Dr. James Alexander Greene
by Tim Campbell · first published 13 November 2018 · his original post
Dr. James Alexander Greene was born June 23, 1856 in Tippah County, Mississippi. He was the son of Calvin Luther Greene and Amanda J. Newton. His parents both passed away when he was very young and he was raised by his Grandmother Newton. His first marriage was to Willie J. Elizabeth Liddell on February 3, 1881 in Union Co., MS, which is the same year he began practicing medicine. This couple had three daughters, being Mary Ida, Gertrude, and Rose Greene. Dr. Greene's first wife, Willie, passed away December 20, 1893 in Union County, MS, and on January 22, 1895, Dr. Greene married his second wife, Ada Reid.
Soon after marrying Ms. Reid, Dr. Greene brought his new wife along with his three children from his previous marriage to Blooming Grove, Texas, purchased a home at 308 S. Kerr, on the corner of 4th and Kerr Streets, and began a medical practice. Children born to Dr. Greene and Ada after arriving in Blooming Grove were Lula A., Ruth I., James A., and Will Ada.
According to the property's abstract, Dr. Greene's home was part of the original 240 acre survey in favor of John Joseph Linn, a patriot of the Republic of Texas, who assigned his interest to Isaac Kelly in 1856, who three years later, in 1859, sold to H.P. Darling, a sheep farmer. (See Saga of H.P. Darling in the archives of the Tales From the Grove page.) In 1866, Darling made his fateful trip to the Mexican border and lost his life, allegedly to indians. Connecticut native Daniel B. Hartzell, who owned a store at Dresden, wasted no time in filing administrative papers on Darling's estate and was able to have himself appointed administrator, as he claimed to the court that Darling owed him $1,100 when he died. The court ordered the 240 acre Darling tract sold on the courthouse steps on the following first Tuesday which was December 2, 1867.
Captain Pierson Simpson (20th Texas Cavalry, CSA) bought the Darling property at the courthouse sale and one month and 10 days later, on January 12, 1868, he himself passed away. Dr. John M. Davis was appointed executor of Simpson's estate. R.J. Grady was appointed appraiser and appraised the land on which Blooming Grove now sits at $7.00 per acre. Capt. Simpson and his wife (Henrietta Savage) had numerous children before moving to Blooming Grove, therefore the estate was somewhat complicated and took until January of 1871 to complete. Half of the farm, 120 acres, reverted to Simpson's widow and half of the original 240 acre farm was sold at public auction, as follows - 40 acres to W.G. Frederick at $8.50 per acre, 40 acres to William David Grady at $18 per acre, and 40 acres to Reuben J. Grady at $ 8.00 per acre. Four months earlier, William David Grady had married Pierson's widow, Henrietta, therefore this couple now controlled 160 (120+40) acres of the original tract. The property remained intact until the railroad came along in 1887. at which time W.D. Grady divided the property into lots and sold them like hotcakes, and built the Alamo Hotel at the corner of Hinkley and what is now South Main.
By 1895 the four city lots at the northeast corner of 4th and Kerr in Blooming Grove had belonged to F.W. Carruthers, a Corsicana hardware merchant, and J.D. McClanahan. McClanahan sold the property on March 20, 1895 to Dr. James Alexander Greene for $1,150. A long time Blooming Grove resident recalled many years later the day that Dr. Greene arrived in town. It was a very cold day in February, "as cold as a Kansas blizzard". He remembered Dr. Greene saying that this was surely the coldest country he ever knew and remarked that he never came as near freezing in his life as on the day of his arrival in Blooming Grove.
A census clip from the year 1900 which reveals those living at the corner of 4th and Kerr in Blooming Grove as follows - Dr. James A. Greene -age 43, Ada Greene - 25, Ida Greene - 18, Gertrude Greene - 17, Rose Greene - 11, Lula Greene - 4, Ruth Greene - 2, and James Greene - 2 months. Also living at the Greene home was a boarder by the name of John Reed who was a clerk in the Blooming Grove post office, as well as a servant by the name of Theodore Brune who was a German immigrant and employed as a hostler, which was a keeper / stabler of horses, usually at a hotel. Brune arrived in Blooming Grove in 1899 and lived at the Greene home for thirty one years, being still employed there at his death at age 84 in the year 1930. He was buried in the Greene family plot at Rose Hill Cemetery.
