Greene

Birth 1597 Bowridge Hall,Gillingham,County Dorset,England [3,4]
Sex Male
Died 7 Jan 1659 Warwick,Kent Co.,Rhode Island [5,6]
Person ID I365 Default Tree
Last Modified 09 Nov 2005

Father Richard Greene, b. Abt 1560, Gillingham,Dorset,England
Mother Mary Hooker, b. Abt 1564, Salisbury,Wiltshire,England
Group Sheet F114


Family 1 Joanne Tattersall, b. 1598, Gillingham,Dorset,England
Married 4 Nov 1619 St. Thomas's Church, Salisbury,England [7,8,9,10]
Children
1. John Greene
2. Peter Greene
3. James Greene
4. Thomas Greene
5. Joanne (Joan) Greene
6. Mary Greene, c. 19 May 1633, St Thomas Church,Salisbury,Wiltshire,ENGLAND
Group Sheet F113 Default Tree

Family 2 Alice Daniels
Group Sheet F3797

Family 3 Phillip ____
Married Abt 1644 London, England [11]
Group Sheet F3798
Note: "John Greene the Surgeon"

John Greene emigrated from SailsburyWiltshireEnglandtoSalemMassachusettson board the ship "James" 3June1635,asurgeon.Hefollowed Roger Williamsto Rhode Island in 1637andwasoneoftheoriginal proprietors of ProvidenceRI. With SamuelGortonhewasoneofthe founders of Warwick RI. in 1643.Hewas acommissionertoEnglandin1644 when England granted RhodeIslandit's firstcharter.

In 1652 Surgeon John Greene came fromSalisbury,Englandinthenextcompanyfollowing Roger Williams and withhiswifesettledinWarwick,Kent Co.,Rhode Island, where the WarwickbranchoftheGreenefamily wasfounded.

FIRST GENERATION.
1. JOHN GREENE, surgeon, the progenitor of theWarwickGreenes,wasthesonofRichard and Mary (Hooker) Greene, and wasbornonhisfather'sestateatBowridge Hill in the parishofGillingham,CountyDorset,England.aboutI590. ' Though not sorecorded,dates beforeandafter himwould seemtodeterminethis is the year of hisbirth.(1)

The mother of John Greene, surgeon, MaryHooker,wasthedaughterofJohnHooker (alias Vowell), who was bornatExeter,England,aboutI524,hisfather, Robert Hooker, having beenmayorofthat city in1520.Hisparentsdied when he was aboutten years old.Hisearlyeducationwasacquiredunder Dr.Moseman, Vicar of MenhussininCornwall,andheafterwardstudiedlaw at Oxford. Later hetravelledinGermanyandresidedsome time inCologne and Strasburg, where he
was the guest of Peter Martyne andattendedthedivinitylecturesofthatlearned Reformer. He returned toEnglandandafter ashort staywenttoFrance, intending to extend histravelsto SpainandItaly,butwasprevented by the war.Returning to hisnativecountryhesettledinExeter, and waschosen first chamberlain of thatcity,
1555. He devoted himself after this to thestudyofhistoryandantiquities.In1568 was a member of theIrishParliament,andin 1571was one of themembersof the EnglishParliamentfromExeter(Wood). Pricesays he died1601 (?), whenabouteightyyears ofage, andwas buried inExeterCathedral, but hadnomonument.He was theauthor ofseveral works,amongthem:"State of Irelandand Order ofkeepingaParliament inthatCountry,"the same being found intheBritishMuseumundertitle,"Order and Usage ofkeeping ParliamentinEngland"(MS.Harl.,II73, vol.I9). (From History ofDevonshire,byRev.Thomas Moore,vol. ii.p. I 25,.)

