Lewis J. Green Sr.
1724 - 1784
by Richard R. Wilt
Lewis J. Green Sr is my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather

      Lewis J. Green Sr was born about 1724 in Prince George County, VA. At the age of 30 Lewis served as a Private under Captain Robert KcKenzie in Tennessee and Kentucky during the French and Indian War. He was stationed at Fort Nashboro in Nashville, Tennessee. He was a vestryman in the Church of England at Kilgore Station Virginia. He was described as a man of average height with a dark complexion.

      The following was a story repeated by Daniel Boone in later years about Lewis Green.
It seems that Daniel Boone was well versed in telling stories about bear hunting or should I say "Bar Hunting"'.

      Lewis and a brother-in-law, resided near Blackmore's on the Clinch River in southwest Virginia bordering on Kentucky. They lived about 15 miles below Captain Cass's place, where Boone was sojourning, and they went out some considerable distance into the mountains to hunt. One day when Green was alone, his companion being absent on the chase, a large bear made his appearance near camp, upon which Green shot and wounded the animal, which at the moment chanced to be in a sort of a sink-hole at the base of a hill. Taking a round about way to get above and head off the bear there being a slight snow upon the ground covered with sleet, Green;s feet slipped from under him, and in spite of all his efforts to stop himself, he partly slid and partly rolled down the hillside until he found himself in the sink hole where the wounded bear had fallen. The wounded bear enraged by his pain charged at Green, tore and mangled his body in a shocking manner, totally destroying one of his eyes, When the bear had sufficiently gratified his revenge by gnawing his unresisting victim as he wished, the bear suddely departed, leaving the unfortunate seriously wounded hunter in a helpless and deplorable condition, all exposed, with his clothing torn in tatters, to the severities of the cold temperatures.

      His brother-in-law returned at length, found and took Lewis to camp. After a while, thinking it impossible for Lewis to recover, his companion went out on pretense of hunting for fresh meat, and unconcerned abandoned poor Lewis to his fate. He reported in the settlement that Lewis had been killed by a bear. Alone in the camp the small fire soon died away from his inability to provide fuel. Lewis dug with his knife a hole like a nest beside him in the dirt floor in his cabin. He managed to reach a bundle of wild turkey feathers which had been saved, and with them lined the excavation a made himself quite a comfortable bed, and with the knife fastened to the end of a stick, he cut down, from time to time, bits of dried bear meat hanging over head Upon this he sparingly subsisted and recovered slowly, He at length managed to get about.

      When Spring opened, a party of whom Daniel Boone appeared to have been with, went from Blackmore's settlement to bury Green's remains, with the brute of a brother-in-law for a guide. To their surprise and astonishment they met Lewis plodding his way towards home, and learned the sad story of his suffering and desertion by his brother-in-law. The party were so indignant that they could scarcely refrain from laying violent hands on the monster guilty of so much inhumanity to a helpless companion. Lewis although scared and disfigured lived for many years, dying in 1784 in Kentucky.

      Lewis married Elizabeth Lauderdale, the daughter of William Lauderdale about 1750 in Culpepper County, Virginia. Elizabeth appears in the records of Washington County, KY as described as being "old and infirm: and gave power of attorney to "my son-in-law Moses Foley" She died about 1803. Dying intestate, an appraisal of her estate was resented to the court by Zachariah Green.
Children of Lewis and Elizabeth are listed as being, Lewis J. Green Jr; Elizabeth Green, John Green, W. John Green, and Jesse Green. I have W. John married to Susannah Lawrance Green my great-great-great-great-grandparents.


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