Henry
Knowles Greene, the brother of Jeffery Greene of Mexico, was also a
descendant of Amos Greene and Alice Underwood of Charlestown, RI.
A full description of the early background of this Greene family can be
found in the biography of Jeffery Greene.
When Capt. William
Northup and his wife Ann Slocum of North Kingston, removed to Deerfield,
Oneida Co., NY sometime about 1800, the family went into unbroken forest,
wild savage animals and vast potential. He was the great grandson
of Stephen Northup of Providence, RI who arrived in 1655. Stephen
removed to Kingston between 1662/66. His son Stephen, born 1660,
married Mary Thomas. Their son Nicholas Northup, born between 1690/1700
in North Kingston, married secondly Freelove Eldred. Their son William
was born 8 December 1732.
William’s tombstone
at the Baptist Church in Deerfield reads: “Capt. William Northup, formerly
of Rhode Island died 27 May 1827, aged 95 years. A hero of the Revolution.
Ann, wife of Capt. William Northup, born 25 1742, died 6 Dec, 1831, aged
89 years.”
Very impressive
tombstone until his descendants discovered he served in the Revolution
primarily as a drummer in 1776-79. The captain title some descents believe
came as a result of his being a cargo boat captain in RI after the war.
Probably his sons,
John B. and Remington, were the first to immigrate to Oneida County.
The first Northup deed was filed at Utica 6 September 1796 by John B. and
Remington. William’s first deed was dated 6 September 1800 when William
bought 100 acres of lot no. 6 in Cosby’s Manor, north of the Mohawk.
Another of William’s
sons Stephen married Penelope Greene, daughter of Amos Greene, Jr. of Charlestown
RI on 25 May 1806 in Deerfield. Stephen and Penelope helped to found
the first Baptist Church near Utica. They had 2 children and many
grandchildren. Penelope was also responsible for her half-brother
Henry Knowles Greene’s arrival from Charlestown, RI. Later her much younger
half brother Jeffery Greene arrived.
On 30 December 1813
Henry K. married Joanna B. Northup, a daughter of John B. and Hannah Northup
and granddaughter of William and Ann Northup. She was born 12 February
1792 in RI. Joanna was also the older sister of Abigail Northup who
in later years married Jeffery Greene of Mexico, NY.
Henry K. Greene
and his uncle by marriage Stephen Northup plus Stephen’s brother Benjamin
on 8 February 1814 paid George W. Murray $1185 to purchase lot no. 7 in
Cosby Manor.
On 26 June 1815
Benjamin Northup, his wife, Henry K. Greene and his wife sold for $50 a
portion of lot no. 7 to Stephen Northup. For unknown reasons this
indenture was not recorded until 22 March 1834.
Henry K. continued
to buy land but in Oswego Co. where he chose to settle at New Haven, NY.
On 10 March 1834 75 acres on the west side of lot #105 were mortgaged.
Henry K. received $550 from Jesse Browning in this deal which was later
cancelled. On 26 February 1844 Henry received $1,000 from Orla H.
Whitney for 74 acres on the west side of lot #105. Joanna signed
this mortgage also. Mortgages were often used to transfer property then.
After the 26th of
February 1844 Joanna died. She had been the mother of 12 children
who were:
1. Albert N. Greene b. 6 October
1814; m. Abigail Severance; d. New Haven 1885. No issue.
2. John Stanton Greene b. 17 November 1815;
m. Elizabeth Congdon; d. North West, PA. 1 son: Henry C. Greene of
North East, PA.
3. Hannah N. Greene b. 8 September 1817;
m. William G. Van Cleef. Resident of Tyre, Seneca Co., NY in 1870.
4. Ann E. Greene b. 27 September 1819;
m. 1841 William H. Goit b. Mexico, NY. Living in Oswego, NY in 1894.
5 children.
5. Harvey Greene b. 17 May 1821; d.y.
6. Mary N. Greene b. 29 July 1823; m. Andrew
S. Warner, farmer, of Sandy Creek, NY; d. 1859. 2 sons: Adelbert
and Garret. Both Andrew and Adelbert fought in the Civil War in the
147th NY Infantry.
7. Amos Greene b. 113 May 1825; d.y.
8. Elsie U. Greene b. 19 August 1828; d.
unmarried. Lived in Ithaca, NY.
9. Abbie N. Greene b. 11 September 1828;
d. unmarried. Lived in Modesto, Stanislaus Co., CA
10. Nellie Maria Greene b. 29 May 1830;
m. Edward Van Cleef; d. after 1894. l child: Bertha A. Van Cleef.
11. Helen M. Greene b. 15 April 1832; m.
_____ O’Neill; d. after 1894. Lived in Titusville, PA.
12. Theodore Henry Greene b. 11 December
1837; m. 10 April 1858 at Mexico, NY Lucena J. Smith; d. 8 December 1858.
1 son:Theodore Ray
The 1850 census showed
Henry K. remained at New Haven at age 64 in a household with the 4 younger
children: Nellie M., age 19; Abbie N., age 23; Elsie U., age 24; and Theodore
H., age 12. After this time Henry’s land deals went poorly.
There are numerous records which show sheriff’s foreclosures on his property.
By 1870 Henry was living with his daughter Hannah Van Cleef and her family
at Tyre, Seneca Co., NY. He died the following year. No probate
has been located to suggest there was an estate of any sort.
Henry’s daughter
Ann E. (Greene) Goit removed to Oswego after 1844. Her husband William
H. Goit owned and operated W. H. Goit & Co., a lumber business at 129
E. 2nd St., Oswego. Her husband was also an alderman for the 4th
Ward 1859-61. In 1872 Ann served on the Board of Directors for the
Home for the Homeless. They had 3 sons and 2 daughters. She
was widowed in 1888.
