Historical note:

            Deborah (Ward) Greene (1748-1835) was born in Newport, Rhode Island to the Hon.

Samuel and Hannah (Ray) Ward. She was one of eleven children born to Samuel Ward, the governor of Rhode Island from 1762 to 1763 and from 1765 to 1767. She became the second wife of Christopher Greene (1748-1830), a merchant and iron manufacturer, on May 12, 1782, after the death of his first first, Catharine Ward Greene, Deborah's sister. Deborah and Christopher had eight children: Christopher (1783-1815), Celia (1786-1829), Emily (1787-1814), Nathanael (1789-1847), Richard W. (1792-1875), Samuel W. (1794-1872), John W. (1795-1820), and Elihue (1802-1878).

Bibliography:

Clarke, Louise Brownell. The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestry, New York, 1903, pp. 211-212 and 333-336.

Return to top

Scope and content:

            This collection contains material from 1806-1838. Papers found in this collection mainly consist of correspondence between Deborah W. Greene and her children: Celia (Greene) Clarke, Elihue, John W., Nathanael, Richard W., and Samuel W. Greene. There are also some letters from her friends and other relatives: Daniel Waldo; Hepsa Silliman; and Eliza P. Bowen; daughter-in-law Margaret Clarke; sister Mary Ward; niece Ann Catherine Ward; nephew Henry Ward; and brother Samuel Ward II. This collection also contains some account records, an inventory of household furniture, and a posthumous memorial written by a friend.

            An interesting letter (box 2, folder 1) can be found between Deborah and her son Samuel Ward Greene. Samuel wrote several pages to his mother about his voyage from the United States to Chile, as a merchant in January of 1828.

Return to top

Provenance:

            These records are believed to have arrived as part of the "Albert C. and Richard W. Greene Collection." The actual date of the accession is not known for sure, but the collection was in hand by the late 1940s. Therefore, the date of 1948 was assigned to the collection.

Return to top

Inventory:

Box 1, folder 1: Accounts, 1830-1834

Box 1, folder 2: Commonplace book - including religious writings, 1818, and three pages of accounts of the Rhode Island Bible Society, 1827

Box 1, folder 3: Correspondence, 1806-1809

Box 1, folder 4: Correspondence, 1810, 1813

Box 1, folder 5: Correspondence, 1814-1815

Box 1, folder 6: Correspondence, 1816

Box 1, folder 7: Correspondence, 1818-1819

Box 1, folder 8: Correspondence, 1820-1821

Box 1, folder 9: Correspondence, 1822-1823

Box 1, folder 10: Correspondence, 1824-1825

Box 1, folder 11: Correspondence, 1826-1827

Box 2, folder 1: Correspondence, 1828-1829

Box 2, folder 2: Correspondence, 1830-1831

Box 2, folder 3: Correspondence, 1832-1833

Box 2, folder 4: Correspondence, 1834

Box 2, folder 5: Correspondence, 1835-1838

Box 2, folder 6: Correspondence, undated

Box 2, folder 7: Inventory of household furniture, 1835

Box 2, folder 8: Memorial, unsigned and undated

Box 2, folder 9: Memorandum book, describing vital records and arrivals and departures of family members,1815-1827

Return to top

Subjects:

Bowen, Eliza P.

Chile - Description and travel

Clarke, Celia (Greene) (1786-1829)

Greene, Christopher (1783-1814)

Greene, Elihue (1802-1878)

Greene, John Ward (1795-1820)

Greene, Margaret (Clarke) (1798-1861)

Greene, Nathanael (1789-1847)

Greene, Richard Ward (1792-1875)

Greene, Samuel Ward (1794-1872)

Rhode Island Bible Society

Silliman, Hepsa

Turner, Martha W. (Greene) (Nightingale) (1777- )

Waldo, Daniel (1762-1784)

Ward, Mary (1754-1832)

Ward, Samuel II (1756-1832)

Warwick, R.I. - Social life and customs

End of finding aid - return to top

RIHS1822