Green, James, Jr.

ca. 1737–April 1784

James Green, Jr., colonial and Revolutionary leader, was born in Craven County, the son of James Green (ca. 1705–88), a justice of Craven County in 1754. The elder Green was the son of Captain Farnifold Green (1674–1714), one of the first settlers in the New Bern area, and one of the people killed in the disturbances with the Tuscarora Indians in the early eighteenth century.

James Green, Jr., first appears in public office in 1769 as clerk of the Assembly, serving in that post until the end of the session. On 18 Oct. 1775 he was named clerk of the Provincial Council; although also assistant clerk of the Provincial Congress, he was a delegate to neither. He rose to be clerk of the Provincial Congress for the fourth and fifth sessions, held at Halifax in April and December 1776, which adopted the Halifax Resolves and the first state constitution, respectively. In the capacity of clerk, Green served until 1780 on a committee to settle the financial accounts of the state with the United States. On 24 Dec. 1780 the Assembly appointed him treasurer of the Continental Loan Office, a post he held until his death.

After several unsuccessful bids for the Assembly seat from the borough of New Bern, Green was finally elected in 1780. That summer he was appointed commissary general for the troops being raised in North Carolina, but was removed in August for not fulfilling his duties. He resigned his Assembly seat in 1781, when he was appointed admiralty judge pro tempore of Beaufort County until the regular judge, William Tisdale, was cleared of charges of bribery and corruption, which he soon was. In the early 1790s many discrepancies were found in the books of the loan office from Green's tenure, but because he was already dead no investigation was undertaken.

He married Margaret ("Peggy") Cogdell on 10 Oct. 1777. They had at least one child, a son, Bryan. Green died in New Bern and was buried in the yard of Christ Church, New Bern, of which he was a member.