The widow
of Henry K.’s youngest son Theodore H. Greene remarried in 1860 to Samuel
Clark Jeffery Greene of Mexico, NY. He was a nephew of Henry K.’s,
the only child of his younger brother Jeffery who had married his wife’s
sister Abigail Northup. Whether or not Henry K. ever saw or visited
this grandson Theodore is unclear. As an adult Theodore never mentioned
his grandfather.
Theodore married
7 February 1883 May Theresa Davis of Mexico. She was the daughter
of Charles Herring and Elvira Van Dressen (Belding) Davis of Mexico.
Her family attended the Mexico Baptist Church and from the days of her
grandfather, William Augustus Davis, had been friends with Abby (Northup)
(Greene) Wilcox and her son, Samuel.
Theodore knew his
wife liked to keep a diary. It appeared that he gave her a new leather
bound diary each year for many years as a Christmas present. In 1882,
a year during which they were engaged, she wrote a lot about him in her
diary always addressing him as “Dear Theodore” or “Dearest”. She
was only 19, but considering it was in the Victorian Era she pined openly
for him. Again and again “She must see him.” She admits to
sitting on his knee and kissing him. She wanted continually to be alone
with him. In one entry she said, “ Dearest Theodore, it will be nice
when I can see my husband every evening.”
This woman
lived a very secluded life. All her ideas on love and marriage came
from first hand observations and messages from the pulpit. Not one pulp
novel or torrid movie influenced her.
Theodore and May had 5 children:
1. Henry Ray Greene b. 29 November
1883; m. twice; d. 7 January 1962 in Lansing, MI where he had worked at
Sears Roebuck. No issue.
2. Clarence Davis Greene b. 27 July 1885;
m. Rose (Fogg) Vincent; d. unknown. 3 children of whom 2 survived.
He has several dozen grandchildren and great grandchildren.
3. Glen Greene b. 28 May 1897; d. 1 August
1901. Scalded by hot water after falling into a laundry tub. Buried
Mexico Village Cemetery.
4. Helen May Greene b. 9 February 1901;
m. 10 June 1930 Almond Rancier, a jeweler from Oswego of Canadian background
who d. 27 April 1948; d. 1 September 1981 in Torrance, CA. Both are
buried in Mexico Village Cemetery in plot with May and Glen Greene.
5. Florence Elvira Greene b. 19 July 1903;
m. September 1923 George Counrod Roulstin, son of George A. and Eva (Counrod)
Roulstin, who d. 14 October 1961; d. Syracuse, NY 1964. They are both buried
in White Chapel Memory Gardens, DeWitt, NY.
The Greene family
left the farm in 1911 and moved into Mexico on Cemetery Street where the
girls were delighted to find gas lights and lace curtains. Theodore
went to work for W. P. Gass Furnture Store. By 1914 the family
lived on Spring Street. May became ill for several months with a
kidney problem called Bright’s disease, a then common killer of women.
A nurse stayed in the house who loved strong black coffee. She kept
a pot always boiling on the stove in the kitchen. In the bedroom
above was 13-year old Helen who was also ill with pneumonia, smelling the
coffee and listening to the moans of her dying Mother. May died on
6 April 1914. Helen was not well enough to attend the funeral.
She never drank coffee the rest of her life.
Theodore moved his
daughters to Syracuse on Park Ave. where he operated a grocery store beginning
in the spring of 1917. He attended the Delaware Baptist church with
his daughters who attended Vocational High School where they graduated
in 1921. After the grocery store failed, he became a carpenter for
the next 15 years. He met and married Mrs. Cora Bell, a widow.
They were married for 18 years.
By 1941 she was
quite befuddled at times. He fell off a porch at their apartment,
317 Kellogg St. and he broke his hip. He refused to cooperate at
the University Hospital where he spent a month and received two operations.
He developed bilateral broncho-pneumonia. He died 9 December 1941,
two days after Pearl Harbor. His daughter Florence was present, but
the doctor would only record what his wife Cora, age 78, said. Cora
was quite confused and insisted he had been born 1865 in Syracuse, his
father was Samuel Greene and his mother was unknown. Hence the death
certificate was very misleading. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery,
Syracuse, far away from his family at Mexico where he had wanted to be
buried. The pallbearers were Earl Reynolds, a relative of Cora’s;
George Roulstin, Loren Roulstin and Almond Rancier, his sons-in-law and
grandson.
Theodore and May’s
children scattered over the years. Their families live across the
U.S. None live in Oswego County in 2002. Their oldest son Henry
Ray had no children. Clarence had two surviving children, Glen and
Georgianna whom he deserted never to be heard from again. Glen, born
21 February 1911 in Oneida, NY, who died at Tarpon Springs, FL on 22 June
1984, had 5 children. Georgianna, born 23 March 1913, mother of 1
son, Gordon Bellinger; m. 3 times; died Spring Hill, FL on 7 January 1998.
Both Glen and Georgianna have numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Daughter Helen’s only child never married. Florence had 3 children:
1. Shirley May Roulstin b. 20 August
1924; m. Donald Edgar Camp of Lysander, NY; d. 18 May 1965 leaving 2 children.
2. George Loren Roulstin b. 7 April
1927; m. twice; d. 1995 leaving 3 children.
3. Rhea Roulstin still living with 6 children
and 16 grandchildren. “Dearest Theodore” and romantic May created
quite a family.
For more on this
group read the biography of Daniel P. Smith
and Jeffery Greene.