Person:William Green (27)

Origins

Though Wyman in Charleston Gens. and Ests. says 16 Oct 1591 in Devonshire, Vinton and Savage and other sources say the same date in Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire. He was said to have been aged 61 when he died which calculates to 1592.

William Greens appear on a variety of passengers lists, including the following, none of which are close enough in age to be this one:

• 24 April 1635: "Ann & Elizabeth"... Wm. Greene, age 17 (therefore b. abt. 1618). Also on this ship was John Greene.
• 2 Sept 1635: "William and John": Wm. Greene, 18 (same problem)
• 20 Nov 1635: "Expedition" ... Willm Greene 23 (b. 1614; still too late)

Life in New England

William was of Charlestown in 1640 and was a subscriber in December of that year to "town orders" for what would become Woburn (incorporated in 1642), and among its earliest inhabitants. To assist the new settlers of this tract, they were immune from paying taxes their first two years. They continued to attend church in Charlestown. William Green acquired membership there as late as 9 Nov 1643. Even so, they built their own church quickly and ordained the first Woburn minister, Rev. Thomas Carter (possibly related to Thomas Carter of Charlestown, but not yet proven so). Of interest is that this was the first "lay" ordination of a minister, something normally frowned upon, including this time, by the powers that be (in this case, governor Winthrop). (This disapproval increased significantly when Malden did the same thing seven years later ordaining Rev. Marmaduke Matthews.)

He was made freeman 29 May 1644 [Samuel Sewall, The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass., from the grant of its territory to Charlestown, in 1640, to the year 1860, Wiggin & Lunt, Boston, 1868] and [NEHGS volume 3, p. 190].

Around 1643, he married-- probably in Charlestown-- Hannah Carter, daughter of blacksmith Thomas Carter of Charlestown. In fact, one wonders if William's November joining of the church was related to his desire to marry another of its members. (Hannah had joined 2 Sep 1639.) In 1647, his father-in-law Thomas Carter deeded him property that the latter had purchased in Woburn.

Within two years of the death of his father-in-law, Thomas Carter, William came down with his own final illness and made a will on 6 Jan 1653/4, the day before he died.

Legacy

Green, William, s. of ____ , [d] Jan. 7, 1654. [Woburn Deaths, p. 83]

Abstracts of Early Wills [NEHGS, Vol. 16, p. 64]:

William Green - 6: 11 mo. 1653 [6 Jan 1653/4]. I, William Greene, of Wooburn in the County of Middilsex, being sick of Boddy, yet in good & perfect memory, make this my last Will. To my Eldest son, John, my house & all my land in the Town of Wooburn, prvided that whatever it shall amount unto above his duble portion of two thirds of my whole Estate, he shall pay back the same, unto the Residue of my Children, to whom I will & Bequeate the Remainder of the said two thirds of my Estate, Equally to be devided among them as well sons as Daughtesr. To my wife, Hannah, one third of all my moveable goods, And further I give her during her life, the third of my howse & Land & after her death to be disposed to my Eldest Son, as is above Expressed, besdies the Ten pounds given him by his grandfather, which I have Reserved. I make my wife, Executrix of this my will, & to dispose the severall portions to my Children at there severall ages of 21 years, or at the day of marriage, to my daughers if by Gods providence it happen first, provided when my wife shall cease to Continue unmarried, then it shall be in the power of the overseers of this my will to disspose of my Children & there portions according to there discression; & I desire my Brother, John Carter & Capt Edward Johnson, to be overseers of this my Last Will & Testament. William Green. Witness John Mousall, Edw. Johnson, John Carter [brother of Hannah Carter Green].

4(2) 54. Ensign Jno Carter deposed. Inventory of the estate of Willm Green, of Wooburne, praized 28: 11mo: 1653, by Edw. Johnson, Edw. Convers, Samll Richardson, John Carter. Tho. Danforth Recorder.

[footnote says: "William Green was of Charlestown, 1640, freeman 1644; was of the part which became Woburn; by wife Hannah, had Mary, b. Jan 20, 1644; Hannah, b 7 Feb 1647; John, 11 Oct 1649; William, 22 Oct 151. The father d. Jan 7, 1654." -- Savage.

It appears that Hannah and her Carter brothers maintained careful oversight, trusteeship and probably legal guardianship over Green's children. Hannah remarried shortly after, but did not live long, dying in 1658. Her Green children were likely raised by their Carter uncles.

Additional Sources

(incorporate into Sources)

1. Savage, J. "A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England..." Vol. II, pp. 306-307.
2. Torrey, C.A. "New England Marriages Prior to 1700" pp. 323
3. Snow, Nora E., The Snow-Estes Ancestry, Format: 2 vols. Hillburn, N.Y., 1939; Page: 5.
4. Holman, Mary Lovering, Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Helen Miller; privately printed at the Rumford Press, Concord, New Hampshire, 1948; Page: 101-107, 112-115.
5. Wyman, Thomas Bellows; The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1629-1818, 2 vols. David Clapp and Son, Boston, Mass., 1879; Page: 186-187, 438, Thomas Carter 1 and William Green 15
6. Snow, George Burwell; The Richard Snow Family; typescript, Long Beach, California, c1923; Call Number: 929.273Sn61sg &2055208/22; Page: 9
7. Middlesex Probate 9853
8. Middlesex Deeds 4:425