Historical note:

            Samuel Ward Greene (1794-1872) was born in Potowomut Neck, Warwick, Rhode Island to Christopher and Deborah (Ward) Greene. He was one of eight children born to his father and his second wife. Samuel never married and spent most of his time in Chile. He operated flour mills and was successful in his various mercantile pursuits.

            Samuel and his first cousin, Franklin Greene, formed the partnership of F. & S. W. Greene in December 1815. They were commission merchants using harbors at Providence and East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and New York City, New York. They conducted their business locally, as well as up and down the east coast. Among their accounts of significance to Rhode Island were the Potowomut Manufacturing Company, a family-owned cotton manufactory in Rhode Island; the Kent Manufacturing Company; the Union Dyeing Company; Hope Manufacturing Company; and the Georgia Cotton Manufacturing Company.

            The personal bankruptcy of Franklin Greene may have been the cause for the dissolution of the partnership in 1817. Samuel Ward Greene continued to take personal responsibility for the liabilities of the company, which seem to have been satisfied by 1819.

Bibliography:

Clarke, Louise Brownell. The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of English Ancestry. (New York, 1903). pp. 210-212, 332-333, and 335.

Kemble, Harold. "Finding Aid for F. & S.W. Greene." 1986.

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Scope and content:

            This collection contains correspondence with various family members, financial documents, and childhood school records. There are three interesting letters of note: an 1817 brochure for the Hyde Park Institution in Hyde Park, New York (box 2, folder 1); an 1819 letter from the Catholic Congregational Society about assessing a tax on the value of their Meeting House pews (box 2, folder 3); and an undated letter, written in Spanish, from El Capitan General Ramon Freire al Ejercito de Chile (box 2, folder 12).

            See also the Christopher Greene Papers (Mss 456) and the Deborah Ward Papers (Mss 457) for letters that Samuel Ward Greene sent to his father and mother. See also the records of the mercantile partnership (F. & S.W. Greene) between Franklin Greene and Samuel Ward Greene (Mss 466).

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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.

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Processing note:

            One folder of financial documents for Samuel Ward Greene (1771-1849), a distant relative, were transferred to the Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (Mss 9001-G). Researchers should be aware that the records of Samuel Ward Greene (1794-1872) may contain other records of Samuel Ward Greene (1771-1849).

            Two letters were transferred to the Samuel Larned Papers (Mss 81).

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Inventory:

Box 1, folder 1: Accounts, 1815-1821

Box 1, folder 2: Accounts, 1822-1828

Box 1, folder 3: Accounts, undated

Box 1, folder 4: Cash book, 1867-1872

Box 1, folder 5: Correspondence, 1813-1814

Box 1, folder 6: Correspondence, 1815-1816

Box 2, folder 1: Correspondence,1817

Box 2, folder 2: Correspondence, 1818

Box 2, folder 3: Correspondence, 1819-1820

Box 2, folder 4: Correspondence, 1821

Box 2, folder 5: Correspondence, 1822

Box 2, folder 6: Correspondence, 1823

Box 2, folder 7: Correspondence, 1824

Box 2, folder 8: Correspondence,1825

Box 2, folder 9: Correspondence, 1826-1827

Box 2, folder 10: Correspondence, 1832

Box 2, folder 11: Correspondence, undated

Box 2, folder 12: School papers, 1806-1808

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Subjects:

Catholic Congregational Society

Clarke, Celia (Greene) (1786-1829)

Greene, Christopher (1783-1814)

Greene, Deborah (Ward) (1748-1835)

Greene, Elihue (1802-1878)

Greene, Franklin (1780-1864)

Greene, John Ward (1795-1820)

Greene, Nathanael (1789-1847)

Greene, Richard Ward (1792-1875)

Hyde Park Institution (Hyde Park, N.Y.)

Waldo, Daniel (1762-1784)

Ward, Samuel II (1756-1832)

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RIHS1822