John Hooker was uncle to the celebrateddivine,RichardHooker,RectorofBascombe, County Wilts, 1591, andPrebendaryofSarum.JohnGreeneremovedearly to Sarum (Salisbury),thecountytownofWiltshire,(2)[IT:(2)((Leland's Itinerary (pp.7-8,31)givesthefollowing: 'Thecityof Old Saresbyri standing on anhillisdistantfromthe New a milebynorth weste and d is incompace half a mileandmo.Thiscity hasbeenancient andexceeding strong but syns the buildingof
New Saresbyri it went totally to ruin. . ..Intimesofcivilewars--insomuchas the castellanes ofOldSaresbyriandthechanonscould not agree, whereuponthebishopandtheyconsultingtogether at thelast began a church ontheirownpropersoyleand then thepeople resortedstrangers to NewSaresbyrieandbuildedthereand in
continuance were a great numbre of the housesofoldSaresbyripulleddownandset up at New Saresbyri."
Thomas's Church was built as a Chapel ofEasetotheCathedralbyBishopBingham in the Year (?). It wasdedicatedtoSt.ThomasaBecket,Archbishop of Canterbury, who was martyredinthereignofKingHenry Il.,and is said to be in somerespectsmorebeautifulthantheCathedral. Inthe (?) with the living inthegift of theDeanandChapterof SalisburyCathedral. )) :IT]and was theremarriedatSt.Thomas'sChurch,' November4, 16I9,to Joanne Tattershall (or,asitwaswritten onthechurchregister, "Tatarsole''. NothingisdefinitelyknownofherEnglishconnections.
The name is frequently, found inearlyrecordsamongpost-mortemexaminations,parliamentarywrits,andcharters,andisvariously writtenTatersall,Tateshall,Tatershal,andTattershall.Thefirst of the family ofwhom wehavementioncame in withWilliamtheConqueror and obtainedthelordshipofTattershall inLincolnshire,wherehe seated himself andfromwhichhe tookhis surname.His descendants
were seated in Berkshire and Northamptonshire, andwereheldinhighrepute.Itis probable that other brancheslocatedinothercounties, andit isnotimprobable to suppose that JoannewifeofJohnGreene, whoemigratedtoAmerica from Salisbury,County Wilts,wasaconnection of thefamilyofGeorgeTattershall, who wasseatedatStapleford, County Wilts,whichisaboutfive miles distantfromSalisburyhome; but as yetthisrelationshiphas notbeen proved.Thefollowingnote,recentlyreceived by the compilerin answer toaninquiryaboutrecordsatStapleford, may be of interest inthis connection:
STAPLEFORD VICARAGE, SALISBURY,
October I 8, I 900.
Madam: I have received your letter of the 25th September, butsay that
I cannot help you in your research, as the Stapleford registerbegins
only with the year I637.
J. F. D. Hoernle,
" Vicar of Stapleford. "
Joanne Tattershall's marriage date was I6I9, eighteen yearsearlier.]
marriage of John Greene and the baptisms of all his sevenchildren,
recorded in the Parish Register of St. Thomas's Church atSalisbury,
England.. He is therein styled " Mr." and " Gent.," a mark ofsome
distinction on at that date.(3)
[IT:(3)(( John Greene received by will from his brother Richard,Clerk
of the Close of Salisbury Cathedral April 28, 1614, half of hisLatin
books, the other half being given to his brother, Robert, who bywill
October 20, 1649, gave them also to his brother John Greene inNew
England if he come after them' The possession of these Latinbooks by
three brothers indicates that they were of an educated family.Mr.
Greene in the Baptismal and Marriage Records at Salisbury was(?) Mr.
or Gent.,' denoting his social position."--G. S. G.))
:IT]
He resided at Salisbury with his family, following hisprofession,
for about sixteen years. On April 6, I635, he was registered for
embarkation at Hampton, England (see Appendix II.), with hiswife and
six children (one having probably died in England before thisdate), "
in the ship James, of 200 tons, William Cooper, Master, for New
England." .After a voyage of fifty-eight days he arrived atBoston,
Mass., June 3, I635. He first settled at Salem, Mass., where hewas
associated with Roger Williams. purchasing or building a housethere,
but soon after Mr. Williams's flight from Salem (I636) he soldit and,
joining Williams at Providence, secured his home lot. No. I 5,on the
main street. He was one of eleven men baptized by RogerWilliams, and
one of the twelve original members of the first Baptist churchon this
continent, organized at Providence, R. I. He was the first
professional medical man in Providence Plantations. He isalluded to
in Goodwin's Pilgrim Republic (p. 407) as " one of the two local
surgeons " at Providence in I638, though we are told " thepeople of
Providence relied solely upon him for surgical aid long afterhis
removal to Warwick in I643." His first wife, Joanne Tattershall,the
mother of all his children. died soon after his removal to Rhode
Island and it is supposed was buried at Conimicut, Old Warwick(?). He
married (2) " Ailsce (Alice) Daniels. a widow" (recorded asproprietor
of a home lot in Providence, 1637)(see below). They removed to
Warwick, I642-3. At the time of the persecution of the Shawomet
pioneers (October, 1643), when " forty mounted and, armed men,sent
from Boston to arrest them, fired over their houses, the womenand
children fled to the woods. Fright and exposure caused the deathof
the (second) wife of John Greene. (It seems more-probable thatthis
was the wife who was buried at Conimicut.) Samuel Gorton wroteof this
