BURLINGTON WOMAN WAS FRIEND OF WOUNDED SOLDIER

MRS. M. M. GREEN OF THIS CITY, ONCE A WEALTHY WOMAN OF QUINCY, WHERE SHE NURSED THE SICK AND DYING WOUNDED IN HOSPITALS

Mrs. M. M. Green, who will be 96 years of age next Wednesday, July 26th, and who is passing the late autumn of her life quietly with friends here in Burlington, was once a wealthy and popular woman of Pittsburg[h], and of Quincy, Ill., who in the generosity of her heart, dissipated practically all of her wealth to give the wounded soldiers of the Civil War comfort and renewed health. As angel of mercy, she was in the hospitals of the dreadful days of conflict, and many a man successful in life today owes to her his life and strength. She is now in feeble health, but able to be about occasionally, and to take drives with her friends. She is happy and contented in her comfortable rooms at 523 South Street, and has great satisfaction in looking back upon the past glories of her life, feeling content that she has done what she could to make the world better and her fellow beings happier.

Her maiden name was Maria M. Basset[t], and she was a daughter in a sturdy seafaring family. She was born in Philadelphia, July 26, 1815. Her father, Samuel Bassett, [Jr.] was a native of New Hampshire. He went early to sea and became the master [i.e. mate] of the “Brig Hamlet,” an East Indian trader, which carried spices and costly goods from those parts to Europe and America. Captain Bassett became a wealthy man, but when his daughter was only seven [i.e. twelve] years of age, the vessel on which he sailed was lost at sea with everyone on board. With her mother Miss Bassett spent her early life in Philadelphia and became a great beauty and social belle, being the toast of the young gallants of the city.

January 12, 1832, Miss Bassett married Ephraim Scudder Green, who was born in New Jersey. Mr. Green was a merchant in Philadelphia at the time, dealing in fish oil, which was used for lighting purposes. Walnut, Arch, and Chestnut Theatres all received their lighting oil from him. When President Andrew Jackson vetoed the banks, he was one of many who suffered heavy losses. Going to Ohio, he found at Pick[a]way business opening, but it took so long to make the journey back to Philadelphia for his wife that by the time they returned to Pittsburg[h], someone else had taken advantage of the opportunity.  They were left there in a comparative wilderness until they could arrange to go farther inland.

They made the tedious journey to Daton [i.e. Dayton] and later to Cincinnati, but eventually returned to Philadelphia. After several years, in their own conveyance, they journeyed again overland to Pittsburg[h], where, taking their vehicle with them, they took passage on a boat, which brought them down the Ohio and up the Mississippi as far as Warsaw, Ill. From here they drove to Nauvoo, where they were living at the time the Smiths [Joseph Smith and family] were killed. Though not a Mormon, Mr. Green was obliged to help in the defense of this town when threatened by mobs. For their safety, he finally removed his family to Quincy where they resided until after his death in 1868.

During his life in Illinois, Mr. Green became a dealer in real estate, and was at one time the owner of a large part of what is known as the Military Tract, comprising a group of counties [in Illinois] extending from Rock Island to Quincy. He became very wealthy. After his death Mrs. Green continued her residence in Quincy where she was well known by all old residents, and had many warm friends, among whom were Governor Wood and his family.

During the Civil War, when a hospital was opened in Quincy, Mrs. Green was one of the first to offer her services. Not only did she supply food and carry flowers from her garden, but with the arrival of the first soldiers, provided herself with soap and towels and hastened to the improvised hospital in an old tobacco factory. Here the sick and wounded were lying in pallets of straw. By her ministrations, she helped to relieve their suffering and make them comfortable. When convalescent, some of the soldiers were given the unusual privilege of visiting her home and enjoying her garden. She still prizes among her possessions, a uniquely carved picture frame made for her by one of the soldiers.

Later a company of cavalry encamped on the river bank. Serious illness (black measles) broke out among them, and, in company with her family physician, Mrs. Green hastened to the camp. An officer’s family was found critically ill. The mother, being unable to care for their child, expressed a wish that the child might be saved. With its mother’s permission, Mrs. Green took the child to her home and cared for it a number of weeks until fully recovered.

A son, Samuel Harry Green, enlisted and served for three years and nine months in the Commissary Department. When this son came to Burlington, about thirty years ago, Mrs. Green gave up the old home and came to Burlington to live. But when, after a number of years he was transferred to Chicago, Mrs. Green chose to remain in Burlington, among the many friends she had made there.

On the 26 of July, she will be ninety-six years old. Except for an occasional drive with friends, she has not gone out for several years, but is always glad to see the many friends who take pleasure in visiting her. She keeps in touch with the times, taking an interest in all current events – reads the “Hawk-Eye” every day without the aid of glasses and also keeps in touch with a number of friends through correspondence. She was interested in the re-appearance of Halley’s Comet last year, having seen it before [1835] during her residence in Philadelphia.

Mrs. Green has one living son, Louis B. Green, who resides at Vallejo, California and is employed in government work on Mare Island. Samuel H. Green recently passed away at his home in Chicago. He had been employed for sixteen years with Harris-Scotten Co., for whom he handled the sales of cash and sample gains on the Board of Trade. When they retired from business, he entered the employ of Wright, Bogert & Co., grain and seed commission merchants, continuing his service with this company until his recent death.

  Among Mrs. Green’s cherished possessions is a miniature of herself, when a young and beautiful woman, painted in Philadelphia by Rembrandt Peel [i.e. Peale], founder of the Philadelphia Museum, and considered an unusually beautiful work of art.  It was exhibited in Burlington a number of years ago, during the time that Mrs. Green was a resident of Quincy.

A half-brother, Captain Henry Stephen Brown, went to sea at the age of fifteen and sailed the Indian Ocean until forty years of age, when he was married and went to California, where he met with marked success, but did not live long to enjoy his good fortune.

The miniature referred to in the article was in fact a painting of her mother, Maria M. Taney/Brown Bassett, and not of herself, as is incorrectly stated. It was painted in 1801 by James Peale and not by Rembrandt Peale. James Peale was the uncle of Rembrandt Peale, of the family of famous Philadelphia painters. The article, however, states correctly that Mrs. Green did indeed have a half-brother, Henry Stephen Brown (1804-1868).

After Maria M. Bassett married Ephraim Scudder Green, she herself sat for a painting, while still in Philadelphia, by an unknown local artist sometime in the late 1830s or early 1840s. In the painting, she wears a dark green gown, formfitting and off-the shoulder, with large puffy sleeves. Long black sausage curls frame her pink-cheeked face, accentuating her deep blue eyes. Her hands rest gracefully below her waist as she holds a bouquet of flowers.

Maria M. Bassett Green, unknown artist – 1830s-1840s oil on canvas - 22¼x29½ inches

A photograph, taken in 1866, shows the same view of the house but includes members of the Green family in the foreground. Fanny, dressed in white, is seated in a carriage. Maria, in dark dress, is standing beside the carriage facing Fanny. A short boy in light clothes, possibly a groom, attends to the horse. Harry is seated on the lower stairs. Louis is the small boy above Harry, standing on the stairs. The woman in white at the top of the stairs is probably a domestic. The photograph was taken by the famous Quincy photographer, Mrs. Warren A. Reed.

Photograph: Green Family House – Quincy, Illinois – 1866