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Friday, February 25, 2011

Is There A Doctor In The House?

I got the following January 6, 1898 New York Times article emailed to me by my history buddy, John Yates. I found it interesting in that I have never heard of Dr. J.W. Green in my history and genealogy research. I'm hoping someone out in the Blog-O-Sphere can shed some light on him and where he lived in Wading River, as he sounds like an interesting character. Also, what is tobacco heart? That's a new one on me.


My Men's Breakfast buddy, Jim McAnney, sent me the following New York Times article also dealing with Dr. Green's death. Evidently, the good doctor left his wife to avoid stress and went to the tranquil Wading River area for health reasons. Upon his death, a coffin made by Dr. Green for his own burial, was found in the cellar.


His will stipulated that he was to be buried next to his shanty in a pre dug grave; however, the article states that his wife decided that the body should be shipped to New York for a proper burial. It appears that the couple didn't see eye to eye in life, so it is not surprising that Mrs. Green didn't see eye to eye concerning her husband's burial wishes. Evidently, she believed that Wading River was not fit for her husband's final resting place. I wonder what the Wading River folk thought about that.

Also, perhaps there's a lesson here for you husbands out in the Blog-O-Sphere to treat your wives well. After all, they usually do outlive us. Nuff said!

Pete S


6 comments:

  1. Pete,

    More to the point, it was about the money. She got his will changed back to the son with her as executrix. He (Dr.) was buried at Navesink Highlands also on the Jersey shore. I don't think it reflects negatively on Wading River.

    I tried to locate the family on ancestry.com, but only found Philip and Mrs.(Annie)Green in Belmar with 2 young Irish female servants.

    I wonder what happened to his caretaker. Also how long Dr. Green was in Wading River.

    Fascinating story.

    Regards

    John Allen

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  2. I remember a person or family by the name of Green lived on Hammonton Rd, on the Wading River, somewhere between my parents home, Ted & Naomi Sharp, and Sangrees at Merry Gold Bridge. This was about 1947. I wonder if this Green could be the young son's family.
    Phyllis Sharp Briggs

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  3. I explored the names on my Ancestry.com subscription. I didn't find primary information, but I did find 4 public trees (clues at least) with:
    John Winans Green/Greene b. 25 Nov 1829 d. 28 Dec 1897 in New Gretna, NJ. Spouse: Adele Thorn Hart 1864-1926. Son Philipse Rolleston Greene 1888-1949. Other Spouse: Caroline Martin 1840-?.

    It seems to fit the initials and son's name and date of death pretty well.

    John Yates

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm still hunting for any information on my great-Grandfather John W. Greene MD. I have determined he lived in a lost Pine Barren town named Rollestone until his death in December 1897. He was the first and only postmaster of the Rollestone Post Office. I suspect he was the only resident of the town.

      I believe he purchased many acres (1000+) which he may have donated to the State and which may now be State Parks. Any ideas on how to determine if this fact is accurate?

      Chris Greene

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  4. Dr John W. Greene was my great grandfather. His only child, Philipese Greene was my grandfather, and his only child, Philipese Greene Jr was my father. A.T Greene was Adele Thorn (Hart) Greene and was his second wife. She was much younger than John and as far as I can determine bore his only child. She later married Casimir DeCoppet who adopted her son. They lived in Shrewsbury New Jersey.

    John is buried at All Saints Church in Navesink, NJ in the Hart family plot next to Adele.

    I have been looking for info on John, and I stumbled on your blog. I have a great deal of documents on John and would be happy to share. And yes, he was a physician but he spent much of his life researching a cure for rabies and traveled extensively though Europe, Africa and the Middle East. I have his passport and it's amazing to follow his travels.

    I had absolutely no idea how he died or how he was perceived by the townspeople in the area.

    Thanks and you have re-invigorated my research on John.

    cd greene

    ReplyDelete