My Genealogy Hound

B. JEFFERSON GREENE of Willet was born July 8, 1858, on the old homestead on the Otselic River in Willet township, and is a son of Burrill Greene, a representative and prosperous farmer of the town of Willet, whose personal history is outlined on another page of this Book of Biographies.

John Greene, one of three brothers who came to Rhode Island from England over two centuries ago, is the distant ancestor, from whom the Greene family traces the line. Elisha Greene, a descendant of the above, was the great-great-grandfather of our subject; he was born in Rhode Island and lived there all his life. William Greene, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in East Greenwich, R. I., and lived there until his son, Benjamin T., had located a home in the town of Wilet, when he with his family joined the son in the newly settled country. His death occurred in Willet in 1817.

The grandfather of B. Jefferson Greene, Benjamin T., was born in East Greenwich, R. I., in 1782, and lived there until 1806, when he removed to Otsego County, N. Y., and located in the valley of the Susquehanna River, where he remained engaged in farming until 1808, when he came with his family to the town of Willet, and located on the alluvial lands that border the Otselic River. The locality was then a comparative wilderness, with almost limitless forests stretching away for miles and miles on every hand, but the settlers and pioneers of that day had an abiding faith in the future of the country, and saw with prophetic eyes the glorious future. The home he had selected continued to be his residence until his death, which took place in September, 1853. He did not forget the old folks at home, but soon after he was well settled he returned to his native place, and brought back to Willet his father and his father’s family, which was composed of these members; Henry; John; Benjamin T.; Stephen; Elisha; Thomas; Joseph; and Isabelle. Benjamin T. Greene held closely to the political principles upheld by Jefferson and Jackson, the two great leaders of the Democratic party, and held many of the town offices of Willet. His wife, Hetty, was a daughter of Benjamin Wilson, who was born in Westchester County, N. Y., in 1764, and emigrated to Oxford, Chenango County in 1806. Not long afterwards he moved over into the town of Willet, Cortland County, and became a neighbor of Mr. Greene’s, his farm also being a river farm. He was an energetic, enterprising settler, and rose to a position of considerable local prominence as a successful business man. He built a saw mill, a grist mill, a potash factory, a distillery, and a store; by reason of his position as the head of these varied industries he contributed largely to the settlement of this section, and to the development of all the natural resources. He died August 20, 1839. His wife was Phoebe Merritt. His daughter, Hetty, the grandmother of our subject, was born January 21, 1786, and married Benjamin T. Greene on October 17, 1817. The children born of this union were as follows: Harriet, born August 23, 1818, is still living, the widow of Peter Eaton, Jr., deceased; Burrill, our subject’s father; Giles, born March 13, 1822, now deceased, late a large farmer of Whiteside County, Ill., owning about 1,000 acres near Lyndon, Ill., where his death occurred; Orville, born March 25, 1825, died September 14, 1827; and B. Wilson, born May 7, 1828, a prosperous and well-to-do farmer of the town of Willet, whose biography may be read on another page.

Our subject’s father, after completing his education in the common schools and in Oxford Academy, served an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and after he became a journeyman at his trade worked at it, until he came into possession of his share of his father’s estate by the latter’s death. To his share of 212 acres of the original 800 he has added by purchase until he now owns 360 acres of land, for the greater part located in the town of Willet. He is now engaged in farming and stock-raising. His first wife, Rosilla Babcock, whom he married March 22, 1855, died July 7, 1860, leaving three children, namely: Letta R.; B. Jefferson, the subject of this sketch; and Harriet R. The latter became the wife of William Leach, a meat-dealer of the village of Cortland; they have one son, Frank G., born April 10, 1888. Burrill Greene’s second wife, Phoebe E. Greene, whom he married on March 4, 1867, died November 13, 1884. He is a Democrat, and has held many of the township offices. He is a man of high honor and integrity, and enjoys the highest esteem of all who know him.

B. Jefferson Greene was educated in the common schools and in Cincinnatus Academy. Politically, Mr. Greene, is a stanch Democrat, and has always taken an interest in the success of his party. He was appointed a justice of the peace when he was twenty-one years of age, and for eight years served as an administrator of law and justice. In February, 1894, he was elected to the position of supervisor of the town of Willet, and at the end of his term was re-elected to the same position. He was an able officer, and very conscientious in the performance of his duties. He has frequently represented his district in the Democratic county conventions, and has also represented Cortland County in state conventions. He is a member of Thermopylae Lodge, No. 438, F. & A. M. of Marathon. On April 20, 1897, Mr. Greene was married to Mabel Ingalls of the town of Willet.