Joseph Greene (grave 2) was born in East Greenwich on March 20, 1745, to Rufus and Martha (Russell) Greene. He was a first cousin of Nathanael Greene, the future Continental Army general.
Joseph married Patience Sheffield on September 9, 1770. Their home, which was razed in 1956, was located at the north corner of Main and Peirce Streets. Joseph called it “Stirling Castle” after a fortress in Scotland.
Joseph, Nathanael, and 43 other local men founded the Kentish Guards militia in 1774 to protect East Greenwich. When the shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, the Kentish Guards marched toward Boston.
Joseph served as a sergeant in Colonel Richard Fry’s Regiment of the Kentish Guards for a total of twenty-seven months between 1776 and 1781. During that time, the Kentish Guards distinguished themselves by fighting off British attacks across Greenwich Bay, recapturing a ship from the British Navy, and destroying a British artillery battery on Conanicut Island in a successful surprise attack. The unit was also present when General George Washington visited Newport in 1781.
A rope manufacturer, Joseph built and ran a “ropewalk” along Castle Street, in an area still called “Ropewalk Hill”. There, he and his sons Barnabas and Joseph Jr. produced miles of cordage for riggings and docking lines. The original structure spanned hundreds of feet, and Joseph would walk slowly backwards, forming raw hemp into rope. After first producing single strands, he would build up the rope by combining multiple strands, walking up to 20 miles in a day — backwards!
Joseph died at the age of 80. His widow was granted a pension for his service, numbered W21229, in 1836 at the age of 88. She was buried next to Joseph (grave 3).
Joseph and Patience had nine children:
Barnabas Greene b. November 2, 1773, m. Mary Weeden
Samuel Greene b. May 23, 1774
Lydia Greene b. February 27, 1776, m. James Sweet
Susanna Greene b. July 4, 1778, died May 17, 1858, unmarried
Mary Greene b. June 8, 1780
Joseph Greene b. December 19, 1781, m. Mary Floyd
Catharine Greene b. May 28, 1783, m. Augustus Mumford Gardner
Sarah Greene b. October 31, 1785
Eliza Greene m. February 8, 1809 to James Millard, of Samuel
