Gardiner Greene
Encyclopedia
Gardiner Greene was a merchant from Boston
, Massachusetts
who conducted business in Demerara
(Guyana
) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Socially prominent in the town of Boston, he owned a house, greenhouse, and garden filled with fruit trees and peacocks on Cotton Hill, opposite Scollay Square
. He was also the son-in-law of painter John Singleton Copley
.
He first travelled to Demerara in 1774. "He resided in Demarara for many years, and laid the foundation of a large fortune" shipping cotton, coffee, rum, and the like. Associates there included William Parkinson, a plantation owner in Mahaica.
Around 1804 in Boston Greene and business associates William Tudor
, Harrison Gray Otis
and Jonathan Mason
undertook the development of the South Boston Bridge, completed in 1805.
Greene served as an official of the United States Bank
and the Provident Institution for Savings
. He was a proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum, a member of the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society, and a supporter of the Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys. In Boston, Greene's acquaintances included Kirk Boott (1755–1817) of Bowdoin Square
.
(opposite Court Street
) to Somerset Street, including the former house of William Vassall (built ca. 1758). The Greene family lived there for several decades, until ca.1835. The estate was known for its sweeping harbor views and lush "hillside garden." An acquaintance of the family, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, described the grounds:
One of Greene's children, Martha Babcock Greene Amory, also remembered the remarkable garden. "'In those primitive days ... the gardener, like the plants, had to be imported expressly from the old country,' according to Greene's daughter. Their gardener was Scottish; he tended the fruit trees and the quaint box-edged beds. ... At the back of the garden, the stable and cow shed were guarded by the 'fierce mastiff, Pedro,' whose fur Miss Greene made into mittens."
, three times Lord Chancellor of England. Her mother was Susanna Farnham, daughter of Richard Clarke
, the merchant to whom was consigned the tea which was destroyed by the Boston Tea Party
." Greene also served as J.S. Copley's agent in Boston for some 20 years.
Greene's descendants included children Mary Anne Greene (1790–1827), Gardiner Greene (1792–1797), Benjamin Daniel (born 1793), William Parkinson (born 1795), Gardiner Greene (1802–1810), Elizabeth Hubbard Greene (1804–1844), Susannah Clarke Greene (1805–1844), Sara Greene (1808–1863), John Singleton Copley Greene (1810–1872), Martha Babcock Greene Amory (1812–1880), Mary Copley Greene (1817–1892); and grandson Gardiner Greene Hubbard
.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
who conducted business in Demerara
Demerara
Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...
(Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Socially prominent in the town of Boston, he owned a house, greenhouse, and garden filled with fruit trees and peacocks on Cotton Hill, opposite Scollay Square
Scollay Square
Scollay Square was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was named for William Scollay, a prominent local developer and militia officer who bought a landmark four-story merchant building at the intersection of Cambridge and Court Streets in 1795...
. He was also the son-in-law of painter John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects...
.
Biography
Greene was born in Boston, September 23, 1753, to Benjamin Greene and Mary Chandler.He first travelled to Demerara in 1774. "He resided in Demarara for many years, and laid the foundation of a large fortune" shipping cotton, coffee, rum, and the like. Associates there included William Parkinson, a plantation owner in Mahaica.
Around 1804 in Boston Greene and business associates William Tudor
William Tudor
William Tudor was a wealthy lawyer and leading citizen of Boston. His eldest son William Tudor became a leading literary figure in Boston...
, Harrison Gray Otis
Harrison Gray Otis (lawyer)
Harrison Gray Otis , was a businessman, lawyer, and politician, becoming one of the most important leaders of the United States' first political party, the Federalists...
and Jonathan Mason
Jonathan Mason (politician)
Jonathan Mason was a Federalist United States Senator and Representative from Massachusetts during the early years of the United States....
undertook the development of the South Boston Bridge, completed in 1805.
Greene served as an official of the United States Bank
Second Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816, five years after the First Bank of the United States lost its own charter. The Second Bank of the United States was initially headquartered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the same as the First Bank, and had branches throughout the...
and the Provident Institution for Savings
Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston
The Provident Institution for Savings in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first chartered savings bank in the United States. James Savage and others founded the bank on the belief that "savings banks would enable the less fortunate classes of society to better themselves in a manner which would...
. He was a proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum, a member of the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society, and a supporter of the Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys. In Boston, Greene's acquaintances included Kirk Boott (1755–1817) of Bowdoin Square
Bowdoin Square (Boston)
Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts was located in the West End. In the 18th-19th centuries it featured residential houses, leafy trees, a church, hotel, theatre and other buildings. Among the notables who have lived in the square: physician Thomas Bulfinch; merchant Kirk Boott; and mayor...
