Dr. John Greene

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Jan 1659, Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island

Notes:

He was a surgeon, among several other skills.

He was long thought to have several generations of proven English ancestry through both his father and his mother. Most of this ancestry later turned out to have been based on evidence provided by the genealogist Horatio Gates Somerby, much of whose work was later exposed as forgery. In fact there is no evidence that his near ancestors the Greene family of Gillingham, Dorset were in any way related to the Greenes of Greene's Norton, Northamptonshire. Nor is there any evidence that Dr. Greene's mother was Mary Hooker, a daughter of John Hooker alias Vowell, chamberlain of Exeter. What remains is his descent from three generations of the Greenes of Gillingham. Although Somerby's case for Dr. Greene's descent from the Gillingham Greenes rested, it turned out, on a will that Somerby had himself forged, it was pointed out in 1949 by G. Andrews Moriarty (citation details below) that a letter found in the Boston State House, written by deputy governor John Greene, a son of Dr. Greene, to Edward Rawson of Rhode Island, establishes that the present Greenes were at any rate descended from the Gillingham family.

From Wikipedia:

John Greene Sr. (c. 1594-1658) 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 difficulties with the Puritan authorities 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.

John married Joan Tattershall on 4 Nov 1619 in St. Thomas, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. John Greene was born before 15 Aug 1620 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; was christened on 15 Aug 1620 in St. Thomas, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; died on 27 Nov 1708 in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island.
2. Thomas Greene was born before 4 Jun 1628 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; was christened on 4 Jun 1628 in St. Thomas, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England; died on 5 Jun 1717 in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island.
3. Mary Greene was born before 19 May 1633; was christened on 19 May 1633 in St. Thomas, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.

Notes:

There appears to be no proof that his wife was Mary Hooker, daughter of John Hooker alias Vowell, chamberlain of Exeter, and his wife Martha Toker.