The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-06
RECORDS AT A LOSS
FAMILY PAPERS DO NOT SHOW
GRAVE OF GEN. GREENE.
BODY SECRETLY REMOVED
SUCH is SAID TO HAVE BEEN THE
BELIEF OF THE FAMILY.

still In the amiIy-The Paper
shows That at the Time II WINS
Written Little of "A Definite Nature
Was KnOwn-TOmb at Dungeness
Some Declare to Be That of Gen.
Greene Is Probably HIS Wife's.
Family traditions and records shed lit
tie light upon the mystery of the burial
place of Gen. Nathaniel Greene. 1t seems
that the committee to conduct the search
for the remains viii have a difficult task,
as clews are lacking when one once
leaves the realm of history, which con-
tains the account of the interment in the
old Colonial cemetery in Savannah in 1856.
and sets forth to investigate the various
claims and traditions that apparently only
darken and deepen the mystery.
From the family traditions respecting
the death, burial and place of interment
of Gen. Greene, little information can be
gained. Mr.. p NJ. Nightingale, who died
in Brunswick in 1873, a grandson of Gen.
Greene, knew nothing positively as to the
last resting place of the Generals re-
mains, but among the Nightingale family
papers are some interesting references to
Gen. Greene. When it was recently an
nounced that a renewed search would be
made for Gen. Greenes remains the
Morning News wrote to Mr. William
Nightingale for any facts that might be
in his possession which would aid the
committee of the Society of the Cincin-
natl In its work. Mr.. Nightingale for
warded the following paper, written by
his father, the late Mr.. p. NJ. Nightingale,
which differens in some respects as to
names, for Instance from the historical
/ records:
| Gen. Greene died at Mulberry Grove
a plantation on the banks of the, Savan-
| nah river, of what was supposed ito be at
| the time a stroke of the sun, but more
! recent experience has led to the conclu-
1 sion that the attack which laid him low
/ in the very prime and vigor of manhood
" as one CT congestive fever, brought on
| by excessive exposure to the sun while
attending to the laying out and cultiva-
ton of the garden and grounds about his
! residence. his body was laid in the vault
belonging to the Mulberry Grove estate,
which had originally been the property
of the colonial governor, Wright, and was
| after its confiscation, presented to Gen.
! Greene by the state of Georgia.
1T was the impression of the family
! at the time of Gen. Greene's death that
| this vault belonged to the estate when
| passed into Gen. Greene's possession with
the rest of the Mulberry Grove property
at the time of its presentation to him by
| the state authorities Upon the return
however, of Mrs. Morsmorn, Gov
! Wright's daughter, to Savannah after
the termination of the Revolution, a
claim was laid by her 20 the vault as
| property not included in the confiscation
| Her right to it was, upon examination,
! established, but no formal possession be
! ing given or taken, the bodies of Gen.
! Greene and his eldest son, George Wash
| tngton Greene, who was drowned in the
savannah river very soon after his re-
| turn from France, where he had com
| pleted his education under the care and
supervision of Gen. La Fayette. and whose
/ coffin it is certain was placed by the side
! OF his father in this vault were not i'm
| medlately removed, and thus were taken
! Lossesslon OF by Mrs. Morsmorn-at least
such is the family belief-when she re-
established her right TO the vault.
Some years after, when the vault was
examined for the purpose of removing the
body OF Gen. Greene, his coffin, which
was certain, of Identification by means of
age, and date of his death engraved upon
it, and also that of his son, were found
| to be missing without a trace OF the
cause or time of their removal, OF Of the
place to which they had been taken. Al
the time of this discovery there was no
male descendant of Gen. Greene residing
at the South, and a thorough investiga-
ton had to be postponed until some years
AFTER this fact came to the knowledge of
the family
Most thorough search has since been
made, without throwing any light. how
! ever, upon the place of his burial All the
i facts and circumstances DEVELOPED nv
these Investigations led to the belief that
! the collins of Gen. Greene and his son
/ were secretly removed and purposelv in
! TERED no one knows where, as an act of
| personal hostility by Mrs. Morsmorn upon
resumlng her right of possession to the
vault Her character, as it has come
down to succeeding generations, through
the annals of Evolutionary statements.
was one of great personal vindictiveness
| thus 1t may have appeared to her a JUS
| Unable act or vengeance to place the re-
mains of those whom she deemed unjust
! ly benefited at her personal expense be-
! yond the reach of further honors in an
| unknown grave. This solution of the mys-
| terry, which envelopes Gen. Greene's last
! lc9NlHS pave lllouSl Il QteUleu the true one
| by those most nearly interested is only
| traditional, as all parties Immediately
! connected with the transaction had eth.
er died or left the country, and been lost
sight of before any thorough investiga-
ton could be accomplished"
Mr.. william Harden, referring to the
continued claim that Gen. Greene's re-
mains lie at Durgeness, said Yesterday
that the error probably grows out of
those who may have seen a grave there
having read the inscr pt!on with INSULT
cient care. In the Morning News of ves-
terday was publ he'd the inscription upon
the tombstone over the grave of Mrs.
Phineas Miller, the relct of Gen. Greene.
and it is probably her ave that has been
mistaken for her husbands
The gentleman, who has been referred
to by the Morning News as having been
informed in 1886 at st. Mary's of the dis
covery by citizens of that place of the
body Of Gen. Greene at Dungeness. said
yesterday that he is still strongly Of the
opinion that the body yet lies there.
Though his story is at variance with his
tory, the gentleman gave the following
account of young George Washington
Greene's removal of his fathers remains
a proceeding that is not related by any
history bearing upon the matter:
Young Greene was sent to Paris 10 pur-
sue his studies under the tutelage of the
city during the Reign of Terror. His
mother. becoming alarmed for his safety
in such troublous times, requested him to