My great Grandfather, Tompkins Green, had been married 14 years and was living on his homestead on Irish Ridge, Crawford County, WI. He had fought in the Civil War and was at home in 1868 when the Navaho Indians were allowed to return to Sacred lands from reservation. General Grant was in charge of this particular Indian affair... a time in history, 1868, my Grandfather, William Green, was 9 years old and his future wife, Ella Duncan was 8. Twelve years later, in 1880, the Battle of the Little Big Horn takes place... these happenings seem so far back in history but when you compare it to generations of your family, it has been only a short time.

My father, Neil D. Greene, fully understood this time recognition imbalance. He wrote about the early 1900s as though they might be forgotten or misplaced somehow. He embraced the past as a valued friend. To him the memories of his father talking of Tompkins homesteading, of the Gypsies on the ridge, of being in the Civil war and their life in rural Crawford County were very real and close.

I would like to share a family story from this time period... it is as related by dad's brother, Lyle Leslie Greene: "Grandad Tompkins Green met his future wife, Elizabeth McGrath from Ireland at age 14 and of Catholic descent, in Lockport, New York, where they were both working on the Erie Canal. Elizabeth was employed by a Canal Street hotel, probably the Kenmore, later named Lennox, which was torn down in the 1960's to make room for the City Municipal Hall.

Well, one time Thompkins Green was hired to float logs down the Wisconsin River, probably to Prairie Du Chien, WI. On route, the raft (of logs) broke loose from Tompkins and his co-workers; so with the possible threat of a lawsuit, Tompkins rushed home and signed over his farms to Eliza. Later, when danger of a lawsuit was past he wanted the land put back in his name, she refused."