Robert Russell Greene

Robert Russell Greene was my paternal great grandfather. His daughter Maggie Hildred married Ross Belew and their son Leland Belew was my father. My sister and I have had a great interest in the Greene family and were delighted to find your pictures and posts. We share a relationship with Wylie Bridges Greene, who was a most interesting character and also what some would term a "rascal" and others would perhaps use stronger language. It is our understanding that he had several families around the states and that our family tree is much broader than formal history might dictate. Maggie Virginia Curren Greene, his wife, was long suffering as was Temperance Laura. We have come to understand that it was not that unusual for men to have more than one family in what was considered at that time as the edge of the territories. Wylie came from a family that was quite well off. The Green's from the Revolutionary war were rewarded with around 46,000 acres of land in the territories in the southern portion of the United States. When Wylie inherited his portion, he made a series of poor investments that lost most of his money. Maggie was a good business woman and was instrumental in the opening of the jewelry store in Salem run by Robert. She also invested in properties in the area. During the civil war, Wylie smuggled quinine into the country and we think he distributed it to both sides. There was a family apothecary in Nashville, Tennessee where they resided and it was the only pharmacy to consistently have quinine during the war. Quinine was the wonder drug of the age. Maggie developed malaria one summer when they did not retreat to the mountains. Wylie's father owned homes in several locations in the south. He was a doctor as well and had inherited money from the family. Wylie was considered a good doctor and was well liked and respected for that part of his life. It was no secret to the citizens of Salem about his philandering ways. He would be gone for long periods of time and in Maggie's diary she would always note when Doctor Greene arrived for a visit and left. It was thought that he doted on his daughter Ruby and that she had a reputation for being mean. When Wylie was practicing on the Indian reservation in Oklahome, he brought grown daughter Ruby there with him. She met a man also working there and they were married. She had to have known of her father's indiscretions as he had an Indian "wife" there. The Greene family left Kentucky after Maggie could no longer take his reputation and women started calling at their home asking for him. They moved to Indiana after that. Maggie made a visit to one paramour during that stay.