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DEATH OF

DR.

GREEN

Dr. John Green, our venerable and honored towns­ man, died at his residence in this city yesterday. in the eighty-second year of his age. His last illness. which was comparatively a brief one. as­ sumed a dangerous form about a fortnight ago; but he survived his own anticipations and the fears of his friends till four o'clock yesterday afternoon. when he passed away quietl y and wi t hou t pain . Dur­ ing these few days. when the great change seemed very near to him. he assured his friends that it was easy to die. and in the full possession of his senses awaited death wi th composure and perfect t rus t .

HEALING ART

Dr. Green was born in Worcester on the 19th of A­ pril. 1784. He was the fourth in descent from a line of physicians not less distinguished in the theory and practice of medicine than himself. The first of them was the Rev. Tho mas Green, one of the original proprietors of the township of Leicester, and one of the chief promoters of its settlement. He acquired the knowledge of medicine and surgery from surgeons of English buccaneers. who had sur­ rendered und er offers of pardon from their govern­ ment. and made their homes with his father. He communicated · his knowledge 0 f the healing art to his son . the first Dr . John Green. who remo ve d in early life to Worcester . and began practi c e he re something over a century ago. His e l des t s on, bearing the same name. inheri ted the t a s tes and talents of his father and grandfather. a nd acquired throughout all this region not only extensive pro­ fessional employment, but an honorable reputation for accurate and skil lful practice . He died in 1808, worn out by hard service in his profession before passing his forty-fifth year. His son, whose kindly presence and engaging manners have now been familiar to two generations of our townsmen. and whose profes sional success during that long period was worthy of such an ancestry, succeeded at once to his father's practice. He graduated at Brown University in 1804. Lemual Wil­ liams. Esq . • of this city, Judge Williamson of Maine, Judge Randall of Rhode Island, and Gov. Mor­ ton of Massachusetts were among his classmates. He

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fidelity with which that purpose has been fillfiUed. We trus t that we violate no confidence in saying that he continued to regard this library with af­ fectionate interest almost to his last hours, and that he has provided for its future increase by a generous and noble endowment.

received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from both Brown University and Harvard College in 1826. His professional training was careful and thorough. He had great respect for books. and good knowledge of them. - accumulating during the active period of his practice a professional library of upwards of two thousand volumes. But he relied most on ob­ servation and his own good sense. Experience was to him the most trustworthy of teachers. He in­ herited an almost intuitive perception of disease, and in the application of remedies his judgment and his memory were almost never at fault. In rare and extraordinary cases his counsel was often sought. and his treatment attended with remarkable success . Ten years ago. feeble heal th and increasing age compelled him to re l i.rq ui sh the active duties of his profession. The doctor's gig, which had long been one of the "institutions" of Worcester, and the characteristic dress and manner. the sight of which acted like a tonic to the afflicted for nearly half a century. was less often seen on its profes­ sional rounds. Aside from his own practice he had always been interested jn whatever concerned the general welfare of the profession. He was at dif­ ferent times president of the Worcester district medical society. councillor of the Massachuset t s medical societ~ and vice president of the American medical association. He was also. we believe, the first president of the Worcester county horticul­ tural society, councillor of the American antiquar­ ian society. and member or officer of other asso­ ciations of a literary or scientific character. He found time even under the pressure of these private and public duties which he never allowed himself to neglect. to lay the foundation of the great public benefaction, which will preserve his name and mem­ ory as long as the ci ty i tsel f has a place among the municipalities of the commonwealth.

NOBLE ENDOWMENT

He early formed the purpose to devote a liberal portion of his fortune to founding a free public library. which should ultimately pass into the pos­ session of the ci ty , with an endowment sufficient to ensure its preservation and enlargement for many generations to come. The Green library. numbering at this time upwards of twelve thousand volumes. many of them rare and costly books. selected and presented by his own hand, are the evidence of the

