History of Warwick, (Kent County) Rhode Island United States of America

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Biographies:

William Greene, lawyer, was born in Warwick, R.I., Jan. 1, 1797; son of Ray and Mary (Flagg) Greene. He was graduated from Brown in 1817 and subsequently from a law school in Litchfield, Conn., after which he rode on horseback to Columbus, Ohio, and there became private secretary to Governor Brown. Later he removed to Cincinnati where he practised his profession and at one time was president of the school board. In 1862 he returned to Warwick. He was lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island, 1836-67; and a delegate to the Republican national convention, Chicago. Ill., in 1868. He was married, April 30, 1821, to Abby, daughter of Erastus Lyman of Northampton, Mass. She died July 18, 1862, and he was married for the second time, Nov. 20. 1867, to Mrs. Caroline Mathewson. He died at Warwick. R.I., March 24, 1883.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Christopher Greene, soldier, was born in Warwick, R.I., May 12, 1737; son of Philip Greene, judge of the court of common pleas of Kent county. 1759-84; and a descendant of John Green, the first settler in America by that name. Christopher received a good education and represented his town in the colonial legislature, 1770-72. He was elected a lieutenant of the Kentish Guards on its organization and in May, 1775, was made major in the army of observation commanded by Gen. Nathaniel Greene. He entered the Continental service as captain of a company of infantry and he was taken prisoner while leading an assault at Quebec under Montgomery. After along imprisonment he was exchanged and was made major of the regiment commanded by Gen. J. M. Varnum and in 1777 received command of a regiment and of Fort Mercer on the Delaware which he defended against a superior force of Hessian soldiers, and for this action, Nov. 4, 1777, he was voted a sword by congress. He was on detached service under Gen. John Sullivan in Rhode Island in 1778 and in 1781 while in the advance of the Continental army he was surprised by a body of Tories under Colonel DeLancey and after defending himself valiantly for some time at the cost of several Tory lives he was overpowered and slain. He was married to Anne Lippitt, who with three sons and four daughters, survived him. He died at Croton River, Westchester county, N.Y., May 13, 1781.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Nathanael Greene, soldier, was born in Warwick, R.I., May 27, 1742; son of Nathaniel and Mary (Mott) Greene; and a descendant in the fifth generation from John Greene, a surgeon of Salisbury, England, who emigrated to America, landing in Boston in 1635, and soon after aided Roger Williams in founding Rhode Island. His father was a Quaker preacher, farmer, mill owner and iron founder. Nathanael was one of eight sons and was brought up to work in the fields, the mills, or at the forge, and to attend meetings, a walk of two miles from the homestead at Patowomut. In 1757, through a friendship formed with a college student he determined to gain a higher education, and he began the study of geometry and Latin and the reading of history. The Rev. Dr. Stiles, Lindley Murray, and a teacher by the name of Maxwell gave him assistance in his studies, and he read Watts and Locke and soon not only acquired a superior education for his opportunities, but accumulated a library of several hundred classical books. He continued his manual labor on the farm and at the forge, and in 1770 was elected to the general assembly front Coventry. The events that foreshadowed war with the mother country led him to take up the study of the art of war, and he joined the Kentish Guards for which act he was expelled from the Quaker meeting. In May, 1775, the general assembly of the state appointed him brigadier-general of the Rhode Island contingent in the army before Boston, and he joined his command June 3, 1775, and left the army when it was disbanded in 1783, after an uninterrupted service of eight years. He won Washington's confidence by the perfect discipline of his brigade stationed at Roxbury, Mass. When Boston was evacuated he was entrusted by Washington with the defence of Long Island, but was unable to take part in the battle of Aug. 27, 1776, being stricken with fever. He directed the retreat of the army and lost the day at Fort Washington by undertaking to hold the position against the advice of Washington. He was made major-general and given command of the troops in New Jersey in September, 1776. He commanded the division at Trenton with which the commander-in-chief marched in person, and Was to share with Knox the command of the Continental army in the pursuit of the British after the surprise. He also took a brilliant part at Princeton and Brandywine, and commanded the left wing at Germantown. On March 2, 1788, he was made quartermaster-general of the American army and accepted the position at the urgent request of the commander-in-chief and of the committee of congress with the proviso that