Person:John Greene (10)

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

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 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 authority and soon followed Roger Williams to Providence, becoming one of the original proprietors of that town. In 1643, he joined Samuel Gorton and ten others in purchasing land that became the town of Warwick. 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.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} John Greene, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   3:141-48.

   ORIGIN: Salisbury, Wiltshire.
   MIGRATION: 1635 on the James (on or about 5 April 1635, "John Greene, surgeon, late of New England [recte New Sarum]," appeared on the passenger list of the James of London, sailing for New England from Southampton [Drake's Founders 56]).
   OCCUPATION: Surgeon [Drake's Founders 56; WP 4:49; RWCorr 172].
   FREEMAN: "John Greene Senior" is in the Warwick section of the 1655 list of Rhode Island freemen [RICR 1:302].
   BIRTH: About 1594 based on date of marriage, son of Richard Greene of Gillingham, Dorsetshire (John Greene Gen 39-40).
   DEATH: Between 28 Dec 1658 (date of will) and 7 Jan 1658/9 (probate of will).

2. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   2:302.

   "JOHN, Providence 1636, may be that surg. who came from Southampton in the James, a. 6 Apr. and arr. at Boston 3 June 1635, had been of Salisbury, in Wilts; brot. w. and five ch. John, b. 1620; Peter; James, 1629; Thomas, 1631; and Mary, prob. older than the last two. He partook largely in the exertions of Gorton and his friends to obtain security for their worldly as well as spirit. rights, and went to negotiate in London in 1644 for Narraganset, of wh. Warwick was the chief settlem. with full success; and d. betw. 28 Dec. 1658, the date of his will, and 7 Jan. next, when it was pro. The w. brot. from Eng. mo. of all the ch. d. 1643, at Conanicut, where she had sought refuge in conseq. of her suffer. when the Mass. forces came to Gorton's planta. and took him and all his adher. prisoners. A sec. w. was Alice Daniels m. in Eng. but ch. is not heard of, nor by third w. Philippa, wh. d. 1687, aged 87. Mary m. James Sweet. The farm on wh. he was bur. is still enjoy. by his descend."

3. ↑ John Greene (settler), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

Founders of Providence, Rhode Island

Roger Williams was exiled from Massachusetts Bay in June 1636 for his religious beliefs. He settled the area now known as Providence with a few others, and two years in 1638 purchased it from the Narragansett. He then deeded 12/13 of it to twelve other religious dissenters known as the "Original Proprietors." There also exists in City Hall in Providence a manuscript that purports to show the lands of the first settlers, as originally allotted. It is undated, but appears to have been created before about 1650. First Comers with Williams: William Arnold, John Smith, William Harris, Francis Wickes, and possibly Joshua Verin and Thomas Angell Original Proprietors: Stukely Westcott, William Arnold, William Carpenter, John Greene, Thomas James, Robert Cole, William Harris, Thomas Olney, John Throckmorton, Francis Weston, Richard Waterman and Ezekiel Holliman. Other early landowners (from south to north): Robert Williams - Christopher Unthank - William Hawkins - Robert West - Hugh Bewitt - John Lippitt - Matthew Weston - Edward Hart - Thomas Hopkins - Widow Sayer - Widow Tiler - Nicholas Power - William Wickenden - William Man - William Burrow - Adam Goodwin - Thomas Harris - Joshua Winsor - John Field - William Field - Richard Scott - George Rickard - John Warner - Chad Brown - Daniel Abbott - William Reynods - John Sweet - Alice Daniels - Widow Reeve - Benedict Arnold - John Greene Jr. - Edward Manton - Thomas Painter - Matthew Waller - Gregory Dexter Resources: History of the State of Rhode Island - Lands and Houses of the First Settlers of Providence Current Location: Newport County, Rhode Island   Parent Towns: Boston   Daughter Towns: Newport