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Free Public Library-I 861

CHOICE

Of

BOOKS

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Dr. Green presented his library to the city in No­ vember, 1859. containing at that time not far from seven thousand volumes. Under his constant and devoted care it has nearly doubled. and now repre­ sents the best that has been written in nearly every department of human thought and experience. His knowledge of books. like his perception of disease. was intuitive. His quick and extraordinary insight into personal character extended to books also. and he detected shams at sight. His first object in making a library seemed to be ability; second, va­ riety; third. completeness. But he never lost sight of the fact that it was to be a public li­ brary. and should be so constructed as m be of the greatest public interest and value. In the choice of books he relied upon his own judgment. and that

was unfailing and inexhaustible. He sought the earliest and best published books of travel and voyages . He looked for those which were rare and not easily attainable. lest the Li brcr y might not have them af ter his care should be wi thdrawn from it. In certain departments of history. especially in the history of Great Britain. of British India. and 0 f America. he aimed at completeness; and in these departments. whoever con s ult s the library will find not only many of the best histories. but the best editions of them attainable. Illustrated books of art and archi t ect ure , and works on natural history . and natural science interested him. and his collection is rare and valuable.

STRIVING FOR

,

TRUTH

KIND

AND

.}

MODEST

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He desired also to leave a fair and liberal repre­ sentation of the religious thought of present and past times. His choice of books was marked wi th the utmost catholicity. The various phases and controversy, the old and the new lights, the ortho­ dox and the heterodox. provided only they were wri tten wi th ability. and showed evidence of striv­ ing for the truth. he never passed by without in­ spection, and rarely wi thout purchasing. In the general literature of our language, and chiefly in that departmen t which passes under the general des­ ignation of the English classics. the doctor's eye was unfailing and his shelves bear wi tness to the thoroughness and fid e li ty wi th which he cared for t his i n t e r es t i ng department. In ma ny o t he r ways. of whi c h we cannot i n this notice speak as we de­ s i r e. t he pres e n t and many f u t ur e generations of readers wi ll have occasion to remember gratefully the thoughtfulness. the taste. and the li be rali ty of the citizen to whom this library is an imper­ ishable monument.

From the Worcester Daily Spy. 18 October 1865.

In Worcester, Oct. 17th. 1865. Dr. John Gree n . aged 81 years. 5 mont hs and 28 day s. Funeral at 1st Unitarian Church. (Rev . Dr. Hi l l's .) on Saturday. 21st inst. at 3 o' c l ock P.M . From the Worce s t er Dai l y Spy.

THUMBNAIL

Dr. Green was a man of simple and inexpensive tastes. He cared little for an "establishment," and nothing for personal display . He never was ostentatious in giving. His name was never con­ spicuous on subscription papers . But he was of a liberal nature, and gave away much out of personal regard. or for personal relief. He often concealed his chari ties, and many of those whom he helped never identified their unknown friend . He was the friend of the friendless . He was kind to his tenants and

SKETCH

f

DR. JOHN GREEN: Strik ing figu r e . six feet tall . slight and s tooping; eyes keen and obs e rving . Born in Worcester. April 19. 178 4 . Re ce i ve d hono r a r y degrees in medicine from Harvard and Brown Univer­ sities in 1827. Books and book collecting his hob­ by . Endowed Worcester Free Public Library with hi s private collection of over 7000 volumes when it was established. December 23. 1859. Later supplemented this by nearly 5000 volumes. Died 1865 an d in hi s will left City of Worcester $30.000 as an endowme nt for a department created by him in that institu­ tion . From The Story of Worcester. Massachusetts by Al­ bert Farnsworth and George B. O'Flynn. Page 210. Worcester. The Davis Press. Inc .. 1934.

to all creditors.

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of whom it was his custom to have many. But he was also jus t. He gave to every man his due; bu t he expected the same return . His modesty never left him. After his statue wcs placed in the library, though wi thout action on his par t , he wished to have it removed. as it suggested while he lived a kind of arrogance which he did not feel. He mar­ ried in early life Dolly Curtis. daughter of David Curtis of Worcester. but survived her many years. They had no children. While she was still livina he began the public work with which his name is i­ dentified. After her death he prosecuted it with greater earnestness. He lived long enough to gath­ er the first fruits of the tree he planted. and to see what public blessings were sure to mul tipl y within its grateful shade .

