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LOWELL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS GREEN FAMILY DIARIES: THE REVEREND AARON GREEN 1791 - 1853 And DOCTOR JOHN O. GREEN 1816 – 1885 A FINDING AID CATALOG NUMBER: LOWE - 14733 PREPARED BY CLEE A. ACE DAN WALSH LOWELL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT February 2007 Stained glass window in commemoration of the life of Jane Green in St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, Merrimack Street, Lowell, Massachusetts. Green Family Diaries - i CONTENTS Preface ……………………………………………………………………………….ii Copyright and Privacy Restrictions…………………………………………….…...iii Introduction………………………………………………………………………….iv Scope and Content Note…………….……………………………………….………v Collection Description: Series I: Transcriptions from the Reverend Aaron Green diaries………………....1 - 7 Series II: Transcriptions from the Doctor John O. Green diaries……………….….8 - 36 Green Family Diaries - ii PREFACE This document, Finding Aid for the Green Family Diaries : The Reverend Aaron Green 1791 – 1853 and Doctor John O. Green, 1816 – 1885, describes the diaries of Reverend Aaron Green, and his son Dr. John O. Green. They were donated to the Lowell National Historical Park by John Orne Green III of San Francisco, CA. The processing of this collection was completed in February 2007. The diaries were surveyed for content at the Lowell National Historical Park by Clee A. Ace, volunteer, with the help of Dan Walsh, Museum Specialist. Researchers are requested to contact the Lowell National Historical Park by phone at 978-970-5237 for assistance in accessing and using this material. Publishing authors are requested to cite their use of this collection in the following manner: Letter number, Green Family Diaries, Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell, MA. Green Family Diaries-iii COPYRIGHT AND PRIVACY RESTRICTIONS The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 United States Code 552a) governs the use of materials that document private individuals, groups and corporations. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include: -non-commercial and non-profit study, scholarship, research or teaching -criticism or commentary -as a NPS preservation or security copy for research use -as a research copy for deposit in another institution If the researcher later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” the researcher is personally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement and agrees to indemnify the NPS from any legal action as a result of the error. Permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital or other copy of a document does not indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute or prepare derivative works from the document without permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group or corporation shown or otherwise recorded. Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright (or if the creator is dead from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups or corporations whose name, image, recorded words or private information (e.g. employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright is not necessarily the Nation Park Service. The National Park Service is not legally liable for copyright, privacy or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for “fair use.” This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy or publicity law. This institution also places restrictions on the use of cameras, photocopiers and scanners in the research room. Green Family Diaries - iv INTRODUCTION The five diaries of Reverend Aaron Green span the years 1791 to 1853. The nine diaries of Doctor John O. Green span the years 1816 to 1885. All fourteen diaries were read but only significant national and/or local events from both diaries were noted in the summarized transcriptions in this guide. They constitute only a small percentage of the entries in these diaries but, in that, they illustrate whatever wider view these men had of their world. A far greater percentage of these diaries consist of perfunctory entries concerning quite routine daily events or states of mind. In the aggregate, these entries provide some insights into the mindset and outlook of their authors but tell us relatively little about the community or larger world in which they lived. Reverend Aaron Green was a minister in Malden, Massachusetts for many years. He never named the denomination of his church in his diaries. When he retired, he and his family moved to Andover, Massachusetts. Reverend Green died in his home in Andover. Doctor John O. Green, his son, was one of four children who survived. He grew up in Malden, graduated Harvard Medical School, and moved to Lowell where he practiced medicine for more than 50 years. He died in his home in Lowell. The transcriptions are in chronological order for each set of diaries. Scope and Content Note - v SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE Accession number: LOWE 695 Catalog number: LOWE 14733 Quantity: 1.5 linear feet (9 items) Storage: 3 legal archival document boxes. Location: Lowell National Historical Park, 67 Kirk Street, Lowell, Massachusetts 01852 – 1029. Phone 978-970-5000. Description: The Green Family Diaries (1791 –1885) consist of five diaries written by Reverend Aaron Green, and nine diaries written by Doctor John O. Green. Volume Two of Doctor John O. Green’s diaries was disassembled for conservation assessment. and is stored in a separate archival storage box, along with a complete photo copy of the volume. Otherwise, each set of diaries is contained in its own box. This collection of diaries was donated to the Lowell National Historical Park by John Orne Green, III, of San Francisco, CA. Series I, Diaries of Aaron Green, Minister January 1, 1791 – October 20, 1853 Aaron Green was born in January of 1765 and died December 23, 1853. On December 13, 1796 he married Eunice Orne. They had five children, Charles Green (no birth date recorded) who died in 1809 at age 2 years and 9 months, Charles Green, (a second son with the same name, (no birth or death date recorded), John O. Green, born April 15, 1816, and died December 23, 1885, Caroline Green (no birth or death date recorded), and George Green, (no birth date recorded) who died July 14, 1842. Eunice Orne Green died at the home of her son Dr. John O. Green on January 23, 1858. Five bound volumes covering the period January 1, 1791, through October 20, 1853, comprise the diaries of Rev. Aaron Green. The first volume begins on January 1, 1791, a day before his 26th birthday. Each volume is a collection of about ten years worth of loose diary leaves which were later bound by his son, Dr. John O. Green of Lowell, into five leather covered volumes each with dates it covers stamped in gold on its spine. The leaves are fragile but legible. The writing is very compressed and he usually records one full month in about three pages of text. Throughout most years he has usually written something for every day except when he was ill. In the last volume, when he was too old and infirm to make an entry every day, he only recorded things he considered worthy of note. By the end of the fifth volume, his entries are short and perfunctory. His diary entries are mainly about the details of daily life and the acquaintances with whom he prayed, took tea, or traveled. He seldom takes note of national or even statewide events and, in this respect, he is his son’s father. In some years, he ended his December entries with a summary of the births, deaths, and marriages within his community but in other years he did not. In addition, he usually gives an annual summary of his finances following the final entry as well. Interestingly, neither he nor his son, Dr. John O. Green, ever states Rev. Green’s denominational affiliation. Volume One: January 1, 1791 to December 31, 1801 This diary begins when he is 26 years old and is still not ordained. He “kept school” most days and traveled widely throughout the area from Maine to Massachusetts, often being in a different town each month. Even though not yet ordained, Rev. Green was a guest preacher at churches in the area. His first notation of an Independence Day celebration was July 4, 1793. September 30, 1795. Rev. Green was ordained in Malden, Massachusetts, on and from that time on he stayed in Malden except when he was a guest preacher at another church. 1 December 13, 1796. He married Eunice Orne at Lynnfield Massachusetts, and he summed up that year by recording his finances by the month. Year end summary, by year, for Volume One: 1791: No summary. 1792: No summary. 1793: Summary with an aphorism about life’s passing, weather details, yellow fever outbreak. 1794: Summary with an aphorism about the passing of time, weather details, harvest results, wars in Europe. 1795: Summary of weather details, wars in Europe, his ordination. 1796: Summary of financial status, number of deaths. 1797: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status. 1798: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status. 1799: Summary of number of deaths, marriages, baptisms (paid duties), financial status. 1800: Summary of number of deaths, marriages (paid duties), births, financial status.

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