.
Pemberton Hill
In 1803 Greene bought land in Boston on Pemberton Hill (i.e. Cotton Hill), from Tremont StreetTremont Street
Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.-Etymology:The name is a variation of one of the original appellations of the city, "Trimountaine," a reference to a hill that formerly had three peaks. Beacon Hill, with its single peak, is all that remains of the Trimountain...
(opposite Court Street
Court Street (Boston, Massachusetts)
Court Street is located in the Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to 1788, it was called Prison Lane and then Queen Street . In the 19th century it extended beyond its current length, to Bowdoin Square. In the 1960s most of Court Street was demolished to make way for the...
) to Somerset Street, including the former house of William Vassall (built ca. 1758). The Greene family lived there for several decades, until ca.1835. The estate was known for its sweeping harbor views and lush "hillside garden." An acquaintance of the family, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, described the grounds:
"The most conspicuous and elegant garden of those days [in Boston] was that of Gardiner Greene, who had one of the early green-houses of Boston. The grounds were terraced and planted with vines, fruits, ornamental trees, flowering shrubs and plants. ... Here were growing in the open air Black Hamburg and White Chasselas grapes, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears and plums. ... Here were many ornamental trees brought from foreign lands."
One of Greene's children, Martha Babcock Greene Amory, also remembered the remarkable garden. "'In those primitive days ... the gardener, like the plants, had to be imported expressly from the old country,' according to Greene's daughter. Their gardener was Scottish; he tended the fruit trees and the quaint box-edged beds. ... At the back of the garden, the stable and cow shed were guarded by the 'fierce mastiff, Pedro,' whose fur Miss Greene made into mittens."
Family
In 1785 he married Ann Reading (1762–1786), who died the next year. He was married again in 1788, to Elizabeth Hubbard (1760–1797). In 1800 he married his third wife, Elizabeth Clarke Copley (1770–1866), whom he had met in London. "She was the daughter of John Singleton Copley and the sister of John, afterwards Baron LyndhurstJohn Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst
John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst PC KS FRS , was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
, three times Lord Chancellor of England. Her mother was Susanna Farnham, daughter of Richard Clarke
Richard Clarke (merchant)
Richard Clarke , Boston merchant and Loyalist, was the son of William and Hannah Clarke of Boston, where he was born. On May 3, 1733 he married Elizabeth Winslow, who has been variously said to be the daughter of Edmund, Isaac, and Col. Edward Winslow...
, the merchant to whom was consigned the tea which was destroyed by the Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...
." Greene also served as J.S. Copley's agent in Boston for some 20 years.
Greene's descendants included children Mary Anne Greene (1790–1827), Gardiner Greene (1792–1797), Benjamin Daniel (born 1793), William Parkinson (born 1795), Gardiner Greene (1802–1810), Elizabeth Hubbard Greene (1804–1844), Susannah Clarke Greene (1805–1844), Sara Greene (1808–1863), John Singleton Copley Greene (1810–1872), Martha Babcock Greene Amory (1812–1880), Mary Copley Greene (1817–1892); and grandson Gardiner Greene Hubbard
Gardiner Greene Hubbard
Gardiner Greene Hubbard was a U.S. lawyer, financier, and philanthropist. He was one of the founders of the Bell Telephone Company and the first president of the National Geographic Society.- Biography :...
.
Further reading
- George Washington DoaneGeorge Washington DoaneGeorge Washington Doane was a United States churchman, educator, and bishop in the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of New Jersey.-Biography:Doane was born in Trenton, New Jersey...
. http://books.google.com/books?id=TePpuH0YrXgCA sermon, delivered at Trinity ChurchTrinity Church, Boston (Summer Street)Trinity Church was an Episcopal church in Boston, Massachusetts, located on Summer Street. It housed Boston's third Anglican congregation...
, December 23, 1832]: on the decease of Gardiner Greene, Esq. Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1833. - The Greene family in England and America: with pedigrees. Boston: Priv. print, 1901.
- Francis Cabot Lowell; ed. by Winthrop Scudder. History of the Gardiner Greene estate on Cotton Hill, now Pemberton Square, Boston. Bostonian Society Publications, no.12. Boston: 1915; p. 36+
- Anna Cabot Lowell Quincy; ed. by Winthrop Scudder. A long life: a sketch of the life of Elizabeth Copley Greene (Mrs. Gardiner Greene). Bostonian Society Publications, no.12. Boston: 1915; p. 56+