Richard Greene Sr. (abt. 1740 - abt. 1818)

Born about 17 Mar 1740 in Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 27 Feb 1818 at about age 77 in Blowing Rock, Watauga, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Richard Greene Sr. migrated from Hunterdon, New Jersey to Ashe County, North Carolina.

Richard Green was born about 1740 in New Jersey, son of Jeremiah Greene & Joanna Hunt. Some online family trees suggest a more specific date and location but give no indication of what the source of that information might be (17 March 1740 in Trenton, New Jersey; now part of Mercer County, then near the border of Burlington & Hunterdon Counties).

Richard married Eleanor Sullivan (b. abt 1735). Their wedding may have taken place in New Jersey, but considering when Richard would have been of age to marry, is likelier to have occurred in North Carolina. The Greens and the Sullivans were part of a larger group of settlers who left New Jersey about 1755 for what was then Rowan County, North Carolina.^[1]

By 1759, Richard was listed with his father on the Rowan County, North Carolina tax list, implying he was of legal age.^[2] He has also been identified on the Rowan County tax rolls in 1768^[3] & 1778,^[4] though land grants or deeds with his name have not been identified from this period.

American Revolutionary War

Richard Greene Sr. performed Patriotic Service in North Carolina in the American Revolution.

Richard Greene Sr. served with North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Richard Greene Sr. is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A047294.

Richard's DAR Ancestor^[5] and SAR Patriot^[6] files reference North Carolina Revolutionary payment vouchers for furnishing corn and other supplies from Rowan County in 1780,^[7] additional supplies in 1782,^[8] and militia service in 1783.^[9]

Later Life

In 1783, Richard Green signed a guarantee for the probate bond of a neighbor in Rowan County, North Carolina.^[10] In the years during and after the American Revolutionary War, the land that had been Rowan County was divided into ever more counties.^[11] Around 15 land grants were entered in Richard's name between 1788 and 1803 in Ashe, Burke, & Wilkes Counties.^{[See Land Grants]} At the time, the three counties were contiguous and met near Blowing Rock, in present-day Watauga County (which was not formed until 1849).

Richard Green and wife, "Ellender Green", were among the 7 founding members on 6 November 1790 of Three Forks Baptist Church, near the present-day city of Boone.^[12] The household of "Rd Green" was enumerated in the census that year within the "8th Company" of Wilkes County, NC as having 4 free white males ages 16+, 4 free white males under 16, 3 free white females. and no enslaved persons.^[13] Because of the changes in county boundaries mentioned above, the 1800 census enumerated the household of "Richard Green" in Morgan Township, Ashe County, North Carolina with 1 free white male 45+, 2 free white females 45+, 2 free white males 16-25, 1 free white female 16-25, 1 free white male 10-15, and no enslaved persons.^[14]

The 1815 Ashe County tax list shows a significant number of properties in Richard's name.^[15] The following February, he transferred some of those to sons, Benjamin^[16] & Richard (Jr.),^[17] likely in preparation for the end of his life. He is believed to have died shortly thereafter. Since Eleanor did not sign a dower release, she likely preceded him in death. They are both believed to have been buried in what became Watauga County, North Carolina, though no wills, probate documents, burial records, or grave markers have been identified.^[18] Many online family trees suggest a more specific date for Richard's death, 27 February 1818, but give no indication of what the source of that information might be.

Land Grants

Research Notes

Middle Name

Many online trees assert without primary source evidence that he may have had a middle name: Henry. None of the identified primary source documents mention this name.

Last Name

With the exception of a pair of land grants issued in 1805, all of the identified primary documents use the spelling "Green", as opposed to "Greene".

Common Misattributions

Another Richard Green (b. 1755 in Ireland), whose wife was Sarah Pitts, served in the 12th Virginia Regiment during the American Revolutionary War. More information about this other Richard can be found on his service index file and his DAR Ancestor A047300 file, which reference Virginia Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, (NARA Series M246, Roll 110), available through FamilySearch & Ancestry.com.

Other Items

An unsourced history found on the website of the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority asserts: "The first family to settle in Blowing Rock were the Greenes who were established by the [sic] mid-1800's century on a site that would become the Green Park Hotel property."

Sources

1. ↑ Arthur, John Preston, A History of Watauga County, North Carolina, Chapter VIII: History of the Jersey Settlement.
   An excerpt is available at http://www.sonsofdewittcolony.org.
   Additional information about the Jersey Settlement Meeting House is available through the North Carolina State Archives.
2. ↑ Rowan Co., NC Poll Tax List, 1759, https://familysearch.org/.
   "Green Jeremiah & RichD" 2 male polls (right page, 17th row).
3. ↑ Ron V. Jackson's Compiled Census Substitutes Index, 1768 Rowan County, North Carolina Tax List: "Richard Green".
4. ↑ Annie Walker Bell's List of taxable property in the county of Rowan, North Carolina, anno 1778 : Richard Green, Capt. Morris' District -- 556 Pounds.
5. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/), "Record of Richard Green", Ancestor # A047294.
6. ↑ Sons of the American Revolution, SAR Patriot Index, database online, (http://sarpatriots.sar.org/), "Record of Richard Green", SAR Patriot #: P-169942.
7. ↑ North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Voucher #103 issued 25 Feb 1780 for payment by 21 Nov 1780 to Richard Green of Rowan County in the amount of 36½ Spanish Milled Dollars for the purchase of 320 [item indecipherable] and 25 bushels of corn.
8. ↑ North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Voucher #1723 issued 4 September 1782 to Richard Green of the Salisbury District in the amount of 20 £ 13 shillings 10 pence for a public claim.
9. ↑ North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Voucher #5346 issued 20 November 1783 to Richard Green of the Salisbury District in the amount of 9 £ 4 shillings 8 pence for militia service.
10. ↑ Rowan Co., NC Administrators Bonds, 1753-1830. 6 May 1783 Probate bond for the estate of Hugh Henry, deceased.
11. ↑ For an interactive time lapse map of North Carolina County formation, see MAPofUS.
12. ↑ Church Minutes Register of Three Forks Baptist Church, 6 November 1790. Additional information about this congregation is available in James Floyd Fletcher's A history of the Ashe County, North Carolina, and New River, Virginia, Baptist associations.
13. ↑ United States Census, 1790: 8th Company, Wilkes County, North Carolina. Page 158, Rd Green (1st column, 8th row).
14. ↑ United States Census, 1800: Morgan Township, Ashe County, North Carolina. Page 79, Richard Green (10th row).
15. ↑ Ashe Co., NC, 1815 Tax List. State Archives of North Carolina. Richard Green:

    	Image 5:	Acres	Valuation
    		400	300
    		100	50
    		200	100
    		50	25
    		100	50
    		200	100
    		200	100
    		100	50
    		100	50
    	Image 6*:	120	200

    *Additional Green property holders are also found on this image & on Image 7

16. ↑ Ashe Co., NC, Deed Book, Vol. C, Page 521.
    1 February 1816 deed from Richard Green to Benjamin Green conveying 100 acres on the Middle Fork of New River for the "natural love and affection which he hath and beareth unto the said Benjamin Green, his son". Deed proven in court during August 1816 term.
17. ↑ Ashe Co., NC, Deed Book, Vol. E", Page 177.
    1 February 1816 deed from Richard Green Sr. to Richard Green Jr. conveying 150 acres on the Middle Fork of the South Fork of New River for the "natural love and affection which he hath and beareth unto the said Richard Green, his son". Deed proven in court during August 1823 term.
18. ↑ FindaGrave memorial 65875963 for Richard Henry Green Sr. (1740–1818), burial details unknown.

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