Polk County ArArchives Biographies.....Green, W. I. 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 August 3, 2009, 3:09 pm

Source: See Full Citation Below Biography
Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

W. I. GREEN.
    The field of real estate has been a profitable one in western Arkansas
because of the rapid and substantial growth and development of this section of
the country. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the opening years
of the twentieth century the tide of immigration has continually flowed into
this district and there has been a constant demand for property by those who
have sought western Arkansas to become permanent settlers here. W. I. Green,
therefore, has found a fertile field of labor in conducting a real estate office
and at Mena has negotiated many important transfers, which include not only city
realty but also farm property. He is one of the native sons of Polk county, his
birth having occurred on a farm December 23, 1871, his parents being Jesse M.
and Frances J. (Isham) Green, the former a native of Georgia and a son of
William W. Green, who was born in South Carolina, whence he removed to Georgia,
while in 1868 he became a resident of Polk county, Arkansas. He founded Bethesda
Springs about 1880 and for many years was closely associated with the
substantial development and progress, of his section of the state. The maternal
grandfather of W. I. Green was Charles Isham, who was also one of the early
residents of Polk county.

    It was in western Texas that Jesse M. Green was united in marriage to
Frances J. Isham, after which they began their domestic life in the Lone Star
state, where the} remained until 1869 and then became residents of Polk county,
Arkansas, where he homesteaded and engaged in farming for a number of years. In
1892 he removed to Oklahoma where he still resides, living retired at the age of
eighty-five years. He is also a minister of the gospel, having engaged in
preaching for a number of years in addition to farming. He served in the
Confederate army for one year during the Civil war and then went to Texas, where
he fought the Indians during the uprising there. He now receives a pension from
the Federal government in recognition of his service against the Indians. In
politics he had always been a stalwart democrat and he served in the Arkansas
legislature from Polk county from 1888 until 1890. He was also the second county
judge of Comanche county, Texas, and has ever been most loyal to the duties
entrusted to his care as a public official. In early manhood he taught school
and he is a man of broad and liberal information along general lines. His wife
departed this life in 1877. They were the parents of eight children, five of
whom are living: J. B., who is a farmer of Oklahoma; H. J., who carries on
farming and merchandising at Fillmore, Oklahoma; W. I., of this review; J. R.,
who is clerking in a store at Okmulgee, Oklahoma; and Luella, the wife of J. R.
Wallace, living on a farm in Oklahoma. The father is a member of the Missionary
Baptist church and as one of its ministers he became widely known. Fraternally
he is a Mason.

    W. I. Green, after mastering the early branches of learning taught in the
rural schools of Polk county, continued his education in the high school at
Bethesda Springs, which he attended for two terms. He started out to provide for
his own support as a farmer and divided his time between farming and school
teaching until 189S, after which he engaged in merchandising at Hatfield in
1899. He continued as a merchant in that city until 1904, when he disposed of
his business there, having been called to public office. He was elected circuit
clerk and occupied that position for four years, at the end of which time he
became assistant cashier in the Farmers' & Merchants' Bank, while later he was
elected to the presidency of the bank. He sold his stock in 1919 and ceased his
active connection with the banking business, since which time he has given his
attention to the real estate and insurance business. He has gained a good
clientage and negotiates many important realty transfers each year, while at the
same time he writes a large amount of insurance annually. He is also at the head
of the Mena Oil & Gas Company and he owns a farm in Polk county, together with
real estate in the city. He said that he made his start in the business world
with a little yellow mule and a yearling calf, which was all that he ever had
given him. Steadily, however, he has progressed in the business world and today
he is the possessor of valuable property and is at the head of a constantly
growing and successful business.

    In 1892 Mr. Green was united in marriage to Miss Julia Lindsey, who was born
in Mississippi, a daughter of J. Lindsey, who followed farming in Polk county
for a number of years. They became parents of the following children: Ivan, who
has been a member of the navy for twelve years; Jesse J., who was assistant
cashier of the Farmers' & Merchants' Bank to the time of his death, which
occurred April 14, 1919; and Jewell Grady, who is assistant cashier of the First
National Bank at Electra. Texas. The wife and mother died August 8, 1904. Mr.
Green was again married on the 17th of January, 1907, when Miss Ida E. Martin
became his wife. She was born in Polk county, Arkansas, a daughter of W. M.
Martin, a pioneer living in Hatfield, who was a mechanic and is now living
retired. To this marriage there have been born three children: Hazel E , W. I.
and Julia Frances, all in school. The parents are members of the Baptist church
and Mr. Green is a Royal Arch and Council Mason. Politically he is a democrat
and has served on the school board. He was also one of the first aldermen of
Hatfield and he filled the position of city clerk. While he has never been
remiss in the duties of citizenship he prefers to give his attention to business
affairs rather than to public office and his close application, thoroughness and
enterprise have been the dominant factors in winning him place among the men of
affluence in Mena.


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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