As there were no brothers in the family, Mary worked both indoors and outdoors, preferring the latter, until, the house being built and a few acres about it cleared, she was allowed to think about education.

[1] While yet in her teens, she realized the necessity of choosing some life work for herself, and as she desired to pursue the study of medicine, she quietly determined to do so.

Undaunted by the criticism of her friends, in 1865, after one year's study with a physician, Green entered the New York Medical College.

She was soon chosen assistant in the chemical laboratory, and besides that work, every evening found her, knife in hand, making the dissections to be used on the following day by the demonstrator of anatomy.

The year after her graduation, Green's name was presented for membership to the New York Medical Society, and after a stormy discussion she was admitted, being the first woman in the U.S. to win that opportunity for broader work.

[1] Wishing to pursue a higher course in the study of chemistry, she applied for admission to Columbia College, but her request was not granted.

She entered upon a course of evening lectures given by Professor Charles F. Chandler in the College of Pharmacy, and, although she could not graduate, as she was a woman, the knowledge was gained.

The subject met with an enthusiastic reception at the Denver Biennial of the General Federation, and the women throughout the West were ready to enlist in this enterprise.

The court held with Green and the boys were brought to their father, John J. Bohn, proprietor of the Hotel World, Chicago.