John Greene (settler)

He first settled in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but he had difficulty with the Puritan authority and soon followed Roger Williams to Providence, becoming one of the original proprietors of that town.

[2] Greene was consistently resistant to the Puritan authority of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he moved to Providence with Roger Williams within a year or two of his arrival in New England.

[2] He became a close friend of Samuel Gorton, and they and ten others purchased another tract of land from Miantonomi in January 1643 and named it Shawomet, which later became the Warwick settlement.

[2] The following September, many of these Shawomet settlers were summoned to appear in court in Massachusetts, based on charges of fraud brought against them from two minor Indian sachems.

[2] Greene, Gorton, and Randall Holden sailed to England seeking redress for the wrongs done to them, but they had to board a ship in New Amsterdam because they were banned from going to Boston.

[2] He, his wife, and many descendants are buried in the Surgeon John Greene Cemetery, now located behind the Narraganset Bay Baptist Church on West Shore Road in Warwick.

The oldest child was John, who lived a long life which was almost entirely devoted to public service, including 10 one-year terms as Deputy Governor of the colony.