Saturday, December 19, 2009

Confederate Officer Married The Widow Of An Executor Of Abraham Lincoln's Estate

Wharton J. Green (1831 - 1910) came to my attention as the father of Sarah who married 1st Pembroke Jones and 2nd Henry Walters (See Relatively Fiction blog entry here). While researching Sarah, Wharton Green's book of Recollections was mentioned.


Wharton J. Green was born at St. Mark's Florida to Thomas J. & Sarah (Wharton) Green.


(St. Mark's, Florida Lighthouse)






Wharton Green attended Georgetown, the United States Military Academy and Cumberland University in Tennessee. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel for the Confederate Army. Lt. Col. Green was wounded at Washington, North Carolina in 1862; taken prisoner at Roanoke Island on 8 February 1862.


He was wounded again at Gettysburg and taken prisoner on a train carrying wounded soldiers from the field of Gettysburg 3 July 1863 and confined at Johnson's Island on Lake Erie (Ohio) according to this source.






Wharton Green's father, Thomas, was known as General Thomas Jefferson Green of Texas fame and his mother, Sarah, was the daughter of Jesse Wharton, a U.S. Senator from Nashville, Tennessee. General Green (1802-1863) participated in the Somervell and the Mier expeditions in the Texas War of Independence and was also a Confederate Officer in the Civil War. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Warren Co., North Carolina (according to findagrave).

After the Civil War, Wharton Green lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and represented North Carolina as a congressman in the 48th & 49th Congress. He is buried in the Cross Creek Cemetery #2 in Cumberland Co., N.C., as is his first wife, Esther (Ellery) Green and possibly his second wife, Adeline (Burr) Davis Green. Adeline was the widow of Supreme Court Justice David Davis who was the executor of Abraham Lincoln's estate.

2 comments:

bgibson135 said...

David Davis was Abraham Lincoln's friend and Presidential camgaign manager. Lincoln appointed Davis to the Supreme Court. Davis became an Executor of Lincoln's estate.

Judge David Davis retired from the US Supreme Court and became a US Senator from Illinois. During Davis' term in office, President Garfiled was assassinated, and VP Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield. This left the VP postion open, and at the time, there was no process for filling the empty position. Senator Davis was elected to the office of "President Pro Tempore" until his term ended in 1883. This meant that Senator Davis was next in line to be President of the United States if President Arthur could not continue to serve.

*Davis' first wife took ill and died in 1879. During this illness, Addie Burr, a young friend of the family was Sarah Davis' nurse.

David Davis and Adeline Burr continued to correspond after he was widowed. Shortly after Davis left the US Senate, he travelled to Fayetteville, NC to marry Addie Burr. Addie was living with the Wharton J. Green family at Tokay Vineyards, about 4 miles from Fayetteville. Mr. Green's wife was Addie's 1st cousin.

Just a few months after the Davis/Burr wedding, Wharton J. Green's first wife died in 1883. Judge Davis died a few years later in 1886. This left both Wharton J. Green and Addie Burr Davis widowers. Wharton J. Green and Adeline Davis were married in 1888.

DAVID DAVIS WEDDED
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9805E1D8123BE033A25756C1A9659C94629FD7CF

PalmsRV said...

Thanks for your comment and additional information! Isn't that an interesting story?