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He graduated at Brown University, in the class of 1804, of which Governor Marcus Morton, Virgil Maxey, and Chief Justice RandalL of Rhode Island, were members. Among his contemporaries at college were the great American Publicist, Henry Wheaton, John Whipple, of Providence , one of the ablest lawyers of New England, Mr. Justice Metcalf, late of our Supreme Court , Chief Justice Williams, of our Court of Common Pleas, and the modern apostle to the gen­ tiles, Rev. Dr . Judson . Dr . Green studied medicine wi th his father and commenced practice in Worces­ ter , in 1807. In 1826 he received medical degrees from both Harvard and Brown. His grandfather had commenced practice at the age of 20 or 21, his fa­ ther at the age of 18 and the last of the line at the age of 23 . His father dying the year af t er Dr . Green had finished his studies, he en tered very soon upon a large practice, which was continued for more than half a century

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!-P.':211 11!i1

PUBLIC

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TRUST AND CONFIDENCE

JOHN GREEN

FAMILY OF OOCTORS

No one of the men upon my list had a more marked and decided character than Dr . John Green. Never in public position, giving his whole life to the practice of his profession, no man was better known in the town and county than he. He came from a family of Doctors, all eminent i n their calling. His father was Dr. John Green, of Worcester. His grandfather was Dr. John Green, of Worcester ; and his great-grand father was Dr . Thomas Green , of Leices ter, who added to his pro fession of Doctor that of Baptist elder and preacher. The subject of our notice was born in Worcester, April 19th, 1784.

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I

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Few men have reached greater professional eminenc e or acquired more largely the pub l i C trust and con­ fidence. He was a born doc tor. Poets, orators and statesmen may be made, but to be a good doctor or lawyer a man must be born to the work. Dr. Green could never have been called a great student . His early and large practice and a feeble physical con­ stitution forbade it. Yet he somehow contrived to keep pretty well abreast with the learning of his time . Then he had such careful microscopic habits of observation that nothing escaped hi s scru tiny. He had large caution and prudence, al mos t to a faul t . He had in the way 0 f his calling an in­ stinctively sound judgment and understanding, and the range of his experience was so large and var i ed that it afforded of itself a safe field for induc­ tion . He realized Thomas Fuller's idea of a good physician. "He hansels not his new experiments on the bodies of his patients, letting loose mad rec­ ipes into the sick man's body, to try how well na­ ture in him will fight against them; whilst himself stands by and sees the battle.~ In village, town and city, the name of Dr. John Green became a household word. For many years he was, by general consent, at the head of his profes­ sion in the county . No man reaches such position who has not got the mat ter in him . A good Aunt Nancy sort of a man, may be a good nurse; to be a

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good physician r eq ui r e s large and peculiar gifts of nature, supplemented by careful culture and wide and varied experience. Most of the present members will recollect 0 r. Green. his slight and stoop i ng figure, his strik­ ing, intelligent face, his keen. observing eye. his INSTINCTIVE quiet, simple. almost diffident manners . Not to have seen him as und er that brown. broad-brimmed. SAGACITY soft hat. he rolled from side to side in that old. time-honored gig. through the streets of the vil­ lage. town and city, was to have missed one of the most striking institut ions of Worcester . To have seen him in the sickroom, when, seemingly failing to observe. nothing escaped his observation, whe n his calm, quiet manner. begat instant confidence and trust, when his instinctive sagacity seemed to probe the disease as wi t h the keen edge of the l a nce. was a benediction .

COLLECT I NG A LIBRARY

Dr. Green, in his later years. was touched by the gentles t and most fascinating of the forms of men­ t a l dise a s e - bibliomania. This passion led hi m to coll e c t a library 0 f rare and val uable books , which fina ll y he gave towards the foundation of the ci ty p ub li c library. To this ins ti tu tion he also gave by his will the sum of thirty thousand dollars . In the next generat ion he will be known only by this munificence. Though the life of the good physici an is a daily and hourly benefaction. yet, unless he has made his mark as a medical wri t­ e r , his memory passes away wi th the generation whose suf f e ri ngs he has relieved. whos e sorrows he has soo thed, and for whom. "when he can keep life no l ong e r in, he makes a fair and easy passage for it to go out . " From Reminiscences of past members of the Worces­ ter Fire Society. in an address by Hon. Benjamin Franklin Thomas. at the annual meeting in January. 1872; and cont inued in an address at the quarterly meeting in April. 1874. by Hon. Isaac Davis. Pages 22-25. Worcester : Printed for the Society. 1874.

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