Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-03-03
NUMBER 92.
From the Chicago Journal.


the wretched man, whose suicide we have noticed,
that his earlier years are shrouded in mystery.
Nothing whatever is known by the relatives of his
late wife, Of his antecedents previous to their mar
riage. II is supposed that he was born in the State
of Rhode Island or, at least resided there in the
early part Of his life. He afterwards went to Ohio,
at what time it is not known, and it is supposed
that during his residence there, he committed some
crime which made him an exile from his country,
| and induced him to change his name TO the one he
bore ever after.
He maintained the strictest silence as to his for
mer history, repelling all inquiry with rudencss and
| at times with an approach to violence as If the
| thought summoned up horrors which he could not
bear the remembrance. II is said that in 1874 u
| stranger came to his house on the west side, AMI
meeting him at the door, extended his hand with,
How arosyou, OliUer Gavits" Tor name Of SINH
lar sound) at which Green stood pale and speech
less for moment, and then disclamed the name
| The first authentic knowledge possessed by any
! here concerning him, dates from the year 1881
when on March IL, he was married at Montreal, {,
Jane Ann Revell. He was then at work at his
trade as cabinet maker, and his first acquaintanc,
| with the Reyell family was in the way of busnes.
Antecedent to that time, as he said, he had made
considerable money in an iron foundry, and wa1
| then reputed to be well Off He gave his age as
| twenty-sevcn, which would make him at the time
| of his death, to have been fifty-one years old,
though he seemed to be older by several years.
The marriage was an unhappy one, and within
| month, scenes of violence occurred between the
welded pair In 1888 he left Montreal at mid
| night, to avoid the consequence of some transac-
tion in which he was implicated as a forger, either
directly or by construction, in the settlement Of
money matters with man named Packard, former
ly one ofhis intimate friends. Previous to this time
| the circumstances were strong against him that
he set fire to his house, to secure the insurance. as
It was known that he had, previous to the FIRE,
caused the removal of most of the furniture, the
family being from home at the time.
The Ravell family had shortly before removed
| to Toronto, whittier Mrs. Green went after the
fight of her husband and afterwards Joined him at
| Hamilton. On the first day of May, 1884 he de-
cided upon removing to Illinois. Immediately pre-
vious to their departure from Hamilton he forced
his wife, by crueltes and threats to pass two coun-
terfeit five dollar bills. He made the journey with
| his wife and child in one-horse wagon, having
previously converted all his possessions exclusive
of wearing apparel into specie. He adopted u
most ingenious method of securely concealing his
money, by lining with silver, mostly half dollars,
| two large chests, which were again lined with thin
deal and papered The chests are still shown here
with the marks worn by the coins in the course of
| the journey. Michigan was then wilderness, and
the roads merely the blazed trail of the hunter
The little party arrived in this city, after four
weeks Of travel, and Green Immediately bought
what was then termed float" to a quarter sec
tion on the west side, whittier in August he re-
moved the shanty he had at first erected near tho
lake shore. In the course of few years, he re-
placed 1t by more roomy frame dwelling. Soon
after his residence here, he resumed his trade Of
cabinet making. George, the Oldest son. was born
in 1882, and Andrew, the second boy, in 1886;
soon after the birth Of the latter. Mr.. Green OK
changed twenty of his land for a farm at
Bloomingdale, Dupage county. Concerning the
| latter property there had been dispute waged
with the ferceness which characterized such quar-
res in those times settler named Kent was in
possession on the day the premises were to be de-
livered to Green, but as the result of suit at
law, he after elected, and the legal owner
with his family entered into the occupancy of the
house. The border law not basedwholy upon writ
ten statutes and the decisions ofcourts those Of
community, frequently clashed with violence.
The elected squatter resolved on dspossessing and
repossession In which he was sustained by many,
and, with party of the neighbors burst into the
house on the night of the 2Ist of March, I840.
| They made their way to the sleeping room Of Mr..
Green, who, aroused by the noise, seized his rife
and fired in the darkness at bis assalant; the ball
passed through the wearing apparel of one of
them slightly grazing the skin.
The fash revealed the positions Of the assail-
ers and assailed and after having attempted to
his pistol, the weapon missing fire, he was seized
by Kent, and fierce struggle ensued In tho
| grapple, Green passed his hand beneath the arm
Of his adversary and buried his knife In his back.
Kent left the room, and fell dead beside the fence,
upon which, for years AFTER were shown the blood
stains. The struggle in the meantime waged
fercely within, the gang. not being aware Of tbe
fate of their leader. Green was oyerpowered,
bound and borne Off to lonely shanty, where,
upon pain Of instant death, should he refuse he
| was made TO sign a document rcinquishing his
claims in favor Of the elder Kent whose absence,
strangely enough, was not Immediately remarked,
Alter terrible beating the wounded man was
leased TO find his way home alone, and with his
| wifi nd N apak wi
neighbors. Had the squatters known Of the
death Of the elder Kent there is no doubt
but that the life of Green would have been taken
on the spot. The matter caused considerable stir
at the time but in the pioneer days such occur
! rences were, from their frequency, less shocking
than at present Had no darker strain than that
of blood drawn in selfdefence rested upon tho
name or memory OF the subject of our sketch, this
act would have been forgotten, or remembered
only a deed of terrible necessity. The knife
with which the blow was struck was in his posses
sion to the end Of his life, and he has narrated
the tragic scene to many Of our citizens
After Kents death, when the excitement it
caused had somewhat subsided, Green returned
| with his family TO his house, and rented part Of
| the same to a family named Switzerland They
failing by some reason to satisfy him as tenants,
and resisting his attempts to drive them away diff
fculties sprung up. Some Of the Southerlands were
taken suddenly and dangerously i'll, and poison was
suspected. Green was foremost in suggesting this
as a cause and by his advice the water in the well
| was analysed, as he attributed the occurrence to
an attempt at revenge on the part of the Kent
gang. II was subsequently found that he had for
hidden his wife to borrow -four oJtho Southerlands
and an examination discovered the existence of
arsenic in their barrel Of that article. few years
after he returned to his land and his trade in Chi
cago and IL Is the closing event Of his residence
| in this city, which has thrown about his case the
painful interest it has excited among our citizens
for the present few months, giving to our criminal
records details, as shocking in their nature as they
are, fortunately for humanity rare in their occur
renee and to the tragedy the terrible finale of self
murder, calm and premeditated.
| The circumstances Of his cruelty to his wife, Of
utter neglect Of his duties as a father and husband
have been before our readers, as developed in the
progress HE long aud careful trial 0fhs guilt
few among us doubted though the very nature of