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Greene, Chauncey O., was born in the village of Weedsport, town of Brutus, Cayuga county, N. Y., April 2, 1825.
His father was a descendant on the paternal side of the Greénes who settled in Rhode Island about 1635,
and his father's mother was a descendant from the brother of Hendrick Hudson who settled in New England. His ancestors
on the maternal side (the Folgers of Massachusetts) were relatives of Benjamin Franklin. His father was William
Greene who was born in Worcester county, Mass., in 1787, his parents having moved there from Rhode Island, and
followed his trade, that of stone mason. He assisted in building the stone work of Auburn prison at Auburn, N.
Y., and subsequently moved to Peru, Clinton county, A. Y. In 1826 he moved to Danby, Vt.; in 1837 he lived in North
Bridgewater, now Brockton, Mass., where he died in 1862. The mother of Chauncey O. (Phoebe (Barker) Greene) was
a member of the Society of Friends (or Quakers) until her marriage; she was born in 1789 and died in 1866 at North
Bridgewater (now city of Brockton, Mass ). Chauncey O. received his education in the free schools of New York and
Vermont. In 1839 he went to reside with his uncle, Chauncey Greene, in East Dorset, Bennington county, Vt. His
uncle Chauncey conducted stove manufacturing and general machine work. Chauncey O., having considerable knowledge
of the stove business, came to Troy in 1844; he secured with N. Starbuck & Son employment at stove moulding.
After six months he went to work for Choller & Jones of West Troy, N. Y. He returned to Vermont and went to
school during the winter of 1844 and returned to Troy the following year and again commenced work at stove moulding.
His health having partially failed he was compelled to give up moulding, and was given the position of time keeper
and assistant superintendent of the works when only twenty one years of age. When only twenty two years of age
he was made superintendent in full charge of the moulding department two hundred men. In 1849 he went to Brockville,
Ontario, but returned to Troy in 1850 and entered the employ of Wager, Pratt & Co. as superintendent of their
stove foundry on Sixth street in Troy. In 1857 Chauncey O. leased the property of Smith & Sheldon (the successors
of Wager, Richmond & Smith) and manufactured the work by contract. In 1858 he acquired a quarter interest in
the concern, which went under the firm name of Smith, Sheldon & Co. In 1861 Sheldon and Greene purchased the
interest of their senior partner, Henry Smith, and the firm name became Sheldon & Greene, continuing as such
until dissolved in 1874, when he retired. During several years thereafter he.conducted in Troy a wholesale and
retail business as stove mantfacturer. His old firm (Sheldon & Greene) was burned out of business in the great
fire of 1862, but in four months the business was running again. After the Chicago fire, which occurred in 1871,
the firm was forced to give up business. He traveled on the road for seven successive years. then returned to Troy
and engaged in the life and accident insurance business, in which he is engaged at present. He was alderman of
the Third ward for three terms and was nominated and elected without opposition. He was president of the Young
Men's Association, and was the last president of the old Board of Trade. He has been a trustee of the Troy Academy
for twenty five years, and served many years as trustee and treasurer of the First Unitarian Society of Troy. He
was married November 6, 1847, to Elizabeth Eggleston of Danby, Vt. He has one son, James Wager Greene, who is superintendent
of the Polar Cold Storage System of Newark, N. J., and one daughter, Mrs. A. Gould Millard of Troy.
From:
Landmarks of Rensselaer County
BY: George Baker Aaderson
Published By: D. Mason & Co. Publishers
Syracuse, NY 1897
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