My Genealogy Hound

LEVERETT BARKER GREENE, of Fredonia, is a grandson of General Leverett Barker, and a lineal descendant of the brother of General Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary memory. He is a son of Rosell and Eliza (Barker) Greene, and was born at Fredonia, Chautauqua county. New York, November 23, 1839. The Greenes are of English origin, and the founder of the American branch of the family was a Quaker, among whose descendants were General Nathaniel Greene and his brother, from whom Rosell Greene (father) was descended. Rosell Greene was born in Herkimer county in 1815, and came, about 1830, to Mayville, where he attended school. He afterwards removed to Fredonia, learned the trade of tanner with Gen. Leverett Barker, and then took charge of the tannery of the latter. He continued in the tannery business until his death, in 1859, when he owned the Fredonia tannery, besides a large tannery and mills in Cattaraugus county. He married Eliza Barker, the second child and eldest daughter of Gen. Leverett Barker, and had two sons and three daughters, all of whom are dead except Leverett B., the subject of this sketch. General Leverett Barker (maternal grandfather) was a son of Russel Barker, of Branfort, Connecticut, where he was born May 6, 1787. He came to Chautauqua county in 1817, and on March 3, 1811, married Desire, daughter of Hezekiah Barker, who had come to Canadaway in 1806. He built at Fredonia the first cannery in the county, had an interest in a large tannery afterwards erected at Jamestown, and died in 1848. He was one of the prime movers, in 1831, in establishing the first bank in the county — the Chautauqua County Bank — of which he was president for several years.

He served in the war of 1812, and was successively commissioned lieutenant, adjutant, lieutenant-colonel (1818), colonel (1823), brigadier-general of the 43d brigade (1824), and major-general of the 26th division of New York Infantry (1826). He left a family of two sons and six daughters.

Leverett Barker Greene spent his boyhood days at Fredonia, where he received his education in the old academy of that place. At the death of his father he assumed charge of the estate, and is now engaged in the tanning business and looking after his real estate interests in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Erie counties.

On February 27th, 1868, Mr. Greene married Isabella Burnham, a native of Madison county, and they have one adopted daughter, Kate. Mrs. Greene is a lineal descendant of the De Burnham, who was lord of the Saxon village in England which was afterwards known as Burnham.

L. B. Greene is a republican in politics, and has been for several years a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is a stockholder of the Fredonia National Bank, the successor of the Fredonia Bank of which his father was the first president. He owns some valuable property at Fredonia, which is his present home. The General Leverett Barker homestead was bought by his uncle, Darwin R. Barker, who willed this property to the village to be used for a public library.