George Washington Greene

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George Washington Greene, prominent educator and author, was born in East Greenwich and was the grandson of Nathanael Greene, the great Revolutionary War general.

As a young man, Greene traveled extensively in Europe gaining proficiency in the Italian and French languages. His first wife was Italian and he served as U.S. Consul in Rome from 1837 to 1845. Following a divorce from that childless marriage, he returned to the United States to embark upon careers in teaching, writing, and politics.

Greene wrote many articles on his European travels and prepared manuals for French and Italian while he served as instructor of these languages at Brown University from 1848 to 1852. Greene’s great historical project was a fileopietistic three-volume biography of his grandfather which he published from 1867 to 1871. This work led to his appointment as professor of history at Cornell University from 1873 to 1875.

His literary and historical efforts were sponsored by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow whom Greene met in 1828. Longfellow remained Greene’s lifelong patron. Not only did the famed poet subsidize Greene’s publications, he even purchased a house and furnishings for Greene and his second wife in East Greenwich.

Greene participated in local politics and served as a Republican state representative from 1866 until 1872 when he went to teach at Cornell. His varied career as language expert, historian, politician, and travel writer ended at his East Greenwich home, “Windmill Cottage,” in 1883. He was survived by his wife Catherine and four children.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Greene

George Washington Greene (April 8, 1811 – February 2, 1883) was an American historian. He was also the grandson of Major-General Nathanael Greene, a hero of the American Revolutionary War.

Biography

Greene was born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, to Nathanael Ray Greene and Anna Maria Greene (née Clarke). He was named by his mother Katie Greene, after the great General George Washington. In 1824, as a young teenager, George entered Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine. But, during his junior year, he withdrew on account of poor health.

Greene traveled to Europe in the hopes of improving his health. In 1828, while in Italy, he befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and served as the aspiring poet's traveling companion; their friendship lasted 54 years.

Greene was in Europe during the majority of the next twenty years, except in 1833–1834, when he was principal of Kent Academy at East Greenwich. He served as the United States consul in Rome from 1837 to 1845.

He was instructor in modern languages at Brown University from 1848 to 1852. In 1853, he edited Joseph Addison's works, with copious notes (6 vols., New York). He took up residence in East Greenwich once again in 1865; not long afterward he was chosen to represent the town in the Rhode Island General Assembly. He made speeches in 1867 and 1869 on the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

In 1871-1875 he was a non-resident lecturer in American history in the Department of History at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. When he returned to East Greenwich, his good friend Longfellow purchased a home for him, which is still standing at 144 Division Street. Shortly after, a windmill was attached to the house.

He married Maria Carlotta Sforzosi, an Italian teenager, in 1828. She traveled with him to Rhode Island and met his friend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow there. The marriage lasted about 20 years before they got a divorce in Italy. “Greene had been having domestic troubles, the facts of which are obscure. After losing his consulship in Rome, he returned to the United States in 1847 without his wife. In a letter of July 30, 1849, to Nicholas Brown, his successor as consul, Greene seems to imply that efforts were being made in Italy to annul his marriage; and in a postscript he refers to a rumor that Maria Carlotta died of a ‘putrid fever’ in Florence in May 1849 (MS, Brown University). Whatever the circumstances, Greene obtained a divorce in 1850. That Longfellow was deeply disturbed by the failure of this marriage is made clear by Greene in a letter to Sumner dated July 34, 1849: ‘I had some faint hope that he [Longfellow] might have written me – but I fear that the blow that has left me alone in the world – has broken the last tie between us.’ (MS Harvard College Library).”

Greene found love again five years later. Longfellow heard from his and Charles Sumner’s mutual friend “that Greene is engaged to Miss Porter of Providence, a girl of eighteen, with no dower but her beaux yeux.” Catherine Van Buren Porter was 20 years younger than Greene. They married on February 8, 1852.

Greene died at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, on February 2, 1883. He was canoeing down a river with a friend and drowned. His grave lies next to his father's, in Newport, Rhode Island.

Selected list of works

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Greene#Selected_lis...

GEDCOM Source

@R-1798172864@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls 1,2204::0

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http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=sarmemberapps&h=872466&ti=0&i... Birth date: 8 Apr 1811 Birth place: Death date: 2 Feb 1883 Death place: Residence date: Residence place: United States 1,2204::872466

GEDCOM Source

@R-1798172864@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls 1,2204::0

GEDCOM Source

http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=sarmemberapps&h=872466&ti=0&i... Birth date: 8 Apr 1811 Birth place: Death date: 2 Feb 1883 Death place: Residence date: Residence place: United States 1,2204::872466

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@R-1798172864@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls 1,2204::0

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http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=sarmemberapps&h=872466&ti=0&i... Birth date: 8 Apr 1811 Birth place: Death date: 2 Feb 1883 Death place: Residence date: Residence place: United States 1,2204::872466

GEDCOM Source

@R-1798172864@ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls 1,2204::0

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http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=sarmemberapps&h=872466&ti=0&i... Birth date: 8 Apr 1811 Birth place: Death date: 2 Feb 1883 Death place: Residence date: Residence place: United States 1,2204::872466

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