Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/793

Rh commander in September, 1855, and snbseqiiently, until 1860, was lighthouse-inspector, after which he was at the navy-yard on Mare island, Cali- fornia, lintil JS62. In July, 1863, he was made •captain, and given command of the " Santiago de Cuba " and the " San Jacinto." While in charge of the latter, he was left in command of the East Gulf squadron. Later he commanded the " Rich- mond," of the West Gulf scjuadron. and in 1865 protected the troops while they were landing for the attack on Mobile. In 1866 he served on ord- nance duty in Portsmouth, N. II., and in 1867 was given command of the " Powhatan," of the Pacific squadron. He received his commission as commodore in July, 1867, and had charge of the Pensacola navy-yard from 1868 till 1871. when he was retired. In March, 1872, he became rear- admiral on the retired list.

GREENE, William, governor of Rhode Island, b. in Warwick, R. I., 16 March, 1695; d. in Provi- dence, R. I., 22 Feb., 1758. For many years he held the office of clerk of the county court in Providence. He became deputy-governor of Rhode Island in 1740, and was governor from 1743 till 1758. — His son, William, governor of Rhode Island, b. in Warwick, R. I., 16 Aug.. 1731 ; d. there, 29 Nov., 1809. He was chief justice of the colony, and was governor of the state from 1778 till 1786, also for many years speaker of the house. — Ray, eldest son of the second William, senator, b. in Warwick, R. I., 2 Feb., 1765; d. there, 11 Jan.. 1849. He was graduated at Yale in 1784. and then studied law in the office of Gen. James M. Var- num, in East Greenwich, R. I. Subsequently he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, and began practice in Providence. He was appointed attor- ney-general of Rhode Island in 1794. succeeding William Channing, and continued in that office till 1797, when he was elected to the U. S. senate to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Will- iam Bradford, and served from 22 Nov., 1797, till 7 Dec. 1801. On the completion of the unexpired term, Mr. Greene was returned to the senate for a second term, but in 1801 resigned to accept the office of district judge of Rhode Island. This ap- pointment he received from John Adams as he was about retiring from the presidential chair : but some informality eonnecred with the appoint- ment was discovered too late to be rectified by ]\Ir. Adams, and his successor refused to correct the error, in consequence of which, Mr. Greene lost both his senatorial and judicial offices.

GREENE, William Houston, chemist, b. in Columbia. Pa., 30 Dec. 1854. He was educated at the Philadelphia public schools and at Jefferson medical college, where he was graduated in 1873. For the three following years he was demonstrator of chemistry at Jefferson medical college, and then spent two years studying chemistry in Adolphe Wurtz's laboratory in Paris. On his return in 1879 he became demonstrator of chemistry in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and a year later was ap- pointed professor of chemistry in the Central high- school in Philadelphia, which otfice he now holds. Dr. Greene is a member of scientific societies at home and abroad. Besides the results of investi- gations in chemistry, contributed to scientific jour- nals, he has published a translation of Wurtz's "Elements of Modern Chemistry" (Philadelphia, 1879); "Medical Chemistrv" (1880); "Lessons in Chemistry " (1884) ; and edited Paul Bert's " First Steps in Scientific Knowledge " (1886).

GREENER, Richard Theodore, lawyer, b. in Philadelphia, Pa.. 30 Jan., 1844. After studying at Cambridge grammar-school, at Oberlin preparatory school, and at Phillips Andover academy, he entered Harvard, and in 1870 was its first colored graduate. During his college course he won more prizes than any classmate or contemporary, from 1870 till 1873 he was principal of the male department of the "Institute for colored youth " in Philadelphia, and for a year filled a similar office in the prepai-atory high-school in Washington. I). C. He was then called to fill the chair of metaphysics and logic in the University of South Carolina, and re- mained there until 1877, also assisting in the de- partments of Latin and Greek, and leaching classes in international law and the constitution of the United States. In 1875 he was appointed a mem- ber of the board of health of Columbia, S. C, and in 1876 a member of the state commission to re- organize the common schools of South Carolina. Meanwhile he was graduated from the law depart- ment of the University of South Carolina in 1876. and was admitted to the bar in Washington, D. C, in April, 1877. where until 1882 he was dean of the law faculty in Howard university. ]Mr. Greener has recently made New York his residence, and in October, 1885, he was appointed examiner in the mvmicipal civil service of New York. Prof. Greener was active as a Republican campaign orator from 1876 till 1884. He received the de- gree of LL. D. from the College of Liberia in ]\Ion- rovia in 1882. and was elected a member of the American philological association in 1875. He has been a large contributor to journals and reviews and also to various works of reference, and has de- livered numerous addresses, including his inaugu- ral address, in the South Carolina university, on "Charles Sumner, the Idealist. Statesman, and Scholar " (June, 1874) ; " Eulogy on the Life and Services of William Lloyd Garrison " (June. 1879); "Socrates as a Teacher" (April. 1880); "The In- tellectual Position of the Negro" (July, 1880); " Free Speech in Ireland " (October, 1882) : " Ben- jamin Banneker. the Negro Astronomer" (Feb- ruary, 1882); "Henrv Highland Gainet" (May, 1882); and "An African Roscius" (June, 1882).

GREENFIELD, Elizabeth Taylor, singer, b. in Natchez. Miss., in 1808; d. in Philadelphia. Pa., in 1876. She was of African descent and was born a slave, but early gave great promise as a singer, and was freed by her mistress, Mrs. Greenfield, who gave her a liberal education. She sang with suc- cess, not only in this country, but in England, where the Duchess of Sutherland and the Dnchess of Argyll became her patrons. She was known as the " Black Swan."

GREENHOW, Robert, scholar, b. in Richmond, Va., in 1800; d. in San Francisco, Cal., in 1854. His father, Robert, was at one time mayor of Richmond. His mother perished at the burning of the Richmond theatre in 1811. and the son barely escaped with his life. He was graduated at William and Mary in 1'816, and finished his education in New York, studying medicine with Dr. David Hosack and Dr. John W. Francis, and taking his degree at the College of physicians and surgeons in 1821. He then visited Europe, where he met Byron and other distinguished men, and on his return delivered lectures on chemistry before the New York literary and philosophical society. He became translator to the department of state in Washington in 1828, and in 1850 removed to California, where in 1853 he was associate law-agent to the U. S. land commission. He published a "History of Tripoli" (1835), and a "Report on the Discovery of the Northwest Coast of North America," prepared by order of Congress in 1837 (New York, 1840), and afterward enlarged into a "His-