attack of the Massachusetts troops: " Afflicting our wives and
children, forcing them to betake themselves some into the woodsamong
the Indians. suffering such hardships as occasioned the death of
divers of them, as the wife of John Greene. as also the wife ofRobert
Potter." Judge Staples, in Annals of Providence, mentions thefact
that the second marriage of John Greene was not recorded, but hefound
evidence in Probate Records, where mention is made of the son ofAlice
Daniels as "John Greene's stepson" Evidence of this marriage isalso
given in the following item:
In the division of 52 House lots John Greene senior Had lot
between Thomas James on the North and John Smith on the South,and he
inherited the lot of Alice Daniels his second wife between Wm.Harris
on the North and John Sweet on the South" (Rhode Island Colonial
Records (Printed), vol. i.,p. 24)
In files. City Clerk's office, Providence, is a book containing"
A revised List of Lands and Meadows as they were originallylotted for
the beginning of the Plantations of Providence in theNarragansett Bay
in New England unto the [then] inhabitants of the saidPlantations
until anno I6--." First in order are the "home lots," beginningat the
Mile-end Cove, south end of town, between Fox Point andWickenden
Streets, lots all bounded by Town (Main) Street on the west andby
what is now Hope Street on the east. The name of Alice Danielsis
found on this list.
Mr. Greene was married (3) in London, England, about 1644, to
Phillippa (always written Phillip), who returned with him toWarwick,
R. I., 1646. Her family name is not known. She died at Warwick,March
II, I687, aged about eighty-seven years, having survived herhusband
for nearly thirty years(4)
[IT:(4)((Mrs. Phillip Greene, widow, deeded to her stepson,Major John
Greene, all her houses and lands for maintenance, etc., in 1668,
twenty years before her death, Her will described the localityof the
John Greene homestead, which description exactly coincides withthat
given in the will of Peter Greene. son of John, surgeon. (Seenotes of
General Greene on Warwick Records, Appendix II ))
:IT]'
In further support that his third wife was from London we quotethe
words of Samuel Gorton, who, in a letter from Warwick addressed" to
Edward Calverly at his house by the east end of Christ Church in
Newgate Market, London," and dated November 20, I649, wrote ofthis
last wife of John Greene: " Your auld neighbor, our lovingfriend,
Mrs. Greene, hath writ a letter of advise to you (which) made melaugh
not a little, which I heartily wish may come to your hands. Shelaies
out the benefights of these parts better than I could haveadvised to
have done. She takes well with the country and cheerfullyperforms her
place (part), hath the love of all, non can open their mouthagainst
her, which is a rare thing in these parts."
John Greene, surgeon, was a prominent man in the public affairs
of the town and Colony and enjoyed the confidence and respect ofhis
associates through a long and active political life, holdingoffice
almost continuously until the summer before his death, when herefused
to accept the office of Commissioner, being repeatedly urgedthereto.
A few months later, the General Court of Massachusetts at therequest
of Edward Rawson, Secretary of the Colony (whose wife was Rachel
Perne, daughter of John Greenes sister, Rachel), granted him
permission to visit Boston in the coming spring, but he did notlive
to accomplish this visit. He died and was buried at Conimicut,
Warwick, it is supposed beside his first wife ( ?) in the firstweek
of January, I659.
Although John Greene must have been in Providence as early as
April 27, I637, as mentioned in a letter of Joshua Verin of thatdate
("we six which came first"), and when "the first portions ofgrass &
meadow were appropriated to Throckmorton, Greene, Harris, Verin,
Arnold, and Williams," June 10 I637, (see Rhode Island Colonial
Records (Printed), vol. i, p. I7), his name is not mentioned on
Massachusetts records till August I, I637 " Mr. John Greene ofNew
Providence bound to Quarterly Court first Tuesday of seventhmonth
next for speaking contemptuously of magistrates in I00 marks"
(Massachusetts Colonial Records, i., p. 200).
On which account taken as follows:
"John Greene of New Providence fined 201 and forbidden this
jurisdiction on pain of fine and imprisonment for speaking
contemptuously of magistrates Sep. I9, I637" (MassachusettsColonial
Records, i., p. 203).
John Greene, feeling the injustice of the magistrates, wrote a
letter concerning which the following entry was made, March I2,I638:
"A letter was sent to the Court by John Greene dated New
Providence, wherein the Court was charged with usurping thepower of
Christ over the churches and men's consciences, and it was then
ordered (March I2, I638) that he should not come within their
jurisdiction, " ' etc.
The late Henry E. Turner, M.D., of Newport, in The Greenes of
Warwick in Colonial History (p. 7), writes: " Howeverinsignificant in
the aggregate of historical items this transaction may appear,it was
one of the earliest assertions of entire and absolute freedom of
opinion in defiance of either secular or ecclesiasticalauthority, and
was one of the scintillations from the profound which aided tokindle
the flame which is now lighting the world in its march touniversal
