John Green

John Green
born August 4, 1789, near Hagerstown, Maryland
died May 17, 1874, in Dayton, Illinois

Obituary:

Death of John Green

There are few of the older settlers of Illinois, in any part of the state, but at some day knew John Green, of Dayton, in this county. It becomes our painful task to chronicle his death at his home in Dayton, on Sunday last, and his burial on Tuesday, at the advanced age of 84 years.

Mr. Green emigrated to Illinois from Newark, Ohio, in 1828 or 1829, and having the whole state before him to choose from, selected a splendid water power on Fox river, about four miles above Ottawa, as the spot that looked most promising to him of all others. Here as early as 1830 he erected a saw mill, and a few years later a grist mill, and for years that mill – the “Old Pioneer” – made the flour for the settlers of a circle of 200 miles in diameter. At a later date another mill was added, and then a woolen factory, which was subsequently enlarged so that it is now one of the most extensive in the west.

Mr. Green, at an earlier day in the history of northern Illinois, was not only a prominent man in the way of social and business relations and in point of wealth, but wielded a wide political influence, and was largely courted, as well as advised with, by all our politicians, such as Douglas, Wentworth, Ford, &c., but though not lacking in the requisite education or ability, never would accept office of any kind himself. A democrat of the most rigid Jackson school, he carried the same stern honesty that marked his politics into all the other relations of life, and was a man whose word was his bond, and whose promise was as good as the best man’s note. Of late years his complicated business affairs were managed entirely by his sons, and little was seen or heard of the venerable patriarch; but to such as liked to chat about the earlier scenes and events in this region, a quiet afternoon with Father Green was a treat not soon forgotten. He was buried near his old home in Dayton, and his funeral was the largest that had ever taken place in the village.¹