WILLIAM P. GREEN. It is with pleasure that the biographer takes up the
life record of William P. Green, one of the most prosperous and best known
of the citizens of Cobden and a man who is identified in an important sense
with its development and that of the country surrounding. A man of strong
commercial instinct and of considerable executive ability, all enterprises
with which he becomes identified seem pretty sure of success. For
twenty-three years a salesman, he has dealt since 1903 in coal and ice in
Cobden and he is also leasing four valuable farms for apple-growing, being
associated in this with the Lamer Brothers under the firm name of Lamer,
Green & Lamer. They have devoted two hundred and forty acres to this branch
of agriculture and have 9,000 fine trees, all apple. Since 1900, when they
first engaged in this interesting work they have made sales to the amount of
$11,043 and have 1,200 barrels in storage, which raises this amount to
$15,000. Mr. Green also sells spraying machines and has recently sold one
car-load of these commodities to fruitgrowers.
William P. Green was born October 28, 1854, in Union county, Illinois, the
son of William and Cornelia (Bennett) Green. Nathaniel Green, the
grandfather, an energetic South Carolinian, came to this county about 1803.
He was the father of Mastin, David and William Green. Mastin and David were
born in South Carolina and William was born in this county in 1806. The
father died here soon after and the boys located in the Mississippi Bottoms.
These brothers are all dead.
When they located in the Mississippi Bottoms they resided for a time with an
uncle who managed Green's Ferry on the Father of Waters. The boys lived the
wholesome, strenuous life of the pioneer, raising crops in the summer and in
the fall and winter going into the woods where they made a flat-boat on
which they floated their produce down to New Orleans and sold it. They were
industrious and thrifty and in this way accumulated considerable money. In
1844 they were driven out of the bottoms by floods and they went to the
hills. David Green settled on his farm at Green's Crossing near Cobden and
opened a general merchandise store at that place in 1854. William Green,
father of him whose name inaugurates this review, removed to Jonesboro and
continued farming. He owned a section of land west of that place, and this
he tilled up to the time of his death in 1865. This good man, who was
respected and influential in his community, reared a family of four
children. Florence W., born October 26, 1834, died August 15, 1899. He
married Annetta Cover January 17, 1865, and their surviving children are as
follows: Otis, Daniel, John H., Florence E., James A. and Roy. Mollie,
second of the subject's sisters, married Calvin Miller first and after his
death became the wife of A. C. Stage, her present residence being in
Chicago. The subject is third in order of birth and the youngest member of
the family is David M., an Arkansas farmer. The father, William Green Sr.,
was one of the organizers of the Union County Agricultural & Mechanical
Society, which held the first county fair in this county. He was a member
and deacon in the Baptist church of Jonesboro and his hand was given to all
good causes. In his time he accumulated considerable wealth. His wife, whose
maiden name was Cornelia Bennett, died in 1855, in the infancy of William,
Jr.
William P. Green received his education in the public schools and continued
to reside upon the paternal homestead until 1877. Even as a very young man
he manifested commercial instincts and was most successful as a salesman. He
has ever since been active in this line and in 1880 he established himself
independently in the mercantile business, in which, as previously mentioned,
he remained continuously engaged until 1903. His subsequent interests and
activities have been touched upon. Longfellow has said, "The talent of
success is nothing more than what you can do well and doing well whatever
you do, without any thought of fame." Illustrative of this sentiment has
been the life of the subject and his career should serve as an incentive and
inspiration for others.
No one could be more loyal to the best interests of the section than Mr.
Green, for it is dear to him with many associations and for over a century
has been the scene of the family history, of which he has every reason to be
proud. Whenever he has served in public office it has been with faithfulness
and efficiency and doubtless even higher honors lie before him. From 1908 to
the spring of 1912 he served as police magistrate ; he has acted as town
clerk several times and for nine years was a member of the Cobden board of
education. In addition to his activities previously mentioned, Mr. Green has
other interests of exceedingly broad scope and importance and has leased
40,000 acres from the Finley Oil & Gas Development Company in Southern
Illinois for the purpose of prospective oil and gas development. His
executive ability, tireless energy, engineering skill and genius in the
broad combination and concentration of applicable forces, it is safe to say,
will make a success of this vast enterprise. The, company of Lamer, Green &
Lamer have also recently engaged in the buying and selling of fruits and
products in carload lots.
Mr. Green laid the foundations of a happy household and congenial life
companionship by his union in 1886 to Ada B. Lind, of Cobden, daughter of A.
Lind, one of the old residents. Of the five children born to them, three are
living, namely: Joseph B., of California; Cornelia, teller of the Cobden
Bank; and Clarence. The family are active in the good work of the Baptist
church and the fraternal affiliation of the head of the house is with the
Knights of Pythias. The name of Green is widely and favorably known, the
third generation in this section reflecting the good qualities of the first.
Extracted from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 609-611.
| Jackson | Williamson | |
| MO |
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Johnson |
| Alexander | Pulaski |
