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The Greene Family, Burke, Virginia, July 2012. A long-waited family reunion enable almost 40 of us to get together and celebrate family ties!

The Greene family has a very rich history in the United States and England that  has been well-documented by researchers.  The Greenes were among he earliest colonizers of the United States, having arrived in 1635.  Related branches of the Greene family trace back to at least three Mayflower passengers:  William Brewster, Richard Warren, and George Soule.

The first Greenes were likely Norman French before arriving in England, and the original spelling was de Grene de Boketon – which means Lord of the Deer Park.

Greens Norton in Central England was where the original Greenes lived, and the town still carries their name.  Our line later moved to Gillingham on the Southern coast of England.  It is from this town that our Greenes sailed to the New World.

 While no Greene was on the Mayflower, our Greene line traces directly back to at least three Mayflower passengers:  William Brewster, George Soule, and Richard Warren.

• The first Greene of our line to arrive in North America was John Greene “the Surgeon”, who arrived on the ship James on June 3, 1635.  He really was a surgeon.
• John Greene was a friend of Roger Williams.  He was also one of the original proprietors of Providence, Rhode Island and a co-founder of the town of Warwick.
• Our line from the arrival of the first generation until my grandfather goes like this:  John-James-David-David-David-David-Joseph-David-Hosea-Hosea-Shirley.
• David Sr. (third generation) was the first of our Greene line born in America.
• David III (fifth generation) was a Private in the Rhode Island Militia during the Revolutionary War.  He was a second cousin of the famous General Nathanael Greene, considered second only to George Washington in military ability.
• David (eight generation) was a private in the CT Volunteers during the Civil War and fought at Winchester, VA before his discharged after a year of service (1862-3).
• Hosea Jr. (tenth generation) was a Private and appointed musician in the CT Volunteers during the Spanish-American War.  The war ended before he saw action.

Five years ago… We began the search for the Greenes’ roots:
The Miranda Family headed back to Washington, DC, for our well-deserved R&R, after almost a year in Mozambique during our first hard-to-fill assignment.
We decided to stop in England, one of Leonel’s long lost plans as part of his genealogy hobby/work…
The family enjoyed time in London, visiting the Big Ben and Parliament in Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the plaza of St. Margaret’s Church, the Buckingham Palace, the Tower Bridge and Tower of London.
And, of course, experienced the famous “London rain”…
Leaving the capital, we visited Greens Norton, the historic home of the Greene Family – St. Bartholomew’s Church, and headed out to Oxford, the home of the famous university, and visited sites like the Saxon Tower of St Michael at the North Gate, the city’s oldest building.
After Oxford, we drove to Bath. City used to be a spa resort built by Romans in the 1st Century, with its various architecture examples, including the medieval wall at the Bath Abbey.
Continuing with the search through the family ancestors, we visited Gillingham, the last home of the Greenes before moving to the new world in the 1630s. Road trip continued to Shaftesbury, Salisbury and the mysterious Stonehenge, before heading back to London on our way to the New World!

Related articles

• Our little ‘Daughters of the Mayflower’ descendants and their ‘royal roots’ (3rdculturechildren.com)
• Mayflower Compact Descendants Through Fuller Family (chasingaftereden.com)
• London beer and Olympic watching (metronews.ca)