in event of battle he should command his division. He commanded the right wing at Monmouth in 1778, took active direction of the battle of Tiverton Heights, R.I.; was in command of the army during Washington's absence in Hartford in September, 1780, when Arnold's treason was discovered, and was president of the court that tried Andr?. On Oct. 14, 1780, he was appointed to the command of the southern army which had become discouraged from repeated defeat and disaster, and he soon restored confi dence and discipline. His campaign recovered the places seized by the enemy and finally penned up the British army in Charleston. He was, however, defeated by Cornwallis at Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781. On the retreat of the army of Cornwallis toward Wilmington, N.C., General Greene turned back to recover South Carolina and was surprised by General Rawdon, April 25, at Hobkirk's Hill, S.C., but saved his army by a masterly retreat. He then laid siege to Fort Ninety-Six and afterward met and defeated the forces under Colonel Stewart at Eutaw Springs, September 8, and put an end to British domination in South Carolina and Georgia. On April 16, 1782, the news of peace reached General Greene at Charleston and soon after the army was disbanded and Greene returned North. He visited congress sitting at Princeton, N.J., and reported his administration of the affairs of the Southern army and surrendered his trust. In Princeton he met his commander-in-chief and enjoyed a renewal of a friendship that had begun at Roxbury in 1775. After a year spent with his family in Rhode Island he went south to take possession of a plantation, "Mulberry Grove," on the Savannah river which had been presented to him by the state of Georgia. He was married in July, 1774, to Catherine Littlefield of Block Island, and left five children: George Washington, Martha Washington, Cornelia Left. Nathanael Ray and Louisa Catherine. Of these George Washington accompanied LaFayette to France in 1785, and was educated under the Marquis's care as a companion of his own son also named George Washington, returning to Georgia in 1794; Martha was married to John C. Nightingale and afterward to Dr. Henry Turner of Tennessee; Cornelia was married to Peyton Skipwith and afterward to E. B. Littlefield of Tennessee; Nathanael was married to Ann Clark and settled in East Greenwich, R.I., and Louisa, born shortly after her father's death, was married to James Shaw, and settled on Cumberland island. After a few years of widowhood Mrs. Greene was married to Phinens Miller, and at her death, Sept 2, 1814, left to each of her children a competent fortune, the nucleus of which was the thanks gifts of Carolinians and Georgians to the gallant defender of their territory against British aggression. Congress presented him with a medal and a British standard for his victory at Eutaw Springs, and Rhode Island caused his statue to be placed in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington. His life was written by his grandson, George Washington Greene (3 vols., 1868-71), and by Francis Vinton Greene in Great Commanders series (1893). General Greene died at Mulberry Grove, Savannah, Ga., June 19, 1786.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Robert Knight, manufacturer, was born in Old Warwick, R.I., Jan. 8, 1826; son of Stephen and Weltham (Brayton) Knight. He was employed in the Cranston Print works, and in other cotton factories, 1834-43, and in the latter year became a clerk in the store of his brother Benjamin at Providence, R.I. He attended Pawcatuck academy, Westerly, R.I., for a short time, and taught a district school one winter. In 1847. with Zachariah Parker, he leased John H. Clark's cotton mill and bleachery at Arnold's bridge, and in 1850 they purchased the property, of which Mr. Knight became sole owner in 1851. He gave to the village and mill the name of Pontiac. In 1852 he purchased a half-interest in the flour and grain business of his brother, Benjamin Brayton Knight, in Providence, the firm name becoming B. B. & R. Knight. He extensively increased his cotton manufacturing interests, operating as part owner about ten mills in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In 1867 he was elected director in the National Bank of Commerce, Providence,' and in 1884 became its president. In 1874 he was chosen director in the People's Savings bank, Providence, becoming its president in 1884. He was also elected a director in the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad company, and became prominently identified with various insurance companies. In June, 1898, on the death of his brother, Benjamin Brayton Knight, he became the largest individual owner of cotton mills in the world, with upwards of twenty distinct establishments under his personal control. He was married, March 5, 1849, to Josephine Louisa, daughter of Royal A. and Hannah C. Webster of Providence, and had nine children?Joseph E., Robert, Webster, Franklin, Clinton, Prescott, Harriet, Sophia, Edith and Royal.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor