools in the fourth ward of New York, and afterward school commissioner and member of the board of educa- tion. He was made president of the board, which consisted of forty four members, in 1855. Two years later he was appointed a commissioner of Central Park and became treasurer of the board of commissioners, president and executive officer of the board, and for ten years comptroller of the park. He had complete supervision of the engineers, landscape architects, gardeners. and the whole force of laborers amounting at times to three thousand men. The office of comptroller of the park was created especially for Mr. Green. It happened that in the first years of the park there was constant friction between the commissioners and the Tweed ring, then being formed, and the commissioners were quite willing to leave the work to anyone who would attend to it. So Mr. Green was made both president and treasurer. As the park was developed and grew in popularity some member of the board intimated that it was not right for one man to hold both offices, and Mr. Green was elected treasurer,

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to which the salary, which the legislature had authorized the commissioners to pay either to the president or treasurer, was to be paid. But Mr. Green promptly declined to serve in the salaried position, whereupon another member was elected treasurer and he was elected president without sal- ary. The new treasurer failed to give satisfaction and in a few months the office of comptroller of parks was created and Mr. Green elected to fill the position. The nominal president of the board had the duty of presiding at meetings, but all the exe- cutive and administrative work devolved on the comptroller, who was likewise the treasurer. He served in this very important and honorable posi- tion for ten years, when the Tweed charter of 1870 removed the members of the board from office and turned Central Park over to a department of the city government appointed by A. Oakey Hall, mayor. Although Mr. Green was appointed a mem- ber of the new board the conditions were such that he resigned in 1872.

Chancellor MacCracken, of New York Univer- sity, in speaking of Mr. Green, said that "by his care for Central Park he was led to care for related enterprises, such as the Museum of Art, the Museum of Science and the Zoological Garden." He was constantly alive to the work of beautifying the city, whether by individual effort or as a member of one or another organization. A recent address declared that his thoughtfulness was woven into the structure and visible aspect of New York. Here we see it in a reserved acre of greensward: there in the curve of a graceful line, like the beautiful span of Washington Bridge. and somewhere else in a sweet sounding name, like Morningside. "Mr. Green had a rare combination of qualities." said Samuel Swett Green. "to fit him to do the great work which he did in laying out and developing Central Park. He had an eye for the picturesque and beautiful, and a fondness and aptitude for the kind of practical service needed. He had too a passion for having everything done thoroughly."

Mr. Green was naturally appointed a mem- ber of the original board of commissioners on the Niagara reservation, and held the position until his death, being president most of the time. An island formerly known as Bath Island has been named for Mr. Green. Several years ago the state of New York established a commission with the title "Trustees of Scenic and Historical Places and Objects in the State of New York." The name has twice been changed and is now American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. Mr. Green was the founder and enthusiastic president of this so- ciety from its organization until his death.

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Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 9

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 824

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824