Vedder, O. F. and Lyman, H. S.  "History of Seattle, Washington - With
Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and
Pioneers." Frederic James Grant, Ed.  New York: American Publishing and
Engraving Co., 1891.  p. 466.
 
ROGER S. GREENE

     The descendants of many of the distinguished families of the Atlantic
states have become the builders of our own communities.  This is particularly
true of the New England states, which have contributed a large army of their
sons and daughters whose brain and brawn have helped develop the resources and
build up an empire in that vast region west of the Rocky Mountains.  The subject
of this sketch, for several years the chief judicial officer of Washington
Territory and now one of the ablest lawyers of the Seattle bar, is one of New
England's sons whose high integrity, and whose efforts to elevate the tone of
society and keep pure the moral sentiment of the community, make a double claim
upon our respect and recognition.  He comes of old New England stock,and in his
character can be detected some of the strongest virtues of his ancestry.  On the
maternal side he is a grandson of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence.  His mother, Mary Evarts, was the daughter of
Jeremiah Everts and a sister of William M. Evarts, recently United States
Senator from New York, who for many years has been recognized as the ablest
member of the American bar.  His father, Rev. David Greene, a native of Stoneham
and long a resident of Boston, Mass., was for twenty years corresponding
secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.  The
family residence was at Roxbury, Mass., now a part of Boston, and there December
14, 1840, Roger Sherman Greene was born.  Here his boyhood was passed until his
eighth year, when the family removed to Westborough, Massachusetts, and two
years later to Windsor, Vermont.  He received a most carefully conducted
elementary education, and after completing an academic course entered Dartmouth
college, from which institution he was graduated in 1859.  Soon thereafter he
began the study of law in the office of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate in New York
city, a firm composed of as brilliant men as ever adorned the bar of the
metropolis of America, each of whom had at that time gained national renown.  In
this office as student and afterwards as managing clerk, he had an excellent
opportunity of gaining a most valuable preliminary legal training.  In May,
1862, he was admitted to practice, but at this stage of his career the war for
the overthrow of the Union had begun to assume the aspect of a great struggle,
and his loyalty to his country induced him to abandon the idea of beginning his
professional career and to enter the service of his country.  In September,
1862, he enlisted under commission of second lieutenant of Company I, Third
Missouri Infantry.  In March following he was promoted to first lieutenant in
the same company, and in 1863 was made captain of Company C, Fifty-first United
States Colored Infantry, serving as such until honorably discharged by
acceptance of his resignation in November, 1865.  He also served during this
period as judge advocate of the District of Vicksburg at the close of 1864 and
beginning of 1865, and judge advocate of the Western Division of Louisiana from
June 1865 until retirement from service.  He received a gunshot wound through
the right arm in the general assault on Vicksburg, while in command of his
company, May 22, 1863.
     After the close of his military service, Judge Greene was offered the
position of Assistant United States District Attorney for the southern district
of New York, but declined the office, and in January, 1866, began the practice
of his profession in Chicago, where he occupied the same office with Perkin
Bass, then United States Attorney, with whom he was ultimately associated in
practice.  He remained in Chicago until his appointment by President Grant as
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Washington Territory, when he settled
at Olympia.  He was twice reappointed, holding the office until January, 1879,
when he was commissioned chief justice, at which time he removed to Seattle,
where he has since continued to reside.  In 1883 he was reappointed chief
justice and served until the close of his term in March, 1887.  Upon retiring
from the bench, Judge Greene formed a co-partnership in the practice of law with
C. H. Hanford and John H. McGraw, which a few months later was dissolved and a
new firm formed under the style of Greene, McNaught, Hanford & McGraw.  A year
later this firm was dissolved, at which time Judge Greene temporarily retired
from practice.  In June, 1889, he resumed his profession labors, and has since
been associated as partner with J. J. Turner under the firm name of Greene &
Turner.
     A prominent member of the Seattle bar writes of the character and ability
of Judge Greene as follows:
     In the life record of one who has served the public in positions of
responsibility and been an actor in important public events, it is proper to
give a just estimate of the man and describe the qualities of his nature and the
principles which have guided his conduct.  To do so fairly without bestowing
fulsome eulogism on the one hand, nor disparaging by faint praise on the other,
it becomes necessary to survey the field of his labor, and consider the weight
and importance of the duties which he has undertaken to perform, the
difficulties encountered, the measure of his success and the contemporaneous and
subsequent criticisms of plaudits of his behavior.  Thus, to estimate and
describe the character, qualities and principles of a friend is the somewhat
delicate task assumed by the writer.  And now to begin:  No court on earth
possesses a wider range of jurisdiction than the district courts and supreme
court to which Congress and the territorial legislature gave cognizance, either
original or appellate, of every case which could possibly be a subject for
judicial determination within the bounds of Washington, a territory which by
reason of its situation and geographical features, and the infinite variety of
its natural resources necessarily became during the period of its development,
the seat of transactions and occurrences giving rise to new questions under
every branch and classification of law affecting the rights of either citizens
or aliens on land, at sea, or in mines deep beneath the surface.  The same me
were required to preside as judges of the nisi prius courts, and also review the
decisions and rulings made by each other when sitting in banc as an appellate
tribunal.  Among the qualities requisite for the performance of such duties are
-- a natural sense of justice, honesty, fair-mindedness, firmness, courage,
caution, industry, knowledge, a good memory, habits of close observation and
accuracy, clearness of mental vision, quickness of perception and a physical
constitution able to endure hard labor and unceasing mental strain; in brief,
the position requires a man having a combination of all the highest and best
attributes of manhood.  To such a position Judge Greene was called in his
thirteenth year, and for seventeen years thereafter he filled it in a manner to
satisfy the people and gain for himself a reputation among the lawyers of the
nation as an able, upright and fearless judge.  His first appointment was for a
term of four years as associate justice and judge of the Second judicial
district, including all the counties west of the Cascade mountains and south of
Pierce, Kitsap and Jefferson.  At that time he was a non-resident and unknown in
the territory.  He at once came with his family, established his permanent home
in the territory, and with enthusiasm joined his new townsmen and neighbors in
all plans and efforts towards material, social, intellectual and religious
advancement.  Besides performing all duties in a most thorough and painstaking
manner, and laboring with his own hands in making a home for his family, he
assisted home enterprise in initiating railroad construction; he aided social
and literary associations by delivering lectures gratuitously, and he became a
zealous worker among the churches and Sunday schools of the Baptist
denomination.
     At the expiration of the term for which he was appointed, upon the
recommendation of the bar of his district, President Grant re-appointed him for
a second term of four years; at the end of that period upon like recommendation,
President Hayes again re-appointed him and upon the retirement of Chief Justice
Lewis in 1879, he became chief justice of the territory and judge of the Third
judicial district.  In 1883 President Arthur gave him an appointment for a
second term, and he continued to serve until relieved by Richard A. Jones in
March, 1887.
     In the performance of his official duties, Judge Greene did not spare
himself labor.  He gave to every case a patient and thorough investigation.
Besides the supreme court, he held ten terms of the district court each year,
and at each term delivered a carefully prepared written charge to the grand
jury.  In deciding the new and important questions which were constantly being
submitted to him he generally committed his views to writing before announcing
them, and yet the delays suffered by litigants were only in a slight degree, if
at all, due to the withholding of decisions for the sake of time to prepare
opinions. He was always prompt in the dispatch of business, and after a question
had been submitted his decision followed quickly.  He has been criticized for
laxity in administering the criminal law, but the criticisms were not merited,
for while Judge Greene gave to every person arraigned before him a fair trial,
and although his heart was full of sympathy and free from malice towards
transgressors, yet the records of his court will show that in sentencing
convicts he dealt out punishment with greater severity than most judges do.
     While it will not be said that his judgments are free from error or that as
a judge he was infallible, still it is true that after giving credit for the
good, debiting him for all errors and striking a balance, his record is above
the average of good judges.  All who have known him agree that all his judgments
were intelligent and conscientiously rendered.
     Since returning to practice as a member of the bar, Judge Greene has been
successful in securing the confidence and esteem of a large number of desirable
clients and building up a large practice.  He is a scholarly, experienced and
skillful lawyer, just in the prime of his manhood apparently, with many years in
which to be useful yet before him.
     Upon becoming chief justice of the territory in 1879, Judge Greene changed
his residence to Seattle, and from that time this city has not had among all her
loyal sons a more ardent lover or useful citizen.  It is something to be
thankful for that so glorious a city, with all her other advantages and
resources, is so richly endowed in the talents of a large number of her citizens
who may be relied upon to aid in her future progression.
 