In 1900 there was a newspaper report that Dr. Greene had called Navarro County's "Health Officer Pannill" to come to Blooming Grove on the first train because there was a case of smallpox within two miles of the town. In addition to his profession of being a physician, Dr. Green also served as a preacher at the Methodist Church next door to his home for several years, but eventually stopped preaching to focus on the medical profession. In June of 1906 the Blooming Grove Rustler carried the news that "Dr. J.A. Green has closed contract with Nelson & Bills for a handsome new residence to be created where the residence he now occupies stands." The Greene's one-story home in Blooming Grove was torn down and a beautiful new two story home was built at the corner of 4th and Kerr Streets. Soon after completion it was photographed by tourism photographers and postcards were printed featuring the home. Other buildings in Blooming Grove were also photographed about the same time and issued as tourism postcards. These were likely sold in stores near the railroad to tourists. A photo of the Greene home as it stood in 1906 is included in this article.
Dr. Greene's enjoyment of his new home would be rather short lived, as in December of 1912 he became ill of some sort of sickness. He traveled to Dallas seeking treatment and died there, much to the shock of his large family and the Grovian citizenry. His funeral was held at his home at 308 S. Kerr and the yard and streets were filled with a very large crowd of people. He was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery with a marker of great prominence. The following article appeared in the Blooming Grove newspaper on January 2, 1913.
====================================== Blooming Grove Times, Thursday January 2, 1913
Death of Dr. J. A. Greene
The people of Blooming Grove and a large area of adjoining country were stricken with grief when the sad news of the death of Dr. J. A. Greene reached them. He died in Dallas on the evening of December 17, 1912, after a long and heroic struggle against a malady that was too much for human skill.
Dr. Greene was a great physician of more that 30 years experience and active practitioner and stood well to the forefront in his profession. Hence was enabled (illegible) the approaching end even when to his friends he seemed to be in the vigor of usually robust life. He had ministered at many a bedside relieving the suffering of others but it never occurred to us that he who stood like a tall, strong oak of the forest among his fellows could soon fall to the grown.
“We know not what future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.”
He loved his people, and they loved him because they knew him knew the nobility of his character knew his genial nature; knew his frankness of intercourse with them; they knew he possessed those social qualities that revealed themselves in the pleasure he found in touching elbows with them; they knew him to be a man of lofty ideals. His philosophy of life was that, “we live in deeds, not in years; in feelings, not in figures on a dial; we should count time by who thinks most, feels the noblest and acts the best.” Dr. Greene was married twice—leaves three daughters by the first marriage (paper torn) whom are married (paper torn) four children by the second marriage (paper torn) all survive him (paper torn) mourn his departure. But why lament the passing of this good man? “Tis, true, he was yet in his fifties and seemed in the meridian of his activities when stricken down which makes it harder to endure, if bleeding hearts could reason against anguish then we could see and feel that it is infinitely best, since he goes from a realm of sorrows and tears to the joys of the better life.
Thou wilt heal the broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe." "We wish to thank each and every one for the sympathy and kindness extended during the sickness and death of our dear husband and father. May God bless and reward you all.
Mrs. J.A. Greene and Family" ===================================================
Further information on Dr. Greene's children may be summarized as follows -
Children of Dr. James Alexander Greene and Willie J. Elizabeth Liddell -
1. Mary Ida Greene was born March 14, 1882 in New Albany, Mississippi. In 1904 she married John Everett Walker of Blooming Grove, who owned Walker's Hardware in the downtown area. Mary Ida died in Waco in 1965 and is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Blooming Grove. Her children were Lucile Walker (m. Moore) , James E. Walker, Robert Lee Walker, and Mary Ruth Walker (m. Cumpston).
2. Gertrude "Trudie" Greene was born May 22, 1883 at New Albany, Mississippi. Gertrude married Dr. John Spencer Davis of Blooming Grove in 1901, whose father was one of the founding citizens of old Gradyville when it was renamed to "Blooming Grove" circa 1880. Gertrude passed away in Dallas in 1958 and is buried there. This couple had a son by the name of Dr. M. Liddell Davis.
3. Rose Dupree Greene was born July 14, 1888 in New Albany, Mississippi. She married a banker by the name of Charles Ross Langston in 1909 in Navarro County and they had two children. Rose passed away in Dallas in 1966 and is buried at Garrison, Texas, where her husband was in the banking business.
