Here's what I have. Think there's another piece to the story written by a daughter. Fascinating story. A copy of the original is filed with the Texas State Archives. I thought I had posted this to the list but can't find it either. Jesse Green Autobiography This autobiographical sketch was handwritten in a store ledger book in Polk County, Arkansas in 1912 by Jesse Mercer Green, second son of William W. Green and Hannah Dover. He was born April 17, 1836 at Sharp Mountain Creek (now Indian Ball Ground), Cherokee County, Georgia. This transcription was made from an old typewritten copy of the original handwritten autobiography. Source: Diane Bingham Biographical Sketch of Jesse M. Green I write this sketch of my life and that of my ancestors for the information and satisfaction of my children and their offspring's, and to keep a faint line at least of our ancestors. I will speak first of our ancestors as I know them and have received the information from my father while he was yet living. My father, William Washington Green, was a son of Amos Green, who raised eleven children, six boys and five girls, to wit: Richard, who died in the Indian Territory and was buried at old Fort Towson. His family, girls only, are lost to us. The next Jesse was a doctor and discovered the great dropsy remedy, which has been put out for many years by the H. H. Green and Sons. My father Andrew Jackson. Jonathan who died in Hopkins County, Texas. Oliver who never married. The girls were first Sallie who married Oliver Cowart. Polly who married Daniel Morrison in Habersham County, Georgia. Milley married -- Maxwell. The next married a Williams. These last two never left North Carolina where the family was raised. The fifth girl was never married. Grandfather died aged about eighty. His wife's maiden name was Elisabeth Searcy. He was raised in North Carolina. His father was I believe Richard Green. Anyway he was son of General Nathaniel Green of Revolution fame. Grandfather and many of the Green family were wealthy Negro holders before the Civil War. My mother was the daughter of Anderson Dover who raised eleven children, five boys and six girls, to wit: Harriet, she married Alfred Hicks. Hannah, my mother. Mary, she married William Hendrix. Allen, he married Polly Cloud. Viny, she married William Martin. Fanny, she married Daniel Moody. Larkin Caloway, he married Sarah Miller, Sally Smart and Mrs. Burnett. Henry Santford, he married Amy Haines. William Alfred, he married Fidelia Wilson, sister of Oswell Wilson (brother of the just named). Andrew, he married Esther Smart. Grandpa was the son of Frank [Francis J.] Dover who had six boys to wit: Johnson, Nelson, Benson, Anderson, Simpson and Thompson. He died at the age of 98. Grandpa's mother was a Posey, and his wife's maiden name was Jane Cross. They were raised in South Carolina. Raised their family in Cherokee and Habersham County, Georgia. He died in Polk, Arkansas at the age of 96 years. Father and mother were married in Habersham County Georgia and had born 17 children, 14 of whom they raised, 7 boys and 7 girls. Names as follows: Henry Haines, Jesse Mercer, Alfred Webb, Susan Elizabeth, Luiza Jane, Mary Ann, Laura Ann, Celia Ann Lucinda, Sarah Ann, William G., Hannah Elmira, John Farrer, Grisham, Benjamin McCulloch. H. H. married Elminia Jackson. He and boys has put out as specialists the famous dropsy medicines which was discovered by uncle Jesse Green as above stated. He died at Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 64 years, a very rich man. His family resides in Atlanta now. He was 1st Lieutenant in Alabama Regiment of Volunteers in the Confederate War, and was wounded at Chickamauga. Afterward was captured and held a prisoner on Johnson Island in Lake Erie for 18 months to the end of the war. A. W. belonged to the Marines in the war. He was a railroad man and lived at Mobile, Alabama, was killed by the cars on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1867, and his family is lost to the family. S. E. married Jerry Head, raised a large family and was then divorced from him and died in Polk County, was buried at old Antioch Cemetery when Father, Mother, Grandfather Dover and several other of the relatives are buried. L. J. married C. C. Dupree, raised a large family in Polk County, Arkansas where she now lives on her farm, Dupree having died several years ago. M. A. married first Mr. Durham in Alabama. He was killed in the War, had one child William Durham who lives in Commanche, Texas. She then married L. T. (Len) Coker. She lives in Commanche, Texas with her children. she being a widow. L. A. married Calvin Nichols, then George Nichols, 2nd cousin to Calvin Nichols. She lives on her farm in Polk County, Arkansas. S. A. L. married A. J. Isham. They have raised a large family all of which now live in Commanche, Texas. S. A. married Alison