My Genealogy Hound

B. WILSON GREENE is one of the leading agriculturists and stock-raisers of the town of Willet, this county, who has made a success of his calling, and who ranks high in the esteem of his fellow-citizens as one who has made the most of his opportunities. He was born May 7, 1828, on the old Greene homestead on the Otselic River, and there grew to a vigorous and healthy manhood. He learned the trade of a carpenter, and followed the trade a few years, and also taught school for five winters. Then for a few years he was engaged as a salesman upon the road for the Newell Matson jewelry house of Owego, N. Y. When his parents died, he came into his portion of the inheritance, and to his share he has added from time to time as his affairs prospered, until he now owns about 450 acres of land. On this farm he carries on his operations in farming and stock-raising. In connection with this he is engaged with his son in the produce business at Marathon.

The Greene family has its origin in Rhode Island from John Greene, one of three brothers who emigrated from England to the United States. Elisha Greene, a descendant of the above, was born in Rhode Island, and lived there all his life. His son, William Greene, was born in East Greenwich, R. I., and removed to the town of Willet late in life, taking up his residence with his son, Benjamin T., who had preceded him. His death occurred in Willet in 1817.

The father of our subject, Benjamin T. Greene, 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 until 1808, when he took up his residence in the town of Willet, locating on the alluvial lands that border on the Otselic River. This locality was then a comparative wilderness, but the settlers and pioneers of that early day had a faith in the country that nothing could shake, and already saw with prophetic eyes the glorious future. He was very well satisfied with the selection he had made, and continued to live there and carry on farming until his death, which took place in September, 1853. He had not been long settled on the farm, when he returned to his native state and brought back with him his father and his father’s family, which constituted with himself the following members: Henry; John; Benjamin T.; Stephen; Elisha; Thomas; Joseph; James; Isabelle. Benjamin T. Greene was a Democrat in his political affiliations, and served in nearly all the offices of the town of Willet. He married Hetty Wilson, a daughter of Benjamin Wilson, who was born in 1764, in Westchester County, this state, and emigrated to the town of Oxford, Chenango County, in 1804. Shortly 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. Mr. Wilson was an energetic, enterprising settler, and it was not many years before he was prominently known as a successful business man. He built a saw mill, a grist mill, a potash factory, a distillery, a store and hotel; by reason of his position at the head of these varied industries he contributed largely to the settlement of this section, and the development of its natural resources. He died August 20, 1839. His wife was Phoebe Merritt. His daughter, Hetty, the mother of our subject, was born January 21, 1786, and married Benjamin T. Greene October 17, 1817. The children born of this union were: Harriet, born August 23, 1818, who is still living, the widow of Peter Eaton, Jr., deceased; Burrill, whose sketch appears elsewhere; Giles, late a large farmer of Illinois, was born March 13, 1822, and died January 4 1898, in Whiteside County, Ill., in which county he owned upwards of 1,000 acres of land; Orville, born March 25, 1825, died September 14, 1827; and B. Wilson, the subject of this sketch, born as stated before, May 7, 1828.

Mr. Greene has been wedded twice. On the first occasion, August 20, 1854, he was joined in matrimony with Fannie Canfield, which union resulted in the birth of one child, who lived to be about five years old, dying in 1859. He married as his second wife Rhoda M. Wiles, and they have three children, namely: Giles Maurice, born May 9, 1869; Belle, born September 4, 1873, who became the wife of Arthur Meacham, January 19, 1898; and Alice B., born January 29, 1875. The son, Giles Maurice, married Blanche Hazen, and lives in Marathon, where he is engaged in a wholesale produce business, buying and selling produce in large quantities. Our subject is a sort of silent partner in this business. Mr. Greene, in the many years that he has exercised his right of suffrage, had always voted the Democratic ticket until it came to the contest of 1892, when he put in a vote for Harrison. In 1896 he swung into line again, and gave W. J. Bryan his support and vote. He has been prominently identified with the politics of his town, and has frequently been sent as a delegate to Democratic county conventions. He was elected supervisor of the town in 1877, and with the exception of one year held the position continuously until 1893, thus making a period of fifteen years’ service. He is very highly regarded wherever he is known, and consequently has hosts of friends all over Cortland County.