115,000 pamphlets; he was both a notable collector of books and a generous distributor of them. He was historian of his native town and wrote of the early history of Massachusetts. He was eccentric; lived for most of his life on Harrison Avenue, Boston, in a region long since deserted by fashion, where he won the love and confidence of his foreign-born neighbors. He was never married.
Lindsay Swift, himself a librarian, who knew Dr. Green well, says of him: "The Doctor was indeed a charming companion, a good friend, a marvellous teller of stories and choice recollections. Life of a sort seems to have stolen in on him in the close retirement of his alcoves and cabinets. But of that wider life, which implies building more wisely on the structure of the past, he had not a glimmering. He was born into rather agreeable conditions, and they suited his temperament and his mentality. Some go too fast in the chariot of time; others are willing to jog along easily, advancing a little each day; but the Doctor was willing to stay exactly where he was, never idle, but never pressing forward. Verily it is hard not to say of him as Isaiah said of the Egyptians, "their strength is to sit still"
Green, Thomas Fitzgerald (1804–1879)
Thomas F. Green, pioneer alienist of the South, was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, December 25, 1804; he died in Midway, Georgia, February 13, 1879, of apoplexy, while superintendent of the Georgia Lunatic Asylum. His parents were of the best class of Irish people. His father, a warm-hearted, highly-educated, enthusiastic young Irish patriot, joining in the ill-fated rebellion of 1798, was forced to flee the country; his wife, who was a Fitzgerald of noble blood, came with him to America. He had no fortune save his talents; no friends save those whom he won by his virtues.
He came to Beaufort, South Carolina, as a teacher. Here his eldest son, Thomas Fitzgerald, was born. He removed to Savannah, Georgia, later, where he taught in a high school, and then to Athens, where he was elected a professor in Georgia University. He finally removed to Milledgeville, then the capital of Georgia, and here Thomas F. Green was educated. The latter was past his majority when he studied medicine and began to practise in Milledgeville, and was prospering as a physician when the current of his life was changed.
A northern philanthropist interested in the welfare of the insane visited Milledgeville to suggest and advocate the establishment of an asylum for them. He called a meeting of a few gentlemen of broad views and generous hearts, and laid his plans before them. Green became much interested in the project and gave it hearty support. He was connected with the successful effort to secure an appropriation from the Legislature for its establishment.
In 1846 he succeeded Dr. Cooper as superintendent of the asylum and continued in office for 33 years. The hospital was small when he assumed charge of it, but it grew to be one of the largest in the Southern States before his death. In person he was short, stout, of broad and humane countenance; in his youth, handsome; and in his old age, venerable. He was full of life, cheerful, merry, courteous, considerate. He was a sincere Christian, in his home life, a model; one of the most benevolent and unselfish of men. He was devoted to the institution, and his success in the management of it was great. He was a delightful companion, a true and sympathizing friend, a man to be loved and honored.
Green, Traill (1813–1897)
Professor of chemistry, botany and astronomy, Traill Green was born at Easton, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 1813, the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Traill Green.
From boyhood he was devoted to nature study and afterwards, thinking medicine would afford him special advantages, he studied under Dr. J. K. Mitchell (q. v.) and graduated M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1835. Then, returning to Easton, he began practice there. But chemistry, his darling study, was not given up and in his consulting-room at night he would give lectures on this and allied subjects to a class of young people. To the botany class came Harriet Moore of Morristown, New Jersey, who in 1844 married her professor and shared his scientific labors.
In 1837 he was made professor of chemistry at Lafayette College and in 1865 professor of natural science. He received the A. M. degree from Rutgers in 1841 and was later called to the chair of natural sciences at Marshall College, Pennsylvania, and in