emancipation, and it seems to me to entitle John Greene to ahigh
place among the apostles of fine thought."
In all transactions in Warwick, John Greene was a prominent
figure,"enjoying fully the confidence of his fellow citizens and
suffering in common with them from the machinations of theirenemies
in Mass.," inasmuch as, though he escaped imprisonment(5)
[IT:(5)((During these persecutions of Gorton and his companions,John
Greene was not arrested by the Massachusetts Bay authorities.Possibly
this was due to the influence of Edward Rawson, Secretary of
Massachusetts Bay Colony, who had married a niece of JohnGreene,
surgeon. The warrant for the arrest of John Greene. surgeon, andhis
son John was never executed--G. S. G.):IT])
he was with them under the ban of oulawry by name, and wasforced to
submit to interference with and destruction of his property.
In "Letters from the Pawtuxet," by Henry Rousmaniere, on
"Genealogy of the Greenes, published in the Providence Journal,May,
I859, mention is made of John Greene as "This Adam of Shawomet
[Warwick], who was driven out of Massachusetts, not Paradise,for the
great crime of obeying his conscience in religion," and " wholeft to
his family a fair name and a large landed estate." His will wasdated
December 28, I658, and proved January 7, 1659. He left his large
estate to his descendants, much of the property being still inthe
possession of his posterity.
POLITICAL RECORD OF JOHN GREENE, SURGEON.
August 8, I647. Member of first Town Council of Warwick, R. I.
February 26, I648. Commissioner (Representative of Warwick inGeneral
Assembly)
May 7, I649. Magistrate in Court of Trials at Warwick.
June 4, I649. Assistant.
July 2, I649. Member of Town Council.
October 26, 1650, May 8, 1655, October 6, 1656, and August 9,1657
)commissioner
He is mentioned in Col. Rec., R. I., pp. 241, 278, 304, 325,326, 337,
354; "Commissioner, 1652, 1654, 1657, Magistrate, 1656."
JOHN GREENE
CHILDREN BY FIRST MARRIAGE ONLY:
John, bap. August 15, 1620, married Anne Almy.
Peter, bap. March 10 1621-2, married Mary Gorton.
Richard, bap. March 25, 1624, died young (probably in England).
James, bap. June 21, 1626, married (1) Deliverance Potter; (2)
Elizabeth Anthony.
Thomas, bap. June 4, 1628, married Elizabeth Barton.
Jone, bap. October 3, 1630, married John Hade.
Mary, bap. may 19, 1633, married James Sweet.
ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH IN THE CITY OF SALISBURY, WILTSHIRE,ENGLAND.
EXTRACT FROM THE PARISH REGISTER, WHICH BEGINS 1570.
MARRIED .
I6I9, November 4, John Greene mar. to Joane Tatarsole.
BAPTIZED.
1620, August 15, John ye sonn of John and Joane Greene.
1621-2, March 10, Peter the sonn of John and Joane Greene.
1624, March 25, Richard, the son of Mr. John and Mrs. JoanGreene.
I626,
1626, June 21, James, of Mr. John and Mr.is Joane Greene.
1628, June 4, Thomas, sonne of John and Joane Greene, gent'm.
1630, Oct. 3, Jone daur. of John and Jone Greene.
1633, May I9, Mary of John and Jone Greene, Chirurgeon
The above John Greene, chirurgeon, and Joane Tatarsole settledin
Warwick, R. I., and were ancestors of the Warwick Greenes.
This information I copied from the internet from Susan Shannon
1. John2 GREENE , Surgeon (Richard1)(Source:GenealogicalDictionaryofRhodeIsland.) was born Abt.1590inBowridgeHill, Dorset, England,anddiedJanuary 1658/59inWarwick,Kent,RI. He married (1) AliceDanielsAbt. 1618.Hemarried(2)Joan/JoanneTATTERSALL November 04, 1619inSt.ThomasChurch,Salisbury,England. Hemarried (3) Phillis 1644 inEngland.
Notes for John GREENE , Surgeon:
John, the surgeon, resided at Salisburywithhisfamily,followinghisprofession, for about sixteen years.OnApril6,I635,he wasregisteredfor embarkation at Hampton, England,withhiswifeandsixchildren (onehaving probably died inEngland before thisdate),"intheship James, of200 tons,William Cooper, Master, forNewEngland.".Aftera voyageoffifty-eight days he arrived at Boston, Mass.,
June 3, I635. He first settled at Salem,Mass.,wherehewasassociatedwithRoger Williams. purchasing orbuildingahousethere,but soon afterMr.Williams's flight from Salem (I636)hesolditand,joining WilliamsatProvidence, secured his homelot. No. I 5,onthemainstreet. He wasone ofeleven menbaptized by Roger Williams, andoneofthetwelveoriginalmembersof the first Baptist church on this
continent, organized at Providence, R. I.Hewasthefirstprofessionalmedicalman in Providence Plantations.Heisalludedtoin Goodwin'sPilgrim Republic(p.
407) as " one of the two local surgeons " atProvidenceinI638,thoughwearetold " the people of Providence reliedsolelyuponhimforsurgicalaid longafter his removal to Warwick in I643."
His first wife, Joanne Tattershall, the motherofallhischildren.diedsoonafter his removal to Rhode Island anditissupposedwas buriedatConimicut,Old Warwick (?). He married(2) "Ailsce(Alice)Daniels.awidow" (recordedas proprietorof a homelotinProvidence,1637)(seebelow). They removedtoWarwick, 1642-3. Atthetimeof thepersecution ofthe Shawometpioneers(October, 1643), when
"forty mounted and, armed men, sent fromBostontoarrestthem,firedovertheir houses, the women and childrenfledtothewoods.Frightandexposure caused the death of the (second)wifeofJohnGreene.(Itseemsmore-probable that this was thewife who wasburiedatConimicut.)