Children of Dr. James Alexander Greene and Ada Reid-
4. Lula Amanda Greene was born December 17, 1895 at Blooming Grove, Texas. She married a pharmacist by the name of George Montgomery Brown. Lula passed away in 1968 in Austin, Texas and was buried in Ft. Worth.
5. Ruth Ione Greene was born November 9, 1897 in Blooming Grove, Texas. She first married Roy Lavon Reese, whose family came from Groesbeck, Texas. Their children were Robert Lavon "Bobby" Reese and Billie Ruth Reese. She married secondly to L.T. Oeding. Ruth passed away in 1964 in Austin, Texas and is buried there.
6. Dr. James A. Greene Jr. was born March 14, 1900. At birth he was named Jim C. Greene but later changed his name to James Alexander Greene, Jr. He graduated from Blooming Grove school in 1916 and attended the colleges of Meridian College, Southern Methodist University, and Harvard. He received his MD in 1925 and spent his life teaching, researching, and practicing medicine. He taught for a number of years at the Baylor medical school in Houston. He finally settled in Corpus Christi. In 1969 Dr. Greene returned to Blooming Grove for the school's homecoming and was awarded the Outstanding Ex Student award.
7. Willie Ada "Willada" Greene was born December 11, 1904 in Blooming Grove. She married first R.A. Lowrey and second Asa Armstrong Newsom, a WW1 veteran who became an MD and was an obstetrician in the Dallas area for many years. . They had a son named Asa Jr. who also became a doctor. Willie Ada died in 1994 at the age of 89 and was buried in Dallas.
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After Dr. James Alexander Greene's death, Ada finished raising their children and remarried to James Alphonso Smith (1859-1929), who operated a grocery store as well as serving as cashier at Blooming Grove State Bank. As the Greene children grew up and married off, Ada used the home as a boarding house, renting out the spacious extra rooms to various tenants.
In 1946, Drew "Daddy Drew" Gillen acquired 308 S. Kerr Street from the Greene family and the Methodist Church, to whom one of the Greene girls had deeded her interest. He continued to rent the home as a boarding house until 1956, when he sold the property to R. Ernest Williams and wife Lillian, who lived in the home the remainder of their lives and raised their family there.
Your author acquired the property at 308 S. Kerr in 2012 in a state of dilapidation and has attempted to complete a full restoration. Phase 1 of the development of the property included Improvements in the way of a new metal roof, the addition of central heat and air, all new plumbing, replacing and repairs rotten wood, fresh paint in and out, and complete rewiring of electrical components. The original cypress wood siding of the home was left intact to the extent possible.
Very little of the original layout of the home was changed, other than the conversion of closets to bathrooms upstairs, and the removal of a bathroom which had been built at some point in the home's early history when indoor plumbing came along. This restored the center stairwell and foyer to it's original appearance. All of the original hardwood floors in the home were kept, sanded, and refinished, except in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Phase 2 consisted of the addition of a wing at the southeast corner of the home to add a large downstairs bath and laundry area. Phase 3 consisted of the addition of a two car garage and refreshment area, over which a recreational hall was constructed on a second level. Finally, Phase 4 consisted of the addition of a swimming pool in back of the home and the addition of wood fencing as well as an ornamental fence of iron and bricks in front. The brick fence posts and steps around the house consist mostly of bricks that were repurposed from the old city hall building which collapsed in downtown Blooming Grove as well as bricks retrieved from a kitchen chimney that was inside the home.
While doing construction and remodeling work there were a number of interesting items found. Among them was a letter addressed to Ruth Greene, presumably as a teenager,from a young man who was probably a student in Blooming Grove. This letter was found behind a section of the original wallpaper in one of the upstairs rooms. A photocopy of the letter is attached to this article. There have been numerous marbles found in the yard as digging was being done. These are displayed in brickwork on the rear steps of the home. When the pool was dug in the back yard, there were a number of old bottles and other artifacts found, some of which are pictured here. One of the most interesting finds was a medicine bottle which was embossed J.B. ROBINSON, BLOOMING GROVE, TEXAS. Also found were several old NEHI soda bottles which were dated 1926.
Now 112 years old, the Dr. Greene home at 308 South Kerr in Blooming Grove will be open for the Christmas Tour of Homes coming to Blooming Grove in December 2018.
This piece was published without a title. The one above was written here; the words below are his.