My Genealogy Hound

BURRILL GREENE. Among the prominent farmers and stock-raisers of the town of Willet, who have been very successful in their chosen calling, and have built up large estates that represent no small money value, is the subject of this biography, whose name appears above. He was born on January 26, 1820, in the town of Willet on the Greene homestead, located on the Otselic River. His parents were Benjamin T. and Hetty (Wilson) Greene.

The founders of the Greene family in this country, it is said, were three brothers, who emigrated from England, and settled in Rhode Island. One of these was John Greene, from whom is descended the subject of this sketch through Elisha Greene, the great-grandfather of our subject, who was a native of Rhode Island, where all his life was spent. His son, William Greene, the grandfather of our subject, was born in East Greenwich, R. I., and removed to the town of Willet, this county, in 1809; his son, Benjamin T., came to Willet one year previous, in 1808. He was an old man when he came to this county, and only lived here some eight years, when death overtook him in 1817.

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 engaged in carpentering until 1808, when he came to the town of Willet, and located on the alluvial lands that border on the Otselic River. This locality he had picked out for a home was then a comparative wilderness, 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. He was very well satisfied with the selection he had made, and made the homestead his residence and abiding-place until his death, which took place in September, 1853. He had not been long settled on the farm, when he returned to Rhode Island and brought back with him his father and his father’s family. He was one of the following family of children: Henry; John; Benjamin T.; Stephen; Elisha; Thomas; Joseph; and 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 Oxford, Chenango County, in 1804. Shortly afterwards Mr. Wilson moved over into the town of Willet, Cortland County, and became a neighbor of our subject’s father, his property also being a river farm. He was an energetic, enterprising settler, and it was not many years before he had risen to a position of prominence as a successful business man. He built a saw mill, a grist mill, a potash factory, a distillery, a store, and a hotel; by reason of his position at the head of these varied industries he contributed largely to the settlement of this section, and to the development of the 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 relict of Peter Eaton, Jr., deceased; Burrill, our subject; Giles, born March 13, 1822, and died January 9, 1898, was a large farmer of Whiteside County, Ill., owning about one thousand acres; 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.

Burrill Greene was educated in the common schools, and finished what was considered a fair education for the day by pursuing a course of studies in Oxford Academy to completion. He apprenticed himself to learn the carpenter trade, and then followed it as a journeyman for about twelve years. Upon his father’s decease, he came into possession of his share of the estate, 212 acres out of the original tract of 800 acres. Since then he has added to his landed interests until he now owns 360 acres of land in the town of Willet. Since he came into his share of the estate, he has been engaged in farming and in stock-raising. He is a man of high honor and integrity, and enjoys the highest esteem of his fellow-citizens.

Mr. Greene has been twice married. His first wife, Rosilla Babcock, whom he married March 22, 1855, died July 7, 1860, leaving three children, namely: Leetta R.; B. Jefferson; and Harriet R. The latter became the wife of William Leach, and has borne him one son, Frank G., born Apil 10, 1888. Mr. Leach is a dealer in meats in the village of Cortland, this county. Burrill Greene married as his second wife Phoebe E. Greene on March 4, 1867; she died November 13, 1884. Mr. Greene has always taken a hearty interest in the affairs of the Democratic party, and has held nearly all the offices within the gift of his townspeople.