1. [S125] Remarks from THE GREENE REUNION HELD AT THE HOME OF, Mr. Frank R. Greene, (1908)
2. [S126] Long Island Genealogy GREENE Linked Descendant Database, Various, (Genealogy CDs.com)
3. [S127] The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, American Historical Society, Inc, (American Historical Society, Inc)
4. [S581] The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestry 1534-1902, Clarke, Louise Brownell, (New York, 1903)
5. [S125] Remarks from THE GREENE REUNION HELD AT THE HOME OF, Mr. Frank R. Greene, (1908)
6. [S581] The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestry 1534-1902, Clarke, Louise Brownell, (New York, 1903)
7. [S127] The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, American Historical Society, Inc, (American Historical Society, Inc)
8. [S476] The Greene Family and its Branches, Lora S. LaMance, (Mayflower Publishing Company 1904)
9. [S60] New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Torrey, Clarence Almon, (Genealogical Publishing Co./1985)
10. [S581] The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestry 1534-1902, Clarke, Louise Brownell, (New York, 1903)
11. [S581] The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestry 1534-1902, Clarke, Louise Brownell, (New York, 1903)

John Greene (Surgeon)
B: 1597
Bowridge Hall,Gillingham,County Dorset,England
M: 4 Nov 1619
St. Thomas's Church, Salisbury,England
D: 7 Jan 1659
Warwick,Kent Co.,Rhode Island
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Joanne Tattersall [ = New pedigree]
Children
- John Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Peter Greene [ = New pedigree]
- James Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Thomas Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Joanne (Joan) Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Mary Greene [ = New pedigree]
Family: [Group Sheet]
2 Alice Daniels [ = New pedigree]
Family: [Group Sheet]
3 Phillip ____

Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]
B: Abt 1560
Gillingham,Dorset,England
M: Abt 1579
Gillingham,Dorset,England
D: 1617
Salisbury,Wiltshire,England
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Mary Hooker [ = New pedigree]
Children
- John Greene (Surgeon) [ = New pedigree]
- Anne Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Rachel Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Robert Greene [ = New pedigree]

Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]
B: Abt 1525
Gillingham,Dorset,England
D: 1608
Gillingham,Dorset,England
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Unknown
Children
- Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]

Robert Greene [ = New pedigree]
B: Abt 1490
Bowridge,Gillingham,Dorset,England
D: Abt 1525
Bowridge,Gillingham,Dorset,England
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Unknown
Children
- Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]

Mary Hooker [ = New pedigree]
B: Abt 1564
Salisbury,Wiltshire,England
M: Abt 1579
Gillingham,Dorset,England
D:
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]
Children
- John Greene (Surgeon) [ = New pedigree]
- Anne Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Rachel Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Richard Greene [ = New pedigree]
- Robert Greene [ = New pedigree]
John Hooker [ = New pedigree]
B: 1524
Exeter,England
D: 1601
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Alice Stanyerne [ = New pedigree]
Children
- Mary Hooker [ = New pedigree]

Robert Hooker
B:
D: 1534
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 Unknown
Children
- John Hooker [ = New pedigree]

Alice Stanyerne
Family: [Group Sheet]
1 John Hooker [ = New pedigree]
Children
- Mary Hooker [ = New pedigree]


