The eldest child of Benjamin Greene and Humility Coggeshall.

Married Mary Aylesworth c. 1708. They were the parents of 15 children.

On October 13, 1726, John gave his wife a receipt for her share of her father’s estate. In 1732, he was styled “Lieutenant John”.

On January 9, 1733, or 1734, being then of East Greenwich, he purchased 149 ¾ acres in what is now West Greenwich, it being “The first farm in the first division in the right of Samuel Cranston.”

In 1743, he sold farms formerly belonging to his father and brother, Caleb, both deceased. The Cranston farm in West Greenwich was the site of his homestead.

In the records preserved by Ethan Greene, his son Joseph’s grandson, he is styled “White Hat John” and was also called “Lord John” because of his haughty air.

He died in West Greenwich on March 29, 1752. His will was made on March 26 and proved on April 25, 1752.