William and Daniel Green

Pioneers in Fayette and Armstrong County, Pennsylvania

No. 22.b.

Armstrong County Js. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania--

Personally came before John Smith Esquire, One of the commonwealth Justices of the Peace and for the County afsd, William Green Senior & being Duly sworn as the law directs Deposeth & saith that he was personally present when Adam Green gave a brown Mare, Saddle & bridle unto one who Said his name was General Prescott it being in the year of Our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and seventy-nine for the purpose of making his escape to the British, that the above Mentioned Adam Green at that time lived in Sussex County Hardwick Township and State of New Jersey, this Deponent further saith that he gave a Lieutenants Warrant to the above. Named Adam Green which Warrants Deponent Received of Col. Joseph Barton for the said Adam Green and further saith that.

Sworn & subscribed before

on the 5th Day of May 1811

his

John Smith William X Green

mark

Daniel and William Green left New Jersey about 1784 in the aftermath of William’s Loyalist service during the American Revolution and loss of Williams New Jersey lands in 1777 to settle in Fayette County on the western Pennsylvania frontier and start new lives. Their brother George, whom William brought into Col. Barton’s regiment, died a prisoner in 1777 in the log goal built by their father Samuel Green in Johnsonburg, Hardwick Township, Sussex County, New Jersey (now Warren County). Other brothers Adam and John Green, who were also Loyalist, settled in Upper Canada in the early 1790s where Adam received a recommendation for insertion into the United Empire List of Loyalists on 9 April 1810 and later took the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown on 28 May 1811. Brother William’s deposition given in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania on 5 May 1811 links William and Daniel to brother Adam and thence to father Samuel Green, the surveyor of early colonial northwest New Jersey.

William and Daniel settled in Georges Township, Fayatte County and are listed as taxpayers in County records first in 1785. Daniel is listed further in 1785-1789 then again in 1794. William’s listing is 1785-1788. A plat of Daniel’s land is shown in the Horn Papers survey book for Fayette County and is located in the center of present day Fairchance, Pennsylvania. Daniel Green’s tract of 113 acres was warranted January (?) 1785, surveyed 3 March 1785, and then patented 7 September, 17?? as Fairhold to William Nixon another Warren County, New Jersey neighbor who went west after the Revolution. The Nixon family remained in Fayette County and became prominent. William Nixon and his New Jersey roots are given in a biography of his grandson James Nixon in the History of Fayette County by Franklin Ellis, 1882, which also separately lists as property owners in Georges Township in 1787 William and Daniel Green, William Nixon, and other likely New Jersey friends Uriah Glover, Charles Glover, William Hoagland, and Isaac Hoagland.

Daniel and William’s migration into Manor Township, Armstrong County occurred in the spring of 1787 with William who settled there according to Robert Walter Smith’s History of Armstrong County ,1883. Smith identifies his informant for the subsequent long and interesting story of the Green family in Armstrong as Samuel Green, a grandson of William. The 1790 Federal Census support this move showing Daniel in Georges Township, Fayette County, and William with his three sons, Samuel, John, and James, and daughter Margaret in Armstrong Township, then a part of Westmoreland County. Smith’s story includes the Greens fighting Indians during depredations in the early 1790s and building Fort Green for protection, now at Rosston, Pennsylvania below Kittanning and Ford City. Later, William and his oldest son Samuel obtained warrants, dated 21 April 1794, for two tracts across the Allegheny River from Manor Township in Buffalo Township on Glade Run. These subsequently became a "Green Settlement" encompassing five tracts, one of which was owned by brother Daniel Green who apparently came up from Fayette County to settle and continued there at least through the 1800 Federal Census until selling out in 1805.

William Green likely died sometime between 1811 to 1820 based on his deposition above and his not appearing in the 1820 Census. He appears as a "single" head of household age 45+ in the 1800 Census but is not listed in any 1810 Armstrong or Fayette County Green family as a "male age 45+". His wife was Mary Huey who is identified on daughter Margaret Green Fitzgerald’s death certificate in Armstrong County, dated 19 August 1854, and on son James’ death certificate (as simply Mary Green), dated 14 April 1853. She also appears on Armstrong County land transfers 17 June 1805 as Mary. Both Margaret’s and James’ certificates list New Jersey as their birthplace. One other item showing the linkage of William and Daniel to New Jersey and their brothers in Upper Canada is a letter written by William Green to Nathaniel Pettit "near Niagara", (he also New Jersey Loyalist refugee), regarding the safe return of children taken from a neighbor, Samuel Sloan by Indians then raiding in Armstrong County.

Wills exist in Armstrong County for William’s sons Samuel, John, and James and all three name children. Daniel’s one suspected son is a Thomas who appears as a witness on Daniel’s deed of transfer of his Buffalo Township tract to George Ross, 4 February 1804. A Richard Green, age 26-45, appears in the 1800 Federal Census for Armstrong County living among the other Greens but in the 1810 and later Census there is no further record regarding him, Daniel, or Thomas. Richard may be a son of the deceased brother George, a son of Daniel not listed in the 1790 Census, or another Green from New Jersey kin.

A mystery is an aged 45+ Mary Green listed head of household in the 1800 and 1810 Census back in Georges Township, Fayette County. This Mary in the 1810 Census also appears to be related to nearby Joseph Green age 26-45 and a John Green age 45+, all in Georges Township. Suggested but not proved is that William’s wife Mary returned to Fayette County prior to 1800 for some reason, sold land holdings in Armstrong to husband Willian on 17 June 1805 (Westmoreland County records), and that husband William lived alone back in Armstrong County at least so in the 1800 Census. Divorce?

Whatever the speculations, Mary Green, Joseph Green, John Green, Daniel Green, Thomas Green, and Richard Green disappear from Fayette and Armstrong County related records after 1820 leaving only the sons of William: Samuel, John, and James. Later in the 1830 Census for Armstrong, a Rebecca Green head of household age 40-50 appears with three male and two female children in Sugar Creek Township north of Buffalo Township, this listing suggesting by proximity a link to the Buffalo Township Green settlements. Research is ongoing to find these lost Greens with actions focused on their possible movement into Ohio lands then opening up after 1800.

Many of the Greens, including Loyalist William Green and his two sons John and James, and their wives are buried in the Green family cemetery on The Bunker Hill Road going up Whiskey Hollow Hill opposite the Ford City bridge along the western shore of the Allegheny River. The grave for William Green bears a relatively new headstone in the style of a "patriot" and results from the faulted research of a DAR member that mistakenly identified her ancestor William Green as serving in a continental regiment. Even this members DAR application from the early 1960s shows that William’s "particulars" regarding service were not proved. But the application nonetheless has useful Bible record attachments for subsequent Greens, Kelly’s, and Heigleys.

ontributed for use by Brian Green

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