Green Family Diaries : The Reverend Aaron Green

43 Pages·2011·0.47 MB·English

LOWELL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS

GREEN FAMILY DIARIES:

THE REVEREND AARON GREEN
1791 - 1853
And
DOCTOR JOHN O. GREEN
1816 – 1885

A FINDING AID

CATALOG NUMBER: LOWE - 14733

PREPARED BY

CLEE A. ACE
DAN WALSH

LOWELL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT

February 2007
Stained glass window in commemoration of the life of Jane Green in St. Anne’s
Episcopal Church, Merrimack Street, Lowell, Massachusetts.
Green Family Diaries - i

CONTENTS

Preface ……………………………………………………………………………….ii

Copyright and Privacy Restrictions…………………………………………….…...iii

Introduction………………………………………………………………………….iv

Scope and Content Note…………….……………………………………….………v

Collection Description:

Series I:

Transcriptions from the Reverend Aaron Green diaries………………....1 - 7

Series II:

Transcriptions from the Doctor John O. Green diaries……………….….8 - 36
Green Family Diaries - ii

PREFACE

This document, Finding Aid for the Green Family Diaries : The Reverend Aaron Green
1791 – 1853 and Doctor John O. Green, 1816 – 1885, describes the diaries of Reverend
Aaron Green, and his son Dr. John O. Green. They were donated to the Lowell National
Historical Park by John Orne Green III of San Francisco, CA.

The processing of this collection was completed in February 2007. The diaries were
surveyed for content at the Lowell National Historical Park by Clee A. Ace, volunteer,
with the help of Dan Walsh, Museum Specialist.

Researchers are requested to contact the Lowell National Historical Park by phone at
978-970-5237 for assistance in accessing and using this material.

Publishing authors are requested to cite their use of this collection in the following
manner: Letter number, Green Family Diaries, Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell,
MA.
Green Family Diaries-iii

COPYRIGHT AND PRIVACY RESTRICTIONS

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making
of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The Privacy Act of 1974
(5 United States Code 552a) governs the use of materials that document private
individuals, groups and corporations.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to
furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an
individual, group or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include:

-non-commercial and non-profit study, scholarship, research or teaching
-criticism or commentary
-as a NPS preservation or security copy for research use
-as a research copy for deposit in another institution

If the researcher later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” the
researcher is personally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement and agrees
to indemnify the NPS from any legal action as a result of the error. Permission to obtain
a photographic, xerographic, digital or other copy of a document does not indicate
permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute or prepare derivative
works from the document without permission from the copyright holder and from any
private individual, group or corporation shown or otherwise recorded.

Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell or
otherwise distribute the item must be obtained separately in writing from the holder of the
original copyright (or if the creator is dead from his/her heirs) as well as from any
individual(s), groups or corporations whose name, image, recorded words or private
information (e.g. employment information) may be reproduced in the source material.
The holder of the original copyright is not necessarily the Nation Park Service. The
National Park Service is not legally liable for copyright, privacy or publicity infringement
when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for “fair use.”

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the
order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy or publicity law. This
institution also places restrictions on the use of cameras, photocopiers and scanners in the
research room.
Green Family Diaries - iv

INTRODUCTION

The five diaries of Reverend Aaron Green span the years 1791 to 1853. The nine diaries
of Doctor John O. Green span the years 1816 to 1885. All fourteen diaries were read but
only significant national and/or local events from both diaries were noted in the
summarized transcriptions in this guide. They constitute only a small percentage of the
entries in these diaries but, in that, they illustrate whatever wider view these men had of
their world. A far greater percentage of these diaries consist of perfunctory entries
concerning quite routine daily events or states of mind. In the aggregate, these entries
provide some insights into the mindset and outlook of their authors but tell us relatively
little about the community or larger world in which they lived.

Reverend Aaron Green was a minister in Malden, Massachusetts for many years. He
never named the denomination of his church in his diaries. When he retired, he and his
family moved to Andover, Massachusetts. Reverend Green died in his home in Andover.

Doctor John O. Green, his son, was one of four children who survived. He grew up in
Malden, graduated Harvard Medical School, and moved to Lowell where he practiced
medicine for more than 50 years. He died in his home in Lowell.

The transcriptions are in chronological order for each set of diaries.
Scope and Content Note - v

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Accession number: LOWE 695

Catalog number: LOWE 14733

Quantity: 1.5 linear feet (9 items)

Storage: 3 legal archival document boxes.

Location: Lowell National Historical Park, 67 Kirk Street, Lowell,
Massachusetts 01852 – 1029. Phone [phone].

Description: The Green Family Diaries (1791 –1885) consist of five diaries written by
Reverend Aaron Green, and nine diaries written by Doctor John O. Green.
Volume Two of Doctor John O. Green’s diaries was disassembled for
conservation assessment. and is stored in a separate archival storage box,
along with a complete photo copy of the volume. Otherwise, each set of
diaries is contained in its own box.

This collection of diaries was donated to the Lowell National Historical
Park by John Orne Green, III, of San Francisco, CA.
Series I, Diaries of Aaron Green, Minister
January 1, 1791 – October 20, 1853

Aaron Green was born in January of 1765 and died December 23, 1853. On December
13, 1796 he married Eunice Orne. They had five children, Charles Green (no birth date
recorded) who died in 1809 at age 2 years and 9 months, Charles Green, (a second son
with the same name, (no birth or death date recorded), John O. Green, born April 15,
1816, and died December 23, 1885, Caroline Green (no birth or death date recorded), and
George Green, (no birth date recorded) who died July 14, 1842. Eunice Orne Green died
at the home of her son Dr. John O. Green on January 23, 1858.