The Greene (Green) Family of Long Island

Notes On the Greene (Green) family

Surgeon John Greene was born in 1597, Probably at Bowridge Hall, Gillingham, Dorsetshire, England, where his father Richard and grandfather Richard ( son of Robert) resided. He was married in 1619 at St. Thomas Church in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, to Joan Tattersall, and there he did practice his profession as a surgeon. He sailed in the ship "James" on April 6, 1635 from Southampton, England and arrived in Boston on June 3, 1635. He lived in Salem, Mass for two years and was a friend of Roger Williams. On August the 1st. 1637, he was bound in 100 marks to appear at the next Quarter Court for having spoken contemptously of the Magistrates. At this he departed for Providence to join Roger Williams. On Sept. 29, 1637 he was fined 20 Pounds and to be commited till paid, and enjoined not to come into the jurisdiction of this Court upon pain of fine and imprisonment at the pleasure of the Court for speaking so contemptuously of Magistrates. On March 12, 1638 he sent a letter to the General Court of Mass. charging them " with usurping the power of Christ over the churchs and men's consciences" etc., and for this he was ordered not to come into Mass. under pain of imprisonment and furthur censure.
He was one of the twelve to whom Roger Williams deeded the land he bought on Oct. 8, 1638 from Canonicus and Miantonomoh. In the same year he was on of the twelve original members of the First Baptist Church. For 144 Fathoms of Wampum he and ten others on Jan. 12, 1643 then bought from Miamtonomoh the tract of land which became the town of Warwick Sept. 12, 1643 the men of Warwick were summoned to Boston on the complaint of Pomham and Socconocco, but they refused to go, as they claimed they were beyond the limits of Mass. authority. Soldiers were sent and besieged the settlers in a fortified house. He escaped but all the rest were carried to Boston and imprisoned until March, when they and he were banished. With two others he went to England to obtain redress for thier wrongs. He was oblieged to take a ship from New York, he returned in 1646 successful. He was commisioner in 1654, 1655-6-7.
His wife Joan died about the time of his leaving from England. He married Alice Daniels, a widow, who died in 1643. He Married again this time to Phillis (?), who survived him and died Mar. 10, 1688. He Died in 1658, leaving a will which was proven Jan. 7, 1659. He named his wife, Phillis executrix (except as to matters with William Arnold, which his son John was to attend to). In the will he gives to his wife, sons John, Peter, James, and Thomas and to daut. Mary Sweet and grand child Ann Hade ( his daut. Joan's child).
The marriage of John Greene and the baptisms of all his seven children, recorded in the Parish Register of St. Thomas's Church at Salisbury, England, are still existant. He is therein styled "Mr." and "Gent", a mark of some distinction at that date. He resided at Salisbury with his family, following his profession for about sixteen years. On April 6, 1635, he was registered for embarkation at Hampton, England, with his wife and six children (one having probably died in England before this date), in the ship "James", of 200 tons, William Cooper, Master, for New England. After a voyage of fifty-eight days he arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, June 3, 1635.
John first settled at Salem, Massachusetts, where he was associated with Roger Williams, purchasing or building a house there, but soon after Mr. William's flight from Salem (1636) he sold it and joining Williams at Providence, Rhode Island, secured his home lot, No. 15, on the main street. He was the first professional medical man in the Providence Plantations. He is alluded to in Goodwin's "Pilgrim Republic" (page 407) as "one of the two local surgeons" at Providence in 1638,
though we are told "the people of Providence relied soley upon him for surgical aid long before his removal to Warwick in 1643".
John Greene, surgeon, was a prominent man in the public affairs of the town and Colony and enjoyed the confidence and respect of his associates through a long and active political life, holding office almost continuously until the summer before his death, when he refused to accept the office of Commissioner, being repeatedly urged thereto. A few months later, the General Court of Massachusetts at the request of Edward Rawson, Secretary of the Colony (whose wife, Rachel Perne, daughter of John Greene's sister, Rachel), granted him permission to visit Boston in the coming spring, but he did not live to accomplish this visit. He died and was buried at Conimicut, Warwick Co., Rhode Island, it is supposed beside his first wife (?), in the first week of January, 1659.
Although John Greene must have been in Providence as early as April 27, 1637, as mentioned in a letter of Joshua Verin of that date ("we six which came first"), and when "the first portions of grass & meadow were appropriated to Throckmorton, Greene, Harris, Verin, Arnold, and Williams, June 10, 1637 (see Rhode Island Colonial Records, Vol. I, page 17), his name is not mentioned on Massachusetts records until August 1, 1637: "Mr. John Greene of New Providence bound to Quarterly Court first Tuesday of seventh month next for speaking contemptuously of magistrates in 100 marks (Massachusetts Colonial Records, Vol. I, page 200).
The late Henry E. Turner, M.D. of Newport, in "The Greenes of Warwick in Colonial History", (page 7), writes: "However insignificant in the aggregate of historical items this transaction may appear, it was one of the earliest assertions of entire and absolute opinion in defiance of either secular or ecclesiastical authority, and was one of the scintillations from the profound which aided to kindle the flame which is now lighting the world in its march to universal emancipation, and it seems to me to entitle John Greene to a high place among the apostles of fine thought.
In all transactions in Warwick, John Greene was a prominent figure, enjoying fully the confidence of his fellow citizens and suffering in common with them from the machinations of their enemies in Massachusetts, inasmuch as, though he escaped imprisonment, he was with them under the ban of outlawry by name, and was forced to submit to interference with and destruction of his property.
In "Letters from the Pawtuxet" by Henry Rousmaniere, on "Genealogy of the Greenes" published in the Providence Journal, May, 1859, mention is made of John Greene as "This Adam of Shawomet (Warwick), who was driven out of Massachusetts, not Paradise, for the great crime of obeying his conscience in religion" and "who left to his family a fair name and a large landed estate.
His will was dated December 28, 1658, and proved January 7, 1659. He left his large estate to his descendants, much of the property being still in the possession of his posterity. John Greene is mentioned in the "Colonial Records of Rhode Island, pages 241, 278, 304, 325, 326, 337, and 354; Commissioner, 1652, 1654, 1657, Magistrate, 1656.
All of the above information was taken from pages 52 through 58 of "The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestors", by Louise Brownell Clarke, Knickerbocker Press, New York, N.Y., 1903.