Green Family

Charles Green

Charles Green, born 1807 in Shropshire, England, migrated to Savannah in 1833 at the age of 26. He secured a job as a clerk on Factor’s Walk in the cotton trade. He eventually partnered with Andrew Low, Sr and his son, Andrew Low II (father-in-law to Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts) and became very successful. Charles married his first wife, Catherine Burroughs, in 1837. Together Charles and Catherine had three sons: Benjamin, Charles, Jr. and Andrew Low. Catherine died in 1846 of tuberculosis. By 1850 Charles was one of Savannah’s richest cotton merchants. He also had a steamship company that transported cotton to Liverpool regularly.

In 1850 he married his second wife, Lucy Hunton from Greenwich, VA. As part of his marriage contract he promised to build her a grand home. Charles hired John Norris of New York City to design and build a 7,300 sq. ft. home at a cost of $93,000. Charles and Lucy took an extended honeymoon in England and Europe to shop for building materials and furnishings for the new house. When Lucy died in 1867 at age 39 she left Charles with seven children: Gilbert Hunton, Edward Moon, Douglas, Anna, Lucy, Mary and Frank Sorrel.

At age 62 Charles married his third and last wife, Aminta Elizabeth Fisher of Baltimore, MD, age 34. She was Lucy's younger cousin. Aminta brought into the marriage a fortune greater than Charles'. The two traveled frequently to Europe to purchase paintings and sculptures. Their only daughter, Aminta (Minnie) died at age 6. Aminta, devastated by her daughter's death, spent the rest of her life working with various charities.

Charles Green's role in the Civil war

s/s fingal, blockade runner

On July 1, 1861 L.P. Walker, Secretary of War for the Confederacy appointed Mr. Green to work with Major Edward C. Anderson and Captain Huse in London "in the purchase of arms and munitions of war for this government, specifically 100,000 muskets or rifles." In Liverpool the men secured a blockade-running ship to deliver the military cargo they purchased.

On November 12, 1861 the S/S Fingal arrived in Savannah, bringing in "perhaps the most valuable military cargo to reach the Confederacy during the war," according to Alexander Lawrence's book, A Present for Mr. Lincoln.

Imprisoned at Fort Warren

Charles Green was a wealthy cotton merchant sympathetic to the southern cause. For the first two years of the war the English were also supportive of the Confederacy. The English spinning mills needed cotton and it was being delivered from the South everyday.

In November 1861 both Mr. Green and his partner Andrew Low were arrested by the US government as they returned from a European business trip. Pinkerton detectives determined that the pair had made contacts on behalf of the Confederate Government to arrange loans to purchase arms for the Southern forces.

Both men were transported to Ft. Warren in Boston Harbor and imprisoned for three months. Eventually Mr. Green was cleared of all charges but he probably was forced to take an oath of neutrality.

general sherman

General Tecumseh Sherman served in the Union Army and was considered a modern war strategist. He led the "March to the Sea", a massive scorched- earth campaign that ended in the city of Savannah.

While in Savannah Sherman made his personal headquarters at the Green-Meldrim house at the invitation of Charles Green.

While at the home, Sherman entertained his officers, wrote a telegram to President Lincoln and conducted a community meeting with local black leaders to discuss the fate of the freed slaves.

Julian Green

Julian Green, son of Edward Moon Green, Charles' second son, was born in France in 1900. He was the youngest of eight children. Julian's childhood was filled with stories from his mother about the South and the Civil War. Many of these themes appeared in his writing as he embarked on a long and successful writing career. He is recognized as one of the giants of 20th century French literature. He was the first non-national member of the prestigious Academie francaise.

Many of Julian's experiences certainly contributed to his writing. He worked as an ambulance driver on the Italian front in World War I . In 1940 he left France for America and subsequently worked for the US Office of War Information. For a year he did radio broadcasts to the French five days a week as part of the Voice of America.

Julian Green died at the age of 98 in Paris.