Five bound volumes covering the period January 1, 1791, through October 20, 1853,
comprise the diaries of Rev. Aaron Green. The first volume begins on January 1, 1791, a
day before his 26th birthday. Each volume is a collection of about ten years worth of
loose diary leaves which were later bound by his son, Dr. John O. Green of Lowell, into
five leather covered volumes each with dates it covers stamped in gold on its spine. The
leaves are fragile but legible. The writing is very compressed and he usually records one
full month in about three pages of text. Throughout most years he has usually written
something for every day except when he was ill. In the last volume, when he was too old
and infirm to make an entry every day, he only recorded things he considered worthy of
note. By the end of the fifth volume, his entries are short and perfunctory.

His diary entries are mainly about the details of daily life and the acquaintances with
whom he prayed, took tea, or traveled. He seldom takes note of national or even
statewide events and, in this respect, he is his son’s father. In some years, he ended his
December entries with a summary of the births, deaths, and marriages within his
community but in other years he did not. In addition, he usually gives an annual
summary of his finances following the final entry as well.

Interestingly, neither he nor his son, Dr. John O. Green, ever states Rev. Green’s
denominational affiliation.

Volume One: January 1, 1791 to December 31, 1801

This diary begins when he is 26 years old and is still not ordained. He “kept
school” most days and traveled widely throughout the area from Maine to Massachusetts,
often being in a different town each month. Even though not yet ordained, Rev. Green
was a guest preacher at churches in the area. His first notation of an Independence Day
celebration was July 4, 1793.

September 30, 1795. Rev. Green was ordained in Malden, Massachusetts, on and
from that time on he stayed in Malden except when he was a guest preacher at another
church.

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December 13, 1796. He married Eunice Orne at Lynnfield Massachusetts, and he
summed up that year by recording his finances by the month.

Year end summary, by year, for Volume One:

1791: No summary.
1792: No summary.
1793: Summary with an aphorism about life’s passing, weather details, yellow
fever outbreak.
1794: Summary with an aphorism about the passing of time, weather details, harvest
results, wars in Europe.
1795: Summary of weather details, wars in Europe, his ordination.
1796: Summary of financial status, number of deaths.
1797: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status.
1798: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status.
1799: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status.
1800: Summary of number of deaths, marriages (paid duties), births, financial status.
This year the births are listed by month and parent’s name.
1801: Summary of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status
This year the births are listed by month and parent’s name.

Volume Two: January 1, 1802 to December 31, 1812

August 12, 1802. Rev. Green recorded that the masons had returned and were
laying brick for the new brick meeting house apparently built by the Town of Malden.

September 22, 1807. Rev. Green noted the presence in the night sky of a bright
star that lasted for about two months.

October, 9, 1804. He recorded a hurricane of great force. There was a break in
the record from July 24th until October 1st, due to illness. He did not define the illness,
but simply noted that he was unwell and might have died.

Noted in his year end summary was the Act of the U. S. Congress that established
an embargo on trade with Great Britain and France, and British and French cargos carried
by neutral countries was passed on December 22, 1807. He detailed the hardship to
farmers this Act entailed.

The year 1809 was noteworthy only because he recorded the death of his son
Charles on October 7th at age 2 years and 9 months. No cause of death was given.

August 20, 1812. He noted the onset of the War of 1812.

Year end summary, by year, for Volume Two:

1802: Summary of number of deaths, marriages (paid duties), births, financial status.
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This year the births were listed by month and parent’s name.
1803: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, and births.
1804: Summary of number of births from January to June, listed by parent’s name.
1805: Summary of deaths, marriages (paid duties), births, financial status. This year the
births are listed by month, parent’s name, and son or daughter.
1806: List of births for the year by month and parent’s name that precedes January 1,
then the summary of number of deaths, marriages (paid duties), births at the end
of the year.
1807: Summary of number of deaths, marriages (paid duties), births, financial status.
This year the births are listed by month, parent’s name, and son or daughter.
1808: Summary of number of marriages, deaths, births, financial status. This year the
births are listed by month, child’s name, and sex.
1809: Summary only of number of marriages, births, deaths. The births are listed from
January to March by child’s name and sex..
1810: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, births, financial status.
1811: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, births, financial status.
1812: Summary of financial status only.

Volume Three: January 1, 1813 to December 31, 1822

There were entries for every day of the year 1813. There was mention of the
family going to a troop review in Waltham that was led by General Varnum on October
6th. The review was marred by the death of two troopers when some munitions exploded.
This year the celebration of Thanksgiving was also mentioned. It was a floating holiday
that alternated between late November and early December but was never celebrated on a
Sunday. In this year’s summary, note was made of the continuation of the war with Great
Britain, the strict trade embargo, and a fire in Portsmouth, NH that destroyed 200
buildings. Also mentioned was the fact that two men, whose names are not legible, were
sentenced to death for the murder of Nicholas John Creviry, and several unnamed
Indians, who were workers in Mr. Odionne’s nail factory.

September 6, 1814. Reverend Green noted his potatoes were rotting in the ground
and he had hired two men to dig them up for him.

September 23, 1815. A hurricane struck.

July 5, 1817. President James Madison was in Charlestown, MA for a military
exhibition and Rev. Green was introduced to him.

October 5th, 1817. An earthquake struck the area.

There was a break in the journal for 1818 between June 7th and July 6th because he
was too ill to write. In his year end summary he also noted that from November 9th to
November 29th, he was very ill with a broken collar bone.

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