 
Transcriber's additional notes:
 
Census
1880, June 14; King Co, WA; Seattle, p 250; 8th st.
Roger S. Green, 39, MA, CT, CT, chief justice, supreme court
Grace, wife, 47, CT, CT, CT
Agnes M, dau, 11, IL, MA, CT, att. school
Roger S Jr, son, 9, CT, MA, CT, att. school
Grace E, dau, 5, WA, MA, CT, att. school
Mary R, dau, 4, WA, MA, CT
 
1900, June 2; King Co, WA; Seattle Wd 6, p 47; 2134 Fifth ave.
Roger S. Green, 59, Dec 1840, MA, MA, MA, mar 34 yrs, lawyer
Grace, wife, 67, May 1833, CT, CT, CT, mar 34 yrs, 4 children-4 living
Roger S. Jr., son, 29, Sept 1879, CT, MA, CT, surveyor
Grace, dau, 25, Jan 1875, WA, MA, CT, at university
Mary, dau, 23, July 1876, WA, MA, CT, att. school
 
1910, April 15; King Co, WA; Seattle Wd 10, ED 181, p 86; 4517 Brooklyn ave.
Roger S. Greene, 69, MA, MA, MA, 1st mar, mar 43 yrs, lawyer, general practice,
owns home w/mortgage
Grace W, wife, 76, CT, CT, CT, 1st mar, mar 43 yrs, 4 children-4 living

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Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in September 2006 by Diana Smith.

Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.