John Greene Sr. (9 February 1597 – 7 January 1659) was an early settler of the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one of the
12 original proprietors of Providence, and a co-founder of the town of
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
in the colony, sailing from England with his family in 1635. He first settled in
Salem in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, but he had difficulty with the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
authority and soon followed
Roger Williams to
Providence, becoming one of the
original proprietors of that town. In 1643, he joined
Samuel Gorton
Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick. He had strong religious beliefs which differed from Puritan the ...
and
ten others in purchasing land that became the town of
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
. Difficulties with Massachusetts ensued, until he accompanied Gorton on a trip to England where they secured royal recognition of their town.
Once Warwick became safe from external threats, Greene became active in its government. He served on the town council, was Deputy to the General Court of the colony, and served as magistrate of the General Court of Trials. He died in the last days of 1658, being survived by his wife and six grown children, and becoming the ancestor of many prominent citizens.
Early life
John Greene was likely born at
Bowridge Hill a small hamlet near
Gillingham,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, England, and was the son of Richard Greene, whose father was also named Richard. He became a surgeon and moved to
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England, where he was married at St Thomas in 1619 to Joane Tattersall (or Tatarsole) and where all of his children were baptized. On 6 April 1635, he and his family boarded the ship ''James'' at
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, England and sailed to
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, arriving in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on 3 June, and then going to
Salem for a short while.
Providence
![Original Providence Rhode Island town layout of homesteads](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Original_Providence_Rhode_Island_town_layout_of_homesteads.jpg)
Greene was consistently resistant to the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
authority of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he moved to
Providence with
Roger Williams within a year or two of his arrival in New England. He used this sanctuary to write haranguing letters to Massachusetts, speaking contemptuously of the magistrates, and he was fined 20 pounds in September 1637 and ordered not to come into the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts colony. In 1638, he was
one of the 12 persons to whom Roger Williams deeded land, becoming one of the original proprietors of that settlement. He was also one of the 12 original members of the
First Baptist Church in America located there.
Warwick
In October 1642, Greene bought a neck of land with a little island from Indian
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
Miantonomi
Miantonomoh (1600? – August 1643), also spelled Miantonomo, Miantonomah or Miantonomi, was a chief of the Narragansett people of New England Indians.
Biography
He was a nephew of the Narragansett grand sachem, Canonicus (died 1647), with whom h ...
and named the property Occupassuatuxet. This land remained in his family for the following 140 years. He became a close friend of
Samuel Gorton
Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick. He had strong religious beliefs which differed from Puritan the ...
, and they and
ten others purchased another tract of land from Miantonomi in January 1643 and named it Shawomet, which later became the
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
settlement.
The following September, many of these Shawomet settlers were summoned to appear in court in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, based on charges of fraud brought against them from two minor Indian sachems. The settlers refused the summons, telling the court that Massachusetts Bay did not have jurisdiction over their land, in response to which soldiers were sent and several of the settlers were taken to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Greene and his son
John Jr. both escaped to
Conanicut Island
Conanicut Island is the second-largest island in Narragansett Bay in the American state of Rhode Island. It is connected on the east to Newport on Aquidneck Island via the Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, and on t ...
and were never captured.
Those who were taken to Massachusetts were tried, but they were not tried for the charges of fraud brought by the Indians. Instead, they stood trial concerning their theological beliefs, and several of them were convicted of blasphemy and incarcerated for those beliefs. They were released a few months later, then banished from Massachusetts—and also from their homes in Shawomet.
Greene, Gorton, and
Randall Holden sailed to England seeking redress for the wrongs done to them, but they had to board a ship in
New Amsterdam because they were banned from going to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Gorton was able to get a royal decree for his settlement of Shawomet from the
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick.
Overview
The first creation ...
. Greene and Holden returned to
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
with this important document in 1646, while Gorton remained in England for another two years. When he returned in 1648, he renamed the settlement "Warwick" in honor of the earl who helped him get the protection that they needed.
Later life and family
![Greene](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Greene.John.Sr.gravemarker.JohnGreeneCem.Warwick.RI.jpg)
Greene served on the Warwick town council in 1647 and 1648, was the Warwick Deputy to the Rhode Island General Court from 1649 to 1657, and was named one of the Warwick freeman on a 1655 list of freemen. He was the magistrate for the Rhode Island General Court of Trials in March 1656. He died sometime between 28 December 1658 when he wrote his will, and 7 January 1659 when it was proved. He, his wife, and many descendants are buried in the Surgeon John Greene Cemetery, now located behind the Narraganset Bay Baptist Church on West Shore Road in Warwick.
Greene had seven children, six of whom grew to maturity, and all with his first wife Joan Tattershall (or Tatarsole). The oldest child was
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, who lived a long life which was almost entirely devoted to public service, including 10 one-year terms as Deputy Governor of the colony. Their son Peter married Mary Gorton, a daughter of colonial President
Samuel Gorton
Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick. He had strong religious beliefs which differed from Puritan the ...
.
Great-grandson
William Greene Sr. served as Governor of the colony for 11 one-year terms during the middle of the 18th century, and his son
William Greene Jr. served as the second governor of the State of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Greene is also the ancestor of former United States President
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
and of General
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependab ...
, the only American general in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
to serve for the entire war, besides
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
.
See also
*
List of early settlers of Rhode Island
This is a collection of lists of early settlers (before 1700) in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Most of the lists are of the earliest inhabitants of a particular town or area.
Indian tribes and leaders
The following ...
*
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
''Online sources''
* The title of the website should read "Surgeon John Greene"
External links
Find-a-Grave: John GreeneGeni: John "the Surgeon" Greene
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, John
1597 births
1658 deaths
English emigrants
People from Warwick, Rhode Island
People of colonial Rhode Island
Burials in Rhode Island
American city founders
Early colonists in America
Greene family of Rhode Island