Preceded by 3rd Governor Samuel J. Crawford |
Nehemiah Green 4th Governor of Kansas1868—1869 |
Succeeded by 5th Governor James M. Harvey |
Nehemiah Green was the fourth governor of the State of Kansas. He was born at Grassy Point, Hardin County, Ohio on March 8, 1837 to Shepherd Greene and Mary Ann Fisher.
In March, 1855, when he was only 18 years-old, he came to Kansas with his two brothers, Lewis F. and George S., both of whom afterward served in the Kansas Legislature. They settled in the town of Palmyra (now Baldwin) in Douglas County, but the following year Nehemiah returned to Ohio and entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, where he completed his education.
In 1860, he was made pastor of a Methodist Church and served in that capacity until in 1862, when he enlisted as a lieutenant in Company B of the Eighty-ninth Ohio Infantry. Before the expiration of his term of enlistment, failing health forced him to resign his commission.
On May 2, 1864, he re-entered the service as a private in Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio Infantry, but a few days later he was appointed sergeant-major and was mustered out with that rank with his regiment on September 9, 1864.
He then returned to Kansas and became pastor of a church at Manhattan. He also purchased a farm of 320 acres on Mill Creek and devoted much of his time to raising cattle for the market.
In November, 1866 he was nominated by the Republican State Convention for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, and at the election the following November was elected. Upon the resignation of Governor Samuel J. Crawford on November 4, 1868, Green succeeded to the office of governor and served for the remainder of the term.
Governor Green was twice married. In 1860 he married Ida Leffingwell of Williamsburg, Ohio, who died in 1870, and in 1873 he married Mary Sturdevant of Rushville, New York.
Upon the expiration of his term as governor in 1869 he returned to the ministry, and in 1870-71 he was the presiding elder of the Manhattan District. The illness and death of his first wife then caused him to give up the pulpit for a time.
Consequently, he retired to his farm until 1873, when he again took up the work and for about two years was stationed at Holton.
In 1875 he had charge of a church at Waterville.
In 1880 he yielded to the solicitations of his friends and was elected to the state legislature. This was his last public service. Governor Green died at Manhattan on January 12, 1890. He is buried at the Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, Kansas.[1]
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Categories: Hardin County, Ohio | Manhattan, Kansas | Sunset Cemetery, Manhattan, Kansas | Kansas Governors | Notables