Griffith, they both died last year in West Texas where their children now reside, only one (Danill) a doctor he lives in Chicago, Illinois. W. G., he married Caroline Isham (sister to A. J.), they have a large family of children all of which live in Commanche County, Texas. H. E. married C. C. Griffith (brother of Allison). They and their children live in West Texas. Grisham married Mattie Balthrop. They now live in Oklahoma. J. F. married Rebecca Nichols sister to George as above, she died then he married a widow lady in Atlanta, Georgia, where he still lives. Is a real estate agent. B. M. married Lulu Norris, daughter of Dr. J. A. Norris of Polk County, Arkansas. They with all their children live in Potawatamie County, Oklahoma. Politically - Our family and ancestors on both paternal and maternal sides are and have been strong democrats believing in States rights and every other doctrine held and advocated by the true democratic party and have often from time to time held office of trust on that platform. Therefore it would be expected that they would be on the side of the South in the hard struggle of the war between the States, which they were. Religiously - Believing in that principle that would leave everyone to the free worship of God according to the dictates of his conscience. The entire separation of church and State and the doctrine that the New Testament furnished sufficient rule both of faith and practice and that other doctrine that everything taught by prescript or example in the New Testament should be obeyed, and that which was not so taught had no binding form and should not be imposed on the conscience of men. So it would be expected to find them Baptists which as a family they have been all the way down the line with very few exceptions, with many Baptist ministers among them. They usually have large families, are of Scotch descent with a good percent of Dutch, mostly the Scotch shows by a hump on the nose, a little Roman nose. Jesse Mercer Green, the subject of this sketch was born on Sharp Mountain Creek near what was then called the Indian Ball Ground (which is now the town of Indian Ball Ground, Cherokee County, Georgia) on April 17th, 1836. This is before the Indians moved west, and hence was the Cherokee Nation. He was the second son of William W. Green and Hannah Dover Green. At two years of age my father bought, or drawed some land (the Cherokee land was drawed for, much like the Comanches land for in Oklahoma) five miles north of Canton, where he lived till I was eleven years old, except one year we lived in Forsyth County 8 miles from Dalton, or it was then Cross Plains. Here we lived on the Connasauga River until I was grown. On December 19th 1852, I was married to Cynthia P. Dean, who died 15 months later with spinal meningitis. Had a child born dead. This was a new country full of game and fish and good stock range with all the advantages and disadvantages of a new country, but we had good religious parents to teach and train us and as this was the age when parents believed Solomon, that to spare the rod you spoil the child, so the switches did not grow in vain around our place. Many times I had my back striped and sometimes cut with switches trying to make a good boy out of me, and whether it was the best way or not, they thought it was, and I honor them greatly for it. They didn't depend entirely on the rod, for father would try to instruct us and pray for us around the fireside and in the field and so did all the Christian parents. I will say more about this when I get to my religious life. After wife died I went back to father and lived with him a year. I then went with some of our neighbors to West Texas, Bell County. That was frontier country then. We started October 4th 1854, with horse and ox teams for there was no rail roads to travel. A greater trip than now to go to the Philippine Islands. None of us had ever traveled any and the terrible tales told about the mud in the swamps, and robbers, but we traveled on and in just one month we crossed the Mississippi River at Helena, Arkansas. We had to cross the river in hand propelled ferries and had to wait 5 days for our turn to cross. There were five wagons in our bunch, to-wit: C. H. Isham, M. O. Coker, Vol Wilson, Doc and Murt McGuire, Henry Mayfield and myself, all of us single young men who bore our part of the expenses of travel. We all had our guns and there was plenty of game so we had a jolly time hunting along the road. From Helena, Henry Mayfield, my traveling companion and I and the McGuire boys concluded that we would work awhile on the river and then go to Texas by water in the spring. There we found work on a flat boat loaded with hay for New Orleans. The river being so low we had to pull on the oars at every eddy and after we struck the tide water (150 miles above New Orleans) we had to pull all the time.