Meet Levi and Marvin Co. E

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

I’m so pleased that you have chosen to learn about Levi and Marvin Green. There are several individuals you will meet as you read the transcripts of the letters, transcribed from the original personal letters that are in the custody of the great, great, great-grandchildren of Marvin Green.

The boys were born and raised in an areas of Willing, New York, part of Allegany county. It’s hard to call where the Green Family grew up a town or village. Their farm is located in Hallsport in the Town of Willing and southeast of Wellsville in Allegany County.

“Hallsport, the next in point of size, was named after Calvin Hall, who moved in from Independence and opened the first hotel in 1838. A settlement had been made there before (about 1831), by John Cline, on lot number 207, in the west part of the village. Cline has been a prominent resident. The first framed building, a hotel, was erected about 1840 by Calvin Hall.” (Source – pp 376)

Wellsville, New York Circa 1880’s

In 2023, about 50 people lived in Hallsport, located at the headwaters of the Chenunda Creek, which spills into the Genesee River. At the turn of the twentieth century, Hallsport was the second largest hamlet in Willing, with a post office, general store, cheese factory, blacksmith shop, two wagon shops, a sawmill, a shingle mill, a feed mill, a school, and a population of 150 inhabitants.

As you read the Green Family Letters, linked below, use the context outlined above as a starting point for the journey that Levi, Marvin, and John Sterns take as they become soldiers and later veterans of the War of the Rebellion.

RESEARCHER’S NOTE: The photograph I have linked is what I CURRENTLY believe was the Green Family homestead during the time that the letters were written. The reasons that I believe that this is the correct location are as follows:

The cartographer marks the home’s location in the photograph as E. Green. In the 1855 census, the Green family was registered in the name of Erastus Green, not William Erastus Green. At the bottom of this page, I have both the link to the original census and a photo of the snapshot of the document.

Secondly, as was the law in 1855, the recorder was required to ensure that families were “Number[ed] in the order of their visitation.” If you examine the census and look at the larger map linked, you will see that the home of S. Burlingham is registered as Squire Burlingham. Furthermore, just two houses east of the Burlingham home were the home of a J. Cline. In the register was the 17th home visited that of John Cline Sr. List of visits in order:

14. Calvin Hall
15. Delight Seater (uncertain about the spelling of this name)
16. John Cline Sr.
17. John Cline Jr.
18. Squire Bartlingham
19. Samual V. Hallett
20. Blank Bartlingham
21. Erastus Greene (Lived in a frame-built home worth $300.00 view price in 1850 dollars)

Finally, the map and the census from 1855 have the name of Calvin Hall as being visited by the census taker as the 14th person visited. The home next to Calvin Hall was an E. Green. Since it makes perfect sense that the census taken would have walked to homes next to each other when the person would be home, I am almost certain that William Erastus Green lived next door to the Halls on the east of the post office to the west.

SKIP TO BEGIN READING HERE
(CLICK TO ENLARGE) This image is a closeup of the location of the Green Family Homestead taken from a map drawn from the census of 1855. You will see that E. Green is located on the northern side of the road next to the store and the Calvin Hall Homestead. Looking at the research confirms the location.
This photo is an areal view of the farmland that would have been William Erastus Green's homestead. The brownish-red building in the upper left of this photo was a store and the post office in 1855. This research leads me to believe that the farmland belonged to W. E. Green's farm.
This photo is a view from Google Streetview of the old Green Homestead. Presently it is located at 2233 State Rte 248, Wellsville, New York.

VISIT THE FARM LOCATION ON GOOGLE MAPS!

 

Levi Davis Green

Levi Davis Green: Age, 21 years. Enlisted, Aug. 18, 1862, at Wellsville, N. Y.; mustered in as private, Co. E, Aug. 20, 1862, to serve three years; captured, June 23, 1864; absent at muster out of the company. (Read More)

Marvin Wheeler Green

Marvin Wheeler Green: Age, 21 years. Enlisted, Aug. 20, 1862, at Wellsville, N. Y.; mustered in as private, Co. E, Aug. 20, 1862, to serve three years; appointed corporal, Nov. 20, 1863; mustered out with company, June 30, 1865, at Clouds Mills, Va. (Read More)

Willard Green

Willard Green: Age, 28 years. Enlisted, Aug. 6, 1862, at Castile, N. Y.; mustered in as private, Co. A, Aug. 7, 1862, to serve three years; died of disability, May 8, 1864, at Rochester, N. Y.; also borne as William Green.

John Sterns Green

John S. Green: Enlisted, February 11, 1861 Age, 19 years) Company E, Ninety-third New York  Infantry, at Albany, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Go. E, February 21, 1864; wounded in action, May 5, 1864, at the Wilderness, Y a . ; transferred to Fifth Company, Second Battalion, Veteran Reserve Corps, January 9, 1865; discharged, October 18, 1865, at Newark, N. J .

Orville Green

GREEN, ORVILLE.—Age,21 years. Enlisted, November 16, 1861, at Redfield, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. B, November 29, 1861; wounded in action, May 23, 1861, at North Anna, Va.; transferred to Co. F, no date; discharged for disability, January 7, 1865, at Finley Hospital (learn more), Washington, D. C. (Link to newspaper clippings for the 93rd)

Nelson P. Green

GREEN, NELSON P.—Age, 27 years. Enlisted, February 17, 1864, at Albany, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. E, February 24, 1861; killed in action, May 5, 1861, at the Wilderness, Va.

William T. Rider

RIDER, WILLIAM T. Age, 28 years. Enlisted, Aug. 5, 1862, at Wellsville; mustered in as private, Co. E, Aug. 16, 1862; appointed corporal, July 1, 1864; mustered out, June 19, 1865, at Clouds Mills, Va.- Agnew, Michigan.

Researcher’s Note: William T. Rider is mentioned by Levi and the horse he received as the regiment transferred from the infantry to the 19th New York Cavalry, later the First New York Dragoons. On the larger map linked here, you will see a farm owned by William Ryder, less than a mile from the Green farm. I am speculating here, but there is a chance that William Rider is the same Ryder located on the map. However, this is simple speculation, and this should be examined further by future researchers. I will not explore this for the foreseeable future.

Link to the full roster of the 93rd New York Infantry (PDF)

The page you are seeing now will be the landing page for these men; however, I will expand the research and share the links to individual research related to each of these men as I convert from paper documentation to digital form. For now, please follow the links to the transcribed letters that I have linked below.

Garland H. Green, Jr.

Links to Transcribed Letters On This Site HERE

Scanned from paper with my original notes linked to the book research:

https://alfredgibbs.com/storage/2022/05/levi_marvin_scan_letters.pdf

The Allegany Historical Society took the above transcripts (sent to them by Garland H. Green Sr., my father) and typed the letters and placed them on the web. (READ the history of Allegany County – Printed 1879)

https://www.alleganyhistory.org/research/veterans-of-allegany-county-ny/veterans-u-z/wellsville-veterans/3027-civil-war-letters-of-levi-and-marvin-green

Snapshot of the 1855 census from Allegany County, New York. This snapshot captures William Erastus Green and their family with ages and location of birth.